The main legal point established in the judgment is the court's finding of the appellants' guilt for criminal conspiracy, forming an unlawful assembly, and committing various offences including murder, voluntarily causing hurt, and waging war against the Raj Pramukh.

1. This appeal arises out of Sessions Case No. 19 of 1951 on the file of the Quilon Sessions Court. On 31.12.1949 (corresponding to 16.5.1125 M.E.) at about 11 p.m. an organised body of persons attacked the Inspector of Police, Adoor and a party of Police constables who were camping with him at Sooranad in Kunnathoor Taluk, while they were on patrol duty, and murdered the Inspector and three Police constables and also caused hurt to some of the other police constables in the party. For this incident a charge-sheet, Ext. BS, was laid on 30.6.1950 by the Inspector of Police, Adoor, before the Kunnathoor Taluk Second Class Magistrate, against 26 persons for offences punishable under Ss. 140, 141, 396, 301, 324, 332, 428,110B and 112 T.P.C., corresponding to sections 148, 149, 396, 302, 324, 332, 427,120B and 121 IPC. The charge under S. 141 TPC related to the liability of every member of the unlawful assembly for the offences committed in prosecution of the common object. The other offences for which the accused were charged were rioting armed with deadly weapons, dacoity with murder, murder, voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons, voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty, committing mischief, criminal conspiracy, and waging war against the Raj Pramukh. When the charge-sheet was filed in Court, accused No. 18 therein was already dead, and the Police were not able to apprehend and produce accused Nos. 3, 4,11,13,19, 20, 23, 24 and 26 in the charge-sheet as they had absconded. So, the preliminary enquiry was proceeded with only in respect of accused 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22 and 25 in the charge-sheet. Even out of these accused, accused 6 and 14 died during the course of the preliminary inquiry. After it was charged, the case was transferred from the Taluk Second Class Magistrate's Court, Adoor, to the Court of the Special First Class Magistrate, Quilon, and the preliminary enquiry was conducted by the Special Magistrate. After the conclusion of the preliminary enquiry, the learned Magistrate committed all the accused in respect of whom the preliminary enquiry was conducted to take their trial in Sessions Court of Quilon, but the 1st accused in the charge-sheet also died after the commitment. The remaining 13 persons, i.e., accused 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 21, 22 and 25 were arraigned as accused 1 to 13 in the Sessions Court. These accused will hereafter be referred to in this judgment with reference to their position on the array of the accused in the Sessions Court as accused 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. The other accused mentioned in the charge-sheet, but not committed to the Sessions Court, have been referred to by the Sessions Judge as Ch. 1, Ch. 3, Ch. 4, Ch. 11, Ch. 13 etc. these being their numbers on the array of the accused as given in the charge-sheet, Ext. BS, and they will be referred to accordingly in this judgment also. Even out of the 13 accused committed to the Sessions Court, the 8th accused was not able to take his trial as he was suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis and had to be taken to the T.B. Hospital, Nagercoil, for treatment. Of the remaining 12 accused tried by the Sessions Judge, two, viz., accused 11 and 12 were acquitted and ten, viz., accused 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9,10 and 13 were convicted under various sections. The 10th accused was convicted only under S. 135 TPC and sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for three months. He has undergone his sentence; and no appeal has been filed against his conviction and sentence. All the remaining accused, viz., accused 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 13 were convicted under S. 112 TPC for waging war against the Raj Pramukh and every one of them was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and also to forfeit his property for this conviction. The 13th accused was further convicted under S. 139 and S. 141 TPC read with Ss. 301, 307, 324, 326 and 332 TPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment