THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, ANDHRA PRADESH Vs. GANNE ASWATHU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal against the order of acquittal and the only point to be considered is, whether the Additional Sessions Judge, Kurnool Division has gone wrong in acquitting the accused ten in number, of the offences under sections 148, 302, 302 read with 149, 324 and 324 read with 149 I. P. C. and whether there are substantial and compelling reasons to revise that order.

(2.) The case arose out of the death of Tammineni Narasimhulu of Nallamekalapalli, leader of one faction who was spotted out in a closed room of the abandoned house of P. W. 16 along with others and was speared to death in the broad day light between 1 and 2 p.m. on 28-4-1956 in Peapally village. Alongwith him were P. Ws 2 and 5. The former was man-handled and speared to unconsciousness while the latter who implored for mercy was left untouched. P.Ws 1, 3 and 4 were also the victims of rough and merciless treatment of the enraged accused.

(3.) The facts that led to this incident according to the prosecution are : The accused, residents of Nallamekalapalli, a village about five miles distant from Peapally, belong to one party with many others. The deceased and P. Ws. 1 to 5 and the others who also reside in the same village belong to the opposite faction. The strained relations between the two parties became a menace to the public peace with, the result that security cases against both the parties were started by the police. On the day of the incident; the two security cases brought against them were posted for hearing at Peapally before the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kurnool. The parties in those cases, though not all of them, seem to have personally entered their appearance on that date. As the cases were adjourned to 17-5-1956 for hearing, security bonds were obtained from them, Narasimhulu, the deceased, together with P. Ws 1 to 5 are then said to have gone into the village Peapally while the others had left for Nallamekalapalli. On that very day, the party of the accused came to know of the murder of their partyman, Kuruve Pedda Naganna, between Nallamekalapalle and Peapally in the morning at about 10 a.m. when he was proceeding to the Court for the security case. This news flashed on the police as a result of the report made by Hanumanthu who was accompanied by A-l to the police station. To ascertain its veracity, P. Ws 12 and 17, the constable and Head constable of the police station were sent by the lorry that they could requisition without any loss of time as the road was bad and the forest on either side would not admit a clear passage to the lorry upto the place of the incident, at Kanuma the lorry was left at a distance of about one mile and the two constables then proceeded on foot. Hardly had they covered some distance on that rastha, they saw A-1, A-4, A-5, A-8 and eleven others coming running from the side of Gudipadu rastha armed with spears and sticks. When questioned, they informed P. W. 17 that their party-man Kuruve Naganna was murdered by Narasimhulu and his party and so they were going to wreak vengeance. All the efforts of the Head constable to dissuade them from taking law into their own hands seemed futile. The constables suspected some serious mishap. They expedited their return to avert future danger. They had come to a certain point near the village when they saw the accused who atonce forced their entry into the lorry much against the will of the constables. As the lorry came near the house of P. W. 6, Prakasa Reddy, the accused saw P. W. 2 and the deceased. They stopped the Lorry there and chased P. W. 2 and the deceased at this time P. Ws. 1, 3 to 5 along with P. W. 16 were sitting on the pial-one of them pounding the beta deaf and nuts. P. W. 2 and the deceased who were running for their lives informed them of the impending danger and on their advice sought refuge in an abandoned house of Peepoli nearby. Thus the deceased P. W. 2 and P. W. 5 went into that house, bolted the thatty door from within. P. Ws. 1, 3 and 4 also rushed to the vasara of the house when they heard the words of aggression from the accused. Some of the accused thereafter entered the vasara, manhandled P. W. 3 and then P. W. 1. Meanwhile, P. W. 6 who heard disturbance from the northern side of his house and saw a lorry near his own house, went to the house of Peepoli, admonished the accused to refrain from indulging in further beating. These remostrances fell on deaf ears. A-l and his partymen who were in search of the principal persons directed one of their men to get upon the roof and see if there were any persons inside. Are got up on the roof and found through the skylights that the wanted persons, the deceased and P. Ws. 2 were within. On his pointing, the accused speared and pushed the door. It eventually gave way and the accused entered there in. They speared the deceased to death and P. W. 2 to unconsciousness and on their way back caused some injuries to P. W. 4 and went away.