Advocates:
SHIVAJI M. JADHAVRAVINDRA KESHAVRAO ADSURE

Reportable

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 986 OF 2007

Pandurang Chandrakant Mhatre & Ors. …Appellants

Versus

State of Maharashtra

…Respondent

JUDGEMENT

R.M. Lodha, J.

This criminal appeal by special leave is directed

against the judgment of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay

whereby the Division Bench of that Court upturned the

judgment of acquittal passed by the IInd Additional Sessions

Judge, Raigad in respect of the present appellants and

convicted them for the offences punishable under Section 302

read with Section 149, section 326 read with 149 and Section

148, IPC and sentenced them to suffer imprisonment for life

and different period of sentence under other counts along with

fine and default stipulation.

2.

Nineteen persons were arraigned before the Trial

Court for the offences under Sections 147, 148, 302 read with

Section 149, section 302 read with section 34, section 307

read with section 149 and section 326 read with section 149,

IPC. Trial Court acquitted all of them. The prosecution

challenged the judgment of acquittal before the High Court of

Judicature at Bombay. The High Court granted leave to appeal

against fourteen accused persons only. As against remaining

five accused, leave was refused. During the pendency of

appeal, one of the accused, against whom leave was granted,

died. Of the remaining thirteen accused, the Division Bench

affirmed acquittal of five. The Division Bench convicted eight

accused as indicated above.

3.

Before dealing with the points raised in the appeal,

it is appropriate to set out very briefly the prosecution case.

Phunde, a small village in Taluka Uran, District Raigad,

Maharashtra has two groups; one group is politically associated

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with the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) while the other

group has alliance with the Congress (I) Party. The party of the

assailants belong to PWP and the prosecution witnesses

belong to Congress-I party. The deceased was also a

Congress-I party worker. The relations between the two groups

due to party politics seem to have been strained for quite some

time. Several criminal cases have been lodged by these two

groups against each other. On the outskirts of the village

Phunde, there is a temple popularly known as Gurbadevi

Temple. The said temple celebrates every year an annual fair

with pomp and show; a Jagran is held in the night on the said

occasion. On April 2, 1988, the annual fair at Gurbadevi Temple

was being celebrated; the idol was adorned with ornaments

and the entire temple complex was illuminated with electric

lights. In the night, the villagers gathered in the temple for

Jagran. The group belonging to Congress (I) party took active

part in the management of the said fair. The celebrations

continued until midnight. Thereafter, most of the villagers left

the temple. However, 15-20 persons who were in management

of the said festival stayed back to keep watch over the

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ornaments adorned by the idol. Few of those who stayed back

were chit-chatting in Sabhamandap, while some of them were

simply resting and others kept themselves awake by playing

cards. In the intervening night of April 2, 1988 and April 3, 1988

at about 3 - 3.15 A.M., Ramesh Mhatre (A-3) came to the

temple, had a look around and then left. A-3 did not speak to

anybody. About 15-20 minutes thereafter, A-3 returned to the

temple with a group of about 20 persons. All of them were

allegedly armed with weapons like iron bar, swords, pharashi,

sticks etc. As soon as they reached, they are said to have

started attacking the people assembled there. Pandurang

Chandrakant Mhatre (A-2) and Ramesh Mhatre (A-3) gave

iron-bar blows on the back of Nandkumar Mhatre (PW-2) but he

escaped and ran towards the village. The accus