JUDGMENT :

Sanjay Parihar, J.    

1. The instant appeal has been preferred by the appellant-State against the judgment of acquittal passed by the court of Pr. Sessions Judge Bhaderwah (hereinafter referred as “the Trial Court”), in favour of the respondents in case FIR No. 135/2003 arising out of offences under Sections 302, 307, 109 and 149 RPC and Section 7/25 of the Arms Act, relating to an occurrence dated 09.11.2003 at about 10:30 AM. The appellant, namely the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir, now Union Territory, seeks reversal of the acquittal primarily on the ground that the impugned judgment is contrary to the facts and the law, and that the learned Trial Court failed to properly appreciate the prosecution evidence which, according to the appellant, clearly established the complicity of the respondents in the commission of the offence. It has been urged that the statements of PW-1 Wali Mohd. (father/husband of the deceased), PW-4 Mehboob Ahmad, PW-11 Nazir Ahmad (injured) and PW-7 Lal Din, when read conjointly, sufficiently corroborate the medical evidence proving that the deceased had died due to firearm injuries. It is contended that the wife and son of PW-1 were brutally done to death by the respondents, who were armed and were functioning as members of the Special Task Force and Village Defence Committee, and that the Trial Court ignored the testimony of these witnesses without any cogent or plausible reason. On this premise, the appellant prays that the impugned judgment be set aside and the respondents be convicted.

2. The prosecution case, in brief, is that on 09.11.2003 at about 1300 hours, Police Station Gandoh received information that respondents namely Mukhtyar Ahmad, SPO No. 3095, and Maqsood Ahmad, SPO No. 3074, both sons of respondent No. 1, together with respondent No. 1 himself and VDC members namely Shoukat Ali, Mehboob Ahmad and Inayatullah, all residents of village Kandeli Chilli, Tehsil Gandoh, District Doda, acting in furtherance of common intention and conspiracy with their father and his brothers namely Mehraj-ud-Din, Ayoub Khan, Bashir Ahmad and Liyakat Ali, launched a murderous assault on account of previous enmity and fired upon Mst. Shahina Begum and Abdul Gani, wife and son respectively of complainant Wali Mohd., resulting in their death on the spot, besides causing grievous firearm injury to Nazir Ahmad, who was shifted to hospital. On the basis of this information, FIR No. 135/2003 came to be registered and all ten accused were arrested from their respective houses.

3. During investigation, one SLR rifle bearing No. 16146365 with two magazines and three live cartridges was allegedly recovered from accused Sabir Khan; one rifle from Mukhtyar Ahmad; one SLR with four cartridges from Maqsood Ahmad; one rifle butt along with a magazine and seven live cartridges from Mehboob Ahmad; and one bolt action rifle with one magazine and eight live cartridges from Inayatullah, a VDC member. Besides this, 345 live cartridges stated to have been stored in a box were also recovered at the instance of Sabir Khan. Investigation further revealed that there existed a long-standing dispute between respondent No. 1 and PW-1 Wali Mohd. concerning possession of a gharat (water mill), and that several civil and criminal cases had been instituted by the parties against each other, thereby giving rise to deep- rooted animosity. It was also alleged that on the date of occurrence, and even prior thereto, the respondents had demolished the gharat of the brother of PW-1, and it was in the background of this land and water-mill dispute that the incident had taken place when the deceased were proceeding for Hilla Sheri, i.e. cutting and carrying grass, and were fired upon on the way, resulting in their death. Upon completion of investigation, challan came to be presented against respondents Mohd. Sabir Khan, Mukhtyar Ahmad, Maqsood Ahmad, Mehboob Ahmad and Inayatullah before the Court of competent jurisdiction, from wher