S. NAGAMUTHU. J.

1. The appellants are Accused Nos.2 to 12 in S.C.No.119 of 1997 on the file of the learned III Additional Sessions Judge, Chennai. Against all the twelve accused, the trial court framed charges under various penal provisions of Indian Penal code on 06.02.1998. Subsequently, the trial court, after due notice to both parties, altered the charges on 03.08.2011. Thus, all the twelve accused stood charged as detailed below:-

Serial Number of charge	Charges framed against	Charges framed
1	A1 to A12	U/s.147 of IPC
2	A1 to A12	U/s.148 of IPC
3	A1 to A12	U/s.452 of IPC
4	A3	U/s.326 of IPC
5	A8	U/s.326 of IPC
6	A1 to A12	U/s.302 r/w 34 of IPC [Two counts]
7	A1 to A12	U/s.506(ii) of IPC

The 1st Accused was one Mr. Saleem, Son of Khader. He died during trial and, therefore, charges against him stood abated. The Accused Nos.2 to 12 alone faced the trial. The trial court, by Judgement, dated 29.11.2011, convicted all the eleven accused and sentenced them as detailed below:-

Rank of the Accused	Penal provision(s) under which convicted	Sentenced to undergo
A2	U/s.147of IPC	Rigorous Imprisonment for one year
	U/s.452 of IPC	Rigorous Imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/-in default to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for a further period of A2 three months
	U/s.302 r/w 34 of IPC [Two counts]	Imprisonment for life for  each count and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/-each in default to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for a further period of six months
	U/s.506(ii) of IPC	Rigorous Imprisonment for three years
A4 to A7 and A9 to A12	U/s.148 of IPC	Rigorous Imprisonment for two years
	U/s.452 of IPC	Rigorous Imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/-each in default to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for a further period of three months
	U/s.302 r/w 34 of IPC [Two counts]	Imprisonment for life for each count and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/-each for each count in default to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for a further period of six months
	U/s.506(ii) of IPC	Rigorous Imprisonment for three years
A3 and A8	U/s.148 of IPC	Rigorous Imprisonment for two years
	U/s.452 of IPC	Rigorous Imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/-each in default to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for a further period of three months
	U/s.302 r/w 34 of IPC [Two counts]	Imprisonment for life for each count and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/-each for each count in default to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for a further period of six months
	U/s.324 of IPC	Rigorous Imprisonment for two years
	U/s.506(ii) of IPC	Rigorous Imprisonment for three years.

Challenging the above said conviction and sentence, A2 to A12 are now before this court with these criminal appeals.

2.0. The case of the prosecution in brief is as follows:-The 1st Accused [Since deceased] Mr. Saleem owned a shop building at No.1, Sali Street, North Uzman Road, Thiyagaraya Nagar, Chennai. P.W.1-Mr.Ashokan was in occupation of the said building as a tenant and he was running a shop in the same. P.W.1's brother was also a tenant, under A1, of the adjoining portion in the same building. He was also running a shop in that portion. Both the shops were facing towards North Uzman Road. On the back of these portions, where P.W.1 and his brother were running shops, a dance hall was situated in the same building. A1 was a Dance Director in film industry. A portion in the first floor also was under the tenancy occupation of P.W.1. After six months from the date of commencement of the tenancy, P.W.1's brother handed over th