Santosh Hegde, J. - (1.) In regard to an incident which took place on 8-10-1991 at about 3 p.m. in the house of one Prabhakar Gawande, 37 accused persons were charge-sheeted for offences punishable under Section 302 read with Section 149, Section 427 read with Section 149, Section 323 read with Section 149 and Sections 148, 395 and 396, IPC. In that case the learned Sessions Judge, Akola while acquitting 16 of the accused, convicted accused No. 1 under Section 302, IPC along with certain other charges and awarded him life imprisonment. In regard to others, he found them guilty principally under Section 302 read with Section 149 and surprisingly awarded only 8 years RI. In appeal the High Court confirmed the conviction under Section 302 awarded to A-1 and in regard to some of the accused persons who were appellants before him it altered the conviction to one under Section 304, Part II read with Section 149 and awarded 7 years R.I. While in regard to the appellants before us, it altered the conviction to one under Sections 326 read with 149 and sentenced them to undergo R.I. for three years.
(2.) The appeal of A-1 who is convicted under Section 302 and other appellants whose sentence was altered to one under Section 304, Part II have since been dismissed by this Court. In the present appeal, only those accused who have been convicted under Section 326 read with Section 149 are before us as appellants.
(3.) The prosecution case briefly stated is that on 8-10-1991 at about 3.00 p.m. all these accused persons along with some others formed an unlawful assembly with a common object of committing the murder of one Prabhakar Gawande. With that object, they went to his house. At that place some of the members of the unlawful assembly entered the house of said Prabhakar and assaulted him causing grievous injuries, consequent to which he died about six days later. It is the further case of the prosecution that while Prabhakar was being assaulted inside the house the appellants herein stood outside the house and did not take part in the assault on the deceased, nor was any grievous injury caused to anyone by them.;