The facts are briefly these.P. W. 6, the elder brother of Reddanna, got suspicious about the disappearance of Reddanna and he went and gave a complaint to the police on 14-4-1949 about his disappearance and his suspicions that he might have been murdered.The police began vigorous investigation.Owing to the great stink in Yedurlagunta valley people came to know that some corpse might have been buried there and P. W. 15 the Circle Inspector of Police went on 17th with P. W. 10, the Sub-Magistrate, and big men and dug up the spot and recovered the skin of the palm and sole of the foot of a decomposed corpse, and not the other portions.JUDGMENT Panchapakesa Ayyar, J.These are two appeals by Venkata Reddi and Vebulu, accused 3 and 4 in S. C. No. 42 of 1949 on the file of the Sessions Judge, Cuddappah.They have been convicted under Sections 302 and 34, Penal-Code, and sentenced to transportation for life, and also under Section 201, Penal Code, and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for two years to run concurrently with the sentences under Section 302, Penal Code.One Reddanna was living in Poanellavandlapalli in Rayachoti taluk in Guddappah district.Though he was married he was not on good terms with his wife for sometime before this murder and he was carrying on with a woman called Chinna Ammani of Ragatiguntapalli, an adjoining village.Accused 2 was also carrying on with the same Chinna Ammani Reddanna wanted to have this Chinna Ammani exclusively for himself, by marrying her, and accused 1 and 2 went and told him on 8-4-1949, that they would get him married to Ammani that midnight.So, taking some jewels of his and borrowing some jewels as a loan from a barber P. W. 1, Reddanna set out with accused 1 and accused 2 on the night of 8-4-1949 with intent to get the marriage performed that midnight.Accused 1 and 2 who are closely related, took the help of accused 3 and 4, two persons alleged to be hired assassins, and all the four are said to have murdered Reddana that night while sleeping and waiting for the girl Amman who was said to be on her way, by accused 2 pressing his throat with terrific force and the remaining accused holding his arms and legs, near Marrimani Bhavi in a jungle and buried his corpse there.Thereafter, fearing that the corpse might give out a stink which would be noticed by people in the neighbourhood frequenting that place, they are said to have removed the corpse to Yedurlakunta valley in the jungle and buried it in a pit there.There also they seemed to have feared later on that the body would be discovered by its stink and so removed it and put it in a gunny bag in order to transport it to a more unfrequented place.But small portions of the decomposed corpse, like the skin of the palm of the left band and the sole of the right foot, got left behind in the Yedulakunta valley.The rest of the corpse was put in a gunny bag and taken to Devarthi Bhavi, a disused well, a mile away, and shoved into it.The scar of a cut wound on the skin of the thumb corresponded to such a wound on the thumb of Reddenna.Accused 4 was arrested on suspicion on the night of 21-4-1949 and he offered to show the main corpse of Reddanna.He took the Circle Inspector of Police and the Sub-Magistrate and the big men to Devarathi Bhavi and pointed out the gunny bag containing the remaining portion of Reddanna's corpse.According to the medical evidence of P. W. 9, that corpse could be identified by the heir, teeth etc., by persons who knew the man and the witnesses who were related to Reddanna or knew him well identified the corpse, by the curly hair, coated teeth, jutting forehead bone and other signs and features and also a key of Beddanna (M. O. 1) found with the remains.In the present case, some persons had been suspected in the first instance of this murder and 8 persons were actually charge-sheeted of whom four were committed to the sessions and two finally acquitted.Accused 4 when taken be fore the District Magistrate for recording his statement in order to be tendered a pardon and taken on as an approver refused to make a statement and said that he knew nothing about the murder.It is obvious that the confessions of accused 3 and 4, which are the main pieces of evidence against them regarding the conviction under Section 302, Penal Code are of no value in the circumstances.Nor were these retracted confessions corroborated in any material particulars regarding the murder itself.He was the first to give information about the corpse of Reddanna thrown into the Davarathi Bhavi.

Relevant sections: Section 201 in The Indian Penal Code; Section 302 in The Indian Penal Code