Honble THOMAS, J.–Rani Padmini, a dainty film actress of the South and her mother Indira Kumari were butchered on an ill-fated morning fifteen years ago, in their own flat at Anna Nagar in Madras (new Chennai). Their driver, watchman and cook were later caught and charge-sheeted by the police for the said double murder. The Trial Court convicted all the three persons and sentenced them to death. But a Division Bench of the High Court of Madras acquitted two of them (the watchman and the cook) while altering the sentence of the driver to imprisonment for life after confirming the conviction. That person (A-1 Jebaraj) moved this Court for special leave to appeal but that special leave petition was dismissed.

(2). The State of Tamil Nadu filed appeals against the acquittal of the two persons (the watchman A-2 Lakshmi Narasimhan and the cook A-3 Ganeshan) but the later was not traced out in spite of repeated searches made for effecting the service of notice on him. Finally this Court dismissed the appeal filed against A-3, Ganeshan on 5.4.1999. Thus the appeal by special leave filed by the State as against the watchman (A-2 Lakshmi Narasimhan @ Kutty) is now surviving.

(3). The dreadful end of the gamboling cine artist and her mother happened in the following manner, as per the prosecution version. The mother and the daughter, while living in their apartment at Anna Nagar, Chennai, wanted to employ a driver a watchman and a cook. They advertised it in the newspaper. A-2 Lakshmi Narasimhan responded to the advertisement and he was eventually appointed as the watchman of the residential apartment of the two ladies. Within a few days A-1 Jebaraj was appointed as driver and later A-3 Ganeshan was employed as a cook. The deceased were apparently wealthy and they had cash and jewellery in good quantity. They negotiated for purchase of a house for about fifteen lakhs of rupees. When A-1 Jebaraj overheard the said dialogue he presumed that the ladies could be having the cash with them to buy the house. Then a wicked idea burgeoned in his mind that he should grab the said cash in whatever manner possible. He thought of killing the two ladies as an easier measure for collecting the cash and jewellery. A-1 Jebaraj disclosed this idea to A-2 Lakshmi Narasimhan @ Kutty and A-3 Ganeshan and sought their help to achieve the target. All the three conspired together and orchestrated a plan to carry out the operation of murdering the unarmed ladies and to share the booty among themselves after accomplishing the murder. A-1 Jebaraj purchased three knives and kept one with him and gave the other two to his co-conspirators.

(4). On the morning of 15.10.1986 the three accused jointly executed the designed scheme of killing both the ladies. First they killed the mother and when the daughter ran to see what was happening to her mother she saw the very persons they employed for their security and help turned out to be their slayers. They pounced on the damsel and killed her too by stabbing her with knives. The killers removed quite a number of movables from the house though they failed to trace out the huge cash stashed away by the wealthy victims.

(5). A-1 Jebaraj was arrested on 24.10.1986, A-2 Lakshmi Narasimhan was arrested on 3.11.1986. As A-3 Ganeshan disappeared to unreachable places the police had to cast the net far and wide and tenaciously persisted to catch him. Though delayed the police ultimately succeeded in 1988 to nab that absconding culprit. Many articles, including valuables, were recovered at the behest of the arrested persons. The confession of A-2 was recorded by a Judicial Magistrate on 24.11.1986. A-3 also confessed to the Magistrate which also was recorded purportedly in terms of Sec. 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, both of them retracted from the confessions during the trial of the case. Nevertheless, the Sessions Judge relied on those confessions, among other evidence, and reached the conclusion that the prosecution

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