Prosecution must substantiate charges beyond reasonable doubt; intentional murder requires proof of intent, while culpable homicide may be established through knowledge of likely fatality.

JUDGMENT :

A.V. Ravindra Babu, J.

1. The judgment, dated 30.06.2009, in Sessions Case No. 31 of 2009 on the file of the Court of VII Additional Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court), Visakhapatnam (for short ‘the learned Additional Sessions Judge’), is under challenge in the present Criminal Appeal filed by the appellant, who is the unsuccessful accused.

2. The appellant herein (accused) faced charge under Section 302 of the INDIAN PENAL CODE , 1860 (for short ‘the IPC’) pertaining to Crime No. 25 of 2008 of Dumbriguda Police Station, Visakhapatnam. The learned Additional Sessions Judge found the accused guilty of the offence under Section 304 (Part-II) IPC, as against the original charge under Section 302 IPC, convicted him under Section 235(2) Cr.P.C. and sentenced him to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- in default to suffer Rigorous Imprisonment for 1 month.

3. The parties to this Criminal Appeal will hereinafter be referred to as described before the trial Court, for the sake of convenience.

4. Sessions Case No. 31 of 2009 arose out of the committal order in Preliminary Registration Case (PRC) No. 4 of 2009 on the file of the Court of Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Araku Valley Chinthapalli (for short ‘the learned Magistrate’) pertaining to Crime No. 25 of 2008 of Dumbriguda Police Station, Visakhapatnam for the offence under Section 302 of IPC.

5. The case of the prosecution, in brief, according to the contents of the charge sheet, as above, is that on 11.07.2008 morning Pujari Bassu (hereinafter referred to as ‘the deceased’), son of Jalandar (late), went to Araku Santha (weekly shandy) along with LW-1 - Pujari Lavakusa, his son, for purchasing essential commodities. After completion of their work, LW-1 and LW-5 - Chattu Appala Raju along with the deceased stood at an auto stand, nearby Araku approach mud road at Girijan Co-operative Corporation (GCC) godown. At 12:00 noon, accused came to the deceased and asked him to give money for consumption of alcohol. The deceased refused to give money for his consumption of alcohol. Due to which, the accused grew wild, took a long stick, broken it and beat the deceased indiscriminately on his right neck, head, throat and mouth with an intention to kill him on account of which, the deceased collapsed with bleeding injuries. On seeing the incident, LW-1 raised cries. On hearing the cries of LW-1, LWs. 5 to LW-10 viz. Chattu Appala Raju, Poli Raju, Shavukari Trinadh Rao, Kotiyada Sanyasamma, Rapaka Pothayya and Poddu Bota Dev rushed to the spot and witnessed the occurrence. LWs. 1 to LW-5 viz. Pujari Lavakusa, Pujari Gummanna, Pujari Damodar, Pujari Manaka and Chattu Appala Raju shifted the deceased to Community Health Center (CHC), Araku Valley and on the way, the deceased succumbed to injuries.

On 11.07.2008 at 07:00 p.m., on the basis of the report given by LW-1, LW-20 - M. Eliea Babu, Inspector of Police registered the FIR in Crime No. 25 of 2008 for the offence under Section 302 IPC and took up investigation. During further investigation, he visited the scene of offence on 12.07.2008 at 06:00 a.m., examined the scene of offence, prepared scene observation report and seized the stick and soil with blood stains and co