The court affirmed the conviction of the accused for voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful restraint, emphasizing the reliability of the victim's testimony despite the absence of the weapon used.

ORDER

Revision petitioners/accused Nos.2 and 3 challenge the judgment of the Sessions Court, Thiruvananthapuram in Crl.A. No.246/2016 by which it confirmed the judgment of conviction and sentence against them in C.C.No.187/2009 of Judicial First Class Magistrate Court I, Nedumangad for the offences punishable under Sections 341 and 324 r/w Section 34 of Indian Penal Code ( IPC ).

2. Prosecution case is that on 12.9.2008 at 10 pm., accused Nos.1 to 4 in furtherance of their common intention to cause hurt to PW7, wrongfully restrained him near Ex-Servicemen Colony and thereafter accused No.3 stabbed him and inflicted injuries on his back and neck. A2 uttered obscene words and pushed PW7. Accused thereby committed the offences punishable under Sections 341 , 294(b), 323 and 324 r/w Section 34 of IPC .

3. Charge against A1 abated. A2 to A4 faced trial. After the trial, the learned Magistrate found A4 not guilty of the offences levelled against him and he was acquitted. A2 and A3 who are the revision petitioners herein, were found guilty of the offences punishable under Sections 341 and 324 r/w 34 IPC . They were found not guilty of the offences punishable under Sections 294(b) and 323 and acquitted of the said offences.

4. From the order of conviction and sentence, the revision petitioners herein who are the A2 and A3 though preferred appeal as Crl.A No.246/2016 before the Sessions Court, Thiruvananthapuram, the said appeal was dismissed, confirming the conviction and sentence against them for the offences under Sections 341 and 324 r/w 34 IPC .

5. Assailing the conviction and sentence, accused/revision petitioners preferred this revision contending that the trial court and the appellate court have not analysed the evidence in its correct perspective; that there is no independent evidence regarding the incident; that the evidence of PW7, the injured is not reliable; that the trial court and the appellate court went wrong in convicting and sentencing the accused for the offences punishable under Sections 341 and 324 IPC .

6. Per contra, the learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the prosecution has succeeded in establishing that the accused voluntarily caused hurt to PW7 by stabbing him with a knife and therefore there are no reasons at all to unsettle the concurrent findings of conviction and sentence of the trial court and the appellate court.

7. It is a settled principle that the scope under the revision against the concurrent finding of fact is very much limited. Ordinarily, the revisional court will not interfere with the concurrent finding of fact unless and until the misleading of evidence or perversity or manifest error of law or miscarriage of justice is successfully pointed out.

8. PW7, who is the injured in this case has testified that on 12.9.2008 at around 10 pm. while he was sitting in the waiting shed near the Ex-servicemen Colony, all the four accused came there in a jeep bearing registration No.KL01/S 2887 and thereafter accused Vijayan called him and the accused Madhu pushed him. While so, accused Shibu stabbed on his back and neck with a knife and caused injuries. After inflicting injuries, the accused left the place in their vehicle. PW7 was taken to ‘Arya Hospital' and from there to the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. Ext.P3 is the first information statement given by him to the police. The motive for the incident, according to PW7, is that his brother had pledged some gold ornaments at the finance institution wherein the wife of A2 was working. When the pledge was redeemed, the ornaments returned from the said finance institution were fake and PW7 had questioned it. According to PW7, it was on account of the said enmity, accused attacked him.

9. PW3 is the doctor, who examined PW7 on 12.9.2008 and issued Ext.P1 wound certificate. The injuries noted in the Ext.P1 are:

i) A stab wound middle of back 3 x 1 cm.

ii) Stab wound over right scapular 3 x 1 cm.

iii) Stab wound right upper lateral chest 3 x