Judgment

P. Venkatarama Reddi, J.—The four appellants herein who are brothers faced trial before the Additional Sessions Judge - I, Jind for murdering one Hemant Kumar at a central place in Safidon town, on the night of 3.4.1996 at about 8.45 p.m. They were convicted under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment. The High Court dismissed the appeals filed by the accused. Hence, these appeals by special leave.

2. The following is a brief account of the prosecution case and other relevant facts:

3. On the night of 3rd April, 1996, all the accused attacked Hemant Kumar at Channi Chowk and stabbed him with knives. As a ­result of stabbing, he received six injuries out of which two were in the chest region. The fatal assault by the four accused was seen by the younger brother of deceased-PW4, who was returning home from his watch repair shop. On being informed by a passer-by on a bicycle, PW4 rushed to the spot and having noticed from a distance of 30 ft. or so that the attack on the deceased was going on, he raised an alarm. Hearing the cries, PW5-another relation of the deceased and one Kapoor Singh who were at a nearby sweet shop joined PW4. On seeing all of them, the accused