ARUMUGAM Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant in Crl.A.No.433 of 2015 is the Accused No.1 and the appellant in Crl.A.No.208 of 2015 is the Accused No.2 in S.C.No.229 of 2008 on the file of the III Additional Sessions Judge, Cuddalore at Virudhachalam. They stood charged for offences under Sections 302, 201 r/w 302, 392 and 201 r/w 392 of IPC. The trial court, by judgement dated 19.03.2015, convicted both A1 and A2 under all the charges and sentenced them to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- each in default to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a further period of two years for the offence under Section 302 of IPC; to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- each in default to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a further period of six months for offence under Section 392 of IPC; to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- each in default to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a further period of six months for offence under Section 201 r/w 302 of IPC; and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- each in default to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a further period of six months for offence under Section 201 r/w 392 of IPC. Challenging the above said conviction and sentences, A1 and A2 have come up with these criminal appeals.

(2.) The case of the prosecution in brief is as follows:- The deceased in this case was one Mr.Madhavan. He was employed as a driver in a Lorry Transport concern known as "Sri Meenakshi Transports", Chennai. P.W.6 was a manager in the said company. P.W.14 is yet another manager in the same company. On 30.11.2007, 16 Tons of Bitumen [also known as "Tar"] was transported in the tanker lorry bearing Regn. No.TN 22 L 2518 belonging to the said Transport concern, from IOC, Chennai. The deceased was the driver of the said lorry. The tanker lorry loaded with tar left Chennai on 01.12.2007. The consignment of tar was meant to be delivered to a company known as "JMC Project (I) Limited" at Thuvarankurichi. The lorry was proceeding via, Koyambedu Bus Stand at Chennai. There, when the deceased stopped the lorry for a while, these two accused came and approached the deceased and wanted him to permit them to travel in the said lorry upto Perambalur. Since Perambalur was in between Chennai and Thuvarankurichi, the deceased allowed them to travel in the said lorry as a measure of help. The lorry was then proceeding towards Thuvarankurichi on the National Highway. Around 03.00 a.m. on 02.12.2007, when the lorry reached a place known as "Kalugur Village", for taking rest for some time, the deceased stopped the lorry by the side of the road. A1 and A2, who were sitting in the cabin of the lorry, decided to rob the tanker lorry with consignment loaded therein utilizing the said opportunity. They acted swiftly, smothered the deceased to suffocation and killed him. Then, they threw the dead body in the maize field of one Mrs.Pitchayee Ammal and took away the lorry, loaded with tar. It is further alleged that they drained the tar from the tanker in 67 barrels and sold the same to one Mr.Sakthikumar [P.W.16] at Arainarai Village for a total consideration of Rs.2,30,000/-. The barrels filled with tar were stored by P.W.16 in his field for the purpose of selling the same to various third parties for higher value. Then, A1 and A2 shared the sale proceeds among themselves. Thereafter, they took the empty lorry to Ranganathapuram village where, A1 parked the same by the side of the High Road after changing the number plate with a fake registration number. Then, both A1 and A2 went to their respective house without disclosing anything about the occurrence. The entire occurrence was thus not witnessed by anyone.

(3.) Based on the above materials, the trial court framed as many as four charges as against A1 and A2 as detailed in the first paragraph of this judgement. They denied the same. In order to prove the case, on the side of the prosecution, as many as 37 witnesses were examined, 43 documents and 18 material objects were marked.