- (1.) This appeal arises out of a judgment and order dated 24th August, 2006 passed by the High Court of Judicature of Madras at Madurai, whereby Criminal Appeal No.857 of 2004 filed by the appellants and two others against their conviction for murder and sentence of life imprisonment has been dismissed.
(2.) On 5th January, 1999 at about 3.00 p.m. the deceased Asokan was one amongst 200 other mourners who had assembled to attend the cremation of a near relative who had passed away and was being cremated at village Veerappanayakan Patti. Adikesavan (PW-1), Rajendran (PW-4), Vellingiri (PW- 5) and Paneer (PW-10) were also among those present at the cremation ground. The prosecution case is that, that on account of strained relations between the accused and the deceased arising out of rivalry in relation to smuggling of sandalwood by the two groups, there was, a few days earlier to the date of occurrence, a quarrel between them which had turned ugly with the two groups assaulting each other. The accused were, therefore, looking for an opportunity to get even with deceased which opportunity came their way when the deceased who was a resident of another village joined the funeral and the cremation ceremony. It so happened that no sooner were the mortal remains of the departed soul consigned to flames, Perumal one of the accused (since deceased) saw Asokan standing near a coconut tree in the former's land, and started moving towards him with the remaining four accused including the appellants in this appeal. Perumal who had picked up a stick gave a blow to the deceased on the head because of which the deceased collapsed to the ground. Shanmugam (A-1), appellant in the present appeal, in the meantime picked up a stone and hit the deceased on his face repeatedly while Mahendran (A-2) caught hold of his legs. Raghu (A-3) squeezed the testicles of Asokan while Ramajayam (A-4), appellant No.2 in this appeal, assaulted the deceased with a heavy stone on his head exclaiming "with that he must go". The injuries so inflicted crushed Asokan's head and killed him on the spot. Adikesavan (PW-1), Rajendran (PW- 4) and Vellingiri (PW-5) tried to intervene but were threatened by the accused persons that they would also meet the same fate. Scared, the witnesses ran for safety while the accused made their escape good. Those attending the cremation also ran away in panic. Adikesavan (PW-1) returned to the crime scene and found his younger brother lying dead with his head shattered. He informed Sudha (PW-3) about the incident and rushed to Harur to meet his younger brother Ramalingam (PW-2) who accompanied him back to the crime scene in a car. The incident was then reported at Harur Police Station in writing by Adikesavan (PW-1). The police swung into action, conducted an inquest and seized the stick and stones used by the accused persons for the assault and the blood stained clothes of the deceased. A chargesheet was eventually filed by the Investigating Officer that led to their trial before the Additional Sessions Judge, Dharamapuri who recorded the statements of as many as 11 witnesses produced on behalf of the prosecution. The defence did not choose to lead any oral evidence.
(3.) The Trial Court eventually came to the conclusion that the prosecution had brought home the guilt to the accused persons and accordingly convicted them for murder punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC and sentenced them to undergo imprisonment for life. Aggrieved by the judgment and order passed by the Trial Court the appellants and two other surviving accused persons filed Criminal Appeal No.857 of 2004 before the High Court of Judicature of Madras at Madurai, Perumal the fifth accused having passed away in the meantime. By its judgment and order impugned in this appeal the High Court has concurred with the view taken by the Trial Court and found the conviction and sentence to be perfectly justified upon a reappraisal of the evidence adduced before the Trial Court. The present appeal filed by two out of the four accused persons calls in question the correctness of the said judgment and order of the High Court.;