JUDGMENT:

(per Hon’ble Smt. Justice P.Sree Sudha)

This appeal is filed against the Judgment dated

17.06.2014 in S.C.No.263 of 2013, passed by the learned Special Judge for trial of offences under S.Cs & S.Ts (POA) Act- cum-VI–Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Secunderabad. 2. The case of the prosecution is that the appellant/accused murdered his mother, as she did not hand over her gratuity pension to him. The trial Court examined P.Ws.1 to 16 and marked Exs.P1 to P15 on behalf of the prosecution and also marked M.Os.1 to 7. After considering the oral and documentary evidence, the trial Court convicted the accused under Section 235(2) of Cr.P.C and sentenced him to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for life for the offence under Section 302 of IPC and he is also convicted for the offence punishable under Section 324 of IPC and sentenced him to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for a period of six months. Both the sentences shall run concurrently. Aggrieved by the said Judgment, accused preferred the present appeal.

3. The appellant/accused mainly contended that there is no direct witness to the occurrence and the present case is based on the circumstantial evidence. It was also contended that the trial Court erred in holding that the death of the deceased was homicide and there is no absolute motive for the accused to kill his mother. P.Ws.3, 4 and 7 did not support the case of the prosecution and they turned hostile. The deceased died due to fall on hard surface, but the trial Court wrongly convicted the accused basing on inadmissible evidence. The trial Court erred in thinking that non-availability of the accused near the dead body proves his guilt. Therefore, requested the Court to set aside the Judgment of the trial Court.

4. P.W.1 in his evidence stated that accused is his own brother. He along with his mother, accused and his wife were residing in the same house. His father died in the year 2004 while he was in service, as such his mother was given a job in the water works department. The accused was an Auto driver. He also stated that accused always used to make galata with his mother demanding amount, which she received from the department, as he was habituated to liquor. On 29.07.2012 at around 09:00 PM, accused came to the house in a drunken condition and made galata with his mother demanding the amount. The accused picked up knife and attacked his mother. When he intervened, he sustained injuries on left hand fingers and to his left ribs. Immediately, he went to the Tukaramgate Police Station and Police referred him to the Gandhi Hospital. He returned to his house from hospital at around 11:00 PM, and found his mother dead with injuries on her face in their house. He found granite stone nearby dustbin. When he left the house, his mother, accused along with his wife and the daughter of his sister were present in the house, but when he returned to the house, no one was present in their house. He returned to the Police Station and gave complaint under Ex.P1 stating that accused might have killed his mother. In his Cross-examination, he stated that Police accompanied him to the Gandhi hospital on 29.07.2012. After treatment, when he returned to the house, he found the dead body of his mother. He stated that Police recorded his statement prior to his return to the house. On 30.07.2012, at around 5:00 PM, the dead body was handed over to him. He performed the funeral of his mother and completed it by around 9:00 PM. He also stated that Ex.P1 was scribed by one Yadagiri on his instructions. The wife of the accused was pregnant as on 29.07.2012. It was suggested to him that on the date of incident, his sister-in-law was not present in their house and she went to her parent’s house for delivery, but he denied it. He also stated that one Supraja was also examined by the Police at the Police Station, but she was not in a position to state all the facts at that time. It was also suggested to him that his mother accidentally slipped