HARIPRASANNA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Criminal Appeals are filed against the judgment of conviction and sentence, dated 31.03.2010 made in SC.No.406/2008 by the learned Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court No.IV, Chennai. Totally there are five accused and they stood charged and tried for the commission of the offence under section 306 IPC and the Trial Court, vide impugned judgment dated 31.03.2010, had acquitted A-5, viz., Karthikeyan and however, found the appellants/A-1 to A-4 guilty for the commission of the said offence and convicted and sentenced each of them to undergo 5 years rigorous imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.15,000/- each with a default sentence of one year simple imprisonment.

(2.) The case of the prosecution as per the charge sheet filed by the Inspector of Police, Villivakkam Police Station, the respondent herein, is that the deceased Gopinath was engaged in the business of manufacturing Phenyl and Soap Oil in the name of Sri Rasi Chemicals in a portion of his house. He had availed credit facilities from ABN Amro Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI and Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited, apart from other Financiers for the purpose of his business. The appellants/A-1 to A-4 and yet another accused, being Collection Agents, of the above said Banks had visited the house of the deceased at Door No.49, Agathiyar Nagar Extension 5 th Street, Ponvizha Nagar, Villivakkam, on the night of 27.09.2007 to collect the outstanding amounts due on the credit cards/personal loan account and that the appellants and the other accused person have abused the victim Gopinath and his family members in filthy language and left the place saying that they would come back on the next day and had threatened to kidnap his wife and children, if the deceased fails to pay the outstanding. Due to the ill- treatment and threat by the appellants and the other accused, the deceased, out of shame and mental agony, had slit his hands with a laser knife and also consumed poison and thereby, committed suicide. On the complaint given by the wife of the deceased, viz., Mrs.G.Vijayalakshmi [P.W.1], a case in crime No.515/2007 came to be registered by the respondent police for the commission of the offences under section 352, 507, 306 IPC. The Inspector of Police, after completion of the investigation, had filed the Final Report against the accused persons for the offence under section 306 IPC.

(3.) The case was taken on file in PRC No.54/2008 on the file of the learned X Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai and the learned Magistrate, in due compliance of section 207 Cr.P.C., furnished the copies of the documents relied on by the prosecution to the accused. Since the offence under section 306 IPC was exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions, the learned Magistrate committed the same to the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Chennai and that the learned Judge had made over to the Trial Court, viz.,the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court No.IV, Chennai, in SC.No.406/2008 and necessary charge was framed. The accused had denied the charges and sought for trial. In order to bring home the charges against the accused, the prosecution examined PW.1 to PW.19 and also marked Exs.P1 to P12 and 5 Material Objects. No oral evidence was let in on the side of the defence. However, Exs.D1 and D2 were marked on the side of the defence.