JAYA MADHAVAN ALIAS JAYAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The accused in S.C. No. 38 of 1996 is the appellant. He was tried and convicted for a charge under S. 302, IPC and sentenced to imprisonment for life on an allegation that he stabbed Naiju at about 6.45 p.m. on 19-6-1995 in front of a closed shop room in Cherpu Panchayat, Corakam Village, as a result of which the said Naiju died on his way to the hospital.

(2.) To prove the above charge, the prosecution examined P.Ws. 1 to 12 and marked Exts. P1 to P7. M.Os. 1 to 9 were also produced and marked.

(3.) The facts necessary to dispose of the appeal can be briefly summarised as follows : The accused and the deceased are friends. On the afternoon of 19-6-1995 they were seen quarrelling with each other by P.W. 5. On the evening of the same day at about 6.45 p.m. for reasons unknown to anybody an altercation ensued between the deceased Naiju and the accused followed by a scuffle between them. P.W. 1, who was returning from his masonry work, P.W. 2, who was running a hotel near the scene of occurrence and P.W. 3, who was standing at the scene of occurrence saw the accused and the deceased grappling with each other. The accused using his leg brought down Naiju, the deceased on the floor, sat on his abdomen, pulled out a knife and stabbed twice on the chest of the deceased. P.W. 4, the police constable attached to Cherpu Police station who was on traffic duty reached the place of occurrence. On seeing P.W. 4 the accused beat the knife on the floor and broke it into two. P.Ws. 1 and 3 then took the injured to a private nursing home where on examination by the doctor, P.W. 7, he was pronounced dead. In the meanwhile the accused was detained at the scene of occurrence by P.W. 4.