THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.LAKSHMAN AND THE HON’BLE SMT JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.821 OF 2013

JUDGMENT

(per Hon’ble Smt Justice K.Sujana)

This appeal is filed aggrieved by the judgment dated

17.04.2013 in S.C.No.64 of 2012 on the file of II Additional District and Sessions Judge, Nalgonda, at Suryapet. The appellants herein are accused Nos.1 and 2 in S.C.No.64 of 2012. By the said judgment the appellants were convicted for offence punishable under Sections 341 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (for short ‘IPC’). For offence punishable under Section 302 of IPC, they were sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and to pay fine of Rs.5,000/- each, in default of payment of fine, to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of six months. Further, for offence punishable under Section 341 of IPC they were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one month each and to pay fine of Rs.500/- each, in default of payment of fine, to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of fifteen days.

2. The brief facts of the case are that accused No.1 is the resident of Namavarm Village of Mothey Mandal. He is toddy tapper by profession. The accused No.2 is son of accused No.1.

The deceased Bandi Ramulu is also resident of Namavaram Village. He is also toddy tapper by profession. The first wife of accused No.1 by name Ramulamma died due to ill health about sixteen years prior to the occurrence of incident. After the death of first wife, he got married to one Somamma. Accused No.2 is the son of accused No.1 and his first wife. For about six years, the deceased and second wife of accused No.1, started moving freely and were found chitchatting with each other several times. As such, accused No.1 warned the deceased to stop his activities with his wife but the acts of deceased were not changed. Further, accused No.1 also approached the caste elder Keshagani Pedda Maraiah and reported the matter to him and requested him to teach a lesson to the deceased. Even then, the deceased did not change his attitude and continued to maintain close contact with the wife of accused No.1. In this regard, accused No.1 strongly suspected that the deceased Bandi Ramulu is having illegal intimacy with his wife.

3. Further, in the evening hours of 25.05.2011 when the wife of accused No.1 was proceeding to her agricultural well, she met the deceased on her way and was chitchatting with him and the same was noticed by accused No.1, thereby, he asked the deceased for the reason for such closeness with his wife. At that juncture, accused No.1 and deceased quarreled with each other using harsh words. Thereafter, the deceased threatened accused No.1 stating that he cannot do anything against him and went away. On the same day, accused No.1 hatched a plan along with his son i.e., accused No.2 to kill Bandi Ramulu. Accordingly, on 29.05.2011 during morning hours, the accused Nos.1 and 2 went to the outskirts of village where the deceased was tapping the toddy trees and put some thorny branches on the road which leads to Gunjalur Village road and they both hide behind the thick toddy trees. At about 06:30 A.M., when the deceased came on the said road on his cycle and saw thorny branches on the road, he got down from his cycle in order to remove them and in the meantime, both the accused persons having armed themselves with sticks, began to hit the deceased over his head and both hands and legs, due to which he sustained severe bleeding injuries.

4. The incident was witnessed by Gunaganti Bakkaiah (PW.3) who intervened and rescued the deceased from the clutches of accused persons. Thereafter, both the accused persons escaped from the scene of offence towards Gunjalur side. The deceased person was shifted to the Area Hospital, Suryapet, for treatment and from there he was shifted to a private hospital in Suryapet for better treatment. Later, charge sheet was filed and a case was registered against the accused persons under Sections 341 and

302 read with 34 of IPC.