JUDGMENT

Arijit Pasayat, J.-Leave granted.

2. The four appellants faced trial for allegedly having caused homicidal death of one Kuttappan (hereinafter referred to as the deceased ) on 16.6.1994. They were tried for commission of offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the IPC ). The learned Sessions Judge, Kottayam, found all the four accused persons guilty and convicted and sentenced them for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC and sentenced each of them to undergo imprisonment for life. Fine of Rs. 10,000/- with default stipulation was also imposed. The accused-appellants unsuccessfully challenged their conviction and sentence before the Kerala High Court which dismissed the same by the impugned judgment.

3. Prosecution version as unfolded during trial is as follows:

There was previous enmity between accused persons and the deceased. In furtherance of their common intention because of such enmity, the accused persons chased and assaulted the deceased on 16.6.1994 at about 11 p.m. A-2 beat the deceased with an iron rod on his back and when deceased ran away to save his life, all the accused persons