T N LAKSHMAIAH Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Claiming insanity at the time of commission of offence of murdering his own wife Gayathramma and teen aged son Bhaskar, the appellant has prayed for setting aside the judgment of the trial Court as well as the High Court by which he has been convicted under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to life imprisonment. Without leading evidence in support of his claim, the appellant urged that there was sufficient material on record which probabilised the existence of circumstances justifying the benefit of the exception as incorporated under Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code. It is also submitted that the prosecution had failed to establish his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

(2.) In order to appreciate the submissions of the appellant, it is relevant to take note of the prosecution case as alleged and proved against him vide the judgment impugned in this appeal. The appellant was a Government servant employed in the Department of Agriculture from the year 1991. He was residing with his wife and son in one of the quarters allotted to him by the Department. The appellant's deceased son was a student of 7th standard at the time of occurrence. On 12-1-1991, the appellant applied to avail casual leave on 14-1-1991. The accused, along with his wife and son, had left his house on 11-1-1991 and gone to Thadagavadi. On 16-1-1991, he took his wife and son along with him on the pretext of showing them Shivanasamudra, a picnic spot where the River Kaveri makes a fall. He purchased half kilogram of apples from Devegowda (PW11) in a Village shop at Malavalli. At about 9 o'clock in the morning, the appellant with his wife and son got down from the bus at Satyagola Hand Post where they purchased and consumed tender coconut. All the three thereafter walked on foot towards Shivanasamudra. The accused took his wife and son to the extreme end to show them Gagana Chukki Falls. He led them downward telling that he would show the beauty of the falls from a very near point. He is alleged to have pushed down Bhaskar from that place who fell on a rock which was 150 feet below. He thereafter cought hold of his wife and forcibly tied her hands with a red waste thread and dragged her to a rock, notwithstanding her pleadings and protests. He tied her saree around the neck of his wife and killed her by tightening the knot. Despite being a picnic spot, he had chosen the spot for commission of the offence where no tourist normally went. He left the place of occurrence at 4.30 in the evening, got a bus and went towards Malavalli, He was seen reaching his home at about 7.30 p.m. by Sri Kalaiah (PW8). On the next day, the appellant left his house and went to Kollegal Rural Police Station in the afternoon where he gave a statement confessing his crime. On the basis of his statement, a case was registered for offence punishable under Section 302, IPC. As per his disclosure, made in the statement, the dead body of the wife was recovered from the place pointed out by him. The body of the son was seen lying on the rock/gorge where the police could not reach on the first day. When, on the next day, the body of the child was recovered, he was alive and brought to the Kollegal Hospital and thereafter sent for better treatment in NIMHANS as Bangalore, where he breathed his last on 19-1-1999.

(3.) On completion of the investigation, the final report was produced, the case committed to the Sessions and charges framed against the appellant. To prove their case, the prosecution examined 30 witnesses. It is conceded that there was no eye-witness to the occurrence. In his statement, recorded under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the appellant accepted that he was residing with his wife and son in the quarters belonging to the Agriculture Department. He also admitted the fact of having applied for casual leave. He admitted to have left his house on the evening of 11-1-1991 with his wife and son. He denied the charges of having taken his wife and son to Gagana Chukki Falls and instead stated that he had gone to Talagawadi with his family. He stated that he only remembered that his wife had nagged him to eat the meals on 13-1-1991 but does not remember anything thereafter. He claims to have seen himself in the prison in June, 1991 and stated that he did not remember as to what had happened in the intervening period.