Judgment

KOSHAL, J.:- This appeal under Section 2 (j) (a) of the SC (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 convicting 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 count, 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 concurrently.

2. The occurrence took place on the 30th December, 1971 and Amirali, a step-brother of Shahabuddin (P. W. 1) lost his life in consequence. 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. 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. The appellants were arraigned before the trial Court as accused Nos. 1, 3, 4, 7, 10, 14, 15 and 16 and that is how they would be referred to hereinafter in this judgment.

3. Some of the accused are inter-related and it may be helpful at this stage to set out how they are connected to each other. Accused No. 1 is a brother of accused No. 2 while accused Nos. 10, 11 and 12 are their nephews. Accused Nos. 8 and 9 are the cousins and accused No. 4 the maternal uncle of accused Nos. 1 and 2. All the 17 accused are residents of village Janval in Osmanabad District of the State of Maharashtra.

4. The prosecution case may briefly be stated thus. 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. 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. At that time the deceased was hurling abuses at the ladies. Accused No. 3 (Sambha, who was then present at a nearby hotel) enquired from accused No. 1 (Badruddin) 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.

Accused Nos. 1, 3, 15 and 16 went in the company of each other to the house of the deceased and challenged him to come out. There was an exchange of hot words between them and the deceased who emerged from his house in response to the challenge. Shahabuddin (P. W. 1) then intervened and asked one Ranga to take away the deceased. Ranga accompanied the deceased to the house of one Jayawanta.

The other 13 accused armed with sticks joined 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. 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. He fell to. the ground but the beating was continued.

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. 1, 3, 4 and 14. The patil went to the scene of the occurrence, found the deceased lying injured and in a serious condition and asked him as to who had beaten him. The deceased responded with the word "Karpude",

A cot was arranged and the deceased was taken therein by the patil and others to the hospital at Chakur which lies at a distance of 10 miles from village Janval and on the way to which Amirali breathed his last. The party carryin