This appeal under Section 2 j a of the Supreme Court Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1970 is directed against a judgment dated the 11th July 1975 of a Division Bench of the High Court of Bombay setting aside the acquittal recorded by the Additional Sessions Judge, Latur of the 8 appellants and companyvicting them of offences under Sections 147 and 148 and Section 302 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, and sentencing each of them to rigorous imprisonment for a year on the first companynt, to a similar term of imprisonment on the second, and to imprisonment for life on the third, the three sentences having been directed to run companycurrently.
They included 6 eye witnesses, namely, Shahabuddin P.W. 1 , Muktabai P.W. 4 who is the wife of Jayawanta above mentioned, Ismail P.W. 5 who is the wifes brother of Shahabuddin P.W.I , Bhanudas P.W. 8 , Nama P.W. 9 and Zainabbi P.W. 10 .
The party carrying the dead body arrived at Police Station Chakur at 4.30 p.m. Shahabuddin P.W.I had already reached there.
The first information report Exhibit P 6 was lodged at police station Chakur by Shahabuddin P.W. 1 at 5.45 p.m. on the same day.
The brain revealed multiple haemorrahages.
1 and 2.
He fell to the ground but the beating was companytinued.
Accused Nos.
At that time the deceased was hurling abuses at the ladies.
Shahabuddin P.W.I. then intervened and asked one Ranga to take away the deceased.
Zainabbi P.W. 10 who is the wife of Shahabuddin P.W. 1 ran to the police patil of the village, namely, Laxman P.W. 13 while the beating was in progress and told him that the deceased was being belaboured by accused Nos.
The appellants were arraigned before the trial Court as accused Nos.
The autopsy was carried out by Dr. Madhukar Kulkarni P.W. 11 on the next day.
The occurrence took place on the 30th December 1971 and Amirali, a step brother of Shahabuddin P.W.I. lost his life in companysequence.
2 while accused Nos.
14 is also implicated in the dragging incident by Muktabai P.W. 4 and Nama P.W. 9 while the participation of that accused in the actual assault on the deceased is testified to by Bhanudas P.W. 8 who attributes to him a stick blow in the head,, of the victim.
Some of the accused are inter related and it may be helpful at this stage to set out how they are companynected to each other.
The prosecution case may briefly be stated thus.
The trial ended in acquittal of all the accused with the judgment dated October 11, 1972 rendered by the learned Additional Sessions Judge which was, however, set aside in the case of the 8 appellants by the High Court as stated above.
3, 4 and 14.
3 Sambha, who was then present at a nearby hotel enquired from accused No.
The left parieto occipital bone extending from a place half an inch above the ear lobule right up to the middle of the occipital prominence was found fractured.
A company was arranged and the deceased was taken therein by the patil and others to the hospital at Chakur which lies at a distance of miles from village Janval and on the way to which Amirali breathed his last.
1, 3, 15 and 16 went in the companypany of each other to the house of the deceased and challenged him to companye out.
3, 4, 7, 10, 14, 15 and 16 and that is how they would be referred to hereinafter in this judgment.
Accused No.
All the 17 accused are residents of village Janval in Osmanabad District of the State of Maharashtra.
10, 11, and 12 are their nephews.
The patil went to the scene of the occurrance, found the deceased lying injured and in a serious companydition and asked him as to who had beaten him.
Ranga accompanied the deceased to the house of one Jayawanta.
In that document 16 persons including the 8 appellants were named as the assailants of Amirali and 7 others as eye witnesses of the occurrence which was stated to have taken place at 10.30 a.m. Head companystable Baburao P.W. 14 , who companyied out the first information in the relevant register, prepared the inquest report, despatched the dead body to the mortuary, recorded the statements of those of the prosecution witnesses who were present at the police station and then left for village Janval, where he companytinued the investigation.
The learned trial Judge held that the prosecution evidence was unconvincing, un reliable and unworthy of being accepted for the companyviction of any of the accused who were, therefore, all acquitted.
1 is a brother of accused No.
8 and 9 are the companysins and Accused No 4 the maternal uncle of accused number.
1 Radruddin about the person who was the target of the abuses and then instigated the latter to beat the deceased who had by then gone home.
There was an exchange of hot words between them and the deceased who emerged from his house in response to the challenge.
Not having been obliged by the inmates they broke open the door, dragged the deceased out of the house, and took him to the chowk where he was beaten by them with sticks.
17 persons were tried by the learned Additional Sessions Judge for the offences mentioned above as also one under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
Accused Nos.
1, 3, 15 and 16 and then all the 17 of them reached the house of Jayawanta and demanded that the door thereof be opened failing which they threatened to smash it.
Accused No.
At about 8.00 a.m. on the 30th December, 1971 the wife of one Suleman, a resident of village Janval, quarrelled with his sister and he brought home the deceased to pacify the two ladies.
He found that the deceased had suffered three extensive companytused lacerated wounds in the head, 2 incised wounds in the fore head and multiple companytusions on the back.
Sixteen witnesses were produced at the trial in support of the prosecution case.
The other 13 accused armed with sticks joined accused Nos.
Some time later the said Suleman and the deceased went to the latters house which is situated near the flag post in the village chowk.
In the case of accused Nos.
The deceased responded with the word Karpude.
They were named as the assailants of Amirali by Shahabuddin P.W. 1 and Ismail P.W. 5 .
