JUDGMENT :

(Prayer: The Criminal Appeal is filed under Section 374 of Cr.P.C, to call for the records pertaining to the judgment passed by the Principal District and Sessions Court, Tiruvarur, on 11.02.2021 in Sessions Case No.44 of 2019 and to set aside the order of conviction passed against the appellants and acquit the appellants by allowing the Criminal Appeal.)

(The case has been heard through Video Conferencing)

1. Challenging the order of conviction and sentence passed by the Principal District and Sessions Court, Tiruvarur, on 11.02.2021 in Sessions Case No.44 of 2019, the present Criminal Appeal has been filed by the accused.

2. Both the accused stand convicted under Section 436 IPC read with Section 4(1) of Tamil Nadu Prevention of Property (Damage and Loss) Act, 1992 and were sentenced to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for five years and to pay fine of Rs.5000/- each, in default, each to undergo Simple Imprisonment for three months.

3. Brief facts of the case are as under:-

(i) PW1, the de facto complainant by name Dhanapal, a resident of Karnavoor, by joining with his brother, the second accused Saravanan, had sold his share of the ancestral landed property to the first accused Ashok Kumar, however, since he was not settled with a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- which was due to him, he had objected the first accused when he attempted to plough his land on 15.8.2018 at about 9.00 pm. As a counterblast, A1 had brought A2 the brother of PW1/de facto complainant and assaulted him and pushed him down. By then, PW2 had intervened and pacified them.

(ii) Thereafter, PW1 left for Mannargudi and on his return at about 11.30 pm, he found both the accused standing behind his house. The second accused Saravanan, said to the first accused Ashok Kumar that PW1 should not be in his house any more and asked him to set fire to the house for which he would pay an additional amount of Rs.1,00,000/-. Thereafter, both the accused had poured kerosene on the rear side of the house of PW1 and set fire. Though PW1 had shouted seeking for help, that being an odd hour, none was there to help him. On seeing PW1, both the accused ran away from the place. Due to lack of water to put off the fire, the house of PW1 was totally engulfed in flames and the total damage to the property was around Rs.5,00,000/- and the value of the articles in the house was around Rs.1,00,000/-. Aggrieved by the same, PW1 had lodged the police complaint, Ex.P1.

(iii) On 16.8.2018, the Inspector of Police, PW7 took up the investigation on the complaint, which had been registered as Ex.P6 by the Sub Inspector of Police and visited the scene of occurrence and prepared observation mahazar, Ex.P7 and rough sketch, Ex.P8 in the presence of P.Ws.5 and 6 and also recovered M.O.s1 and 2 Bamboo stick and R.S.Pathy (Eucalyptus) log in the presence of the same witnesses under seizure mahazar Ex.P9. He had also recovered M.O.3, half burnt fan and sent all the M.Os. to the Court under Form 95. On the same, day, PW7, the Inspector of Police had enquired P.Ws.1 to 6 and recorded their statements and thereafter, he had arrested the accused at 2.00 pm near Vaanchiyur Bus Stand and remanded them to judicial custody. Since PW7 was transferred, he had submitted the case file to his successor, viz., Mr.Kannan, Inspector of Police, and PW7 had identified the scribbling of his successor, who had filed the final report under Section 436 IPC and Section 4(1) of Tamil Nadu Prevention of Property (Damage and Loss) Act, 1992. PW7 had deposed that during his enquiry, P.Ws.2 to 6 had spoken about the genuineness of the occurrence.

(iv) The learned Judicial Magistrate I, Mannargudi, who took up the case on file in P.R.C.No.9 of 2019, after complying with the procedure under Section 207 Cr.P.C., had committed the case for trial to the Principal Sessions Judge, Thiruvarur since the offences punishable are exclusively triable by Sessions Court.

(v) The Principal District and Sessions Judge, Thiruvarur, who took the case on