JUDGMENT

B.P. Singh, J.-This batch of appeals arises out of an incident which is alleged to have taken place on November 2, 1993 in village Utnal at about 7.00 p.m. in which one Sangondappa lost his life while several witnesses, namely PWs, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 received injuries at the hands of the assailants. The case of the prosecution is that there were nine persons who formed themselves into an unlawful assembly with the common object of causing the death of the deceased, and in pursuance of the unlawful object of that assembly the deceased was done to death and the prosecution witnesses abovenamed were injured.

2. The charge-sheet had been submitted against nine accused persons namely, Nanagouda (A-1), Appasab (A-2), Rudrappa (A-3), Siddappa (A-4), Ashok (A-5), Rannugouda (A-6), Raju (A-7), Lalsab (A-8) and Shankaragouda (A-9). However A-9 died during the pendency of the trial, but the remaining accused were tried by the IInd Additional Sessions Judge, Bijapur in Sessions Case No. 49 of 1994 charged variously under Sections 148/302/326 and 324 all read with Section 149 IPC. The learned Sessions Judge after an exhaustive scrutiny of the evidence on record came to the conclusion that