RAJAGOPALSWAMY KONAR Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal under Section 379 of the Code of Criminal Procedure read with Section 2(a) of the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Act. The two appellants Rajagopalswamy Konar (A-1) and Sundaramurthy (A-2) were tried along with Amminiammal (A-3) for the offence of causing the death of Ramaswamy and Ponnuswamy, the two deceased in the case and for causing injuries to P.Ws. 1 and 2. The trial Court acquitted all of them. The State preferred an appeal. The High Court relying on the evidence of the eye-witnesses P.Ws. 2-4 convicted the two appellants under Sections 302 and 302 read with Section 34, ]PC and sentenced each of them to undergo imprisonment for life. The High Court convicted A-2 under Section 323, IPC for causing injuries to P.W. 2 and sentenced him to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for three months. Both the accused were also found guilty for causing injuries to PW-1 under Section 307 read with S.34, IPC and sentenced to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for five years. Sentences were directed to run concurrently. Hence this appeal.

(2.) Since this is a Regular Appeal, through the judgment of both the Courts below as evidence of direct witnesses PWs 2-4 and also PW-1, injured witness who spoke about part of the occurrence.

(3.) The prosecution case is as follows: The first accused and PW-1 are brothers. Deceased Ramaswamy and deceased Ponnuswamy were the sons of PW- 1. PW- 1 and the first accused and one Muthuswamy, another brother of PW-1, who pre-deceased him, divided their ancestral property. The shares of the first accused and PW-1 were separated by a cart-track in respect of which there were litigations between the first accused and PW- PW- 1 succeeded in two courts at the time of occurrence. Second accused is the son and accused No. 3 is the wife of the first accused. Because of this litigation there was an enmity among them. The deceased, Ramaswamy used to stay with his wife, PW-2 during agricultural seasons in the farm-house while deceased Ponnuswamy and his father, PW-1, and his step-mother PW-4, Jayalakshmi, the second wife of PW- 1, used to stay in the farmhouse of their land. On the date of occurrence i.e. 24-2-1979 the deceased Ramaswamy and PW-2, his wife, were thrashing read gram in the thrashing floor in front of their house. Deceased Ponnuswamy was grazing buffoloes near the cart-track. PW-1, father of the deceased, was lying on the pial of the farmhouse of Ponnuswamy. PW-3, wife of Ponnuswamy at that juncture was working. A- 1 to A-3 came to the thrashing floor of A-2 asked Ramaswamy whether he is ploughing his land and also the cart-track together to which deceased Ramaswamy replied that he is ploughing his own land. Thereupon A-2 and A-3 pulled Ramaswamy by the legs and pushed him down. PW-2 the widow of Ramaswamy, cried aloud. Hearing her cries, Ponnuswamy, brother of deceased Ramaswamy, came running. The first accused thereupon stabbed Ponnuswamy with a knife on his left flank. Ponnuswamy fell down. When PW-2 again cried A-2 came and dealt a blow with a stick on her throat. She warded off the blow with her hands. The blow fell on her right hand and broke her glass bangles M.O. 5 series. Later, both accused Nos. 1 and 2 beat deceased Ramaswamy and Ponnuswamy. Thereafter the accused ran away. PW-2 went and gave a report on the basis of which a crime was registered. PW-4 came back to the farm-house and found her husband lying with injuries and Ramaswamy died at about 4 P.M. Thereafter PW-2 gave a report. The doctor, PW-5 examined PW-1 and found on him several contusions and lacerated wound and on X-Ray disclosed fracture of right ulna, fracture of metacarpals bones and fractures of metacarpal fingers. The doctor opined that these injuries were grevious. On the two dead bodies postmortem was conducted. PW-6, the doctor, who conducted the post-mortem on the dead body of Ramaswamy, found a stab wound on the left upper abdomen and another incised wound in the right palm and a lacerated wound on the right temporal region. The injury No. 1 was found to be fatal and sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. The same doctor conducted the post-mortem on the dead body of Ponnuswamy and found a curved sutured wound on the upper abdomen. After completion of the investigation, the charge-sheet was laid. The prosecution mainly relied on the evidence of eye-witnesses and PWs 2-4. When examined under Section 313, Cr. P.C. the accused pleaded not guilty. It was found that accused No. 1 had also received one injury. He, however, pleaded not guilty thereby virtually denying his presence.