STATE OF KERALA Vs. SHEREEF

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These appeals and DSR arise from SC No.1222/2011 arising from Crime No. 702/2011 of Varkala Police Station. Crl.Appeal No.40/2014 is filed by the 1st accused and Crl.Appeal No.20/2014 is filed by the 2nd accused. By virtue of the impugned judgment dated 19/10/2013, first accused was sentenced to be hanged by the neck till his death for the offence u/s 302 I.P.C . The second accused was sentenced to imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.10 lakhs under Section 120B r/w S.302 I.P.C . and in default of payment of fine, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for four years. In the event of realisation of fine amount, the entire amount was to be given to PW2 under Section 357(1) Cr.P.C. The first accused was further sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 7 years under Section 328 I.P.C., rigorous imprisonment for 7 years under Section 364 I.P.C. and rigorous imprisonment for 3 years under Section 201 IPC. The sentences were to run concurrently and the sentence of death imposed on the first accused was subject to confirmation of this Court. The second accused was entitled for set off u/s 428 of Cr.P.C.

(2.) DSR No.5/13 has been placed before us for confirmation regarding the death sentence imposed on the first accused.

(3.) The case of the prosecution is that the accused persons were having financial transactions with deceased Salim. Huge amount of money was due to the deceased Salim from the accused persons. In order to avoid repayment of the money to the deceased, the accused persons committed criminal conspiracy and in pursuance thereof, the first accused on 9/7/2011 at 10.30 am contacted deceased Salim over mobile number of deceased Salim viz., 9895716570 using mobile number 9946385801 obtained by the first accused with a forged identity card and invited deceased Salim to the rented house of the first accused stating that he had arranged a woman for him in the said house. In pursuance of the temptation made by the first accused, the deceased Salim accepted the invitation of the first accused. The first accused took deceased Salim in an Ambassador car bearing Regn.No.KL-2/D-6046 from a place near to Parakkulam L.P.School to the rented house of the first accused viz., Sameeha Manzil situated near Pukayilathoppu Junction in Edakkode Village. The first accused took deceased to the hall room of the said house at 11 am on the same day. Thereafter the first accused caused deceased Salim to drink beer with ice cubes containing powdered drug viz., Nitrest-10 tablets, which is a stupefying drug and the first accused administered the drug to Salim and he became unconscious. Thereafter, the first accused inflicted fatal injuries on the head of deceased Salim by cutting with a chopper which was sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death and Salim succumbed to the injuries at or about the same time. The first accused cut the body of deceased Salim into sixteen pieces on the same day at or about the same time with a chopper and a knife and put the same into nine plastic packets. Thereafter, the above said nine packets, chopper and knife, the clothes worn by the deceased Salim at the relevant time, the clothes worn by the first accused at the relevant time, the forged documents used by the first accused for obtaining the SIM card, the photograph which was used to make fake ID proof, the cover paper of the SIM card, the empty covers of Nitrest-10 tablets etc., were buried by the first accused in a round pit taken by the first accused, on the eastern side of Sameeha Manzil, with the purpose of causing disappearance of the evidence of the commission of the crime. The prosecution alleged that the aforesaid acts were done by the 1 st accused pursuant to a criminal conspiracy entered into between the first and the second accused from February 2011 onwards when both the accused were in Saudi Arabia and thereafter over mobile phone and internet calls, when one of the accused was in India till the murder of deceased Salim on 9/7/2011 and as abetted by the second accused.