Penal Code, 1860:

ss. 3021149 and 3071149 - Double murder and attempt c to murder - Six accused armed with deadly weapons went to the house of complainant and attacked his family members resulting in death of two of his sons and serious injuries to his grandson - Conviction by trial court of three accused u/ss 302/34 and 307/34 and acquittal of the other three - High Court convicting all the six u/ss 302/149 and 307/149- HELD: High Court has rightly held that the judgEement of trial court in acquitting three of the accused was perverse, as it was a clear case of common object which all the six accused shared and by application of s. 149 all the six were liable for inflicting injuries on the two victims which resulted in their death and serious injuries to the other- Judegment of High Court affirmed - Appeal against acquittal - Scope of interference by appellate court -Reiterated.

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973:

ss. 154 and 157 - Recording of FIR and sending of special report to Magistrate - Delay- Effect of- HELD: Every delay is not fatal, unless prejudice to the accused is shown - In the instant case, two sons of the complainant were done to death by accused and his grand son seriously injured and was shifted to hospital - After making all the required arrangements, the complainant made his way to police station which was 6 km from the village - In the circumstances, there was no delay in lodging the FIR nor in sending the special report to Magistrate. s. 157 - Sending of report of commission of offence to jurisdictional Magistrate - Delay - HELD: The expression 'forthwith' in the section does not mean that prosecution is required to explain delay of every hour in sending copy of FIR to Magistrate - In the given case, if number of dead and injured is high, delay in dispatching the report is natural - Purpose of s. 157 - Explained.

Evidence:

Testimony of eye-witness and injured witness vis-a-vis medical evidence - Legal position - Explained - HELD: In the instant case, two persons died on the spot and other received grievous injuries - In such a fact situation the witness is not supposed to give exact account of the incident, and minor discrepancies on trivial matters, which do not affect the core of prosecution case, may not prompt the court to reject the evidence in its entirety - Penal Code, 1860 - ss. 302/149 and 307/149.

Witness:

Testimonies of injured witness and related witness - Evidentiary value of - Explained.