Conviction must be based on credible evidence; contradictions in testimony and procedural delays can undermine prosecution.

COMMON JUDGMENT

(Common Judgment of the Court was made by the Hon'ble

R.POORNIMA, J.

These Criminal Appeals are filed against the judgment of conviction and sentence passed by the I Additional District and Sessions Judge (PCR), Thanjavur, in S.S.C. No. 68 of 2018, dated 26.07.2022, seeking to set aside the conviction and consequently to acquit the appellants.

2. A1 to A5 were charged for offences punishable under Section 148 IPC read with Section 3(2)(va) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, for having formed an unlawful assembly with the common object of committing the murder of the deceased, allegedly on account of his illicit intimacy with A2. They were also charged under Section 302 IPC for the murder of the decease.

3. The de-facto complainant, Chinnaiyah, father of the deceased Boominathan, lodged a complaint stating that on 09.09.2017 at about 11.18 p.m., he received a phone call from his son’s mobile phone. Upon answering the call, an unidentified woman informed him that his son had sustained injuries. Immediately, he, along with his wife, proceeded to Pattangadu Village and found his son lying injured in front of the house of Allirani (A2).

4. He thereafter informed Kallimuthu, a resident of Solaikadu West Village, and Palanisamy, the then Ex-Panchayat President, who also came to the place of occurrence. The injured was taken in a car to Vijay Hospital at Manamelkudi; however, the hospital refused to admit him. Subsequently, the injured was taken to Meenakshi Hospital, Thanjavur. Due to anxiety, the complainant initially informed the doctors that the injuries were the result of an accident. As Meenakshi Hospital also refused treatment, the injured was admitted to the Thanjavur Government Medical College Hospital, where he was placed in the ICU in a serious condition.

5. Upon further enquiry, the complainant came to know that his son had illicit intimacy with A2. According to the prosecution, owing to the said relationship, the relatives of A2, namely A1 and A4, along with other accused persons, attacked the deceased with an iron rod and wooden logs. Thereafter, the complainant lodged the complaint under Ex.P1.

6. The complaint was received by P.W.14, Janarthanan, Inspector of Police, who registered a case in Crime No. 229 of 2017 under Sections 147, 148, and 307 IPC against A1 and A4 under Ex.P11 (FIR).

7. P.W.14 took up the investigation, visited the place of occurrence, prepared the Observation Mahazar (Ex.P12) and Rough Sketch (Ex.P13) in the presence of witnesses, and recovered the Hero Honda Splendor Plus motorcycle (M.O.4), iron rod (M.O.3), and two wooden reapers (M.O.1 & M.O.2) under Seizure Mahazar (Ex.P4).

8. On 11.09.2017, P.W.14 received intimation from the Thanjavur Government Medical College Hospital that the injured Boominathan had succumbed to injuries on 10.09.2017 at about 10.15 p.m. Upon learning that the deceased belonged to a Scheduled Caste community and that the accused belonged to other caste Hindus, P.W.14 altered the case from Sections 147, 148, and 307 IPC to Section 302 IPC read with Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (PoA) Act under Alteration Report (Ex.P19).

9. Since the deceased belonged to an SC community, the Superintendent of Police, Thanjavur District, by proceedings dated 11.09.2017, appointed P.W.15, Sengamalakannan, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Pattukottai Sub-Division, to conduct further investigation (Ex.P14).

10. P.W.14 conducted the inquest (Ex.P15), recovered the bloodstained dhoti from the body under a seizure mahazar (Ex.P16), examined P.W.7, Dr.A.R