NARAYANA Vs. STATE IF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The sole accused in SC No. 449 of 2010 on the file of the Sessions Court, Thalassery, is the appellant. He has been found guilty and convicted for the offence punishable under S.302 of the Indian Penal Code, hereinafter, referred to as 'the IPC', for short.

(2.) The accused, a native of Dakshin Karnataka, was an employee in a fishing boat, operated from Azhikkal Harbour. On 19/04/2001, a co - worker of the accused Sankara was found dead at a place near the Harbour. The case of the prosecution is that between 9 p.m. on 18/04/2001 and 2 a.m. on 19/04/2001, the accused had committed the murder of Sankara by stabbing him on his chest with a knife.

(3.) PW 1, the brother - in - law of the deceased lodged Ext. P1 First Information Statement concerning the death of the deceased and a case has been registered by the Valapatanam Police based on the said statement. Initially, PW 12 was the officer - in - charge of the investigation. He prepared Ext. P2 scene mahazar, seized MOs 1 to 5 and 9 from the scene of occurrence and recorded the statements of the witnesses. Later, the investigation was continued by PWs 14 to 16 and among them, PW 16 completed the investigation and submitted the final report against the accused, alleging commission of offence punishable under S.302 of the IPC.