KUNJUKRISHNA PILLAI Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two Appeals are by the two accused persons in Sessions Case No. 17 of 1960 on the file of the Sessions Court of Quilon. Appeal No. 178 of 1960 is by the first accused and appeal No. 152 of 1960 by the second accused. The first accused was convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life under S.302 I.P.C. and the second accused was also convicted and sentenced similarly under S.302 read with S.34 I.P.C. The prosecution case may be summarised as follows:

(2.) Both the accused persons were residents in the Ex-Servicemens Colony at Vechu Chira and the deceased Parameswara Kurup was also a resident in the same colony. Pw. 4, Raghavan Nair, was the Secretary of the colony and the deceased was a dependant and confidant of Raghavan Nair. The first accused wanted a loan from the Colony Office, for which Pw-4 did not help him and consequently on 27th July, 1959 the first accused entered the Colony Office armed with a dagger & threatened to attack Pw-4. Pw-4 complained to the police about this incident and ever since that the first accused was on inimical terms with Pw-4, and had been declaring openly that he would do away with Pw. 4. The second accused once abused Pw. 17, when the latter reported the matter to Pw. 4 and Pw. 4 advised him to make a complaint to the police On the advice of Pw. 4, Pw. 17 complained to the police and on this score, because Pw. 4 advised Pw. 17 to lodge a complaint against him, the 2nd accused was on terms of enmity with Pw. 4. According to the prosecution, since the deceased was a dependant of Pw. 4, both the accused persons, for the aforesaid reasons, were inimical to the deceased also. On the day of occurrence, that is, 11th August, 1959, the accused persons after taking toddy from a neighbouring toddy shop came out of the toddy shop, purchased a candle from the shop of one Mundakkayam and passed in front of the house of Pw. 2 at about 9 45 p. m. The first accused was then shouting that he would do away with these scoundrels. Thereafter the first accused proceeded south & the second accused went towards the north The second accused then went to the house of

(3.) Pw. 6, the wife of the deceased, when she found that her husband did not return, sent her son early next morning to make enquiries about the deceased. The boy returned and told Pw. 6 that the dead body of his father was lying on the road leading to the Colony with stab injuries. Thereupon Pw. 6 went to the scene and thereafter to the house of Pw. 4. In the meantime Pw. 1, the nephew of the deceased, got information through a friend about the incident and he had also come to the scene. After seeing the dead body of Parameswara Kurup, Pw. 1 went to the house of Pw. 6 and later in the day he went to the police station at Ranni and gave the first information statement at, 12.20 p. m. On the basis of this first information, investigation started and the Circle Inspector of Pathanamthitta, Pw. 23, conducted the inquest, examined the witnesses and completed the investigation. The accused persons were absconding The first accused was arrested on 1st January 1960 and the second accused surrendered before the police on 7th March, 1960. This, in short, is the prosecution version of the case.