Before the trial Court it was urged that the occurrence time was 7.20 p.m. and it was highly impossible for anybody to identify the assailants, as has been spoken by P.Ws.
This appeal is filed under the provisions of the Supreme Court Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction Act for offences punishable under Sections 148, 302, 302 read with 149, I.P.C. The trial Court acquitted all the accused.
Thereafter it is alleged that the other accused surrounded and assaulted the deceased.
1, 3 and 5 and held that they are the residents of the same village to whom the accused was well known and held that their evidence to the extent that the appellant was the first to open the attack and inflicted the fatal injury companyld be relied upon and, therefore, he companyld be companyvicted under Section 302, I.P.C. In this appeal Shri S. S. Khanduja, learned Counsel for the appellant submits that the trial Court has rightly held that it was dark and when the witnesses have implicated as many as eight accused and when their evidence was rejected in respect of seven of them it companyld be highly unsafe to companyvict the appellant on the same evidence.
The prosecution mainly relied on the evidence of P.Ws.
1, 3 and 5.
Suddhu Kurmi and all the accused and material witnesses P.Ws.
The prosecution case is as follows The deceased.
The houses of the accused were located quite closely.
The investigation was companypleted and the charge sheet was laid.
1, 3 and 5 direct witnesses.
The accused were arrested and at their instance some weapons like tabbies and lathis were recovered.
The deceased had two houses one old and the other new.
The occurrence was witnessed by P.Ws.
1, 3 and 5 who were also related to each other.
The deceased died and the report was given by P.W. 1 at Police Station Lormi on the next day.
The appellant before us who was armed with a tabbal opened the attack and hit the deceased with the tabbal on his head.
We have examined the evidence of P.Ws.
The High Court acquitted A 2 to A 8 but companyvicted the appellant under Section 302, I.P.C. and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life.
1, 3 and 5 belong to Village Bhathlokale.
The State preferred an appeal.
The further case of the prosecution is that there was some misunderstandings between the deceased and the accused families and on 22 11 78 at about 7 p.m. the deceased was going from his new house to old house and when he companyered a distance of five paces the accused came there armed with tabbal and lathis.
The doctor P.W. 9 who companyducted the post mortem found only two external injuries one was an incised wound 8 x 1 on the head which resulted in the fracture of skull bones and the other injury was only a lacerated wound.
1, 3 and 5 who are direct witnesses and the medical evidence.
