BANTU RAJESHWAR Vs. STATE OF A.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant/accused was convicted for the offence under Sec. 304 part-II of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to Rigorous Imprisonment for a period of two years. Aggrieved by the said conviction, the appellant is before this Court.

(2.) Briefly, the case of the prosecution is that the appellant and the deceased are friends. The appellant lent an amount of Rs.1.00 lakh to the deceased. Both of them were running Kirana shop and also taking tuitions. But they did not run. Whenever, the appellant asked the deceased to clear the loan amount, the deceased postponed on one pretext or the other. On 8/5/2010, around 7:00 or 7:30 p.m., the deceased left the house and did not return. The next day morning, PW.1 who is the son of the deceased enquired with the appellant regarding the whereabouts of the deceased, the appellant informed that he was at Jayalaxmi Theatre. When they went there, they found the deceased in Jayalaxmi Theatre dead with injuries. Thereafter, complaint was filed around 12:30 p.m. suspecting that the appellant and his friends might have killed the deceased for property and cash. Further, it is mentioned in the complaint that whenever the appellant was asking the deceased regarding the outstanding, the same was not repaid.

(3.) On the basis of the complaint made, Police investigated the case and filed charge sheet for the offence under Sec. 302 of the Indian Penal Code against the appellant. During the course of trial, PWs.1 to 18 were examined and prosecution relied on Exs.P1 to P22.