Judgment :

Dr. B.S. CHAUHAN, J.

1. Leave granted in Special Leave Petition (Criminal) Nos.1482-1484 of 2008.

2. These appeals have been preferred against the Judgment and Order dated 6.12.2007 of the High Court of Madras in Crl. Appeal Nos. 226, 266 and 267 of 2007, and Death Sentence Reference in Trial No. 1 of 2007.

3. Facts and circumstances giving rise to these cases are that on 22.1.2000, the students of the Horticulture College and Research Centre, Periakulam, affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (hereinafter called the `University'), left for an educational tour in two buses. One bus was carrying male students and the other bus was carrying 47 female students. After completing the educational tour, the students came to Paiyur, near Dharmapuri, on 1.2.2000, at about 12.00 midnight, and stayed in the Regional Agricultural Research Centre. On the next day, after visiting the research centre, they left for a tour to Hogenakkal from Dharmapuri, which was the last leg of their tour as per their revised tour programme. They visited a nursery garden on 2.2.2000 and reached Dharmapuri at 12.30 p.m. and parked their buses in front of Saravanabhavan Hotel. Th