GOTTE PEDDULU Vs. STATE OF A P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The sole accused in S.C.No.312 of 2003 on the file of the Additional Sessions Judge, Mahabubabad, is the appellant herein. He was charged for the offence under Section 302 of I.P.C. for allegedly killing the deceased at about 8-30 PM on 26-11-2002 at the outskirts of the Banjara village. The accused pleaded not guilty and claimed for trial.

(2.) The case of the prosecution leading to the conviction is as follows: The deceased and the accused are doing sheep business. They go to local Shandies for business. On 24-11-2002, the deceased went to Maripeda cattle Shandy with his 14 sheep for selling. On that, the accused purchased the sheep from the deceased for Rs.16,000/- and out of which he has paid Rs.2,000/- to the deceased as advance and promised to pay the remaining amount at Korivi Shandy on 25-11-2002. The deceased returned to his house and informed the same to his wife, who was examined as PW-4. On 25-11-2002, the deceased along with his nephew went to Korivi Shandy, but the accused could not pay the balance amount as the said sheep were not sold. In the evening, PW-12 purchased the sheep from the accused for Rs.16,100/- and gave Rs.2,000/- as advance and requested the accused to collect the balance amount at Nekkonda Shandy. On that, the deceased was pressurizing the accused to pay the balance amount. On that, PW-12 advised the accused and deceased to go to his house, halt there for the night and collect the amount at Nekkonda Shandy. Accordingly, the accused and the deceased went to the house of the PW-12. On the next day morning, the accused collected Rs.1,000/- from PW-12 for expenses and went to Nekkonda Shandy along with the deceased. In the meanwhile, PW-12 reached Nekkonda Shandy, but the sheep were not sold to any one, due to which PW-12 could not pay the amount to the accused and advised the accused and the deceased to come to Inugurthy Shandy on 27-11-2002. On that, the deceased started abusing the accused for not paying the balance amount. Then the accused and the deceased reached Nellikudur on 26-11-2002 by evening. There also, the deceased abused the accused. On that, the accused felt insulted and decided to kill the deceased. In pursuance of that, the accused asked the deceased to come to his house for payment of the balance amount. The accused also purchased M.0.7 iron karru from the shop of PW-8, boarded the bus and got down the bus at 'T" junction of Banjara Village at about 8-30 PM. The accused took the deceased towards the hillock saying that this is the shortest way to reach the village and after reaching some distance, the accused attacked the deceased with Karru due to which the deceased died on the spot and the accused escaped from the scene of offence. The dead body was detected on the next day. A crime was registered under Section 174 of Cr.P.C. and later it was registered for the offence under Section 302 of I.P.C. The police observed the scene of offence, held inquest over the dead body of the deceased, sent the dead body for postmortem examination, examined the witnesses, arrested the accused and recovered M.O.7. After completion of the investigation, the police laid the charge sheet.

(3.) The prosecution, in order to prove the guilt of the accused, examined PWs.1 to 17 and marked Exs.P-1 to P-14 and M.Os.1 to 10. No oral or documentary evidence was adduced on defence side. The lower Court, after considering the oral and documentary evidence, came to a conclusion that the prosecution proved the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt and accordingly, convicted him for the offence under Section 302 of I.P.C. and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and also to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000/- in default to suffer simple imprisonment for six months. The accused, being aggrieved by the Judgment of the lower Court, dated 20-07-2004, preferred the present Appeal challenging its validity and legality.