SUBASH CHANDRA PANDA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This revision is directed against the judgment of the learned Sessions Judge, Ganjan, Barhampur altering the conviction and sentence of the accused-petitioners.

(2.) The prosecution case, shortly stated, is that on 6-10-1987 sometime in the morning P.W. 1 R. Elleya Reddy belonging to village Uppalapati killed a goat and sold the meat to his co-villagers and at about 8 in the morning while he was passing on the village street crossing the houses of the accused persons for collection of the price of the meat sold, accused Subash Chandra Panda enquired of him as to the amount of profit earned by him by selling the meat and when P.W. 1 replied that he had no business to poke his nose into his affairs, the latter got infuriated and attacked P.W. 1 along with his co-accused persons who are his brothers by means of Katis (M.Os. I, II, IV and V). As a result of the assaults with Katis, P.W. 1 sustained bleeding injuries and after the matter was subsided by the villagers he lodged the FIR, Ext. 1, at Arjipalli police out-put on the same day at about noon time. In course of investigation P.W. 1 was sent for medical examination, theatis (M.Os. I, II, IV and V) were seized on production by the accused persons, some blood stained earth was seized from the spot and so also the wearing apparels of the injured (P.W. 1), the seized articles were sent for chemical examination and after completion of investigation charge-sheet having been placed, the accused persons faced trial for the offence punishable under S.307 read with S. 34, IPC.

(3.) The defence was one of denial and according to the accused persons, the case had been falsely foisted against them out of previous enmity between the four Brahmin families of the village including the accused persons and the remaining villagers. Three witnesses were examined on behalf of the defence of whom D.W. 1, a co-villager of the parties deposed that there was no such occurrence and the other two witnesses were examined to prove certain documents relating to prior litigation between Dasarathi Panda, the father of accused Subash, Jyotiraj and Prafulla on the one hand and some villagers on the other.