The main legal point established in the judgment is the application of the four steps of inquiry involved in determining the intention to inflict a particular injury as per the provisions of IPC, and the reliance on the evidence of direct eye witnesses and the voluntary surrender of the accused.

The appellant is challenging the judgment of conviction and sentence recorded by the Sessions Court in S.C.No.211/2017 dated 4.10.2008 whereby he is found guilty for the offence under section 302 of IPC and sentenced for life imprisonment and imposed fine of Rs.5000/- with default clause.

2. The parties shall be referred to as per their original status before the Trial Court.

3. As the facts unfurl, the respondent-police charge sheeted the appellant for the offence under Section 302 of IPC. The case of the prosecution was, in pursuance of a previous money dispute, the deceased used to pester the accused for money and harass him. On 14.7.2007 the deceased snatched Rs.2500/- from the accused, purchased Whisky and Masala Dasa from a hotel; both of them went to a Mango orchard, enjoyed Masala Dosa and Whisky. Abruptly the accused shouted at the deceased that he is enjoying the money snatched from him and assaulted him with chopper. Thereafter he amputed the skull portion from the thorax, later became panic, carried the skull in a plastic cover to the police station and surrendered before the SHO of the police station along with the weapon.

4. On procuring the accused, the Sessions Court framed the charge, when read over to him, he pleaded not guilty. The prosecution entered into trial and examined 12 witnesses as per Exs.P1 to P12 and marked documents Exs.P1 to P19; 313 Cr.P.C. statement of the victim was recorded. He denied the incriminating circumstances appearing against him in the evidence of the prosecution witnesses. He did not adduce rebuttal evidence.

5. After giving its audience to both, the learned Sessions Court convicted the accused for the offence under Section 302 of IPC.

6. Learned counsel Sri. Vishwanatha Poojary for the appellant submits that there was inbuilt contradiction in the case of the prosecution. The evidence was not in corroboration to the charges. In that view of the matter, the judgment of conviction recorded by the Sessions Court is perverse and same may be set aside granting benefit of doubt to the accused.

7. Learned Additional S.P.P. Sri. Vijaykumar Majage, for the respondent-State seeks to sustain the judgment of the Sessions Court.

8. Perused the judgment under challenge and also the Lower Court records. The prosecution commenced its evidence by examining the doctor who conducted the post mortem on 15.7.2007. She testified to the effect that she has conducted the postmortem both on the skull and the thorax and noticed 14 injuries on the dead body which tallied with the internal injuries. On dissection, the cut portion of the thorax and the skull coincide with each other. The death was due to asphyxia as a result of separation of the skull from the thorax. She had answered to the query sent for her response by the Investigating Officer wherein she had stated that the skull and the thorax belonged to the same person. The wounds at the cut portion of the skull matched with cut portion of the thorax. The injuries were possible due to attack by a sharp heavy weapon like chopper.

9. PW-2/complainant is the direct eye witness to the incident. He testified that he saw the deceased and the accused standing against each other and the accused present in the court hall assaulting the deceased with a chopper, whereby deceased collapsed and thereafter also the accused assaulted him 4 to 5 times, saw the witness and disappeared with the skull and the chopper. The complaint was drafted by some one on his dictation.

10. PW-4 has testified about his presence near the respondent police station whereon the accused came with a chopper and a pack and placed the same on a table in the police station. He disclosed that, it is the skull of Nallappanahalli Ananda, whom he murdered in the mango orchard. The chopper and his clothes were also blood stained. The articles M.Os.3 to 6 were seized under mahazar. Thereafter he took the police and panchas to the place of occurrence where the dead body was lying without the skull