MOHAMMAD BIN BEERANKUTTI Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment and order passed by the High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore in Criminal appeal No. 569/2009 with Criminal Referred Case No. 03 of 2009 dated 06.09.2010. By the impugned judgment and order, the High Court while answering the reference has confirmed the conviction and death sentence passed by the Sessions Judge, Chikmagalur in Sessions Case No. 127 of 2007.

(2.) The facts in extenso need not be noticed by us as the same have been comprehensively noted by the courts below. The background of the facts goes to explain the genesis of the incident that took place on 18.06.2007, when Vyjananthi ("the deceased" for short) was standing alone waiting for the bus near the Kadur check post in order to go to Chikmagalur. On the day of the incident, the appellant- Mohammad Bin Beerankutti, the driver of the taxi, with an ulterior motive to rob the deceased of her gold ornaments and other belongings induced the deceased to board the taxi for her journey to Chikmagalur. On the way to Chikmagalur, the appellant with the said motive had deliberately stopped the vehicle, and after killing the deceased committed robbery. Subsequently, to screen the offence and cause disappearance of the evidence the appellant had thrown the dead body of the deceased in the valley of Charmadi Ghat. The FIR was registered pursuant to the missing complaint lodged by PW-2, the daughter of the deceased.

(3.) After completion of the investigation, the investigating agency had filed a charge-sheet for the offence punishable under Sections 376, 392, 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code("the IPC" for short). The appellant denied the charge framed under the aforesaid sections and pleaded not guilty and, therefore, the trial had commenced against the accused person.