PRAKASH Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellants in these multiple appeals stand arrayed are A3, A4 A8 A2 A1 and A9 in S.C.No.109 of 2002 on the file of the third Additional Court of Sessions, Chennai. Totally eleven persons were tried in that sessions case for offences under Sections 147, 148, 341 and 302 I.P.C. Except the above appellants, rest were acquitted of all the offences. THE appellants stand convicted - as we could see from paragraph 21 of the judgment in challenge - under Sections 147, 148, 341 and 302 I.P.C. In other words, the learned trial Judge did not acquit the appellants of the offences under Sections 147, 148, 341 I.P.C, as he had specifically acquitted rest of the accused of all the offences. But however under the judgment in challenge, he had sentenced each one of the convicted accused only for the offence under Section 302 I.P.C. and sentenced them to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/-, carrying a default sentence. THE State had not challenged the acquittal of the acquitted accused. Hence, as already stated, all these appeals are before us. Heard Mr.K.Asokan, learned senior counsel appearing for A2, Mr.V.Parthiban, learned counsel appearing for A3, A4 and A8, Mr.Swamidoss Manokaran, learned counsel appearing for A1, Mr.C.K.R.Lenin Sekar, learned counsel appearing for A9 and Mr.N.R.Elango, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the State.

(2.) IN this judgment, we will refer the appellants in these appeals in the same rank in which they were arrayed before the trial Court. The prosecution case is that all the accused forming themselves into members of an unlawful assembly committed the murder of Kandan and therefore punishable as referred to above. IN support of their case, the prosecution examined P.Ws.1 to 13, besides marking Exs. P.1 to P.31 and M.Os 1 to 14. Neither oral nor documentary evidence was brought before Court at the instance of the accused.

(3.) P.W.12, examined to prove the actual occurrence, turned hostile. P.W.13 continued his investigation further by examining witnesses and recording their statements. He formed a separate police team to apprehend the accused. With the assistance of the team lead by Sub-Inspector of Police, Rajagopal, he arrested A1 to A7 at 5.30 p.m. on 17.10.2001 in the presence of witnesses and examined them. However, before they could be arrested, the persons, who were apprehended, indulged in violence by picking up soda bottles from a nearby shop and breaking them on the ground. On that basis, the complaint given by the Sub-Inspector of Police Rajagopal stands registered in his police station Crime No.1897 of 2001. When the arrested accused were examined in the presence of witnesses, each one of them gave a voluntary confession statement, the admissible portions of which are Exs. P.18 to P.24 respectively. M.Os. 4 to 10, knives came to be recovered under a mahazar Ex.P.25 from the house of A.6. On the same day, the accused were sent for judicial remand and the case properties were sent to the Court with a requisition to subject the same for chemical examination. At 10.00 a.m. on 24.10.2001 in Kannan Road at Renganathapuram Housing Colony, P.W.13 arrested A9 in the presence of witnesses and examined him. A9 also gave a voluntary confession statement, the admissible portion of which is Ex.P.26, pursuant to which, M.O.11 came to be recovered under Ex.P.27. On arrest, A.9 pointed out A.10 and A.11 near the railway station at Korukkupet at 11.30 a.m. They were also arrested. From them, M.Os. 12 and 13 came to be recovered under Ex.P.28. The arrested accused and the case properties were brought to the police station. The accused were sent for judicial remand and the case properties were sent to the Court with a requisition to subject the same for chemical examination. At 3.00 p.m. on 7.11.2001, P.W.13 arrested A8 in the presence of witnesses and examined him and A8 also gave a voluntary confession statement, the admissible portion of which is Ex.P.29. Pursuant to which, M.O.14 came to be recovered under Ex.P.30. The arrested accused and the case properties were brought to the police station, from where the accused were sent for judicial remand and the case properties were sent to the Court with a request to subject the same for chemical examination. Accordingly, M.Os. 1 to 10 were sent to the laboratory and Ex.P.31 is the report received from the laboratory. After completing the investigation and all the other legal formalities, P.W.13 filed the final report in Court against the accused for the offence referred to earlier.