judgment

B. Sudershan Reddy, J.

1.The appellant along with six others was tried by the Court of Sessions for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as ‘IPC’) and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000/-. He was also convicted for the offence punishable under Section 364 IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 5 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/- and in default of payment of fine, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 3 months. Further, he was convicted for the offence punishable under Section 201 IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 1 year and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/- and in default of payment, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 3 months. All sentences were directed to run concurrently. The Sessions Court acquitted accused Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5. The appeal of the appellant was dismissed by the High Court of Karnataka by the impugned judgment, however, accused Nos. 6 and 7 were acquitted by the High Court of all the charges leveled against them. In this case we are concerned with the sole appellant (Accused No. 1).

2.The conviction of the appellant is based on circ