The main legal point established in the judgment is the importance of conducting a proper examination of the accused under Section 313(1)(b), Cr. P.C. and the potential impact of a perfunctory examination on the outcome of the case.

I.A. Ansari, J.

1. Though the present appeal arises out of acquittal of persons, who had been charged under Sections 302, 307 and 326 read with Section 34, IPC, it, as would transpire, demonstrates trial Court's complete lack of knowledge of the procedure for trial of criminal cases, particularly, a trial by a Court of Session and also reveals ignorance of the fundamental concepts of criminal jurisprudence.

2. With the above prefatory remarks, we must also point out that this is an appeal against the judgment and order, dated 18-2-2002, passed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Judicial), Dimapur, in GR-Case No. 256/99, acquitting the accused-respondents of the charges framed against them under Sections 302, 307 and 326 read with Section 34, IPC.

3. The case of the prosecution, as unfolded at the trial, may, in brief, be described as follows:

(i) In the afternoon of 29-5-1999, Shri L. Imkong, the then Minister, Govt. of Nagaland, was escorted by the personnel of the Nagaland Police including the accused respondents, in four vehicles, from Kohima to his private residence at Diphupar, Dimapur. At around 5-30 p.m. when the escort vehicles reached near a petrol pump, located in an area called Six Mile, at Dimapur, on Dimapur-Kohima road, they came dangerously close to a Maruti Zen bearing registration No. NL-01-2552, which was coming from their opposite direction, i.e. from the direction of Dimapur and proceeding towards Kohima, and as the said Maruti Zen was about to collide against the escort vehicle, the occupants of the Maruti Zen shouted at the escort party. The escort vehicles and the said Maruti Zen did not stop, rather, the vehicles aforementioned kept proceeding towards their respective destinations. However, the occupants of the Maruti Zen, while proceeding towards Kohima from Dimapur, stopped, for a other hand, soon after dropping the Minister at his private residence at Diphupar, the accused-respondents, who were members of the escort party, took leave of the Minister on the pretext that the next day was a Sunday and that they would deposit their arms and ammunitions at the quarter-guard, which was situated at Khopanalla near Dimapur. Having been permitted to leave, the accused respondents, however, came, in the pilot vehicle of the escort party, namely, NL-01-2648, towards Kohima in search of the said Maruti Zen and its occupants.

(ii) Thus, instead of proceeding, as had been projected by them before the Minister, to deposit their arms and ammunitions at the quarter-guard at Khopanalla, the accused-respondents proceeded with their vehicle towards Chumukidema and on reaching Chumukidema, when they saw the said Maruti Zen parked by the side of the road, they stopped their vehicle in front of the Maruti Zen blocking its way. On finding the accused-respondents blocking their way, when Shri Michael, one of the occupants of the Maruti Zen, who was at the driving seat, started reversing their vehicle to turn around, three of the accused-respondents, namely, Constable Ato Yimchunger, Constable Akaho Sumi and Constable Mayang Ao fired as many as 19 rounds of bullets from their arms on the occupants of the Maruti Zen without any provocation from them and without any danger of imminent threat to their own lives or to the lives of others. As a result of such shooting, one of the victims, namely, Shri Adina, who was sitting on the front seat of the Maruti Zen, by the side of Shri Michael, died instantly inside the car, the two other victims, namely, Shri Michael and Shri Pangertemsu were seriously injured and, later on, Shri Michael also died at a hospital at Delhi, while undergoing treatment there and Shri Pangertemsu, who had sustained bullet injuries on his right shoulder, had to suffer amputation of his right hand.

(iii) In the circumstances depicted above, when the victims had been either seriously injured or killed, Michael, who was, as indicated hereinbefore, at the driving seat, managed to, somehow, take the Maruti Z