2023 (9) TMI 1489
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....on 304 and Section 324 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, 'IPC'). They were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years and pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/-. FACTUAL ASPECTS 2. We may refer to a few factual aspects of the case. PW-1 (Jagadeesha) is the complainant. The complainant's family had property in the village Hebbale. The Appellant No. 1 - Accused No. 1-Mariyappa is PW-1's uncle, with whom PW-1's family was having a dispute over water. Manjunatha and Shivarama are the brothers of PW-1, who are the victims of the offence. On 29th August 1999, both entered the village Hebbale to engage labourers for plucking ginger. PW-1 followed them. On the road to the village, he found....
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.... pendency of this appeal. Counsel for the Appellants has filed I.A. No. 71417 of 2023 - application for permission to file additional documents. Annexure A-1 and A- 2 are copies of the Death Certificates of Appellant No. 1 and Appellant No. 7 respectively. The said application is allowed and the Cause Title stands modified accordingly. Formal amendment to the Cause Title be carried out accordingly. The appeal stands abated as regards these two Appellants. Accused No. 2 - Appellant No. 2, Accused No. 3 - Appellant No. 3, Accused No. 4 - Appellant No. 4 and Accused No. 6 - Appellant No. 6 have so far undergone incarceration for a period of about one year and two months. Accused No. 5 - Appellant No. 5-Somashekar has been incarcerated for five....
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....ilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In fact, that would have been the only conclusion which could be drawn on the basis of evidence on record. He submitted that if the impugned judgment is not satisfactory, this Court, after re-appreciating the evidence of the prosecution witnesses and other material on record, can satisfy its conscience about the correctness of the ultimate conclusion of the High Court. CONSIDERATION OF SUBMISSIONS 7. In this appeal, we are called upon to consider the legality and validity of the impugned judgment rendered by the High Court while deciding an appeal against acquittal Under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short, 'Cr.P.C.'). The principles which govern the exercise of appella....
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....e the impugned judgment only to find out whether the view taken was correct or incorrect. After re-appreciating the oral and documentary evidence, the Appellate Court must first decide whether the Trial Court's view was a possible view. The Appellate Court cannot overturn acquittal only on the ground that after re-appreciating evidence, it is of the view that the guilt of the Accused was established beyond a reasonable doubt. Only by recording such a conclusion an order of acquittal cannot be reversed unless the Appellate Court also concludes that it was the only possible conclusion. Thus, the Appellate Court must see whether the view taken by the Trial Court while acquitting an Accused can be reasonably taken on the basis of the eviden....
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....ually and collectively, the High Court has jumped to the conclusion that the guilt of the Accused has been established. The judgment does not throw any light on the question who were the authors of the injuries sustained by the deceased and the injured witnesses. There is no finding as to how Section 149 of Indian Penal Code gets attracted. 11. Thus, the only conclusion which can be drawn is that the High Court, as an Appellate Court, while hearing the appeal against acquittal, has not done its duty. 12. However, we cannot take recourse to the order of remand since the subject offence has taken place about twenty-three and half years back. We have perused the evidence of the eyewitnesses, namely PW-1, PW-2, PW-3, PW-6 and PW-7, and th....


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