CHUNDEKKUNNEL JOHN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is the accused in C.C.No.168/1993 before the Judicial First Class Magistrate's Court, Nilambur. He was prosecuted for offences punishable under Sections 323, 447, 324 and 326 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) THE prosecution case as available in the judgment of the Magistrate is as follows:

(3.) THE first contention of the petitioner is that the evidence accepted by the courts below was that of interested witnesses, viz., PWs 1 to 3, and the independent witnesses who were examined, turned hostile. As such, there is no reliable oral evidence to support the prosecution case. Secondly, it is contended that there is serious doubt regarding the identification of the material objects. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, PWs 1 to 3 did not identify the material objects as the one used for attacking them, but they only stated that they look like the one which were used for attacking them, which puts considerable doubt on the identification of the material objects. The last contention raised by the petitioner is that the investigating officer, CW10, was not examined, which resulted in loss of the right of the petitioner to confront him with the contradictions of PW2.