( 1 ) THIS appeal represents the rather familiar situation wherein a taxi came to be hired by three persons and the taxi driver thereafter met with a violent end. The case pertains to Madikeri town and it created a sensation in the local area because there was a lot of public resistance and a demonstration which possibly had their own effect on the police and the other authorities. The brief facts are that on 14-2-1992, a white ambassador taxi bearing the Registration No. CNZ 4476 was hired from the taxi stand by three persons for an outstation trip. According to the prosecution, these persons casually approached p. W. 18-Manjunath who refused to take them, after which, they approached the driver of the adjoining taxi by the name of khaleel. Khaleel offered to take the three persons out of whom one sat in the front seat and two in the rear seat. It was not very unusual for Khaleel to go on outstation trips and his not returning to the house on that day did not appear strange either to his wife or to his family members. On the next day however, the taxi was found abandoned in the town near an area called rajaseat with the keys inside it and this was noticed by khaleel's family members who in turn reported the matter to the police. When the taxi was checked, a tooth was found in the taxi. There was no dispute about the fact that this was Khaleel's taxi and this provoked a violent reaction in the town, particularly from the taxi drivers as the local press immediately put out the news that some miscreants had engaged the taxi and had done away with the driver. It was only one week later that a body was found floating in a bloated and decomposed condition at a project site near Periyapatna and the local police were informed about it. With the help of two local persons, the body was taken out from the water and it was found that the body had a heavy stone tied to it with a coir rope, obviously in order to prevent the body from floating. In the meanwhile, the Madikeri Police had taken up the investigation as Khaleel was found missing and, from the clothes on the body and in particular, the fact that one of the teeth was missing and that there was a clip on the teeth which had been fixed by a Dentist, the body was conclusively identified as being that of Khaleel. Apart from the brothers, the wife has identified the body which was to some extent disfigured due to bloating and certain parts of the flesh having been eaten by the aquatic creatures. The police found that a black dial Citizen watch, which Khaleel used to wear, was missing. On the basis of various investigations that were done, the police arrested the three accused and it is alleged that accused 1 was instrumental in the recovery of an elastic belt which had been used for purposes of strangling Khaleel and that he also produced the wrist watch. We need to mention here that as far as the watch is concerned, the prosecution has examined the person from whom khaleel bought the watch for Rs. 500/-, who has identified the watch in question, but more importantly, Khaleel's brother and his wife have also identified the watch from the make as also the type of strap as being the very watch which the deceased used to regularly wear. Apart from this, the prosecution alleges that the other two accused took the police party and pointed out the spot from where the stone has been obtained, the spot where the car is alleged to have broken-down as also the spot where the dead body was taken and thrown into the water. On completion of the investigation, the accused were charge-sheeted, committed to the Court of Sessions and were put on trial. The learned Trial judge, in the course of a detailed judgment, has carefully examined each of the pieces of evidence and has come to the conclusion that a conviction was not possible on such evidence and he therefore, acquitted the accused. The State of Karnataka has filed the present appeal contending that the acquittal was unjustified.

( 2 ) MR. A. B.

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