IMPORTANT POINT
An order of acquittal is liable to be interfered with only in exceptional cases where there are compelling circumstances and the judgment in appeal is found to be perverse.

Headnote:Indian Penal Code, 1860- Sections 147, 148 and 302- Proof of culpability- The doctor has opined that this injury could have been caused by a blunt object. According to the learned counsel the witness did not say that the accused reversed the axe while hitting the deceased on the head as the injury shows, and therefore he is lying or was not present. In the first place, we find that other witnesses have given the same deposition. It is possible that the statement of the witness is slightly inaccurate or thewitness did not see properly which side of the axe was used. It is equally possible that the sharp edge of the axe is actually very blunt or it was reversed just before hitting the head. It is not possible to say what is the reason. That is however no reason for discarding the statement of the witness that A-1 - Puchalapalli Parandhami Reddy hit the deceased without a battle axe, as is obvious from the injury. Moreover, it is not possible to doubt the presence of this witness, who has himself been injured. (Para 12)
        Indian Penal Code, 1860- Sections 307 and 326- We are also not impressed by the finding of the trial court that there is discrepancy between the statement of Pelluru Murali Reddy (P.W. 3) and his oral testimony because he said in the statement that he saw the tractor in which the accused had arrived just before the house of A-19, Pelluru Venu Reddy and deposed that the house could not be seen from where he was standing. Such a discrepancy does not detract from the basic credibility of this witness, who along with his brother has been injured in the attack. (Para 13)
       Facts of the case :
        In an incident Mudi Parandhami Reddy died. P.W. 3 (Murali Reddy) L.W. 2 (P. Raja Gopal Reddy) and L.W. 3 (Pelluru Karunakar Reddy) were injured.
        The only overt act attributed to A-2 -Konduru Nagure Reddy by some of the prosecution witnesses is that because Pelluru Murali Reddy (P.W. 3) intervened during the attack, he beat the said PW 3 with the blunt axe of Chillakathi on his back side. This according to the learned counsel only resulted in a simple lacerated injury skin deep of about 1½" over the back head of Pelluru Murali Reddy (P.W. 3). The Medical Officer has opined that this injury is simple.
       Findings of the Court :
        In the circumstances, the conviction and sentence of A-2, Konduru Nagure Reddy, awarded by the trial court and affirmed by the High Court is liable to be modified. We hold A-2, Konduru Nagure Reddy, guilty only for the offence punishable under Section 324 read with Section 34 of the IPC.
       Result : Criminal Appeal Nos. 1093-1094 of 2011 allowed
        Rest of the appeals dismissed.

JUDGMENT

S. A. BOBDE, J.

1. This batch of appeals is preferred by the accused against the common judgment and order dated 23rd March 2004 in Criminal Appeal Nos. 954 and 956 of 2008. Criminal Appeal Nos. 1521-1522 of 2011 are filed by the Accused No. 1; Criminal Appeal Nos. 1102-1103 of 2011 are filed by the accused Nos. 2-7; Criminal Appeal Nos. 1100-1101 of 2011 by the accused Nos. 8-12; Criminal Appeal Nos. 1093-1094 of 2011 are filed by the Accused No. 2, Konduru Nagure Reddy. Since they arise out of the same incident/judgment they have been taken up together for disposal.

2. The crime in question is the murder of Mudi Parandhami Reddy in an agricultural field on 25.11.96 in Mettu village in Andhra Pradesh. According to the prosecution, the deceased was a leader of the Congress party in the area. He was suspected by the Accused No. 1 Puchalapalli Parandhami Reddy, a leader of the Telugu Desam Party, as being responsible for the murder of his father on 25.3.92. Land disputes also existed between Rajagopal Reddy (L.W. 2), his brother Pelluru Murali Reddy (P.W. 3) on one side and A-19, Pelluru Venu Reddy about the division of survey No. 116. Litigation was pending between them in a Court. Therefore, Pelluru Murali Reddy (P.W. 3) and Rajagopal Reddy (L.W. 2) sought the mediation of the deceased Mudi Parandhami Reddy and it was decided that the deceased would mediate on 25.11.96.

3. On 24.11.96, Pelluru Murali Reddy (P.W. 3) and his brother Rajagopal engaged farm labour i.e. P.W. 1 (Vakati Ramanaiah), P.W. 2 (Rayapati Venkata Ramanaiah), P.W. 4 (Bandila Mutyhyalaiah) and P.W. 5 (Rayapati Kotaiah) for ploughing the land. On the next day, i.e. 25.11.1996 the deceased had come to the land and sat on a ridge in the field while the ploughing was going on by the labourers. Around 8.00 a.m., A-19, Pelluru Venu Reddy and A-20, Pelluru Sreedhar Reddy came there and asked that the ploughing be stopped because there was a dispute over the land. Mudi Parandhami intervened and said that the dispute will be resolved later and asked the ploughing to go on. At this the accused went away. Around 10 a.m. the accused party came back. The accused no.1 hacked Mudi Parandhami with a battle-axe on the head. After that A-2, Konduru Nagure Reddy came and when Pelluru Murali Reddy (P.W. 3) intervened, A-2, Konduru Nagure Reddy, hit him with the blunt edge of the chilla kathi. Then A-3, Konduru Dayakar Reddy, hacked Mudi Parandhami with an axe on his head. When Pelluru Murali Reddy (P.W. 3) intervened, A-3, Konduru Dayakar Reddy, hit him on the left hand. After this A-4, Konduru Ramachandra Reddy, came and stabbed Mudi Parandhami on his left shoulder. A-5, Putchalapalli Ramamohan Reddy, then stabbed mudi Parandhami on his chest. A-6, Putchalapalli Srinivasulu Reddy, then stabbed Mudi Parandhami with a spear on the left side of his back. Thereafter A-7, Putchalapalli Niranjan Reddy, stabbed Mudi Parandhami on his back. Then A-8, Avula Sudhakar, stabbed Mudi Parandhami on his left ear and his abdomen. Thereafter A-9, Putchalapalli Subrahmanyam Reddy, stabbed Mudi parandhami on the left side of the chest. A-10, Yellasiri Masthan, then hit Mudi Parandhami with a stick on the left temple. A-12, Chennur Venkataramana Reddy, gave a blow on the head to Mudi Parandhami. When Rajagopal Reddy Rajagopal Reddy (L.W. 2), intervened A-12, Chennur Venkataramana Reddy hacked him on the head with the same battle axe and felled him. In the incident Mudi Parandhami Reddy died. P.W. 3 (Murali Reddy) L.W. 2 (P. Raja Gopal Reddy) and L.W. 3 (Pelluru Karunakar Reddy) were injured.

4. Since no doctor was available at Vakadu, one Subrahmanyamm Reddy brought a car and Veluru Gopal Reddy, P.W. 6, Pelluru Murali Reddy P.W.3 took him in the car to the Government Hospital, Gudur. However, since his condition was critical the hospital authorities advised them to take him for special treatment to Tirupati. On 26.11.1996 the Additional District Munsif, Tirupati recorded the Dying Declarati

Click Here to Read the rest of this document

2013 Supreme(SC) 970

IMPORTANT POINT An order of acquittal is liable to be interfered with only in exceptional cases where there are compelling circumstances and the judgment in appeal is found to be perverse.

Cases Referred (11)

IMPORTANT POINT
An order of acquittal is liable to be interfered with only in exceptional cases where there are compelling circumstances and the judgment in appeal is found to be perverse.