The prosecution's failure to establish reliable eyewitness identification and conspiratorial actions led to the acquittal of all appellants due to reasonable doubt.

JUDGMENT :

N.ANAND VENKATESH, J.

These appeals have been filed against the judgment of the II Additional District Judge, Tiruchirappalli, in SC No.245/2018 dated 25.09.2023 in the following manner:

2. By the said judgment, the appellants have been convicted and sentenced as follows:

The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

3. The case of the prosecution is that on 16.12.2015 at about 20.50 hrs., near Sundara Mahal Marriage Hall at Samayapuram Main Road, the car was parked by the deceased and he had gone to his office and was coming back and at which point of time, A1,A6,A10,A11 and A12 are said to have attacked the deceased with deadly weapons indiscriminately and as a result, the deceased died on the spot. This incident is said to have taken place in the presence of PW1, who is the wife of the deceased. She gave a complaint (Ex.P1) to the Sub Inspector of Police, Samayapuram Police Station (PW29), based on which, an FIR (Ex.P16) came to be registered in Crime No.665/2015 for offences under Sections 147, 148, 341 and 302 IPC.

3.1. PW30 took up the investigation and he went to the scene of crime and prepared the observation mahazar (Ex.P18) and rough sketch (Ex.P17). The dead body was sent for postmortem through Head Constable PW21. The Investigating officer seized the bloodstained soil and soil without bloodstain (MO6 and MO7) under mahazar Ex.P19. Thereafter the investigating officer went to the Government Hospital and conducted inquest on the dead body in the presence of panchayatdars and prepared the inquest report (Ex.P20).

3.2. The investigation was thereafter taken up by PW31, who arrested A1, A12 and A10 on 19.12.2015 at about 13 hrs. and based on their confession, MO4, MO5, MO8 to MO11 were recovered under mahazar Ex.P22. Thereafter, A6, A2 and A11 were arrested on the same day at about 16.30 hrs and based on their confession, MO1 to MO3 and MO12 to MO17 were recovered under Mahazar Ex.P23 and Ex.P24. All the accused persons were produced before the concerned Court and they were remanded to judicial custody.

3.3. On 29.12.2025, at about 11 a.m., A8 and A7 were arrested and they were remanded to judicial custody. The material objects seized were sent to the Court under Form 95 with a request to send them for chemical analysis. He also recorded the statement of some of the witnesses under Section 161 Cr.P.C. He also received postmortem report from PW25, which was marked as Ex.P13 and the following injuries were recorded in the postmortem report:

“1) Vertical curved chop wound over the forehead, 16 x2 cm, brain deep; convexity facing left side, starting from midpoint of two eyebrows and ends on right frontal regions scalp, left margin visible, right margin undermined; On dissection, underlying frontat bone cut and fractured in same manner of size 9 * 1.2 cm; membranes Ton brain t injury of right frontal lobe of size 7 * 1 * 1 cm;

2) Horizontal chop wound at the lower end of injury no.1, over forehead and both eyebrows, 15 * 3 cm, bone deep; underlying orbital roof fractured on right side;

3) Nose-cut and severed of