NAZEER Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this appeal filed under Sec. 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ("the Cr.P.C" for the sake of brevity), the appellant calls in question the finding of guilt, conviction and sentence passed by the Additional District & Sessions Judge-VI, Kollam in judgment dtd. 11/6/2019 in S.C. No. 1251 of 2017. The aforesaid case has arisen from Crime No. 793 of 2017 of the Kadakkal Police Station. The appellant in the above case stood charge-sheeted for having committed the offence punishable under Ss. 341, 323, 324 and 302 of the IPC. By the above judgment, he was convicted and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life for the offence under Sec. 302 of the IPC. No separate sentence was awarded for the other offences.

(2.) The deceased, Madhusudanan Nair @ Maniyan, was the husband of Ambili (PW16). Owing to a strained marital relationship, he began spending most nights at the Kadakkal Market and was employed there as a casual labourer. The accused, Nazeer, is alleged to have been both a friend and a co-worker of the deceased. On the evening of 30/4/2017, at approximately 6:30 p.m., the accused and the deceased arrived at the market, at which point a verbal altercation ensued between them. Both individuals were allegedly under the influence of alcohol and in an inebriated condition. According to the prosecution, the quarrel escalated over the sharing of liquor, culminating in the accused wrongfully restraining the deceased on the veranda of the Triveni Supermarket, Kadakkal. It is further alleged that, in the course of this confrontation, the accused assaulted the deceased using MO1, a piece of firewood, and struck him on various parts of his body. As per the charge against the accused, on 30/4/2017 at about 7:30 p.m., he wrongfully restrained the deceased in front of the Triveni Supermarket and, with the intention of causing his death, delivered a forceful punch below the deceased's right ear and subsequently assaulted him with MO1 firewood. These acts are alleged to have resulted in injuries that ultimately led to the death of the deceased.

(3.) Raveendran Nair (PW1), the elder brother of the deceased, was informed by the President of the local Panchayat at approximately 7:00 a.m. on 1/5/2017 that his younger brother, Madhusudanan Nair @ Maniyan, was found lying dead in the veranda of the Triveni Supermarket, Kadakkal. On receiving this information, PW1 immediately approached the local Police Station, where his statement was recorded at 8:30 a.m. on the same day. Based on his statement, Ext.P12 First Information Report was registered under Sec. 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, as a case of unnatural death, by PW17, the Station House Officer of Kadakkal Police Station. At the time of the registration of Ext.P12 FIR, the cause of death of Maniyan was unknown.