PONNAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ACCUSED Land 2 in Sessions Case 15 of 1962 on the file of the Second Additional Sessions judge of Trivandrum are the appellants. The appellants along with their sister the third accused who was acquitted stood charged with offences under S. 302, 452, 324, and 323 read with s. 114 IPC. Deceased Kuttan is a brother of accused 1 to 3. Their mother Chinna executed a settlement deed Ext. P 16 in the name of the deceased in respect of 42 cents of property. It is the prosecution case that after the execution of the document the relationship between deceased Kuttan and his brothers became strained.

(2.) ON the date of the incident, namely, 14121961 the third accused had some cadjan leaves cut from some coconut trees near the house of the second accused which belonged to pw. 12. pw. 12 came and objected and the cadjan leaves so cut were entrusted to the deceased Kuttan who had them removed to his courtyard and spread for drying. The stem portion of the fronds cut were split by his wife and they were also spread in the courtyard. The third accused cut more cadjan leaves from the property in the possession of the other sharers. The wife of the first accused collected some sheaths etc. and removed them to the courtyard of her house. At about 3 p. m. the third accused Lekshmi came and collected the split cadjan stems from the courtyard of Kuttan's house. Seeing this Kuttan removed sheaths from the courtyard of the first accused's house and brought them to his house keeping it underneath his cot in the out-house. The third accused came to the house to remove them. A tussle ensued between her and deceased Kuttan, in the course of which she sustained injuries. The third accused then took a chopper and there was a grappling between her and the deceased. Seeing this the wife of the first accused raised an alarm & hearing the cries the third accused's son Sukumaran and accused 1 and 2 rushed up to the house. Sukumaran and the deceased engaged themselves in a scuffle. The 1st accused had an axe handle with him with which he dealt a blow on kuttan, but the blow accidentally fell on the head of Sukumaran. Sukumaran got up and took an iron bar M. 0. 1. The third accused called out that Kuttan and his wife pw. 1 should be attacked. The 1st accused thereupon beat pw. 1, sukumaran fisted her and then turned towards Kuttan. To escape from the clutches Kuttan got inside the house. Accessed 1, 2 and Sukumaran attempted to get into the house, whereupon Kuttan escaped and ran eastwards. Accused 1, 2 and Sukumaran chased him. While running the 2nd accused threw the spade handle m. 0. 2 which hit behind Kuttan's left knee and when he was about to fall down sukumaran approached and struck a heavy blow on the head of Kuttan with the iron rod. Kuttan's son pw. 2 reached the place. He was beaten by the 1st accused. pw. 1 was then seen coming and they pursued her and when she got into the verandah of pw. 5's shop, she was caught and accused 1 and 2 beat her.

(3.) THE fact that deceased Kuttan sustained serious injuries on that day and died of the injuries is amply proved and is not disputed. pw. 3 the doctor who conducted the autopsy noticed 12 ante-mortem injuries on the deceased. THE first injury was a lacerated wound 4" x 1/2" bone deep on the left partial region of the skull. THEre was a crack of the bone underneath and death was due to coma as a result of compression of the brain due to the effusion of blood into the cranial cavity. pw. 4 Dr. Mathew Zacharia another doctor has proved the wound certificate of pw. 1. It is ext. P-5. She was admitted as an in-patient on 14121961 and discharged on 22121961. Ext. P-7 is the wound certificate of pw. 2.