U. DURGA PRASAD RAO, GANNAMANENI RAMAKRISHNA PRASAD
State Of Andhra Pradesh – Appellant
Versus
Mohammad Abdul Sammad Munna – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
U. Durga Prasad Rao, J.
The Referred Trials 2, 3 & 4/2021 wherein judgments are pronounced today, present chilling facts of diabolical and grotesque manner of killing the trailer drivers and cleaners by the ruthless gang of dacoits while they were transporting iron load on the highway between Ongole-Nellore Districts in Andhra Pradesh.
In S.C.No.73/2010, learned VIII Additional District & Sessions Judge, Ongole in his judgment dated 18.05.2021 convicted A1 to A17 for different offences and sentenced them with different punishments as narrated in the following table. Since among them, A1 to A11 and A15 are awarded death punishment for the offences under Section 396 IPC under two counts, learned Judge submitted the entire case proceedings along with his judgment to this High Court under Section 366 Cr.P.C. for confirmation of death sentence and the Registry has registered the said referred proceedings as a Referred Trial No.2/2021 and listed before us. That apart, challenging the conviction and sentence, the accused have also preferred different Criminal Appeals as mentioned in the table below and those criminal appeals are also listed before us.
| Accused No. | Name | ||||
Ajay Agarwal v. Union of India (UOI) and Ors.
Aloke Nath Dutta v. State of West Bengal
Anuj Kumar Gupta v. State of Bihar AIR 2013 SC 3013 : MANU/SC/0741/2013
Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab 1980(2) SCC 684
Baliya v. State of M.P. MANU/SC/0838/2012 : (2012) 9 SCC 696
Chandra Prakash v. State of Rajasthan MANU/SC/0457/2014 : (2014) 8 SCC 340
Dana Yadav and others v. State of Bihar (2002) 7 SCC 295
Digamber Vaishnav v. State of Chhattishgarh (2019) 4 SCC 522
E.K.Chandrasenan v. State of Kerala MANU/SC/0205/1995 : (1995) 2 SCC 99
In re: Kodur Thimma Reddi and Ors. MANU/AP/0071/1957 : AIR 1957 AP 758
Kishore and others v. State of Punjab
Kishore Bhadke v. State of Maharashtra
Lakshmi and Ors. v. State of Uttar Pradesh MANU/SC/0715/2002 : (2002) 7 SCC 198
Laxman Prasad V. State of Madhya Pradesh (2023) 6 SCC 399
Lennart Schussler and Anr. v. Director of Enforcement and Anr. MANU/SC/0117/1969 : 1970 CrlJ 707
Malkhansingh and others v. State of Madhya Pradesh 2003 (5) SCC 746
Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh (2023) 2 SCC 353
Mohammad Usman Mohammad Hussain Maniyar and Ors. v. State of Maharashtra
Rajesh Govind Jagesha v. State of Maharashtra
Ram Chandra and Ram Bharosey v. State of Uttar Pradesh MANU/SC/0107/1956 : AIR 1957 SC 381
Rama Nand and Ors v. State of Himachal Pradesh MANU/SC/0209/1981 : (1981) 1 SCC 511
Rameshbhai Chandubhai Rathod v. State of Gujarat (2009) 5 SCC 740
Shailendra Rajdev Pasvan v. State of Gujarat (2020) 14 SCC 750
Sharad Birdhi Chand Sarda vs State Of Maharashtra 1984 (4) SCC 116
State of Karnataka v. M.V. Mahesh MANU/SC/0176/2003 : (2003) 3 SCC 353
State through Superintendent of Police, SBI/SIT v. Nalini and Ors.
Sunil v. State of Madhya Pradesh (2017) 4 SCC 393
Susheel Murmu v. State of Jarkhand AIR 2004 SC 394
Swamy Shraddananda (2) v. State of Karnataka
Union of India v. V.Sriharan @ Murugan and Ors. 2016 (7) SCC 1
Venkatesh @ Chandra v. State of Karnataka
Yash Pal Mittal v. State of Punjab MANU/SC/0169/1977 : (1977) 4 SCC 540
The court confirmed death sentences for multiple accused involved in a brutal highway dacoity resulting in murder, emphasizing the need for severe punishment in heinous crimes.
In cases involving murder during robbery, the court established criminal conspiracy and affirmed death sentences for the heinousness of the offences while highlighting the importance of both aggravat....
The court confirmed death sentences for organized dacoity and murder, emphasizing the collective impact and aggravating factors while allowing commutation for specific accused based on mitigating cir....
The prosecution established guilt through circumstantial evidence, proving motive and last seen theory, essential for murder convictions under the Indian Penal Code.
It is well settled proposition of law that the evidence of hostile witnesses need not be ignored in total and it can be relied on to the extent to which the witnesses have spoken about incriminating ....
(1) Minor contradictions do not go to root of matter and destroy whole prosecution which is firmly made out against accused.(2) Protection guaranteed under Article 20(3) of Constitution of India does....
The prosecution failed to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt based on circumstantial evidence, leading to their acquittal.
The judgment emphasizes the need for a complete chain of evidence and the inadmissibility of unreliable witness testimony and confession in establishing guilt beyond reasonable doubt based on circums....
The prosecution must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt in dacoity cases, and minor discrepancies in witness testimonies do not invalidate the conviction if the overall evidence is credible.
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