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TMI Blog1970 (9) TMI 125X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e It is not necessary to refer to the other charges because those charges are interwoven with the offence of murder. No arguments were addressed to us about those charges separately. The question for decision is whether the incident spoken to by the P.Ws. 1 to 3 is true ? If we accept the evidence regarding the incident, there is no doubt that the accused are guilty of the offences held to have been proved against them by the High Court. If on the other hand, we are unable to accept that evidence then they are entitled to be acquitted of all the charges. This appeal against the decision of the High Court was brought after obtaining special leave from this Court. 2. It was alleged on behalf of the prosecution and not denied on behalf of the accused that from a very long time there were two factions in Thogarakunta village in Dharmavaram Taluk. One of the factions was known as Kapu faction though in that faction there were a sprinkling of Boyas. The other faction was known as boya faction. In that faction there were some Kapus. Between these factions there was bitter enmity. There were cases and counter cases between the two factions. On the date of the occurrence the deceased and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eft the place P.W. 1 went to Kanganapelli and there caught a bus for Dharamavaram where he cashed his pay cheque for which purpose he went to Bharamavaram that day. From Dharmavaram he went to Chennakothapalli where he had some work. When he was returning to his village next day, at the place where the murders had taken place he saw a large number of persons including some police officers. The Sub-Inspector asked him to remain there. Later on he was examined at the inquest. 5. P.W. 2's version is that from the place of occurrence the accused took him to Thopudurthi. There he was kept in the house of the elder brother of accused 1. During the time he was with the accused he was repeatedly warned not to divulge the matter to anyone and to be beware of the likely consequences if he dared to disregard their warnings. Thereafter in the evening they took him to Anantapur and left him there. That night he went to his house and stayed with his family. 6. P.W. 3 supported the version given by P.Ws. 1 and 2 as regards the occurrence. His further case is that when he took to his heels from the scene of occurrence accused 6 threw a stone at him and that caused an injury on his right ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed against them because of enmity. They did not deny the existence of two factions in the village and the further fact that there was serious hostility between the two factions. In fact their case is that the present case has been foisted against them because of that hostility. On their behalf they examined P.W. 1, the professor of Forensic Medicine, Madras to establish that the injuries found on the back of Sanjeevu could not have been caused by revolver shots. By that evidence they sought to show that the evidence given by the occurrence witnesses is not true. 10. The trial judge rejecting the testimony of P.W. 14 and relying on the evidence of P.W. 1, came to the conclusion that the injuries found on the back of the deceased Sanjeev could not have been caused in the manner deposed to by P.Ws. 1 to 3. He opined that they could not have been caused to by revolver shots. He also came to the conclusion that P.Ws. 1 to 3 were partisan witnesses that their evidence is unnatural and unreliable. As a result of those conclusions he acquitted the appellants as well as Boya Ranudu. The acquittal of Ranudu was confirmed by the High Court on the ground that there is no satisfactory evid ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o these tests we may add, as laid down by this Court in several decisions that the appellate Court should also bear in mind the fact that the trial Court had the benefit of seeing the witnesses in the witness box and the presumption of innocence is not weakened by the order of acquittal. If two reasonable conclusions can be reached on the basis of the evidence on record, the appellate Court should not disturb the findings of the trial Court. We shall presently proceed to consider whether the appellate Court adhered to these principles in the examination of the evidence in this case But before doing so we must remind ourselves that this appeal was brought under Article 136 of the Constitution. Although the powers of this Court under that Article are very wide, this Court following the practice adopted by the judicial Committee has prescribed limits on its own power and in criminal appeals, except under exceptional circumstances it dues not interfere with the findings of fact reached by the High Court unless it is of the opinion that the High Court had disregarded the forms of legal process or had violated the principles of natural justice or otherwise substantial and grave injustice ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... which we have made reference earlier whereas the learned judges of the High Court took into consideration the entire evidence of D.W. 1. The reasons given by the learned judges of the High Court for not preferring the evidence of D.W. 1 to that of P.W. 14 are cogent and convincing. 18. The evidence of P.W. 14 has a great deal of significance in this case. It may be remembered that P.Ws. 1 and 3 were examined at the inquest on September 9, 1964. The Post-mortem on the bodies of the deceased persons was done on the 10th The information gathered from the post-mortem examination fully corroborates the testimony of P.Ws 1 and 3. On the facts of this case it cannot be said that P.Ws. 1 and 3 could have by merely seeing the injuries on the deceased persons invented the version that they gave out in Court. It was not Suggested to these witnesses that the evidence given by them in Court differed from the statements made by them during the inquest, in any material respect. At this stage it may be noted that according to the observations made by the I.O. who conducted the inquest there was blackening of the skin around the injuries Nos. 2 and 3 on Sanjeevu and the I.O. thought that around ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e High Court considered that the trial judge has relied on a very flimsy circumstance for coming to the conclusion that P.W. 1 was a partisan witness. 20. One other ground on which the trial Court refused to place reliance on the testimony of P.W. 1 is that while he travelled in a bus from Kanjanapalli to Dharamavaram, he did not disclose the incident to his fellow passengers nor did he disclose the same to the authorities at Dharamavaram and hence his behavior was unnatural; The explanation given by P.W. 1 was that he dared not speak out because of the threats given to him by the accused persons. He thought that his life would be in danger if he disclosed the offence to anyone. This explanation was not found to be satisfactory by the trial judge but on the other hand the High Court thought that it was a satisfactory explanation. We are unable to hold that the view taken by the High Court is an untenable one. It is undoubtedly a possible view and to us it also appears to be a reasonable view. 21. Criticism was leveled against the evidence of P.W. 1 on the ground that according to him on the day of the occurrence he did not go back to his village but on the other hand he proce ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oint made against this witness is that after going to his sister's place he did not inform the authorities about the occurrence nor did he go to Dharmavaram to inform his relatives about the occurrence and therefore his evidence is not believable. His explanation is that he was mortally afraid of the accused and as such dared not get out of his sister's houses. The trial Court did not accept this explanation but the High Court accepted it. Different individuals react differently under the same circumstances. Here is a member of a faction who had seen the brutal murders of two of his relations. He himself was chased and he escaped death very narrowly. There is nothing surprising that such a person being afraid of getting out of his sister's house for a whole day. At any rate the High ' Court thought that there is nothing improbable about it. 24. Every one of the points taken into consideration by the trial Court to arrive at the verdict of acquittal has been considered by the High Court and it has given reasons for differing from the conclusions reached by the trial Court. There is nothing basically wrong in the approach adopted by the High Court. It considered th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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