JUDGMENT :

K. SOMASHEKAR, J

1. These appeals are directed against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence rendered by the Court of the III Addl. District & Sessions Judge, Bengaluru Rural District sitting at Anekal in S.C. No. 5021/2014 dated 28.08.2017.

2. By the said judgment, the Trial Court had convicted the appellant in Crl.A.No. 1532/2018/Manjunatha, S/o. Nagaraju who is arraigned as Accused No. 3 in S.C. No. 5021/2014 for offences punishable under Sections 120B, 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the IPC’, for brevity); he was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.20,000/-for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC, along with default clause; further, he was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs.15,000/-for the offence punishable under Section 201 IPC along with default clause; and he was further sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 7 years and to pay a fine of Rs.10,000/-for the offence punishable under Section 120B of the IPC along with default clause. All the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

3. The Trial Court h