JUDGMENT :

Vinod Chandran, J.

Murder most foul, turned into a sensation with the arrest of a political front man of the area; the Personal Assistant of a Minister and the Secretary of the Office of the Local Committee of the then ruling party. The Police went full hog with the investigation commenced by a Circle Inspector [CI], continued by a Deputy Superintendent of Police [Dy.SP] and then an Assistant Commissioner of Police [ACP]; who were examined as PWs.103, 105 & 108; under the supervision of an Additional Director General of Police [ADGP]. The political overtones led the investigation astray and the trial went haywire with tutored witnesses, concocted confessions and manufactured evidence asserts the appellants, who are the two convicted of the charges levelled against them.

2. The prosecution went to trial parading a whooping 108 witnesses and marking more than 264 exhibits and MO-1 to MO65. The defence examined one witness and marked four portions of 161 statements as also a remand report dated 11.02.2014. The Sessions Judge, who conducted the trial, listed out 140 circumstances and found the accused to have had a common intention of committing murder, in pursuance of which th