BOMMA Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This criminal appeal is brought from the judgment of the Sessions Judge, Revenue Dist, Bangalore in a case under S.302 of the IPC whereby Bomma was convicted utvdev S.304 Part-II and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years.

(2.) The prosecution caes was that one Kuppaiah had his land adjacent to the land of Bomma in Thigalarahally village. Kuppaiah had grown coconut trees and there was some complaint that Bomma used to commit theft of coconuts. At a later date, the deceased Goosappa married the daughter of Kuppaiah. He came to reside with him and it was stated that both Kuppaiah and Goosappa used to look after the garden work. On 13-6-1976 both Kuppaiah and Goosappa went to their garden as usual. They had engaged one Puttaswamy to pluck the coconuts and while he was doing so, either the coconuts or the leaves fell towards the land of Bomma and caused some injury to his jack fruit tree. Accordingly, in the evening when Goosappa was returning from the garden with a bundle of mulberry leaves on his head, Bomma appeared and accosted him in the way and there was some altercation. The prosecution case was that the appellant was holding a sickle (MO.1) and during the course of altercation, he gave a blow by the blunt side of that sickle on the abdomen of Goosappa. Thereafter, Goosappa came back to his house and complained of pain in the abdomen. Two witnesses PWs.7 & 8 bearing the name Channasetty had witnessed the occurrence. On the next day Goosappa was removed to the hospital at Kanakapura where he was examined by Dr. Shivaji Rao(PW.6). As his condition deteriorated, Goosappa was shifted to Victoria Hospital on 18-6-76 where he was operated upon and succumbed to the injury on the same night.

(3.) While Goosappa was admitted in the hospital at Kanakapura, PW-6 sent information to the police and Maniyappa, Head Constable (PW.12) came and recorded his statement Ext.P6 which was subsequently used as a dying declaration. In that statement Goosappa no doubt mentioned Bomma the appellant to be his assailant. Immediately after the occurrence when Goosappa had gone to his house, he gave a similar dying declaration to Kuppaiah (PW.10) and his wife Laxmidevi (PW.11). After the death of Goosappa the post-mortem examination was conducted by Dr. H.A. Somaiah (PW.5) of the Victoria Hospital. According to him, the death was due to exhaustion and shock as a result of peritonitis consequent to perforation of intestine caused by blunt force impact. This injury was directly attributable to the blow administered by the sickle (MO.1) and on that ground the police at Kanakapura converted the case into one under S.302 of the IPC. This in short was the prosecution case.