JUDGMENT :

Suman Shyam, J

1. Heard Mr. U.J. Saikia, learned counsel appearing for the appellants in Criminal appeal No. 75/2018. We have also heard Mr. U. Choudhury, learned Amicus Curiae appearing for the appellant in Criminal Appeal (J) No. 22/2018. Ms. B. Bhuyan, learned APP, Assam, has appeared on behalf of the State/respondent no. 1 in both the appeals. None has appeared for the respondent no. 2/informant.

2. These appeals are directed against the common judgment and order dated 16/12/2017 passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Jorhat, in Sessions Case No. 19(J-J)/2015, convicting the three appellants under Section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentencing them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and also to pay fine of Rs. 20,000/-each with default stipulation. As such, we propose to dispose of both the appeals by this common judgment and order.

3. The prosecution story, in a nutshell, is to the effect that on 20/12/2014 during the evening hours, an altercation took place in between the accused persons, viz. (1) Sri Prasanta Das @ Sarupai, (2) Sri Akanti Das @ Dipak and (3) Sri Makhan Das on one hand and the victim Debojit Das on the other. At that time, accu