Judgment

Pattanaik, J.—Leave granted in both the Special Leave Petitions.

2. Criminal appeal arising out of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 487 of 1996 is by the convict A. Devandran who has been sentenced to death by the learned District and Sessions Judge, Madurai in Sessions Case No. 91 of 1994 and the said death sentence has been confirmed by the High Court of Madras in Criminal Appeal No. 717 of 1995. The Criminal Appeal arising out of Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 3598 of 1996 is by accused R. Pandian and R. Thungamalai who have been convicted under Section 302 and have been sentenced to imprisonment for life by the same learned Sessions Judge in the same Sessions Trial and their conviction and sentence has been upheld by Madras High Court in the aforesaid Criminal Appeal No. 717 of 1995. These three appel­lants alongwith two others stood charged of several offences under Sections 120B, 148, 449, 302/34 and 326/34. Out of the five accused persons accused Bellaithai was acquitted by the learned Sessions Judge. Accused Mohd. Rafiq was granted pardon by the Chief Judicial Magistrate on 14.11.1994 while the case had already been committed to the court of Sessions and was