Oral Judgment:

1. All these three appeals arise out of the judgment in Sessions Case No.965/97 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Bombay. Said appeals are filed by the original accused nos.1,3 and 4 respectively against the sentences awarded to them.

2. Present appellants, i.e., the accused nos.1,3 and 4 and the accused no.2, were convicted of the offences punishable under Sections 120-B and were sentenced to undergo R.I. for ten years and to pay fine of Rs. 1,000/- each. Accused Nos.1 and 2 were convicted for the offences punishable under Sections 450, 397 and 398 of the I.P.C. and under Sections 37(1-b) read with Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act and awarded sentence of imprisonment for varying periods. Accused no.2 was also convicted and sentenced for the offences punishable under Section 394 and 307 of the I.P.C. Accused no.2 had preferred an appeal which was dismissed long back. Therefore, now we are concerned with these 3 appeals filed by the accused nos.1,3 and 4 only.

3. Prosecution case in brief is that P.W.1 Mrs. Beryl , her husband P.W.2 David and their daughter P.W.3 Dr. Naomi used to reside in flat no.1, ground floor at Jackson House, BPT Colony, Colaba, Mumbai-5. On 21.5.97 at about 5.45 a.m. the door bell of the house rang. Presuming her maid servant Sudha at the door, P.W.1 Beryl opened the door. At that time, a person entered into the house and showed a piece of paper to P.W.1 Beryl and asked whether she had placed an order. She replied in negative but at the same time said person put a knife on her throat and knocked her down. Meanwhile 5 or 6 persons armed with different weapons followed that person and closed the door. She shouted for help and her husband and daughter woke up and came. One of the culprits demanded keys of the cupboard from her husband, who refused to give. On that, said person assaulted David with a chopper on his head and other parts. Their daughter Naomi intervened but she was also assaulted and several injuries were caused on her head, neck and her two fingers, which were cut. At that stage, Mrs. Beryl ran towards the rear door of the house and shouted for help. Due to this culprits ran away from the front door of the house. P.W.2 David and P.W.3 Naomi were taken to the hospital in serious injured condition. After getting telephonic information about the incident P.W.16 PSI Pramod Makeshwar rushed to the spot and then went to the hospital where David was admitted. He recorded F.I.R (Exhibit 10) of Mrs.Beryl (P.W.1). On the spot of the incident besides broken pieces of glass and broken pieces earthern pots, he also found a letter or note, Exhibit 11. That letter was allegedly given by P.W.1 Beryl to their servant accused no.3 Rajveer @ Raju Karansingh Valmiki so that by showing that letter to the security guard he could get entry in the house. Accused nos.1,4 and 5 were arrested on 3.6.97; accused no.3 was arrested on 6.6.97 and accused no.2 was arrested on 8.6.1997. Three more persons, who were allegedly involved in the said incident, could not be arrested. During the investigation a knife was recovered on the basis of information given by the accused no.1 Rajendra @ Raju Netrapal Valmiki and on the basis of information given by the accused no.2 Govind, a chopper was recovered. Clothes of David and the weapons were referred to C.A. C.A.Reports were received. After investigation, police filed chargesheet against the accused nos.1 to 5 and 3 absconding accused persons.

4. On the basis of charge-sheet filed by the police, Sessions Court charged accused nos.1 to 5 for the offences of conspiracy punishable under Section 120-B. Accused nos.1 and 2 were also charged for different offences for which they have been convicted. On behalf of the prosecution, in all 17 witnesses were examined.

5. To prove the evidence, prosecution mainly relied on evidence of P.W.1 Mrs.Beryl, P.W.2 David, their daughter P.W.3 Dr.Naomi and also the evidence of P.W.4 Rohit Daniel who resid