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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT HYDERABAD FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AND THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH
Suresh Kumar Kait, T. Amarnath Goud, JJ.
Dakkata Balaramreddy and another – Appellants
Vs.
State of AP – Respondent
Criminal Appeal No. 915 of 2016
Decided On : 03-10-2018
Criminal Law – Criminal Trial – Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Sections 302, 450 and 397 – Offence of Robrry/Murder – Appeal against conviction – Prosecution’s case is that on 21st August 2008 at about 9.00 p.m., appellants/A-1 and A-2 trespassed into the house of PW-1 in order to commit an offence by hiding iron rods back below their shirts. A-2 brutally killed deceased No.1, whereas, A-1 killed deceased No.2 by beating on head with iron rods and robbed the gold ornaments weighing about 3.543 Kgs. and cash of Rs. 18,340/-, total worth Rs. 28,18,340/- from the house of PW-1 – During the course of investigation, he visited the scene of offence, observed the scene of offence in the presence of mediators/PW-15 and LW-23/Pilaka Polarao and held inquest over the dead bodies of deceased persons in the presence of panchayatdars. He arrested A-2 on 22nd August 2008 at 1.15 hours at Radhamveedhi, Jagannadhaswamy temple, Ichapuram in the presence of mediators and recovered part of stolen property i.e. 1748 grams and 750 milligrams of gold ornaments and cash of Rs. 18,340/- from his possession. He arrested A-1 on 22nd August 2008 at Gollaveedhi, Ichapuram at 4.00 hours and recovered 1794 grams and 370 milligrams of ornaments from his possession in the presence of mediators – Held, offence under Section 392 r/w.397 of IPC is attractive, but not Section 394 of IPC. In the case in hand, A-1 and A-2, after committing robbery, left with booty. While running away from house of PW-1, direct witness/PW-6 saw both of them running with the bags. The other circumstantial evidence that the finger prints on the show-case of PW-1s residence in which gold ornaments are placed, were secured and the expert also confirmed that the said finger prints belongs to A-1 and A-2. clothes of accused were sent to RFSL and it was found that there were human bloodstains on those Clothes – Accused have not explained as to how bloodstains were available on the clothes wore by them – Weapons used for commission of offence were seized from the scene of offence immediately after the offence – Gold ornaments were recovered from A-2, basing on the confession of A-1. PW-6, who is a direct witness, had seen A-1 and A-2 running away from the house of PW-1 by holding bags. All these circumstances establish the presence of accused at the scene of offence – Circumstantial evidence in corroboration with the medical evidence, the weapons used and the manner in which the attack was made, clearly establish that the appellants intended to cause death of the inmates of the house of PW-1, which fulfills essential ingredient of the offence under Section 300 IPC, punishable under Section 302 of IPC – Prosecution has established the cause of death of the deceased persons and it linked the same with the accused through circumstantial evidence, in corroboration with medical evidence, leaving no doubt to conclude that A-1 and A-2 have committed the offence. Accordingly, the learned trial Court, after considering the prosecution evidence and the material before it including the scientific evidence, has rightly convicted the appellants for the offences mentioned above – No merit in the present appeal – Hence Appeal dismissed.(Paras 71, 72 and 73)
Suresh Kumar Kait, J.
The present appeal is preferred against the judgment dated 30th August 2016, in Sessions Case No.81 of 2012, passed by the VI Additional District and Sessions Judge, Sompeta, whereby, the appellants/A-1 and A-2 are found guilty for the offences under Sections 302, 450 and 397 of IPC. Consequently, for the offence under Section 302 of IPC, they were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and also to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000/-, in default of payment of fine, to suffer simple imprisonment for 6 months.
They were also sentenced to undergo imprisonment for 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000/-, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for six months for the offence under Section 450 of IPC. They were further sentenced to undergo imprisonment for Seven years for the offence under Section 397 of IPC. All the sentences were to run concurrently.
2. The case of the prosecution is that on 21st August 2008 at about 9.00 p.m., the appellants/A-1 and A-2 trespassed into the house of PW-1 in order to commit an offence by hiding iron rods back below their shirts. A-2 brutally killed deceased No.1, whereas, A-1 killed deceased No.2 by beating on head with iron rods and robbed the gold ornaments weighing about 3.543 Kgs. and cash of Rs. 18,340/-, total worth Rs. 28,18,340/- from the house of PW-1.
3. On 21st August 2008 at about 23.00 hours, PW-1 lodged a written report at Ichapuram Town Police Station. PW-23 registered the same as a case in Crime No.61 of 2008 for the offences under Sections 302 and 379 of IPC and informed the facts of the offence to PW-26, who was in-charge of Ichapuram Circle, since it is a grave offence. Accordingly, PW-26/Inspector of Police immediately took up investigation. During the course of investigation, he visited the scene of offence, observed the scene of offence in the presence of mediators/PW-15 and LW-23/Pilaka Polarao and held inquest over the dead bodies of deceased persons in the presence of panchayatdars. He arrested A-2 on 22nd August 2008 at 1.15 hours at Radhamveedhi, Jagannadhaswamy temple, Ichapuram in the presence of mediators and recovered part of stolen property i.e. 1748 grams and 750 milligrams of gold ornaments and cash of Rs. 18,340/- from his possession. He arrested A-1 on 22nd August 2008 at Gollaveedhi, Ichapuram at 4.00 hours and recovered 1794 grams and 370 milligrams of ornaments from his possession in the presence of mediators. Thus, PW-26 recovered total gold of 3.543 Kgs. from both A-1 and A-2 and sent them for judicial custody. Thereafter, PW-26 examined PWs.1 to 4, 6 to 9, LW-4/Kotha Bhagyalaxmi and LW-5/Vetcha Satyam and recorded their detailed statements in Part-II Case Diary and forwarded the material objects to RFSL, Visakhapatnam for analysis.
4. Pw-27/Inspector of Police, Ichapuram Circle, took up further investigation. During the course of investigation, he visited the scene of offence, examined PWs.9 and 10 and LW-12/Simhadri Ramesh and recorded their statements. He filed a Memo in the Court of Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Ichapuram for adding Sections 450, 394 r/w.397 of IPC. He also filed a Memo in the Court of Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Sompeta, to record the statements of PWs.4 and 6 under Section 164 Cr.P.C.
5. The further case of the prosecution is that PW-19/Medical Officer, Civil Assistant Surgeon, Community Health Centre, Ichapuram conducted autopsy over the dead body of deceased No.1 and issued postmortem certificate opining that the cause of death was shock and hemorrhage due to head injury. PW-20/Medical Officer, Civil Assistant Surgeon, Community Health Centre, Ichapuram conducted autopsy over the dead body of deceased No.2 and issued postmortem report opining that the cause of death was shock and hemorrhage due to head injury. PW-24/Inspector of Police, FPB, SDEP Unit CID, Srikakulam, who compared the photocopies of chance prints with FP slips of A-1 and A-2, issued his opinion vide C.No.69/V-SOC/SD-SD
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