RAMESH MADHAV BAPAT, J. ( 1 ) A-L to A-5 are appellants herein. They were tried in Sessions Case No. 30 of 2000 by the I Additional Metropolitan Sessions judge-cum-Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, hyderabad under two charges. The first charge against all the accused was under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. On evidence the learned Judge convicted A-l, a-2 and A-5 for the said offence and sentenced them to suffer imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 200. 00 each, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for one month each. The second charge against all the accused was under Section 307 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. On evidence the learned Judge convicted A-3 and A-4 for the offence punishable under section 307 I. P. C. and sentenced them to suffer rigorous imprisonment for five years and to pay a fine of Rs. 200. 00 each, in default to suffer simple imprisonment for one month each. The accused-appellants were given set off under Section 428 Cr. P. C. Aggrieved by the said order of conviction and sentence, the accused have preferred the present appeal. ( 2 ) THE prosecution story can be briefly narrated as follows:p. WS. 1 to 6, 8 and others had gone to the house of A-5 for attending the 9th day ceremony of the daughter-in-law of A-5. The ceremony was performed by about 7. 30 p. m. After performing the ceremony, all of them consumed liquor and they had their dinner. At that time P. W. 2 blamed and abused the wife of A-5 saying that she was responsible for the death of her daughter-in-law parvathi. On hearing this, the daughters of a-5 namely Dhanu and Meena were annoyed and, therefore, they started beating p. W. 2 with hands. On seeing P. W. 2 being beaten, the deceased intervened and beat dhanu and Meena - daughters of A-5. On seeing this, A-5 caught hold of the hands of fhe deceased so as to prevent him from beating his daughters. At the same time, a-l and A-2 stabbed the deceased on his chest and right thigh. P. W. 8 tried to intervene to rescue the deceased from the clutches of A-l and A-2. At that time A-3 and A-4 stabbed P. W. 8 on his stomach with a knife causing severe injury. The deceased died on the spot. At the same time, a-l and A-2 stabbed the deceased on his chest and right thigh. P. W. 8 tried to intervene to rescue the deceased from the clutches of A-l and A-2. At that time A-3 and A-4 stabbed P. W. 8 on his stomach with a knife causing severe injury. The deceased died on the spot. ( 3 ) THE information regarding the death of the deceased was given by P. W. 5 over telephone. Unfortunately P. W. 5 did not support the prosecution case. On getting the information, P. W. 13, the Sub-Inspector of police, arrived at the scene of offence and recorded the statement of P. W. 1, which is produced on record as Ex. P-1. On the strength of Ex. P-1, a case in Cr. No. 96 of 1998 was registered against the accused under sections 302 and 307 read with 34 I. P. C. P. W. 13 recorded the statements of eyewitnesses, viz. , P. Ws. 1, 2, 4 and 8. The injured-P. W. 8 and the deceased were removed to Hospital. ( 4 ) THE information regarding the offence in question was passed on to the Circle inspector of Police. He visited the scene of offence, prepared a panchanama of the scene of offence and held inquest over the dead body of the deceased. The statements of other witnesses were recorded. The accused were arrested. Thus, on completion of investigation, P. W. 15 filed the charge-sheet. ( 5 ) THE defence of the accused is of total denial. ( 6 ) IN order to substantiate the prosecution case, prosecution led the evidence of P. Ws. l to 16. Certain documents produced and proved by them were marked as Exs. P-1 to P-15. The defence brought out certain contradictions on record and they were marked as Exs. D-1 to D-4. The material objects were marked as M. Os. l to 6. ( 7 ) IN order to prove that the deceased died a homicidal death, the evidence of p. W. 13 plays an important role. He had conducted the inquest over the dead body of the deceased and he also recorded Ex. P-1, on the strength of which the offence was registered. P. W. 9 had acted as an inquest panch. The inquest report is filed on record at Ex. P-4. He had conducted the inquest over the dead body of the deceased and he also recorded Ex. P-1, on the strength of which the offence was registered. P. W. 9 had acted as an inquest panch. The inquest report is filed on record at Ex. P-4. ( 8 ) AFTER the inquest was over, the dead body of the deceased was sent