S. RAMASAMY Vs. THE STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been filed against the judgment dated 05.01.2013 passed in S.C. No. 92 of 2012 by the learned Additional Sessions Judge at Karaikal.

(2.) It is the case of the prosecution that the deceased and the accused were as thick as thieves and were glass-mates. They hail from the same fishing community in Puducherry and on the day, they do not go for fishing, they will invariably be found in the arrack shop at Poovam Nandalar, drinking to their heart's content. It is alleged by the prosecution that on 18.10.2011, the duo got drunk in the said arrack shop and quarrelled. In the course of the quarrel, it is alleged that the accused attacked the deceased with a liquor bottle on his face, hit him with a stone on the back side of his head and throttled him, resulting in his death. Kuttiyandi [P.W. 1], the son of the deceased, saw his father leaving with the accused on 18.10.2011 around 6.00 p.m. to the arrack shop and thereafter, his father did not return home; on 19.10.2011, he enquired with the accused and did not get any proper reply; however, he received information that his father was lying near the auto stand in Poovam Nandalar and when he went there, he saw his father's body lying with some bruises.

(3.) On the complaint [Ex. P.1] given by Kuttiyandi [P.W. 1], Purushothaman [P.W. 15], Sub-Inspector of Police, registered a case in Cr. No. 98 of 2011 under Section 174 Cr.P.C., 1973 vide FIR [Ex. P.18] on 19.10.2011 at 8.30 hours and took over the investigation of the case. He went to the place where the body was found with Murugesan [P.W. 14] the police photographer and took photographs which were marked as Ex. P.11 series. In the presence of R. Natarajan [P.W. 7], he prepared an Observation Mahazar [Ex. P.5] and a Rough Sketch [Ex.P.4]. Near the dead body, he noticed two ten rupee notes and broken bottle pieces [M.O.6], which were seized under the cover of mahazar [Ex.P.6]. He conducted inquest over the body of the deceased from 10.15 a.m. to 1.45 p.m and sent the body to the General Hospital, Karaikal for post-mortem, where Dr. Narasimhamoorthy, [P.W. 12] conducted autopsy and in his evidence as well in the Post-mortem Certificate [Ex.P.10], he has opined as follows: