IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED : 26.10.2021 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.N.PRAKASH and THE HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE S.SRIMATHY Criminal Appeal No.779 of 2015 Billa @ C.Periyasamy S/o.Venkatesan .. Appellant Vs.

State represented by Inspector of Police, Ulundurpet Police Station, Villupuram District.

Crime No.612 of 2010 .. Respondent Criminal Appeal filed u/s.374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure against the judgment and order dated 30.11.2015 passed in S.C.No.251 of 2012 on the file of III Additional Sessions Court, Villupuram at Kallakurichi.

For Appellant : Mr.S.Saravana Kumar For Respondent : Mr.M.Babu Muthu Meeran Additional Public Prosecutor *****

JUDGMENT

[Judgment of the Court was delivered by S.SRIMATHY, J This criminal appeal is directed against the judgment of conviction and sentence dated 30.11.2015 passed by the III Additional Sessions Court, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, in S.C.No.251 of 2012.

2. The prosecution story runs thus:

2.1. Sankar (deceased), who, at the time of the incident, was 47 years of age and was living with his wife Iyayiram [PW-1] and his father Ramasamy [PW-3] in Kurumbur village in Kallakurichi. Ramar [A1] and Billa [A2] were also from the same village. It appears that a quarrel ensued between the families of Billa [A2] and that of Sankar in connection with the festivities in the local Mariamman temple, in which, a police case was registered against Billa [A2] on the complaint given by Sankar. This being the motive, on 01.11.2010, around 05.00 p.m. while Sankar was returning home, he was accosted by Ramar [A1] and Billa [A2] near the Mariamman temple, they picked up a quarrel with him, and Ramar [A1] strangulated Sankar with a nylon rope [MO-1] and Billa [A2] kicked Sankar on his chest.

One Ilayaraja [PW-2] and Sundaram [not examined] of the same village intervened, separated them and brought Sankar to his house and left him with his wife Iyayiram [PW-1]. Sankar asked for water to drink and by the time it was served, he is said to have died on the same evening. On the next day i.e. 02.11.2010, Iyayiram [PW-1] lodged a written complaint [Ex.P1], based on which, a case in Ulundurpet P.S.Crime No.612 of 2010 was registered on 02.11.2010 u/s.302 IPC against Ramar [A1] and Billa [A2].

2.2. Elangoven [PW-13], Inspector of Police [hereinafter referred to as 'the Investigating Officer'], took over the investigation of the case, went to the place of occurrence and prepared an observation mahazar [Ex.P3] and a rough sketch [Ex.P2]. The Investigating Officer [PW-13] conducted inquest over the body of Sankar. The inquest report was marked as Ex.P10.

2.3. Thereafter, the body was sent to the Government Hospital, Ulundurpet, for postmortem where Dr.Ganesh [PW-12] performed autopsy on the body of Sankar and issued the postmortem certificate [Ex.P8].

Dr.Ganesh [PW-12], in his evidence as well in the postmortem certificate [Ex.P8], has stated that, he found a ligature mark around the neck. He did not find any injuries on the chest. The sample of the visceral organs were sent to the Tamil Nadu Forensic Sciences Department. The Chemical Analysis Report [Ex.P6] disclosed that neither alcohol nor poison was detected in any of them. After receipt of the Viscera Report [Ex.P9], Dr.Ganesh [PW-12] gave his final opinion as to the cause of death, which is as under:

'Final Opinion: The deceased appears to have died of asphyxia due to the ligature in the neck 24 to 36 hours prior to pm.'

2.4. After examining the witnesses and collecting the various reports of the experts, the Investigating Officer [PW-13] completed the investigation and filed a final report in P.R.C.No.9 of 2011 in the Court of District Munsif-cum-Judicial Magistrate I, Ulundurpet, for the offence u/s.302 IPC, against Ramar [A1] and Billa [A2].

2.5. On appearance of the accused, the provisions of Section 207 Cr.P.C. were complied with and the case was committed to the Court of Session in S.C.No.251/2012 and was made over to the III Additional S