Prosecution must substantiate charges with reliable evidence; significant discrepancies in witness statements and medical evidence warrant acquittal.

1. These appeals are directed against the judgment passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Guntur in S.C. No. 209 of 1991 dated 18-5-1995. Criminal Appeal No. 336 of 1995 is filed by the accused Nos. 1 to 3, 5 to 13, 15 to 19, 26 and 38; and Criminal Appeal No. 337 of 1995 is filed by A.14, A.20 and A.35. During the pendency of the trial, A.36 and A.41 died. Before the Sessions Court, A.1 to A.44 were tried for various offences, the details of which are shown hereunder :
The accusation made against the accused is that on 24-4-1990 at 6.00 p.m., all the accused armed with axes, bombs, spears, sticks and stones caused the death of one Yadla Siva Ramiah near the house of Malladi Nageswara Rao and during the course of same transaction caused injuries to Peruboyina Venkataswami (P.W. 1) and Peruboyina Srinivasa Rao (P.W. 2).

2. The story of the prosecution reads as follows :
All the accused and P.Ws. 1 to 7 are residents of Ikkurru village, situated in the local limits of Narsaraopet. The deceased - Yadla Siva Ramaiah is also the resident of the same village. The Kammas and Mutharasis are the dominant communities in the village. There is factional enmity between the factions of the accused and the prosecution witnesses. Most of the accused are Kammas and they are interrelated. A.1, A.2 and A.5 are brothers; A.8 to A.12 are sons of A.7, A.13 is the son of A.8, A.39 and A.40 are sons of elder brother of A.7, A.36 (died) was the son - in - law of A.9, A.36 and 37 are brothers; A.20 is the father - in - law of A.1, A.29, A.30 and A.31 are own brothers and sons of A.28, A.15, A.16 and A.17 are brothers and they are cousin brothers of A.28, A.21 and A.22 are sons of A.15, A.32 is the son of A.16, A.18 and A.19 are brothers; A.1 is the paternal grandfather of A.8 and A.9.

3. The factions in the village date back seven to eight years prior to the date of incident. The accused belong to Kamma Community and A.1 to A.8 are the leaders. A.1 was the Sarpanch of the village on the date of the incident. The prosecution party belong to Mutharasi community, and the deceased and one K. Anjaneyulu were their leaders. There were number of cases pending between both the groups.

4. On 24-4-1990 P. Venkataswami (P.W. 1) and P. Srinivasa Rao (P.W. 2) and the deceased had gone to Narsaraopet for attending the Court work. Their case was adjourned at about 3.30 p.m. After attending to some work, all the three boarded the bus at Narsaraopet town and got down at Yanadi Colony near the village. Both the groups were involving in the acts of violence and disturbing peace in the village. Proceedings under S.107 Cr. P.C. were initiated by the Sub-Divisional Executive Magistrate, Narsaraopet. The accused party under the leadership of A.1 bore grudge against the prosecution party and they were waiting for an opportunity to wreak vengeance against them by doing away some important persons of Mutharasi community. When P.Ws. 1 and 2 and the deceased reached the house of A.14, all the accused emerged from the house of A.14 and also from the lane adjoining the house. They all were armed with bombs, axes, sticks and stones. A.1 hurled a bomb, which hit on the back side of the head of the deceased; A.3 hurled a bomb which hit on the right thigh of the deceased; A.5 speared on the back of the deceased; A.6 and A.14 also hurled bombs which hit on the left knee and left shoulder of the deceased; A.2 beat P.W. 1 with a stick on the back of the head; A.11 axed P.W. 1 on the forehead;