STATE OF KERALA Vs. K T THOMAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by the State against the acquittal of the accused by the learned Sessions Judge of Kottayam in S.C. No. 60 of 1958 on his file. There were 25 accused persons in the case and all of them were charged under S.147, 341 or 341 read with 149 and 427 and 427 read with 149, I.P.C. Accused persons 2, 4, 7 to 11, 13, 18 and 19 were also charged under S.143, I.P.C. Accused persons 7 to 11 were further charged for an offence under S.307 I.P.C. All the 25 accused persons were further charged with an offence under S.307 read with S.149, I.P.C.

(2.) The prosecution case is that the 25 accused persons and others were against the passing of the Kerala Education Act and they wanted to murder the Honble Minister Sri. T.A. Majeed and Sri. P.T. Punnoose, M.P., and thereby upset the Government. With this common object the accused persons with about 50 others waited near the Lincoln Motor Shop at Kanjirapally on the 26th of September, 1957. The Minister had a programme that day to go to Koratty through Kanjirapally for opening a bridge. The Minister, who is PW 11 in the case, reached Kanjirappally Travellers Bungalow at about 12.30 p. m, ,on that day. Pw, 12, Sri. P.T. Punnoose, and his brother inlaw, PW 2, went to the Travellers Bungalow a little after the arrival of the Minister to invite him for lunch at the residence of PW 2. They went to the Travellers Bungalow in a car, K.L.K. 999, and took the Minister in the car along with PW 1, who was found waiting on the verandah of the Travellers Bungalow. The above said four persons proceeded in the car to the house of PW 2. PW 1 was sitting in the front seat of the car beside the driver and the others were in the back seat. PW 11, the Minister, was on the right hand side of the back seat. When the car reached the gate of the Travellers Bungalow, the inmates of the car saw a jeep waiting on the road. The prosecution case is that the 5th accused was in the jeep and the jeep followed the car, in which the Minister and the others were travelling. On the way the jeep tried to overtake the car. But PW 2 instructed the driver not to allow the jeep to overtake them. The car came near the Lincoln Motor Shop, when the inmates of the car saw a crowd of people about 75 strong standing on either side of the road. Some of them had black flags in their hands and others had sticks. At that time PW 1 looked back and saw the 5th accused standing in the jeep and showing signs to the people waiting there indicating that the persons, for whom they were waiting, were in the car. Then the crowd on the road stopped the car and some of them hit with sticks on the top and bonnet of the car and they also shouted slogans against the government. The 1st accused is alleged to have shouted kill him, on which accused persons 7 to 11 rushed, with daggers in hand, to the right side of the car where the Minister was sitting and tried to open the door of the car. At this juncture PW 2 directed the driver to proceed and the driver raised the engine of the car, when the crowd standing in front of the car dispersed and allowed the car to proceed. Thereafter the car proceeded to the residence of PW 2. Mrs. Rosamma Punnoose, wife of PW 12, was also at the residence of PW 2. After lunch by about 3-45 p. m. in the evening PW 11 and Mrs. Punnoose proceeded to Koratty in the State car for the function and returned by about 5-30 p. m. to Kanjirappally Travellers Bungalow. Then PW 11 went to Kottayam and stayed at the Government House there for the night.

(3.) The 1st accused stated before the Sessions Court that he did not stop the car, in which the Minister was travelling, but the car was voluntarily stopped by the driver and a little thereafter it proceeded. Some people in the crowd shouted slogans and nobody in the crowd did anything more than shouting slogans. The 2nd accused said practically the same thing. The 4th accused also concurred in this version and further said that PWs 2, 12 and the wife of PW 12 were responsible for foisting this false charge against him and that all the eyewitnesses were members of the Communist Party and hence were giving false evidence against him. The 3rd and the 7th accused stated that they were not guilty and the witnesses were not speaking the truth. Accused persons 8 to 15 also had the same case as the 1st accused. The 16th accused and the 18th accused stated that they were in the house of the 16th accused along with DW 3 at the time of the occurrence. Accused persons 17, 19 and 20 concurred with the statement of the 1st accused. Accused persons 21, 22 and 23 also stated that there was only a black flag demonstration and the prosecution witnesses were not speaking the truth. Accused persons 5, 6, 24 and 25 pleaded that they were not at the scene of occurrence at that time. The 24th accused said that he was at the Cosmo Hotel in Mundakayam and he met the Excise Inspector, DW 5, there. The 25th accused stated that he saw PW 10 at the 28th mile on the K-K road at 12 noon on that day and it was not possible for him to be present at the scene of occurrence at the alleged time.