JUDGMENT

K.M. JOSEPH, J.

1. Six appeals arise out of a common judgment rendered by the High Court confirming the conviction and sentence of the appellants by the Trial Court. The earliest of the aforesaid appeals, i.e., Criminal Appeal No. 403 of 2010, is filed by the fourth accused. Criminal Appeal No. 827 of 2013 and Criminal Appeal No. 828 of 2013 are filed by the third and the fifteenth accused, respectively.

WHY THIS THREE-JUDGES BENCH?

2. The appeals filed by the third, fourth and fifteenth accused came to be heard by a Bench of two learned Judges. There was a cleavage of opinion among the learned Judges. One learned Judge (Justice V. Gopala Gowda), by his Judgment, proceeded to acquit the accused while Justice Arun Mishra dismissed the appeals. The Judgment rendered by the two learned Judges is reported in Somasundaram alias Somu v. State Represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police, (2016) 16 SCC 355. After the judgment was rendered, it is that the other appeals came to be filed by the other accused. They are as follows:

a. A5 and A8 have filed Criminal Appeal Nos. 2008 of 2017;

b. A6 has filed Criminal Appeal No.1504 of 2017;

c. A7, A11, A14, A16 and A17 have together filed Crimi