STATE OF ORISSA Vs. APPA RAO KUTUMA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ACCUSED Appa Rao Kutuma faced the trial in the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, Malkangiri in Criminal Trial No. 55 of 2004. Charge under Sections 302/307/294/506, IPC was framed against him. As per the impugned Judgment passed on 9.1.2007 he was found guilty of all the aforesaid offences. Learned Additional Sessions Judge imposed sentence of death for the offence under Section 302, IPC imprisonment for life for the offence under Section 307, IPC, rigorous imprisonment for three months for the offence under Sec. 294, IPC and rigorous imprisonment for two years for the offence under Section 506, IPC. Learned Addl. Sessions Judge also ordered that all such substantive sentences are to run concurrently. In view of the provision in Section 366, of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (in short 'Code') learned Addl. Sessions Judge made the reference for confirmation of the death sentence. The condemned prisoner, i.e. the accused also preferred appeal from the jail challenging the order of conviction and that is how the Jail Criminal Appeal has been registered. On consent of the parties, the Death Sentence Reference and the Jail Criminal Appeal are heard analogously and disposed of by this common Judgment.

(2.) ACCORDING to the case of the prosecution, there was dispute between the accused and Balabhadra Mandal (hereinafter called 'the deceased') relating to possession of the land where the occurrence took place. On 17.6.2004 the deceased together with his son Madan Mandal (P.W.1) and nephew Trinath Mandal (P.W.2) along with another arrived at the disputed land, they found the accused cultivating the same by sowing paddy. Balabhadra Mandal challenged the accused for undertaking such cultivation, and as a retaliation to the same accused went to his house and brought bow and arrows and shot arrows on the deceased, P.W.1 and P.W.2. Their companion however ran away and therefore escaped in hurt. After the incident, P.W.2 lodged FIR and Chitrakonda P.S. Case No. 31 of 2004 corresponding to G.R. Case No. 216 of 2004 of the Court of S.D.J.M., Malkangiri was registered. On completion of the investigation, charge -sheet was submitted and, as noted above, charge was framed against the accused on the accusation that he intentionally committed murder of the deceased and attempted to commit murder of P.Ws. 1 and 2, and in the process used obscene languages and made criminal intimidations. To substantiate the charge, prosecution relied on the evidence of the aforesaid two witnesses (P.Ws. 1 and 2) besides the doctor P.W.3 who conducted autopsy on the dead body of the deceased and granted injury certificates in favour of P.Ws. 1 and 2, and also the witness to the seizure and the investigating officer as the other two witnesses. The documents, which the prosecution relied on, were marked as Exts. 1 to 11 and the weapon of offence as M.Os. I to IV. Though accused took the plea of complete denial, but in course of the trial he also took the alternative plea of right of private defence and in furtherance of that he tendered documentary evidence, which was marked as Exts. A.

(3.) P .Ws. 1 and 2 deposed that along with the deceased when they approached the disputed land and found the accused cultivating the land, deceased protested, and in retaliation to that accused went to his house and brought bow and arrows and shoot at them and each of them sustained injuries. In course of the short cross -examination of the each of the two witnesses, nothing substantial was brought by the defence so as to discredit the version of the two witnesses.