to P. W. 16 for conducting autopsy. P. W. 16 happened to be working as Civil Assistant Surgeon, Forensic department, Osmania Medical College, hyderabad. On receipt of requisition from the Station House Officer, Saidabad Police station, he conducted autopsy over the dead body of the deceased and noticed the following ante-mortem injuries:"1. Stab injury 4 x 1 cm. transverse cavity deep 19 cm. below medial end of right cavity 7 cm. away from midline both angles acute, margins clean cut directed right to left below upwards. This injury entered thoracic cavity through 5th inter costal space ad pierced the right auricle of heart with the dimension of x cms. and entered the auricle cavity. About 500 cc of blood collected in pericardial sac. 2. Stab injury 3 x 1 cm. oblique 14 cms. below right axilla in posterior auxiliary line, cavity deep, both angles acute, margins clean cut, lower margins beveled. This injury entered the thoracic cavity and pierced the lower lobe of right lung on lateral side to a dimension of 1 x x cm. About 600 cc of blood collected in pleural cavities. 3. Stab injury 3 x 1 cm x cavity deep on right side of back of chest, 7 cms. below mid right scapula, 15 cms. away from midline, spindle shaped, margins clean cut, lower margins beveled. This injury entered the thoracic cavity and after piercing the Diaphragm from above down wards pierced liver over posterior inferior surface to a dimension 1 x x 1 cm. About 300 cc of blood in abdominal cavity. 4. Stab wound 4 x 2 cm. transverse over middle of back of right thigh, directed above down wards to a depth of 5 cms. into the muscle. All margins clean cut. Both angles acute. " ( 9 ) THE Doctor opined that the deceased died due to multiple stab injuries. He further stated that injuries 1, 2 and 3 are collectively fatal. transverse over middle of back of right thigh, directed above down wards to a depth of 5 cms. into the muscle. All margins clean cut. Both angles acute. " ( 9 ) THE Doctor opined that the deceased died due to multiple stab injuries. He further stated that injuries 1, 2 and 3 are collectively fatal. The Doctor also opined that the injuries noticed on the person of the deceased could be caused by a weapon like m. O. I. As per his observation, he issued post-mortem certificate - Ex. P-15. ( 10 ) CONSIDERING the evidence led by the prosecution on the point of homicidal death, we do hold that the deceased did die a homicidal death. ( 11 ) THE next question that arises for our consideration is whether the accused Nos. 1, 2 and 5 were responsible for causing the death of the deceased. ( 12 ) P. WS. L, 2, 4 and 8 were examined in this case as eye-witnesses to the incident. P. W. I happened to be the brother s daughter of the deceased. A-1 is her maternal aunt s son. A-2 is her maternal aunt s husband. A-3 is the son of her maternal aunt. A-4 is the younger brother of a-3. A-5 is the father of A-l, A-3 and A-4. The evidence of P. W. I discloses that on the date of incident she along with P. Ws. 2, 4 and 8 and some other people had gone to the house of A-5 for attending the 9th day ceremony of one Parvathi, who happened to be the daughter-in-law of A-5. After the ceremony was over, all the persons who attended the ceremony had toddy and they had dinner also. At that time, according to the version of P. W. I, P. W. 2 made a remark against the wife of A-5 stating that as she did not look after Parvathi well, she died. On hearing the remarks made by P. W. 2, the daughters of A-5 got annoyed and they started beating P. W. 2 with hands. It further appears from the evidence of P. W. I that when the daughters of A-5 were beating p. W. 2, the deceased, who happened to be the husband of P. W. 2, intervened and beat the daughters of A-5. It further appears from the evidence of P. W. I that when the daughters of A-5 were beating p. W. 2, the deceased, who happened to be the husband of P. W. 2, intervened and beat the daughters of A-5. When the deceased was beating the daughters of A-5, A-5 intervened so as to rescue his daughters from the clutches of the deceased. He caught hold of the hands of the deceased. All of a sudden, A-l and A-2 stabbed the deceased with knives on his chest, abdomen and thigh causing multiple injuries. Then the deceased died on the spot. The evidence of P. W. I is corroborated by Ex. P-1 on all material aspects. ( 13 ) THE evidence of P. W. 2 shows that she was also one of the persons who attended the 9th day ceremony on the death of parvathi, who happened to be the daughter- in-law of A-5. She has stated in her