IMPORTANT POINTS
Evidence of witness not reliable in respect of some accused does not make it unreliable for all accused.
Minor contradictions need to be ignored.
Evidence of close relatives cannot be thrown out altogether for that reason.

JUDGMENT :

L. Nageswara Rao, J.

1. There were two factions in Chindukur village, Gadivemula Police Station, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh. One faction was led by V. Venkateswara Reddy and the other by Sivarami Reddy (Deceased No.1). V. Venkateswara Reddy was murdered in July, 1992. In retaliation, persons belonging to V. Venkateswara Reddy’s group murdered four supporters of Sivarami Reddy. On 11th October, 1994, Crime Nos. 92 and 93 of 1994 was registered in Gadivemula Police Station under Section 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 against persons of both groups. Sivarami Reddy (Deceased No.1) was released on conditional bail. One of the conditions for bail was that he had to attend Gadivemula Police Station every Sunday between 6.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m.

2. On 30th October, 1994, Sivarami Reddy along with his supporters and two escort police constables left his residence at 9.00 a.m. in a jeep to mark his attendance at Gadivemula Police Station. When the jeep was passing by the house of A-1 (wife of V. Venkateswara Reddy) a bullock cart was pushed across the road by A-2, A-3 and A-4 to stop the jeep. A-1 who was standing on the compound wall exhorted the other accused to hurl bombs and kill the deceased. A-5 to A-15 came out of the house of A-1 and rushed towards the jeep in which Sivarami Reddy and others were travelling. According to the prosecution, A-5 to A-7, A-9, A-11 to A-14 hurled country made bombs on the jeep. One bomb exploded on the face of Y. Ayyapu Reddy (Deceased No.2) who was driving the jeep. In an attempt to escape, Sivarami Reddy (Deceased No.1) started running while looking back and a bomb thrown by A-7 exploded on the head of Sivarami Reddy due to which he died on the spot. A-8, A-10, A-15 to A-37, A-42 to A-47 who were armed with hunting sickles and iron pipes attacked Rami Reddy (Deceased No.3) and hacked him to death. A-13, A-38 to A-41 chased Kambagiri Ramudu (Deceased No.4) armed with country made bombs. The bomb thrown by A-13 hit Kambagiri Ramudu on his back and the explosion caused his death on the spot. A. Ayyalanna (PW-1), N. Subrahmanyam, Y. Mudduleti Reddy, Sunka Raju, Balaraju (PW-6) and Janardhan Reddy (PW-7) and the escort police constable Gopal Rao received splinter injuries in the bomb blast. The prosecution version is that the escort constable Gopal Rao opened fire in the air due to which the accused fled. The Sub Inspector of Police, Gadivemula Police Station rushed to the spot on receiving information and recorded the statement of A. Ayyalanna(PW1) at 9:45 a.m. FIR No. 99/1994 was registered at 11.00 a.m. The police conducted the inquest between 12.30 p.m. and 3.30 p.m. and the FIR was sent to the Magistrate at 5:00 p.m. Thereafter, the bodies of all the four deceased were sent for Post Mortem on the same day. The explosives expert opined that the bombs used by the accused could endanger human life on explosion. A charge sheet was filed against the accused under Sections 147, 148, 302, 307, 324, 332 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short ‘the IPC’) and Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908. 47 persons were shown as accused in the charge sheet. By mistake Vaddegittannagari Kothuru Subbarayudu was shown as A- 36 and A-42 due to which A-42 was deleted from the list of the accused. Vallapureddy Anasuyamma (A-1), Boya Shakunala Ramadu (A-2), Pashula Bheemanna (A-3), Boya Ayula Pullaiah (A-4) Bathula Satyanarayana Reddy (A-5), Bathula Aki Reddy (A-8), Murasinin Hanumantha Reddy (A-24), Vadde Sambasivudu (A-43), Bathula Gopal Reddy (A-44), Golla Peda Saibaba (A-45), Valapureddy Pratap Singh (A-46) and Kasideddi Krishna Reddy (A-47) were acquitted by the trial Court. Seema Govinda Reddy (A-6), Mulinti Telugu Sreemulu (A-7), Sura Sreedhar Reddy (A-9), Vadde Gunja Venkatasubbadu (A-10) Kasireddy Bhupal Reddy (A-11), Kasireddy Vasantha Kumar Reddy (A-12), Pullagummi Kasireddy Krishna Reddy (A-13), Bathula Pranamananda Reddy (A-14), Vadde Pallapu Jambul