2025:APHC:58163 APHC010484772018 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI [3547]

(Special Original Jurisdiction)

TUESDAY,THE NINTH DAY OF DECEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K SURESH REDDY THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE SUBBA REDDY SATTI CRIMINAL APPEAL NO: 1935/2018 Between:

SHAIK KAREEM KAREEMA, OCC - AUTO DRIVER, N/O. CHINNA TURKEPALEM (V), NARASARAOPETA MANDAL, PRESENTLY 7TH LANE PEDDACHERUVU, NARASARAOPETA TOWN.

...APELLANT AND THE STATE OF A P, Rep by its Public Prosecutor, High Court at Hyderabad.

...RESPODENT Counsel for the Appellant:

1.A SWARUPA REDDY Counsel for the Respondent:

1.PUBLIC PROSECUTOR (AP)

The Court made the following:

JUDGMENT : (Per Hon’ble SriJusticeK.SureshReddy)

Sole accused in Sessions Case No.439 of 2017 on the file of the Court of XIII Additional District and Sessions Judge, Narasaraopeta, is the appellant. He was tried by the learned Additional Sessions Judge under two charges. The 1st charge was under Section 302 IPC and the

2^nd charge was under Section 201 IPC.

2. Substance of the charge is that on 26.03.2017 at about 3.00 A.M., the accused caused the death of one Shaik Abbas (hereinafter referred to as ‘the deceased’), by decapitating his head with knife near A.P. State Ware House Corporation Gowdown, Srinivasa Girijana Colony, Narasaraopeta and in the same process he removed clothes of the deceased from the trunk of the dead body and threw the head portion in a drainage canal to screen the evidence, thereby committed offences punishable under Sections 302 and 201 IPC.

3. After completion of trial, the learned Additional Sessions Judge, convicted the accused under Section 302 IPC and sentenced him to suffer imprisonment for ‘LIFE’ and also to pay a fine of Rs.1000/-. The learned Additional Sessions Judge also convicted the accused under Section 201 IPC, but he did not impose any separate sentence as the accused was already sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life. Aggrieved by the same, the accused/appellant filed the present appeal. 4. Case of the prosecution, as emanated from the evidence of prosecution witnesses, briefly is as follows:-

(i) The accused as well as the material prosecution witnesses are residents of Narasaraopeta. The deceased was also resident of Narasaraopeta. The deceased was involved in number of cases and a rowdy sheet was opened against him. The accused was eking out his livelihood by plying auto-rickshaw. The deceased used to move in the auto-rickshaw belonging to the accused. Whenever the accused refused to provide his auto-rickshaw, the deceased would threaten him, stating that he would disclose his name and falsely implicate him in theft cases whenever he was apprehended by the police. It is also alleged that the deceased used to misbehave with the wife of the accused whenever he visited their house. Having fed up with the attitude of the deceased, the accused developed grouse against him and decided to kill him.

(ii) According to the allegations in the charge sheet that at about 7.00 P.M. on 25.03.2017 while the accused was proceeding with his auto-rickshaw and when he reached near Jeevan Jyothi Bar, the deceased stopped his auto-rickshaw and asked him to get liquor by giving Rs.150/-. Accordingly, the accused brought liquor and gave it to the deceased. Both of them consumed liquor till 10.00 P.M. at Jeevan Jyothi Bar. Thereafter, they moved in the town and purchased liquor at Navayuga Bar and Restaurant and consumed the same. Thereafter, the deceased also consumed ganja. Taking advantage of the inebriated condition of the deceased, the accused took his auto- rickshaw along with the deceased to an isolated place situated near Ware House Gowdown and killed the deceased. The accused separated the head from the trunk and took the same in his auto- rickshaw and threw the head in a drainage canal. He removed clothes on the decapitated body of the deceased and burnt them. He also concealed the knife and went up.

(iii) While so, at about 7.00