M. K. Mukherjee, J. - (1.) Special leave granted in S.L.P.(Cri.) No. 4429 of 1995, limited to the nature of offence.
(2.) In Sessions Case No. 552 of 1992, the Additional Sessions Judge, Karim Nagar, indicted twenty one persons for lurking house trespass, rioting, murder and other allied offences. While acquitting ten of them, the trial Judge convicted the other eleven (who were arrayed as A1 to A11 respectively in the trial Court and hereinafter will be so referred to) under Sections 148 and 302/149, I.P.C. Besides, A1 to A3 were convicted under Section 457, I.P.C. A4 to A11 under Section 447, I.P.C. and A3 and A4 under Section 324, I.P.C. Against their convictions and sentences A1 to A11 preferred an appeal before the High Court was disposed of by setting aside the convictions of A2 to A11 under Sections 148 and 302/149, I.P.C. and maintaining all other convictions. Assailing the judgment of the High Court, the State of Andhra Pradesh has filed an appeal - besides the appeal filed by A1 against the acquittal of A2 to A11 of the charges under Sections 148 and 302/149, I.P.C. wherein leave to appeal has been granted limited to the acquittal of A2 to A5 and A9. Both the appeals have been heard together and this judgment will dispose of them.
(3.) The prosecution case, in brief, is that in the intervening night of August 10/11, 1990, at or about 1 a.m., all the accused persons formed themselves into an unlawful assembly armed with crow-bars, sticks and other deadly weapons and descended upon the house of Gankidi Mohan Reddy (the deceased) in Thimmapur village. They broke open the door of the house and dragged him into its front yard. When his wife Bhagya Lakshmi (PW-2) and his brother Gankidi Narsimha Reddy (PW-3) intervened, A3 beat the former and A2 the latter, both with sticks. Meanwhile the deceased had extricated himself from the clutches of the miscreants and tried to run away but he was apprehended by them and again brought to the front yard. There A1 beat him with a plough-rod (nagatipale), A2 with a crow-bar and A3 and A5 with sticks. When the parents of the deceased intervened A1 and A4 beat them also. Thereafter the other accused persons started beating the deceased. Gankidi Narsimha Reddy, a cousin of the deceased, then came to his rescue, but he was also caught hold of and beaten up. The miscreants then left the place. All the injured persons were taken to Government hospital, Karim Nagar, in a tractor where their injuries were attended to. However Gankidi Mohan Reddy succumbed to his injuries at about 4 a.m. A few hours later (at about 6 a.m.) PW-1 went to L.M.D. Colony Police Station and reported the incident and on his report Syed Sadiq (PW-13), the Head Constable, registered a case. Circle Inspector P. Satyanarayana (PW-15) of Husnand took up investigation and went to the Government hospital. There he held inquest upon the dead body and sent requisition to the Medical Officer for its post-mortem examination. He then went to the scene of offence, got it photographed and seized some blood stained earth, two pairs of sleepers, two crow-bars and some broken sticks therefrom. In course of investigation he arrested the accused persons and pursuant to the statements made by some of them recovered some crow-bars and sticks. On completion of investigation, he submitted charge-sheet against them .;