B RAJU Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A-1 was charged in Sessions Case No. 27/88, under Section 302 I.P.C. and A-2 to A-5 were charged for the offence under Section 302 read with 34 I.P.C. alleging that they have got common intention with A-1. A-2 was separately charged under Section 324 I.P.C for having caused hurt to P.W. 2 with a stone on the head. The learned Sessions Judge on a consideration of the evidence adduced before him held that the prosecution has failed to establish that A-2 to A-5 had shared common intention with the first accused to stab the deceased. He also felt that the evidence against A-2 is not made out for the offence under Section 324 I.P.C. He, therefore, while acquitting A-2 to A-5 for the charges framed against them, convicted A-1 alone, for the offence punishable under Section 302 I.P.C, and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment.

(2.) Aggrieved by the said convitcion and sentence, A-l preferred the present appeal. The prosecution case against A-1 is that on 21-11-1987 at about 7.00 P.M., A-3 came to the house of the deceased and demanded the ration card. It is in evidence that A-3 borrowed Rs, 300/- from the deceased pledging the ration card and A-3 demanded return of the ration card. But the deceased replied that he will return the ration card only after payment of the loan amount, which resulted in a quarrel between the deceased and the accused. A-1 and A-3 are sons of A-2, A-4 is the wife of A-2 and A-5 is the wife of A-3. All the accused live in the same locality. According to the prosecution, A-3 gave a knife to A-1, A-4 caught hold of the neck of the deceased from behind A-5 caught hold of the back of the deceased and that A-l stabbed the deceased on the left side of the chest with the knife. When P.W. 2 came and questioned A-2 as to why the deceased was attacked, A-2 has hit P.W.2 on the head with a stone.

(3.) After the occurrence, the injured was carried to the Government Hospital at Heeramandalam. While he was being placed on the bench of the Hospital, the injured had succumbed to the injuries. After returning from the Hospital, P.W.I gave Ex. PL report at Kottur police Station.