JUDGMENT :

This is a Criminal Appeal filed on behalf of the Appellants/Accused Nos.4 to 6 in S.C.No.8 of 2008 (Old S.C.No.18 of 2007), on the file of the Special Judge for Trial of SCs & STs (POA) Act, 1989, Srikakulam, questioning the judgment, dated 29.04.2009, where under the learned Special Judge for Trial of SCs & STs (POA) Act, 1989, Srikakulam, found the present appellants guilty of the offence under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code (“IPC” for short) and sentenced them to suffer simple imprisonment for a period of six months each and to pay fine of Rs.500/- each in default to suffer simple imprisonment for a period of 15 days.

2. The present appellants faced trial in the said case for the charges under Section 3(1)(x) of SCs & STs (POA) Act and Section 323 of IPC and the learned Special Judge acquitted the present appellants of the offences alleged under Section 3(1)(x) of SCs & STs (POA) Act, but convicted them under Section 323 of IPC and sentenced them as above.

3. The case of the prosecution before the trial Court according to the charge sheet filed by the State, represented by the Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Palaknonda in Crime No.9 of 2007 under Section 324 r/w 34 of IPC and Sections 3(1)(x)(xi) of SCs & STs (POA) Act, 1989 is as follows :

(i) The defacto-complainants L.W.1-Deesari Satyamdora, L.W.2-Deesari Gademma and L.W.3-Jalumuru Guramma are residents of Madhavarayapuram Village of Santhakaviti Mandal. They belonged to ST-Konda Dora by caste. The accused Gulivindala Krishna and 9 others are residents of the same village and belonged to Kapu community.

(ii) The complainants L.W.1-Deesari Satyamdora, L.W.2-Deesari Gademma and L.W.3-Jalumuru Guramma, all are Scheduled Tribes. They reported that they along with others are engaged as coolies for forming of new gravel road in front of the house of Girada Swamy Naidu. While attending their coolie works, accused Gulivindala Krishna, Chowdari Yerramnaidu and Chowdari Suryanarayana came one after another and abused L.W.1-Deesari Satyam Dora in filthy language. A.4 caught hold of his mother i.e., L.W.2-Deesari Gademma’s hand, A.5 caught hold of her tuft of hair and dragged her on the ground and A.6 abused her in filthy language. A.7, A.8, A.9 and A.10 caught hold of her tuft of hair, dragged on ground and abused in filthy language by touching her caste name. They pushed her down, as such, she received injuries. Konchada Simhachalam, one of the accused, placed his towel around the neck of L.W.3-Jalumuru Guramma and abused her by touching her caste name. Basing on the report, L.W.12 registered a crime and investigated into. The Superintendent of Police, Srikakulam has appointed Sub-Divisional Police Officer, as investigating officer. L.W.14-Sub-Divisional Police Officer took the investigation from L.W.12. He visited the scene of offence and recorded the statements of witnesses. He obtained caste certificates of L.Ws.1 to 3 from L.W.10. He examined the scene of offence in the presence of mediators. The Medical Officer-L.W.11 examined the injured and issued wound certificates. The injured were referred to hospital after registration of F.I.R. by L.W.11. The investigation reveals that Accused Nos.1 to 10 are responsible for abusing and insulting L.Ws.1 to 3 in the name of their caste. Hence, the charge sheet.

4. The learned Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Rajam, took cognizance and committed the case to the Court of Sessions and thereafter it was numbered as S.C.No.8 of 2008. On appearance of the accused before the trial Court and after following the procedure under Section 228 of Code of Criminal Procedure (“Cr.P.C.” for short), charges under Section 3(1)(x) of SCs & STs (POA) Act against accused Nos.1 to 10, charge under Section 3(1)(xi) of the said Act against Accused Nos.4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 and further charges under Section 323 r/w 34 of IPC against Accused Nos.1 to 3 and 7 and 8 and further charge under Section 3 (1)(xi) of the said Act against the Accused Nos.1 to 3,