IMPORTANT POINT
Ordinarily court seeks for corroboration of evidence of an approver before convicting accused on that evidence.

JUDGMENT

M. Karpagavinayagam, J. - A neatly planned and drafty executed murder of the deceased by using a mini lorry as the weapon of offence is the subject matter of the prosecution.

2. Kumar (A 1) is the younger brother of Sivaraman, the first deceased, who brought him up gave education and got employment as a Police Constable. The said Kumar (A 1) due to family dispute hatched a conspiracy along with A2 Kannan and A3 Chakravarthy to commit the murder of the deceased Sivaraman his elder brother and in pursuance of the conspiracy, a mini lorry was engaged which was driven by A 2 Kannan on 18-8-1998 and dashed against the TVS 50 in which the first deceased Sivaraman was riding as a result of which the second deceased Sarathambal, his grandmother sitting as a pillion rider as well as Sivaraman were thrown on the road with injuries, which resulted in the instantaneous death. Initially, the case was treated as accident case and registered under Section 304-A I.P.C. Ultimately, truth that was a murder was found out during investigation. Then all the three accused were charged and tried for the offences under Section 120-B and 302 I.P.C. Al was convicted for the offences under Sections 120-B and 302 I.P.C. (two counts) and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life concurrently. A2 was convicted for / the offences under Section 120- Band 302 I.P.C. (two counts) and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment for each of the offences and the sentences were directed to run consecutively. A3 Chakravarthy was convicted for the offences under Sections 120- Band 302 (two counts) and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment for each of the offences and sentences of run concurrently.

3. The short facts leading to the conviction are as follows:

(a) "Kumar (A 1) was working as a Police Constable attached to Nellikuppam Police Station. A2 Kannan and A3 Chakravarthy are lorry drivers known to each other P.W. 1 Ramalingam, the approver, is the resident of Karamanikuppam village. A2 Kannan and the approver Ramalingam belong to same village and as such, they are close friends. P.W. 1 Ramlingam along with his wife P.W. 6 Chitra is running a Tea stall at the village. P.W. 1's brother died in a motor accident one year back. A1 Kumar being a Police Constable helped P.W. 1 to get the body quickly after post-mortem. He also arranged to engage a counsel for getting compensation for the death of his brother. That was how both A 1 and P.W. 1 became close.

(b) The first deceased Sivaraman is the elder brother of A1 Kumar. After the death of their father, A1 was brought up and given education by the first deceased Sivaraman. He also helped him in getting the employment as Police Constable. He also arranged marriage for A 1 with one Baby, the sister of his wife P.W. 6 Chitrao Within a few years, misunderstanding arose between the said Baby and A 1. After driving her out from his house, A 1 who had developed illicit intimacy with one Sundari another woman Police Constable married her. Baby was given shelter in the house of the first deceased, since she happens to be sister of his wife P.W. 6. While she was in the house of the first deceased, she gave a complaint against A-1, her husband for the offence under Section 498-A I.P.C. She also filed a petition seeking maintenance from him. In these cases, the first deceased was a witness. Aggrieved by that A-1 filed a suit in civil Court against the first deceased for partition and obtained injunction restraining the first deceased from alienating the properties.

(c) In the meantime, on the basis of the criminal cases, the first accused Kumar and his second wife Sundari were suspended from service by the Police Department. The first accused thought that the cases were filed against him by his wife only at the instance of his elder brother, the first deceased Sivaraman. Therefore, the first accused had strong grudge against the first deceased.

(d) Since P.W. 1 became a close friend of A 1, A1 told his family affairs to