LexB. SUBBA RAO AND ORS. versus PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
A B B. SUBBA RAO AND ORS. v. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD AUGUST 7, 1997 [M.K. MUKHERJEE AND S. SAGHIR AHMAD, JJ.] Indian Penal Code, 1860-Sections 148, 302/149/Criminal Procedure Code, 1973-Section 379-Tiial Cowt acquitting accused persons of offences C u/s 148 and 302/149 !PC-High Cowt appreciating evidence and reversing order of acquittal-Interference by appellate Cowt-Wheri-Held, if two reasonable conclusions can be reached on the basis of evidence, the appellate court should not disturb the order of acquittal-Supreme Coult (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Act, 1970-Section 2. D Criminal Trial-Natural Witness-Public Officer functioning in his of- fice-Offence taking place in his office in his presence-Public Officer detail- ing prosecution case except naming the accused persons as miscreants- Nothing on record to show that he was interested witness or inimically disposed towards the accused-No suggestion in cross examination that he E was deposing falsely-Held, he was the most natural and probable witness as the incident took place in his office. Criminal T1ial-P01tisan witness-Evidence-Examination of-Held, evidence. of such witness has to be examined with utmost care and cau- F tion-Defence alleging certain prosecution witnesses to be partisan wit- ness-Allegation that they belong to rival group -Presence of such witnesses in his office at the time of incident co"oborated by Public Officer-Public Officer specifically testifying the incident but not identifying the accused persons as miscreants-Alleged partisan witnesses identifying accused per- G sons-fi'.l.R. fully co"oborating the testimony of such witness-Held, they were the most natural and probable witnesses and their evidence cannot be disbelieved. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 : H Section 154-FIR-Lodging of-Delay of 14 hours-Person after wit- 370 B. SUBBA RAO'· PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, H.C. OF A.P. AT HYDERABAD 371 nessing incident hiding in the fields at night and lodging FIR in the early hours A of morning-Held, no avoidable delay and the F.l.R. was lodged at the earliest possible opportunity. S.162-Report of Publi"c Officer regarding committing of offence received by police after commencement of investigation-Effect-Held, Report B would be statement recorded under S.162 Cr.P.C. and consequently, inadmis- sible in evidence. Appellant (A-1) was the President of Telugu Desam Party of P.C. Palli Mandalam and belonged to Village Marella and other appellants (A-2 to A-8) were his friends and associates. Deceased was leader of the Con- C gress Party of village Marella, and a number of criminal cases instituted by rival groups were pending against each other. February 27, 1988 was the date fixed for filing nomination papers for the Panchayat·election, and a large number of people came to the office of the Manda! Revenue Officer (P.W.4) of P.C. Palli Mandalam on 26th February, 1988 for obtaining D extracts of voters' list and caste certificates which were required for filing the nomination papers. Deceased along with P.Ws. 1 to 3 came at or about 6 p.m. to the office of P.W.4 for the same purpose. While they were sitting in the office of P.W.4, A-1 came and requested P.W.4 to visit Pothavaram village to verify the voters' lists. The deceased however insisted that P.W.4 could not leave the office without issuing the voters' list and caste certifi- E cates sought by him. A-1 then left the office of P.W.4 saying he would come back within half an hour. Sometime at or about 630 p.m., the appellants rushed into the ollice of P.W.4 armed with deadly weapons and started beating the deceased. A-1 dealt a blow with an axe on his neck, A-2 also beat him with an axe on his right forearm and head and thereafter, the F · other appellants stabbed the deceased indiscriminately with' knives which resulted in his instantaneous death. Upon witnessing the incident, P.Ws. 1 to 4 ran away for fear of their lives and on the following morning at or about 830 a.m., P.Ws.1 and 3 submitted a written report of the incident to the Police which was registered as F.1.R. by the Police. Post-mortem examination of the deceased revealed 45 injuries on the person of the G deceased including 40 incised wounds and the post-mortem certificate indicated that the deceased died due to shocks and hemorrhage as a result of the injuries. After completion of investigation, a charge-sheet under Sectio
Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.