( 1 ) THE appellants herein are accused Nos. 1 to 4 in Sessions Case No. 900 of 1998, which has been tried by the Second Additional Sessions Judge, Guntur. Initially, eight accused were tried for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code. On evidence, A-5 to A-8 were acquitted. Hence, the present appeal by Accused Nos. 1 to 4.

( 2 ) THE gravamen of the charge against the accused was that on 4-5-1998 at about 12-00 noon, Accused Nos. 1 to 8 formed themselves into an unlawful assembly with the common object of murdering one Puttia Appa Rao (hereinafter referred to as "the deceased"), a resident of Modukur village of Guntur District. In furtherance of their common object, A-1 hacked the deceased on his head with an axe; A-6 stabbed him with a knife on the right side of abdomen; A-2 hacked him on the left side of his ribs with a vegetable cutter; A-4 hacked him with a knife on his back, and all of them stabbed the deceased indiscriminately, and the deceased died on the spot. Thus, it is alleged that all the accused are liable to be punished for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code.

( 3 ) THE prosecution story can briefly be stated thus : the deceased Puttla Apprao was unmarried. He adopted PW-1 (Medida Sunitha) and she was residing with him. Accused No. 1 is a neighbour of the deceased. Accused No. 1 had purchased vacant site, which was on the western side of the house belonging to Accused No. 6, about five years back from one Annapureddy Ranga Reddy. While taking measurements of the said site, it was noticed that the deceased Appa Rao encroached the land of A-1 by one foot. The deceased did not agree for settlement in spite of intervention of elders. In this regard, differences arose in between the deceased and Accused No. 1 and they quarrelled with each other. It is further alleged that on 3-5-1998, Accused No. 1 hatched a plan with Accused Nos. 2 to 8 and decided to eliminate the deceased and thus on 4-5-1998 at about 12-00 noon, all the accused forming themselves into an unlawful assembly, arming with deadly weapons like axes and knives attacked the deceased, and thereby committed the murder of the deceased. It is further alleged by the prosecution that all the accused chased the deceased when he was running away from the scene of offence. Accused No. 1 hacked the deceased with an axe on his head, Accused No. 6 stabbed the deceased with a knife on the right side of his abdomen, Accused No. 2 hacked the deceased with a kitchen knife ( kattipeeta ) on the right side of his ribs, Accused No. 4 hacked the deceased with a knife on his back, and the deceased fell down, facing the ground. It is further alleged that all the accused stabbed the deceased on his back indiscriminately. The incident is alleged to have been noticed by P. W. 1, P. W. 2, P. W. 3 and P. W. 7. The first information report was given by P. W. 1 at Tsundur Police Station. The S. H. O. has registered the same as Crime No. 32 of 1998. The S. H. O. informed the same to the C. I. of Police, Tsundur. P. W. 12, C. I. of Police, Tsundur took up investigation and proceeded to the scene of offence. He prepared observation report Ex. P. 6 which was attested by P. W. 9 and rough sketch of the scene of offence under Ex. P. 13. He found the dead body of the deceased lying on a cot in a thatched shed in front of the house of the deceased with multiple injuries. P. W. 12 conducted inquest over the dead body of the deceased in the presence of P. W. 9 and others. Ex. P. 7 is the inquest report. Thereafter, he recorded the statements of P. Ws. 1 to 6. P. Ws. 1 and 2 are cited as eye-witnesses. P. W. 12 seized M. O. 2 two plastic kerosene tins, M. O. 8 one polythene empty cement bag, M. O. 7 two wooden pieces and M. O. 1 knife (kattipeeta) and M. O. 4 one pair of chappals, from the scene of offence. The dead body of the deceased was sent to the District Hospital, Tenali a