- (1.) Heard learned counsel.
(2.) This is an appeal filed under Section 379 Criminal Procedure Code read with Section 2 (a) of the Supreme court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Act. A rioting took place on 7/08/1977 at about 5 p. m. in Village gholanayakanahalli within the limit of Yalahanka Police Station in the course of which one Jayarama Reddy the deceased in the case received fatal injuries. PW 2 in the case lodged the First Information Report implicating several persons. In respect of this offence 16 persons were tried. Out of them A-12 and a-13 were ladies. They were tried for offences punishable under S. 143, 148, 302/149 Indian Penal Code. The trial court acquitted five of them and convicted A-1 to a-11 under S. 326/149 Indian Penal Code and sentenced each of them to undergo RI for six years. All of them preferred an appeal to the High court. During the pendency of the appeal. A-11 (Chikka Govindappa) died. Therefore, his appeal stood abated. The State also preferred appeals being Nos. 280 and 281 of 1981 one for enhancement of the sentence and another against acquittal of theaccused of the murder charge. The High court dismissed the criminal appeal filed by the convicted accused but allowed the other criminal appeal filed by the state and altered the convictions to one under S. 302/149 and sentenced each of the convicted accused to undergo imprisonment for life. The other appeal for enhancement was, however, dismissed. The ten accused, A-1 to A-10 have preferred this appeal. Out of them A-1 died during the pendency of the appeal in this court. Therefore, we are left with only A-2 to A-10. The prosecution case is as follows:
(3.) There was a political enmity between A-l and his group on one hand and the deceased and his followers. It started with the Lok Sabha elections in 1977. A-l supported the Congress candidature. After the elections are over, it is alleged that A-l had took revenge with the rest of the villagers as they did not support the Congress Party. There were some incidents. Public Witness 25 a practising lawyer who belongs to the said village also went up in objection to the higher authorities. A night before the occurrence it is alleged that the accused had assembled in the house of A-l. On the day of occurrence, when the deceased was coming out of his house to collect the coolies for his next day's work, it is alleged that all the accused formed into an unlawful assembly and tried to attack the deceased. When the deceased reached the fields, he was surrounded and the two ladies are alleged to have thrown mirch powder into the eyes of the deceased and when the deceased pleaded against hitting him, Govindappa (A-1 instigated that the deceased should be finished and dealt sickle blows on the left side of the neck of Jayarama Reddy the deceased. The deceased fell down and then A-l again instigated others to finish him. Then, A-3 dealt a blow on the left shoulder of the deceased, the deceased fell down, A-5 gave a blow on the hand with a dagger. A-7 speared on the left buttock. A-8 speared in the same region. A-7 and A-8 went with the spears against the deceased. In that process, a-9 received injuries on his left hand, Public Witness 2 the cousin brother of the deceased witnessed the occurrence. The other witnesses viz. , PWs 3 to 9 also witnessed the occurrence. Public Witness 2 went to the Police Station almost immediately and gave the report. The case was registered and the investigation was taken up. Inquest was held on the dead body and the same was sent for post-mortem. The doctor who conducted post-mortem found as many as six injuries on the dead body of the deceased. The doctor opined three injuries injury Nos. 1 to 3 in the following terms: 1. Chopped injury on the middle of front parietal region 4" x 1 1/4" outer table of the skull bone correspondingly cut. 2. Chopped injury on the left side of the face and neck just below the ear, 6" x 1 " depth at its anterior part bone deep and at the posterior part up to the vertebrae. 3. Chopped injury on the left shoulder and its back measuring 7" x 2", outer end of the clavicle was completely cut, the muscles were cut to a depth of 1 ". The doctor also opined that the injuries, particularly injuries 1 and 2 by themselves are sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature. The investigating authority arrested some of the accused on that very date and also recovered some weapons. Another doctor examined A-9 and found on him one wound on the dorsum of the left hand with an ellipticalopening 1 1/2" x 1/4" and one lacerated wound on the palmer aspect of the left hand 2 1/2" x 1/2". It appears that a report was given on that very night and in that it was mentioned that the deceased tried to stab A-9 where A-2 was present and he attacked the deceased in exercise of the right of defence of the person of a-9. The other accused pleaded not guilty. The learned Sessions Judge after having considered the evidence of the eyewitnesses came to the conclusion that the male members were members of the unlawful assembly and with the common object of causing grievous hurt only. He, however, acquitted the women accused and two others giving them benefit of doubt. In arriving at this conclusion, the learned Sessions Judge observed that the accused would not have known that the deceased would be passing that way and there was no premeditation as such to commit murder, and having regard to the nature of the participation in the occurrence, the common object was to cause grievous hurt and accordingly convicted them under S. 326/149 Indian Penal Code and for other minor offences as mentioned above.;