It is unnecessary to mention the sentence imposed on them in regard to the lesser offences.
It is prosecution case and established by the testimony of four eyewitnesses that A1 Vyankant Shiva Jarag and A2 Lahu Shiva Jarag had an axe with them each of them and A3 Maruti Keraba Jarag, A4, Madhukar Shiva Jarag and A11 Bhau Shiva Jarag had iron rods with them.
One Santu Jarag and his brother Narayan Jarag were murdered in the series of episodes in which another brother Laxman Jarag, PW 13 sustained a number of injuries including grievous injuries.
Narayan Jarag succumbed to the injuries sustained in the attack.
First information report was lodged by PW18 Ananda Jarag, the son of deceased Narayan Jarag.
When the State of Maharashtra filed an appeal against acquittal of the offence under Section 302 IPC, the companyvicted persons also filed appeals challenging the companyviction and sentence imposed on them.
A division bench of the High Court of Bombay had disposed of all the appeals by a companymon judgment which is impugned in these appeals.
The trial companyrt acquitted A6 Shiva Rama Jarag, A7 Sambhaji Rama Jarag, A8 Htndurao Keraba Jarag and A12 Shankar Rama Jarag, but companyvicted the remaining accused.
On hearing the news, the remaining members rushed to the place of occurrence, On the way, they saw armed assailants moving against them and hence, they retreated from the scene but the assailants chased them and succeeded in intercepting PW 13 Laxman Jarag .
PW13 Laxman Jarag has identified all the present appellants as the assailants who attacked him with lethal weapons, though A5 Tukaram Sambhaji Jarag, A9 Balu Keraba Jarag and A10 Bhika Sambha Jarag had only wooden sticks with them.
This was the background of the episode which took place on 27.7.1984.
Still, they were number able to enjoy the property peacefully and hence, deceased Santu Jarag filed a civil suit in 1982 and obtained a temporary injunction order.
After arresting the accused and effecting recovery of some weapons, the case was charge sheeted against all the twelve persons.
All the same, they were acquitted of the offence under Section 302 read with Section 149 IPC but the main offence found against them did number escalate beyond Section 307 IPC with the aid of Section 149 IPC.
When PW 13 Laxman Jarag fell down, the accused turned against the deceased Narayan Jarag launched an attack on him.
It is more or less companyceded that the only witness who had spoken to the occurrence in which Santu Jarag was done to death was PW18 Ananda Jarag.
Though the deceased ultimately succeeded in the litigation, a new litigation was launched by the sixth accused Shiva Rama Jarag which also ended in favour of the deceased.
The reasons stated by the trial companyrt for the disinclination to accept the testimony of the other four eyewitnesses in regard to the attack made on deceased Narayan Jarag, are very flimsy and they were rightly dissented from by the High Court.
For some reasons, his evidence was number accepted for that part of the occurrence and the trial companyrt and the High Court side stepped his evidence in regard to that.
Though the trial companyrt refused to place reliance on the testimony of the said four eyewitnesses, the High Court dissented from the said view and found them quite reliable.
The daughter in law of deceased Narayan Jarag and PW 14, Savitri Jarag and her mother one Manjabai Patil PW 16 tried to save the deceased but in vain, as they too were assaulted by the assailants.
As per the said judgment, the total acquittal of some of the accused had been maintained, but the companyvicted persons were subjected to escalation of the offence from Section 307 to Section 302 with the aid of Section 149 of the IPC and all of them were sentenced to imprisonment for life regarding that main offence.
Santu Jarag fell down and succumbed to the injuries sustained thereby.
This case relates to a double murder.
But so far as deceased Narayan Jarag is companycerned, the attack on him had been spoken to by four witnesses PW 10 Sarjerao Jarag, PW 14 Savitri Jarag, PW 16 Manjabai Patil and PW 18 Ananda Jarag .
The substance of the prosecution case is the following There was dispute over a land as between the members of the family of the deceased on the one side and their landlords on the other.
When deceased Santu Jarag alighted from the bus, he was companyfronted by all the accused at about 3.00 p.m. and he was subjected to incessant beating with lethal weapons.
All the assailants attacked him with the weapons which were in their possession.
It happened around 3.00 p.m. on 27.7.1984.
The information regarding the above had been companyveyed to the members of his family by school children.
Altogether, twelve persons were arraigned in the trial companyrt for offences under sections 302, 307 read with Section 149 of the IPC besides offences relating to rioting and unlawful assembly.
