VAIKUNTAM CHANDRAPPA Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The four appellants and one other were convicted by the Sessions Judge, Anantapur Division, under S. 302, Indian Penal Code, read with S. 34 and were sentenced to death. They were also convicted under other Sections and awarded varying punishments. All five preferred separate appeals to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. One appeal was allowed while the appeals of the four appellants were dismissed. By special leave; these four appellants filed the present appeal against the judgment of the High Court.

(2.) Shortly stated, the prosecution case is as follows:In Chippagiri village, Anantapur District, there were bitter quarrels occurring between members of two factions, for convenience described as Reddy group and Kamma group. The former was led by one Virupaksha Reddy and the latter by accused A-1 to A-3. There were several criminal cases between the members of the two groups and despite the sincere attempt of Acharya Vinoba Bhave to settle their disputes, though there was a short respite, the factious spirit received a further impetus by the impact of Panchayat Board elections in the village. On account of these quarrels the appellants, along with four others, on getting information that Virupaksha Reddy would be returning from Isurallapalli, to which place he had gone to attend a seminar of Bharat Sevak Samaj, formed themselves into an unlawful assembly with the common object of murdering the said Reddy, and went in a jeep No. ADQ 1243 armed with sickles, spears and daggers. They placed the jeep near Bandrakalva culvert at mile-stone 201/3 on Gooty-Guntakal Road and forced the jeep No. ADQ 273 in which Virupaksha Reddy was travelling to stop and dragged Virupaksha Reddy out of the jeep and hacked him to death in a pit nearby.

(3.) The evidence against the appellants was both direct and circumstantial. The direct evidence consisted of the statements of three eye-witnesses, namely, P. Ws. 1, 2 and 3. Of these, P. W. 3 was the driver of the deceased and knew the eight assailants from before. P. Ws. 1 and 2 were apparently disinterested witnesses who did not know any of the assailants from before and in their case an identification parade was held. The circumstantial evidence consisted of the motive for the attack, the fact that the accused were seen in the company of one another before and after the incident and also the fact that they were seen in the jeep ADQ 1243, the movements of which were traced before and after the incident. The main evidence on which the learned Sessions Judge relied was the testimony of the three eye-witnesses. He was of the view that the driver (P. W. 3), though he was present when the murder took place and knew the assailants from before, was not a disinterested witness. He was not, however, prepared to reject his testimony completely; at the same time he was not prepared to rely on his testimony alone for the conviction of the eight accused before him, and that was why he acquitted three of the accused though they were named by the driver. The view he took was that safety lay in looking for corroboration of the testimony of the driver and in that connection he relied mainly on the evidence of P. Ws. 1 and 2 and the corroboration available from the circumstantial evidence. In the result he convicted the four appellants and one other.