evidence that after performing the 9th day ceremony, all the persons who were present in the house had consumed toddy and they had dinner. She further deposed that she tried to chastise the wife of A-5 saying that she did not treat her daughter-in-law properly and, therefore, she died. When P. W. 2 condemned the conduct of the wife of A-5, the daughters of A-5 annoyed and started beating P. W. 2 with hands. P. W. 2 further stated that when she was being beaten, it was noticed by her husband, who is the deceased in this case. Then the deceased intervened and beat the daughters of A-5 with hands. Upon this, a-5 intervened and caught hold of the hands of deceased. At that time A-1 and A-2 stabbed the deceased on his chest, abdomen and thigh causing multiple injuries. The evidence of P. W. 2 is corroborated graphically with the evidence of P. W. I. The evidence of P. W. 4 also is on the same lines. Therefore, it is not necessary to discuss the evidence of P. W. 4 on this aspect. ( 14 ) WE have one more eye-witness, who is P. W. 8. P. W. 8 is injured witness. According to the version of P. W. 8, he intervened to save the deceased from the clutches of A-l and A-2. In that process, A-3 and A-4 attacked him with knives and stabbed him on his abdomen. ( 14 ) WE have one more eye-witness, who is P. W. 8. P. W. 8 is injured witness. According to the version of P. W. 8, he intervened to save the deceased from the clutches of A-l and A-2. In that process, A-3 and A-4 attacked him with knives and stabbed him on his abdomen. ( 15 ) IMMEDIATELY after the incident, p. W. 13 the Circle Inspector of Police came at the spot. The deceased and the injured witness, i. e. , P. W. 8, were removed to hospital, where P. W. 8 was treated and the deceased was declared dead. ( 16 ) IT can be seen from the entire evidence on record that the incident had taken place in two parts. In the first part, A-l and A-2 made murderous attack on the deceased causing his instantaneous death. By looking to the background and the nature of the injuries caused, we have to ascertain whether A-l, A-2 and A-5 are responsible for causing the death of the deceased. ( 17 ) IT can be seen from the evidence of all the eye-witnesses that no overt act was attributed to A-5. A-5 never shared any common intention to kill the deceased. But, when he saw that his daughters Dhanu and meena were beaten by the deceased with hands, he intervened so as to prevent the deceased from beating his daughters and caught hold of the hands of deceased. At that juncture. A-l and A-2 made a murderous attack on the deceased by stabbing him on his chest, abdomen and thigh causing his instantaneous death. Looking to the facts on record, it cannot be said that there was a meeting of minds among A-l, A-2 and A-5. As far as the death of the deceased is concerned, A-5 had no role to play. Therefore, we are of the considered opinion that the order of conviction and sentence recorded against a-5 is erroneous. Therefore, it is set aside. A-5 is acquitted of all the charges levelled against him. The order of conviction and sentence recorded against A-l and A-2 stands confirmed. ( 18 ) AS far as the second part of the incident is concerned, when P. W. 8 saw that the deceased was being stabbed by A-l and a-2, he intervened so as to save him from the clutches of A-l and A-2. The order of conviction and sentence recorded against A-l and A-2 stands confirmed. ( 18 ) AS far as the second part of the incident is concerned, when P. W. 8 saw that the deceased was being stabbed by A-l and a-2, he intervened so as to save him from the clutches of A-l and A-2. In that process, a-3 and A-4 stabbed P. W. 8 on his abdomen. Intestine of P. W. 8 came out and he was given timely treatment and, therefore, P. W. 8 survived. The evidence of P. W. 8 is corroborated by the evidence of P. Ws. l, 2 and 4 in all material particulars. By looking to the nature of injury caused on the vital organ of P. W. 8, we have no hesitation in holding that A-3 and A-4 had attempted to cause the death of P. W. 8. Therefore, we find no reason to interfere with the order of conviction and sentence recorded against a-3 and A-4 by the learned Judge. ( 19 ) THEREFORE, we dismiss the appeal filed by A-l, A-2, A-3 and A-4 (appellants 1 to 4 herein) and allow the appeal filed by A-5 (5th appellant ). The order of conviction and sentence recorded against A-5 is set aside and he is acquitted of all the charges. We direct that A-5 be set at liberty forthwith, if not required in any other case. Fine amount, if paid, be refunded to him.