JUDGMENT :

Raja Vijayaraghavan, J.

The present appeal is directed against the judgment dated 18.8.2008 in S.C.No.558 of 2010 passed by the Court of Sessions, Thrissur, finding the appellant guilty for the offences punishable under Sections 324, 326 and 302 of the IPC and sentencing him to undergo -

a) imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 2 lakhs for the offence under Section 302 of the IPC;

b) imprisonment for six years and to pay a fine of Rs. 50000/- for the offence under Section 326 of the IPC;

c) imprisonment for three months for the offence under Section 324 of the IPC.

2. Before delving into the contentions raised in this appeal, it would be apposite to first set out the sequence of events, as established by the evidence presented through the prosecution witnesses.

a. The accused (Baiju), the deceased (Vinu), and PW2 (Rajan) were friends and associates. Divya (PW4) is the wife of the deceased. On 14.04.2008, ‘Vishu’ festival was celebrated across Kerala. In the morning, while Divya, along with the deceased and their son, was on their way to the house of Bindu, her sister, they encountered the accused. Vinu stopped the b