JUDGMENT

B.P. Singh, J.—The appellants have appealed to this Court by special leave against their conviction and sentence passed by the High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore on 26th May, 2004 in Criminal Appeal No. 1485 of 1998. The appellants were charged of the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code for having committed the murder of Lakshman at about 6.00 a.m. on May 30, 1996 while he was sleeping on the katta of his house. The Principal Sessions Judge, Bijapur, who tried the appellants in Sessions Case No.144 of 1998 acquitted them of the charge by his judgment and order of September 14, 1998. The trial Court held that out of the four witnesses examined as eye witnesses, two, namely- PW.8 and PW.9 turned hostile and did not support the case of the prosecution. The remaining two witnesses were PW-1, Smt. Nimbavva, mother of the deceased and PW-2, Ayyappa, the younger brother of the deceased, aged about 12 years. On an appreciation of their evidence the trial court held that PW-2 had not really witnessed the occurrence while PW-1 was not a truthful witness. The High Court on re-appreciation of the evidence on record came to the contrary