Judgment :-

RANJAN GOGOI, J.

This appeal, under Section 379 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is against the order of the High Court of Madras reversing the acquittal of the appellants and convicting and sentencing each one of them under different Sections of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter shall be referred to as ‘IPC’). All the accused persons have been convicted under Section 120 B of the IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years each. The accused appellants have also been found guilty under Section 302 of IPC for their individual acts or constructively under Section 34/149 IPC for commission of the said offence. They have been accordingly sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life. Some of the appellants have also been found guilty of the offences under Section 148 and Section 332 read with Section 149 IPC for which sentence of rigorous imprisonment of three years have been imposed. Aggrieved the present appeal has been filed.

2. For the sake of clarity reference to the accused is hereinafter being made in the chronological order arranged in the proceedings of the trial and the three deceased, i.e., Veeraperumal, Karumpuli and