SUDHAKAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant in Crl.A.No.300 of 2016 is A.5; the appellant in Crl.A.No.309 of 2016 is A.2; the appellant in Crl.A.No.340 of 2016 is A.4; the appellants in Crl.A.No.516 of 2016 are A.3 & A.6 and the appellant in Crl.A.No.612 of 2016 is A.1 in S.C.No.4 of 2010, on the file of the learned I Additional Sessions Judge, Salem. There were two other accused by name Saravanan @ Saravana Kumar and one Senthil @ Senthil Kumar. Mr. Saravanan @ Saravana Kumar died on 04.01.2010 and thus, the charge against him stood abated. The accused Mr. Senthil @ Senthilkumar has been absconding from 25.09.2012 onwards and so, the case against him has been split up and numbered as S.C.No.145 of 2015. The said case is still pending for trial. It was informed to this Court that Mr. Senthil @ Senthilkumar has not been so far secured by the Police despite issuance of Non Bailable Warrant by the Court. Thus, these six appellants alone faced the trial as accused 1 to 6. A.1 to 3, 5 & 6 stood charged for offences under Sections 148, 302 & 341 I.P.C. A.4 stood charged for offences under Sec. 147, 341 and 302 r/w Sec. 149 I.P.C. By judgment dated 30.03.2016, the trial Court convicted all the six accused/appellants and sentenced them as detailed below:- Sl.No Accused Sec. of law Conviction 1 A.1 to A.3, A.5 & A.6 148, 341 and 302 I.P.C., Rigorous imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs.500.00 in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months, for the offence under Sec. 148 I.P.C., Simple imprisonment for one month and to pay a fine of Rs.500.00 in default to undergo simple imprisonment for 10 days for the offence under Sec. 341 I.P.C., Imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000.00 in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months for the offence under Sec. 302 I.P.C.,

(2.) A.4 147, 341, and 302 I.P.C., Rigorous imprisonment for two years and to pay a fine of Rs.500.00 in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months, for the offence under Sec. 147 I.P.C., Simple imprisonment for one month and to pay a fine of Rs.500.00 in default to undergo simple imprisonment for 10 days for the offence under Sec. 341 I.P.C., Imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000.00 in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months for the offence under Sec. 302 I.P.C. The trial Court ordered the above sentences to run concurrently. Challenging the said conviction and sentence, the appellants/A.1 to A.6 are before this Court with these Criminal Appeals. 2. The case of the prosecution, in brief, is as follows:- "The deceased in this case was one Mr. Mayilsamy. He was a resident of Kullaveeranpatti, Mettur Taluk, Salem District. P.W.2 is his father. The deceased had a sister by name Mrs. Banumathi, who was married to one Mr. Raja. The fourth accused herein Mr. Seerangan and Mr. Raja are brothers. P.W.1 is the son of Mr. Raja. The fourth accused had a son by name Mr. Venkatesh. There was a longstanding dispute between the fourth accused Mr. Sreerangan and Mr. Raja in respect of partition of their joint family property. Some time before the occurrence, Mr. Venkatesh, the son of the fourth accused had cut a finger of Mr. Raja (the father of P.W.1) with aruval and the same resulted in a criminal case against Mr. Venkatesh. This occurrence aggravated the enmity between the two families further. Later on, Mr. Venkatesh (the son of the fourth accused) was murdered. In the said case, P.W.1 and his father Mr. Raja were arrayed as accused. P.W.1 was then a Juvenile. Mr. Raja was ultimately acquitted by the Court, in the said murder case. The case against P.W.1 was dealt with by the Juvenile Justice Board. The murder of Mr. Venkatesh allegedly by Mr. Raja and P.W.1 further aggravated the enmity between these two families. The deceased-Mr. Mayilsamy was all along supporting Mr. Raja and P.W.1, in their fight against, A.4 and Mr. Venkatesh. Thus, A.4 - Mr. Sreerangam and his family members had grudges against the deceased. These events are stated to be the motive for the occurrence.

(3.) It is alleged that on 19.06.2008 around 9.30 pm, P.W.1 and the deceased had gone to a shop at work shop corner and then they were returning via EB Quartres. When they were nearing the channel bank, the accused 1 to 3 suddenly emerged there. Each of them were armed with one aruval. A.2 was also present there. On seeing them menacingly advancing towards P.W.1, the deceased shouted at them and requested them to spare P.W.1. But, the fourth accused - Mr. Sreerangam, directed the accused 1 to 3 to kill the deceased also. P.W.1 managed to scale down this fence and from the other side, he was sitting and closely watching the rest of the occurrence. It is further alleged that on reaching the deceased, as directed by the fourth accused, the accused 1 to 3 attacked the deceased with aruval repeatedly one after the other. The accused 5 and 6, the deceased accused Mr. Saravanan @ Saravana Kumar and the absconding accused Mr. Senthil @ Senthil Kumar also came to the place of occurrence armed with aruval and they also cut the deceased indiscriminately. P.W.2, the father of the deceased also came to the place of occurrence and witnessed the entire occurrence. Thus, the entire occurrence was witnessed only by Pws.1 and 2. On hearing the alarm raised by P.W.2, all the eight accused fled away from the scene of occurrence.