JUDGMENT :

ABHAY S. OKA, J.

FACTUAL ASPECTS

1. The appellant is the original accused no. 9. The appellant and the accused no. 10 - Ram Bachan, were convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short ‘IPC’). Accused nos. 1 to 8 were convicted for the offence punishable under Section 325 read with Section 149 of IPC. The appellant and the accused no. 10 were sentenced to undergo life imprisonment. The accused no. 10 died during the pendency of the appeal before the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.

2. The incident is of 17th August 1984. According to the prosecution’s case, PW-1 Uday Raj Maurya, PW-2 Ram Aadhar (father of PW-1) and Karam Hussain (deceased) were sitting near the doorsteps of the house of PW-1 and PW-2. Their discussion was about irrigating the fields. According to the prosecution’s case, there was previous enmity between PW-1 and PW-2 on the one hand and the accused persons on the other. There was a case filed against the family of the accused no. 1 in which PW-2 was a witness. According to the prosecution’s case, a decree was passed in favour of PW-1 and PW-2 and against accused no. 7 Tufani. Moreo