JUDGMENT :

(Goutam Bhaduri, J.)

1. All the appeals are being heard together, as the common thread passes through the issue.

2. The present appeals are arising out of judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 23-3-2021 passed by the Special Judge {Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act}, Kabeerdham, in Atrocity Spl. Criminal Case No.99/2018 whereby the learned Court below convicted the appellants for offence under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced each of them to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/-, in default of payment of fine to further undergo RI for one month. However, acquitted the appellants from the charge under Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Schedules Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) (Amendment) Act, 2015.

3. (i) The prosecution case, as emerging from the material on record, is that when on 3-10-2018 the deceased Lekhram was at his home, at about 10.30 pm he received 2-3 calls on his mobile. The deceased thereafter went out with a Jerry Can to bring diesel. His wife Phoolbasan (PW-3) went to sleep. Subsequently, when he did not return till next day morning, Phoolbasan and her brother in law Shatruhan started searching and tried to call him, but his mobile was responding as switched off. Thereafter, Shatruhan (PW-4) went for searching the deceased and on the way one person namely; Radheshyam informed him that in between Gangapur and Padi the dead body was lying. Having gone there and identified the dead body that it was of deceased Lekhram, a report was made by Phoolbasan (PW-3), wife of the deceased, on 4-10-2018. The report having been made, merg was recorded vide Ex.P/5 and subsequently the FIR was registered vide Ex.P/6. The dead body was subjected to postmortem. The postmortem was conducted by Dr.Belchandan (PW-11) and report thereof was given vide Ex.P/26. During investigation by Bharat Bareth (PW- 10), from the place of incident, the motorcycle, slippers, scarf, bloodstained and plain soil was seized vide Ex.P/3.

(ii) Subsequently, on 5-10-2018 the accused persons were apprehended and their memorandum statements were recorded vide Ex.P/17 to Ex.P/20. Pursuant to the memorandum, the following articles were recovered at the instance of different accused - (i) knife, plastic Jerry Can, mobile, cash of Rs.900/- and T-Shirt were recovered at the behest of Manish Sakat (A/1) vide Ex.P/21; (ii) Bamboo stick, mobile, motorcycle, T-Shirt and half pant were recovered at the behest of Shankar Chandravasnshi (A/2) vide Ex.P/22; (iii) Bamboo stick, T-shirt, full pant and mobile were recovered at the behest of Komal Chandravanshi (A/3) vide Ex.P/23 and (iv) At the instance of Durga Chandravanshi (A/4), Baniyan, half pant, scarf, club and motorcycle were recovered vide Ex.P/24. The mobile of the deceased was searched and Talashi panchnama was prepared vide Ex.P/25. Thereafter, the statements of Phoolbasan (PW-3) and Shatruhan (PW-4) were recorded. The alleged weapon used for commission of crime was sent for query report and having received the report, it was sent for FSL report by Narendra Kumar Bental (PW-14). The FSL report was received vide Ex.P/36. Thereafter, phone call details was obtained, which was filed with a certificate under Section 65B of the Evidence Act. After preparation of the site plan and recording the statements of witnesses, the charge sheet was filed.

4. During the course of trial, all the accused persons abjured their guilt and pleaded innocence. On behalf of the prosecution as many as 14 witnesses were examined. No witness was examined on behalf of the defence. The learned trial Court after evaluating the evidence, convicted and sentenced the accused persons as aforementioned. Hence, these appeals.

5. Shri Rajeev Shrivastava, learned senior counsel assisted by Shri Malay Shrivastava, Shri Sau