RAMESH PURDAPPA AMBANNAVAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE two appeals are interconnected since they are directed against the common judgment and Order of conviction dated 9-7-1997 in s. c. No. 75 of 1993 passed by the ii additional sessions judge, dharwad, henceforth in brief referred as 'sessions judge'. When the first appeal is filed by the accused nos. 1 and 2, the second appeal is filed by the accused No. 3. In passing the impugned judgment and Order of conviction, the learned sessions judge had sentenced all the accused persons for the offences under sections 323, 302 read with Section 34 of the ipc. While so doing, the learned sessions judge had awarded r. i. for three months for the offence under Section 323 of the IPC and further awarded imprisonment for life and further slapped a fine of Rs. 2,000/- each and in default to pay the sum, all of them were directed to undergo r. i. for a further period of 4 months.

(2.) WE heard the learned counsel for the appellants in the first appeal Sri s. p. kulkarni and the learned counsel for the appellant in the second appeal Sri m. n. gadag. We also heard the learned state public prosecutor, Sri b. r. nanjundaiah appearing for the respondent-state in both the appeals. We also perused the case records and further perused the records of the sessions judge, in s. c. No. 75 of 1993.

(3.) FACTS in brief are as hereunder: that at about 8. 30a. m. on 1-8-1992, the psi, dharwad rural police station-p. w. 3 while in his police station received information by an anonymous phone call to the effect that, on aminabhavi road, at a distance of about a k. m. away from dharwad, a dead body of a male person was lying in front of a lorry bearing registration No. Aik 3949 facing towards aminabhavi village and that there were injuries over the dead body, suspected to have been caused by sharp weapon and that the clothes over the dead body were bloodstained and further that there were bloodstains in the cabin of the lorry too. The psi thereafter visited the spot and he suspected the same to be a case of murder and accordingly prepared a report on the spot and sent the same to his police station through p. c. No. 749 for the purpose of registration of the case. He had also pressed into service the dog suqad and further sent requisition for finger print expert-p. w. 6 to visit the scene of offence. He had also conducted inquest-ex. P. 5 over the dead body of the deceased and he sent the same for post-mortem examination to the civil hospital, dharwad through p. c. No. 2202. That, thereafter, p. w. 15-the cpi and the i. o. had reached the spot and he took over the investigation from p. w. 3, the psi. That on the strength of the report given by p. w. 3, a case in crime No. 152 of 1992 was registered by the dharwad rural police for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC and the fir was submitted to the jurisdictional magistrate. That during the course of investigation, the police secured a chit relating to hindustan transport, hubli and on that basis they made a telephone call to that company and on enquiry they came to know that the cleaner of the lorry by name venkateshwar rao-p. w. 14 was also very much available in the said lorry office. The police thereafter secured p. w. 14 and recorded his statement and took up further investigation in the matter. During the course of investigation, p. w. 14 had given the history that the deceased was his driver by name sathyanarayana rao and when the lorry No. Aik 3949 driven by him in the presence of p. w. 14 in the said lorry, he being the cleaner of the lorry, three persons (latter turned to be the appellants-accused persons) had entered into the lorry at kittur circle near dharwad and posed themselves as genuine passengers to go over to hubli and that after getting into the lorry, when one of the accused persons had placed himself in the rear side of the driver, the other two accused persons placed themselves, one by the side of p. w. 14 in the cabin, and another in front of him. After the lorry had travelled for some distance, all the accused persons stopped the lorry on the pretext that they wanted to get down from the lorry as the village where they had their work to attend to had been reached. That the deceased driver had stopped the lorry and p. w. 14 opened the left side cabin door of the lorry. That, then the accused who was sitting in the rear side of the driver threw chilli powder on the eyes of the deceased driver and at that, the accused person who was sitting with p. w. 14 cleaner assaulted him i. e. p. w. 14. Thereafter, p. w. 14 jumped out of the lorry and ran away. That thereafter he had gone for quarter of a k. m. and having found a government bus, p. w. 14 gave signal to stop the same and accordingly having found the driver of the said bus stopping the bus, p. w. 14 started narrating in hindi language what had come on him and that the driver of the government bus since was not knowing hindi language, he could not understand what p. w. 14 was narrating all about and therefore the driver of the government bus had his way. In the meantime, p. w. 14 had also noticed their lorry being driven towards hubli side.