B RAMACHANDER Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant/A-7 was working as Sub-Inspector of Police, Bela Police Station of Adilabad District. He was convicted by the II Additional Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court), Adilabad under Sections 201, 202, 217 I.P.C and was sentenced to rigorous imprisonments of two years, six months and one year and pay fines of Rs.3,000.00, Rs.1,000.00 and Rs.1,000.00 respectively. Questioning the same, A-7 filed this appeal.

(2.) It is prosecution case that on 20.02.2000 A-1 to A-6 armed with sticks, axes and poison tins attacked the deceased Bakre Ramji and his wife P.W-1 and beat them alleging that their son Bakre Kaud molested A-1's daughter and that on 01.03.2000 when the deceased went to fields for night watch, the accused administered poison to him by force and killed him and that on the next day, another son of the deceased by name Prakash (P.W-11) gave report to A-7 who came to the village and made enquiry with family members of the deceased and informed them that it was a natural death as there were no injuries found on the dead body, and that in spite of family members of the deceased testifying the death as suspicious one, A-7 forced them to execute a document and thereafter family members of the deceased buried the dead body as per family custom and that subsequently Inspector of Police, Adilabad Rural Circle on instructions of superior officers took up further investigation into the case and exhumed dead body of the deceased for the purpose of post mortem examination and that viscera collected from the dead body was sent to Forensic Science Laboratory where it was confirmed that the deceased died due to consumption of poison. The lower Court framed charges under Sections 148, 302/149 I.P.C against A-1 to A-6 and under Sections 201, 202, 217 and 218 I.P.C against A-7. All the accused pleaded not guilty of the charges. After trial, in which the prosecution examined P.Ws 1 to 24 and marked Exs.P-1 to P-48 and M.O-1 and the accused marked Exs.D-1 to D-5, the lower Court found A-1 to A-6 not guilty and acquitted them of all the charges, but found A-7 guilty of the above charges in respect of which convictions and sentences were passed.

(3.) In this appeal, it is contended by senior counsel for the appellant/A-7 that trial of the case for the offence under Sec. 217 I.P.C is vitiated for want of sanction for prosecution of A-7 under Sec. 197 Cr.P.C and that even as per the prosecution allegations, Sec. 202 I.P.C has no application to this case at all and that there is no causing disappearance of evidence of any offence in this case with an intention to screen any offender from legal punishment. It is further contended that the lower Court having found A-1 to A- 6 not guilty of the charges against them, should have found A-7 also not guilty of the charges framed against him. In order to appreciate these contentions of A-7, it is necessary to go into certain factual aspects relating to these offences.