STATE OF KARNATAKA Vs. ERANNA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE four accused who are the respondents to this appeal are residents of Hervi village and it was alleged that on the evening of 3-4-1992 at about 5 p. m. they were involved in a quarrel with deceased Narasaiah pursuant to which A-1 and A-3 assaulted him with Jambia on his abdomen, A-2 assaulted him with an axe on his head and A-4 assaulted him with Badige. The victim ultimately died on the following day and the accused stood charged with having committed an offence punishable under section 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC. The prosecution alleges that in the course of the incident the wife of the deceased eramma came there and fell on the person of her husband in order to save him and that she was assaulted by A-2 with the handle of the axe on her head and in respect of this assault, the accused were charged with having committed offences punishable under Section 324 read with Section 34 of the IPC. After the assault, the brother of the wife went to the Police who came there some time that night and took the injured Narasaiah to the local hospital but, since no doctor was available he had to be taken all the way to Raichur. Narasaiah was ultimately admitted in the hospital at about 3 a. m. and his condition was extremely bad. Despite medical treatment, his condition worsened and the doctors informed the Police about this and adviced them to record his dying declaration which came to be recorded on the morning of that day. The condition of Narasaiah ' worsened and he died shortly thereafter. The Police in the course of the investigation arrested the four accused and it is their case that these persons produced all the four weapons namely the two jambias, the axe and the stick which were recovered under panchanamas. The prosecution also alleges that the weapons that were recovered had bloodstains on them. On completion of the investigation, the accused were charge-sheeted and after committal were put on trial before the Court of Sessions at raichur. The learned Sessions Judge after an evaluation of the evidence adduced in this case came to the conclusion that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges and acquitted all the four accused. It is against this order that the present appeal has been filed by the State of Karnataka.

(2.) THE learned Additional S. P. P. has submitted that this is an incident which took place on Ugadi day and that the same was in broad daylight in front of the temple in the village at a time when at least 25 to 30 persons had assembled there and he submitted that there is overwhelming evidence against the accused persons and that the grounds on which the Trial Court has discredited the evidence and ultimately rejected it are unsustainable. He has advanced the submission that the number of persons who had witnessed the incident and who have given evidence in this case are fully and completely supported by the medical evidence which would bear out the prosecution case that it was the accused who had been responsible for the death of narasaiah and the injury to Eramma.

(3.) THE learned Counsel has placed considerable reliance on the evidence of P. W. 1-Eranna who happens to be the brother of the deceased Narasaiah. This witness states that he had come to the temple at about 5 p. m. and that the entire incident commenced because of the insistance of his brother Narasaiah that he should be allowed to make some offerings first and that the other persons should wait. It appears from the record that the deceased Narasaiah used to move around in the village bare chested and that he also used to carry a Badige in his hand and that he was often intoxicated. There is also a suggestion put to the witnesses that the deceased was in the habit of committing petty thefts. In this background, it is only natural that he had incurred the hostility of many of the other residents. According to P. W. 1, it was A-2 who dealt the first blow with an axe which landed on the fore-head of the deceased. It is obvious that this was not a full-blooded blow which landed directly on the head but in fact missed its target and only caused an injury on the forehead. A-1 was carrying two Jambias which he took out and retained one with himself and gave the other one to A-3. These two persons virtually ripped open the abdomen of the deceased on both sides as a result of which Narasaiah sustained two serious injuries which resulted in his intestines coming out; A-4 also took part in the assault. The witness knows the accused as they are all residents of the village and he has also referred to some earlier litigation between the two accused and himself.