GANGADHAR NAGA NAIK Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is preferred as against the judgment dt. 30-3-93 passed by the learned Sessions Judge at Karwar. North Kanara District in S.C. No. 25/92, whereby the said Sessions Judge convicted and sentenced the appellant-accused herein.

(2.) I heard the learned Counsel for the appellant Sri Vinod Prasad and the learned High Court Government Pleader Sri B. H. Satish appearing for the respondent-State. I have also perused the case records.

(3.) To narrate the facts in brief of the prosecution case are that, on 1-3-91, the complainant-P.W. 1 had gone to the stream at Doddasare in Hemgar village in Siddapur Taluk to lay a bund to divert the course of the stream to his place where he was constructing a house by blocking the flow of the water. That the appellant and three other persons staying in the lower terrain came to the spot and standing at a distance of '15 to 20' asked P.W. 1-complainant as to why he was blocking the flow of stream water and that the complainant-P.W. 1 told them that he was constructing a new house and water was, therefore, needed for the purpose of the said construction. That as against the said say of the complainant-P.W. 1. The appellant-accused and the three other persons with him insisted that the bund be removed and the stream water be allowed to flow. It is stated that the appellant-accused No. 1 and the fourth accused by name Manja were having guns in their hands and that the accused Nos. 2 and 3 instigated the complainant-P.W. 1 to fire the gunshot to him and that, at that, the appellant-accused No. 1 fired a gunshot from his gun in his hand and the bullets/pellets hit at the back of the complainant-P.W. 1. At that, the complainant-P.W. 1 cried out loudly due to the injuries he suffered and he fell down and that after hearing the sound, his mother-P.W. 2, his maternal uncle-P.W. 4 and his sister-P.W. 3 came running to the spot from their houses situated at a distance about 100 or 150 feet from the place of incident. That thereafter, his cousin, one Ramesh-P.W. 5 took him to Siddapur Government Hospital and as per the advice of the Doctor in the said Hospital, he was X-rayed in a private Nursing Home and the Doctor-P.W. 10 had also examined him with reference to the said X-rays and P.W. 10 advised the complainant-P.W. 1 to go to Sagar Hospital. For the reason that necessary instruments were not available to remove the bullets/pellets. Accordingly, on his advice. complainant-P.W. 1 had been to Sagar Hospital where he was treated for a few days and as per the further advice of the Doctors at Sagar Hospital, he had taken treatment in the District Government Hospital, Shimoga. It was opined by the Doctors that the bullets/pellets stuck inside the body could not be removed easily without risk to his life and opined that the said bullets/pellets stuck inside the body were not dangerous to his life even if they were not removed.