SOUNDARARAJAN Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment dtd. 25/4/2022 made in S.C.No.74 of 2019 on the file of the Sessions Judge, Karur. By the impugned judgment, the appellants were found guilty of the offences under Ss. 148, 341 and 302 IPC. The sentence particulars are as follows:-

(2.) The case of the prosecution is as follows:-

(3.) P.W.1 daughter of Veeramalai and the sister of Nallathambi lodged Ex.P.1 complaint before Kulithalai police station at around 9.00 a.m. on 29/7/2019. It was registered as crime No.320 of 2019 for the offences under Ss. 147, 148 and 302 IPC. P.W.30 Inspector of Police took up investigation. He went to the spot where Nallathambi was murdered and prepared rough sketch and observation mahazar. A black colour cellphone was found near the spot where Nallathambi was killed. It was recovered under Ex.P.4. Bloodstained samples were also collected from the spot. Inquest was conducted. Ex.P.30 is the inquest report. Thereafter, the said P.W.30 went to the spot where Veeramalai was killed. He prepared Ex.P.31 rough sketch. He also collected bloodstained samples from the spot. He then arranged inquest. Ex.P.32 is the inquest report in respect of Veeramalai. He examined the family members of the deceased and recorded their statements. P.W.21 Dr.Boominathan conducted postmortem on the body of Nallathambi in the evening on 29/7/2019 from 5.15 pm. and 6.15 pm. Ex.P.22 is the postmortem report in respect of Nallathambi. The postmortem on the body of Veeramalai was performed from 6.15 pm. Ex.P.24 is the postmortem report in respect of Veeramalai. Since the investigation had not at all progressed, the Superintendent of Police, Karur District vide order dtd. 2/8/2019 withdrew the investigation from P.W.30 Thiru.Baskaran, Inspector of Police and entrusted the same to Thiru.Sukumar, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kulithalai Sub Division(P.W.31). He continued the investigation and recorded the statements of Annalakshmi and Periyannan. He arrested A2 Jeyagandhan at 2.30 pm. on 2/8/2019. Based on his disclosure statement of A2(Ex.P.9), one of the weapons used in committing the crime was seized. Praveenkumar(A6) had surrendered and police custody was obtained. Based on his disclosure statement (Ex.P.11), his bloodstained shirt was seized under recovery mahazar. The police custody of the other surrendered accused, namely Perumal, Sasikumar, Prabakaran, Shanmugam, Kaviyarasu and Stalin was also obtained. Based on their disclosure statements, certain incriminating materials including the weapons used for committing the crime were seized. P.W.31 arranged Test Identification Parade. Since M.O.2 mobile phone was seized from one of the occurrence spots, request was given to the State Nodal Officer of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., and information was obtained from them along with certificate under Sec. 65-B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. After obtaining forensic reports and examining the medical witnesses, final report was filed before the Judicial Magistrate No.II, Kulithalai. It was taken on file in P.R.C.No.10 of 2019 and it was committed to the file of the Sessions Court. It was taken up for trial in S.C.No.74 of 2019. Charges were framed against all the 10 accused. The accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. The prosecution examined P.W.1 to P.W.31 and marked Ex.P.1 to Ex.P.47. Ex.X.1 to Ex.X.4 and M.O.1 to M.O.31 were also marked. On the side of the accused, five witnesses were examined. Ex.D.1 to Ex.D.3 were marked. After examining the evidence on record, the trial Court vide judgment dtd. 25/4/2022 acquitted accused Nos.7 to 10 and convicted accused Nos.1 to 6 as mentioned above. Aggrieved by the acquittal of accused Nos.7 to 10, P.W.1 filed Crl.A.(MD).No.468 of 2022. It was dismissed by the Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court vide order dtd. 1/11/2022.