Ahmed Ali Khan, J.-The appellants Lakshmaiah and Muniappa were prosecuted before the District and Sessions Judge, Tumkur, for the offence of murder punishable under section 302 read with section 34 of the Indian Penal Code before the District and Sessions Judge, Tumkur, in Sessions Case No. 9 of 1908 on the file of his Court. The learned Sessions Judge convicted them of the offence with which they were charged and sentenced them each to undergo imprisonment for life. The charge against them was that on the night between 28th and 29th of January, 1968 in the Mantap close to the temple (attached to the temple) of Jaladagere Village, Kunigal taluk, Tumkur district, the appellants committed the murder of Chowrappa alias Abbayya (deceased) throwing a stone (M.O. 1) on his head.

2. It was alleged by the prosecution that Appellant No. 1 Lekshmaiah and the deceased Chowrappa were the employees of the Imperial Tobacco Co., of India Ltd., Bangalore (which will hereinafter be referred to as the ‘company’). The said company had given right to its retired employees to nominate their relations for employment and this facility had led to malpractices. It was said that some persons had made it their business to catch hold of retired servants of the company, purchase their tickets for consideration and persuade the authorities of the company to appoint their own protegees in the service of the company. It is the prosecution case that the deceased and appellant No. 1 Laksmaiah were indulging in the said malpractices and were securing employments in the company for their protegees. It was alleged that the deceased got one Yagappa (P.W. 37) employed in the company in this manner.

3. It was the prosecution case that Appellant No. 1 approached the Union Secretary Krishna Murthy (P.W. 49) to help the deceased to get some persons admitted in the company’s services. The prosecution further alleged that one Chinnappa who has been examined as P.W. 40 in the case is a prosperous neighbour of the deceased. He had some unemployed dependents and he was anxious to get employment for them in the company. The deceased held out promises to P.W. 40 that he would secure employment to his dependents Cheluvaraj (P.W. 41), Balaraj (P.W. 45) and one Aralappa and told him that that he i.e., the deceased had secured employment to one Yagappa (P.W. 37) in the company, and persuaded Chinnappa that if he pays money, employment would be likewise secured for his dependents in the company on very attractive salaries which according to P.W. 42. Harold would come up to Rs. 210 per month at the rate of Rs. 3.65 wages and Rs. 3-50 D.A. per day.

4. It was said that P.W. 40 paid the deceased a sum of Rs. 1,000 and asked him to get employment for his dependents in the company. After receiving Rs. 1,000 the deceased took P.W. 41 Cheluvaraj (the foster son of P.W. 40) and Balaraj (P.W. 45) the brother-in-law of P.W. 40 to Appellant No. 1 who took them to the Cigarette Factory, and from there along with Poliah, P.W. 47 and Nagiah Naidu, P.W. 46 (retired servants of the company), A-1 took them all to a Typist in Dharmaraj Koil Street, Bangalore and got the applications Exhibits P-39 and P-39(a) addressed to the Company typed, stating in them that Cheluvaraj, P.W. 41 is the brother of Nagiah Naidu (P.W. 46) and Balaraj to be the brother of Poliah (P.W. 47). A-1 promised to pay Poliah P.W. 47 Rs. 500 and Nagiah Naidu, P.W. 46 Rs. 400 and paid them each Rs. 150 and Rs. 50 there. The prosecution also alleged that after the applications were made, the deceased collected a sum of Rs. 3,070 from P.W. 40 Chinnappa at different times representing to him that that money was required to be paid to the concerned persons to get employment for his dependents.

5. Even thereafter the deceased attempted to secure more money from P.W. 40 Chinnappa. He approached him for a further sum of Rs. 2,000 stating to him that he would positively see that his dependents were employed very soon with the help of Appella

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