KANAKARAJAN @ KANAKAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the Judgment dated 8th Nov., 2006 passed by the High Court of Kerala in Criminal Appeal No. 1906 of 2004, wherein the High Court has dismissed the appeal preferred by the accused/appellant herein and upheld the order of conviction and sentence passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court-I, Palakkad, in Sessions Case No. 104 of 2002.

(2.) The material available on record reveals that initially there were nine accused in this case against whom an FIR was registered at 9 am on 6.3.2000 at Kongad Police Station for causing the death of one Rajesh and injuring the complainant/Vinod (PW2), who happens to be the cousin of the deceased. Since the accused No. 2 (Ayyappankutty) was found hanging from a tree on the next day and was declared dead, charges were framed only against the remaining accused under Sections 143, 147, 148, 302, 342 and 324 r/w 149 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 [hereafter 'IPC' for brevity]. The Trial Court acquitted A3, A4, A6, A7, A8 and A9 of the charges and convicted A1 (Kanakarajan) and A5 (Sukumaran) for the offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 148, 342 and 302 r/w 149 of IPC. On an appeal, the High Court acquitted A5 of all the charges but upheld the order of conviction and sentence as against A1 (Kanakarajan) who is before us in the present appeal.

(3.) The brief facts of the case as unfolded from the case of prosecution is that, on the intervening night of 5th and 6th March, 2000, an ox procession was going on at Kunnappully temple at Tharakassery and several people had gathered around the temple premises. At about 2 A.M, accused attacked the deceased Rajesh, with deadly weapons such as swords and sticks, as a result of which he sustained grievous injuries. When the complainant-Vinod (PW2) tried to intervene and stop the accused, he too was beaten up by the accused. While the general public started gathering at the place of incident, the accused party took to their heels. With the help of some of the people assembled there, PW2 took the injured Rajesh in his jeep to the Fort Hospital where the doctor advised to shift the injured Rajesh to the Medical College Hospital, Thrissur. On the way to the Medical College, Rajesh succumbed to the injuries at about 5.30 A.M.