SREE VIJAYAKUMAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants 1 to 4 were accused Nos.1 to 4 respectively, in Sessions Case No.91 of 1998 on the file of Additional Sessions Judge, Kanyakumari District at Nagercoil and in this judgment, they will be referred to as accused Nos.1 to 4 for the sake of convenience.

(2.) Under charge No.1, accused Nos. 1 and 2 were charged for the offence under Section 302 I.P.C. for causing the death of Rajeswaran by hitting him on the head with bottle containing petrol and setting him on fire and the learned Sessions Judge found them guilty and sentenced each one of them to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- each and in default, each of them to undergo simple imprisonment for six months. Under charge No.2, accused Nos. 3 and 4 were charged for the offence under Section 302 read with Section 34 I.P.C. on the allegation that in furtherance of common intention with accused Nos.1 and 2 to cause the death of Rajeswaran, accused Nos.3 and 4, during the occurrence, prevented Rajeswaran from moving away from the place when accused Nos.1 and 2 set him ablaze and the learned Sessions Judge found them guilty and sentenced each of them to undergo imprisonment for life and each of them to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- and in default, each of them to undergo simple imprisonment for six months. Under charge No.3, accused No.2 was charged for the offence under Section 307 I.P.C. on the allegation that he attempted to murder P.W.1 Jagadeeswaran by repeatedly stabbing him with knife and the learned Sessions Judge found him not guilty for the offence charged and instead, found him guilty for the offence under Section 324 I.P.C. and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year. Under charge No.4, accused Nos.1, 3 and 4 were charged for the offence under Section 307 read with Section 34 I.P.C. on the allegation that in furtherance of common intention with accused No.2 in attempting to murder P.W.1, accused Nos.1, 3 and 4 caught hold of P.W.1 during the occurrence when accused No.2 stabbed him with knife and the learned Sessions Judge found the accused not guilty for the offence charged and instead, found them guilty for the offence under Section 324 read with Section 34 I.P.C. and sentenced each of them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year.

(3.) To prove its case, the prosecution has examined P.Ws.1 to 17 and marked Exs.P-1 to P-31 as well as M.Os.1 to 10.