SENTHIL KUMAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants 1 to 4 herein have brought forth this appeal against the judgment of conviction and sentence passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Tiruchirapalli in S.C.No.76 of 1993.

(2.) The appellants were tried by the lower court for the charges framed against them under S.323 of I.P.C. (A-2), under S.323 read with S.34 of I.P.C. (A-1, A-3 and A-4), under S.302 of I.P.C. (A-3) and under S.302 read with S.34 of I.P.C. (A-1, A-2 and A-4). They were found guilty under the above penal provisions. A-1 to A-4 were sentenced to undergo life imprisonment for the offence under S.302 of I.P.C. A-1 to A-4 were sentenced to undergo R.I. for six months and to pay a fine of Rs.100/-, in default of which to undergo R.I. for one month. The sentences were to run concurrently.

(3.) Short facts which lead to the framing of the above charges can be stated as follows: P.W.1 Thangaraju was residing with his family members in a small house situate on the bank of Uyyakondan River, Chinnasamy Nagar, Trichy. The deceased Pandian was the son of P.W.1. P.Ws.2 to 6 were all residing in the neighbourhood. On 5.5.1992 at about 4.00 P.M., there was a fire accident at Anna Nagar, "C" Block, Chinnasamy Nagar. In order to protect the household articles, P.W.1 and his deceased son Pandian removed the same from their house and were moving towards the residence of Baskar at 5.15 P.M. to keep them safe. At that time, the appellants 1 to 4 who came from east-west, questioned Pandian, whether they were stealing the household utensils. Pandian replied that those articles belonged to him. Witnessing the same, P.W.2 Raja asked the appellants/accused that why should they come from the next street and do the mischief. On hearing this, A-2 attacked P.W.2 on his head with a bamboo stick. When P.W.1 pushed the second appellant/A-2, A-1 attacked P.W.1. Immediately, the deceased Pandian interfered to prevent A-1 from attacking his father. Suddenly A-4 caught hold of the deceased Pandian on the back side. The third appellant/A-3 took a knife from his waist and gave a severe blow on the left chest of the deceased. The deceased Pandian on receipt of the said stab injury, fell down. All the appellants left the place of occurrence and proceeded towards Jailpettai. The entire occurrence was witnessed by P.Ws.3 to 6. P.W.1 and P.W.6 Shanmugam took the deceased Pandian in an auto rickshaw to the General Hospital, Trichy, where P.W.9 Dr.Ganeshkumar declared him dead. At about 16.30 hours P.W.8 Dr.Mohan treated P.W.2 Raja for the injury sustained by him at the time of occurrence and found the following injuries. 1. Contusion right side forehead 2 x 1 cm. 2. Contusion right side nose 2 x 1 cm. Ex.P4 is the copy of the Accident Register issued by P.W.8 Doctor. He has opined that those injuries were simple in nature.