Manoj & Anr vs State Of Karnataka

3. Briefly stated the prosecution case is that the deceased Sadashiv was unhappy about appellant No.1-Manoj visiting his house and associating with his wife for he suspected an illicit intimacy between the two. He had, therefore, forbidden Manoj from coming to his house and in case he did so he had threatened to kill him. The prosecution story is that on 30th August, 2006 at about 12 noon appellant No.1-Manoj and his father-appellant No.2 assaulted the deceased while the latter was in front of a shop owned by one Khilari near Babanagar bus stand within the limits of Tikota Police Station. While appellant No.2 is alleged to have assaulted the deceased with a stone on his head appellant No.1-Manoj is said to have given several blows to the deceased with a sword injuring him on his neck, head and face. The incident, was allegedly seen by five eye witnesses, some of whom carried the injured to the Police Station from where he was referred to the District Hospital for treatment. The deceased, however, passed away before reaching the hospital leading to the registration of a case against the father and the son under Sections 302 and 506 read with Section 34 of the IPC. A charge-sheet was in due course filed against the two accused persons before the jurisdictional Magistrate who committed the accused to face trial before the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Bijapur. At the trial, the prosecution examined as many as 22 witnesses apart from placing reliance upon several documents marked as Exs.P1 to P24 and material objects MOs1 to 12. In their statements recorded under Section 313 of the Cr.P.C., the accused persons denied the charges and pleaded innocence. No evidence was, however, adduced by them in defence. The trial Court eventually came to the conclusion that prosecution had brought home the guilt of the accused persons for offences punishable under Sections 302 and 506 read with Section 34 of the IPC.

5. Aggrieved by their conviction and the sentence, the appellants appealed to the High Court of Karnataka, Circuit Bench at Gulbarga who has in terms of the judgment impugned in this appeal affirmed the conviction and the sentence under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC awarded by the trial Court but set aside the conviction and sentence under Section 506 read with Section 34 IPC, as noticed above. The present appeal assails the correctness of the said judgments and orders of the Courts below.

7. PW-8-Shrishail Shettappa Shelannavar deposed that the incident leading to the death of the deceased-Sadashiv took place near a hotel at Babanagar at 11:30 a.m. in the morning. According to the witness, he had come out of the hotel (the witness means a roadside Dhaba) after taking tea only to find that a verbal altercation was going on between the accused on the one hand and the deceased-Sadashiv on the other. It was in the course of this altercation that appellant No.2-Amagond threw a stone at Sadashiv which hit the latter on his head. On receiving the injury the deceased fell to the ground whereupon appellant No.1-Manoj inflicted injuries on his neck and other parts of the body with a sword. Seeing the assault on the deceased, people from the hotel vicinity started running helter-skelter. The deceased was removed from the site in a vehicle after the appellants escaped from the place of occurrence. The witness identified the sword and the stone with which the deceased was assaulted by the appellants.

10. On the date of occurrence at about 12 noon the witness and PW-8- Shrishail Shettappa Shelannavar were sitting in front of the dhaba belonging to one Allisab after taking tea. The deceased was at that time sitting in front of the dhaba of one Suresh and smoking a beedi on the opposite side of the road. It was then that the appellants came to the spot. Manoj was armed with a sword while appellant No.2-his father had a stone. He threw the stone towards the deceased that hit him on his head. Because of the injury the deceased fell down whereafter the Appellant-Manoj gave to the deceased four to five blows with the sword that he was carrying. The witness and Shrishail Shettappa Shelannavar tried to rescue the victim but Manoj threatened to kill them if they intervened. After the incident, the appellants ran away from the spot thinking that Sadashiv was dead. The witness then brought water for the deceased to save his life as he was bleeding profusely from the head and neck. They took the deceased to the Tikota Police Station in a Tom Tom vehicle wherefrom they were referred to a District Hospital at Bijapur with a constable deputed to accompany them. While going to the hospital the deceased succumbed to his injuries whereupon they returned to the Police Station to lodge a report about the incident. The witness identified the sword and the stone used by the appellants in the course of the incident.

11. We may also at this stage refer to the deposition of PW-16-Padawwa- wife of the deceased. This witness has supported the prosecution version inasmuch as she stated that the appellant-Manoj used to visit her house to talk to her on account of which her husband entertained a suspicion about her fidelity. The deceased had admonished the appellant and asked him not to come to his house and if he did so he would kill him. On the date of the occurrence the deceased left his house for the bus stand in the morning but around 12:30 p.m. some people residing in the neighbourhood informed her that the appellant- Manoj had assaulted the deceased with a sword while appellant No.2 had inflicted an injury upon his head with a stone. She rushed to the spot to find that the deceased was alive and water was being poured in his mouth by the people present including Mahadev, Gopal and Shrishail who took the deceased to Tikota Police Station. The witness also accompanied them.

16. In the result, we dismiss this appeal insofar as appellant-Manoj is concerned and uphold his conviction under Section 302 IPC and the sentence awarded to him. The conviction of appellant No.2 is, however, altered from Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC to Section 325 IPC. Appellant No.2 has been in jail for nearly 3½ years now which sentence should, in our opinion, suffice. Appellant No.2 is accordingly sentenced to imprisonment already undergone by him. He shall be released from custody if not otherwise required in connection with any other case. The sentence of fine imposed upon the said appellant shall however remain unaltered.