( 1 ) THE State of Karnataka has preferred this appeal, which is directed against an order of acquittal recorded by the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Bijapur, in S. C. No. 57/1994. The four accused, who are respondents before us, were tried for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of I. P. C. the allegation being that, at about 12. 30 in the night. of 22- 9-1993, they are alleged to have assaulted deceased Upashappa Kallappa Mamadapur with an axe and wooden clubs, and that they inflicted severe injuries on him as a result of which he died after some time. The trial court, after a careful analysis of the evidence, held that the material on record did not establish the charges and consequently acquitted the accused and it is against this decision that the present appeal has been filed. ( 2 ) THE learned Government Pleader, who appears in support of the appeal, was critical of the approach adopted by the trial court, because he pointed out that this is a case in which the accused and the prosecution witnesses are known to each other. These persons are not strangers and it was his submission that P. W. 7-Shivappa was admittedly sleeping in the adjoining room to where the assault took place and that he is an eye-witness, who has identified the four accused. We have been taken through the evidence of this witness and the learned counsel points out that nothing appreciable has emerged in the cross-examination to discredit his evidence. According to him, the moment Upashappa was assaulted, he shouted out and the witness, who is also his nephew and who was sleeping there, immediately woke up and it is his version that he distinctively pointed a bright torch at the spot. He states that A-1 and A-2 were armed with axes and that they were assaulting Upashappa, and A-3 and A-4 were carrying wooden clubs with which they also assaulted him. According to the witness, as soon as the accused saw him approaching them, they threw down some of the weapons and fled from that place. He states that A-1 and A-2 were armed with axes and that they were assaulting Upashappa, and A-3 and A-4 were carrying wooden clubs with which they also assaulted him. According to the witness, as soon as the accused saw him approaching them, they threw down some of the weapons and fled from that place. The submission is that, this evidence is totally and fully corroborated by the medical evidence because there are multiple injuries on upashappas body and the doctor has opined that these could have been caused through axe blows and in the course of an assault through wooden clubs. The submission, therefore, is that there is no conceivable ground on which this evidence can be rejected nor is there any ground on which that with this evidence, the accused could have been acquitted. ( 3 ) IN addition to this, our attention has been drawn to the medical evidence which we have referred to and to the evidence of p. Ws. 11 and 12, because the learned Counsel submits that these two witnesses referred to the fact that they had seen the accused armed with deadly weapons running away from the scene of offence and it is his submission that these circumstances lend all the corroboration that the Court could ask for in a case of the present type. The rest of the evidence in this case is more or less supportive and we do not need to refer to it. ( 4 ) NORMALLY, on the basis of this material, we would have taken a serious look at the prospect of having to reverse the order of acquittal. The respondents learned Counsel has however brought it to our notice that p. W. 7 was-admittedly in deep sleep and furthermore, that it was pitch dark inside the house when the incident took place at a time after midnight. Also, the fact that he was sleeping in a room some distance away has been pointed out, because the crucial point that he makes is that the accused had entered through the roof and that when they assaulted Upashappa, he immediately shouted out for help and this circumstance would have made the accused run away from that spot in their own defence. Even if P. W. 7 came there with the minimum loss of time, he could never have seen the assault having regard to these circumstances. Even if P. W. 7 came there with the minimum loss of time, he could never have seen the assault having regard to these circumstances. Secondly, our attention was drawn to the fact that P. W. 7, who was fast asleep, would take a minimum amount of time to spring into action to get up and get moving, to pick up the torch, to come to the spot where Upashappa was sleeping and switch it on, and furthermore, that even assuming that the accused were still there, he would have only seen them in the process of their fleeing from the spot, in which case, identification even of a known person would be impossible. The appellants learned Counsel was quick to submit that in periods of crisis there are times when a witness remembers something that has been seen only for a split second. We do not dispute this, but that presupposes ideal conditions. Next, what the respondents learned Counsel brings to our notice is the most crucial aspect of the case viz. , that if the P. Ws. have seen and identified the accused, that in the F. I. R. which has been lodged on the next day after several hours, the version would not be that some persons had assaulted Upashappa. The absence of the names, according to the learned Counsel, fully establishes the fact that the witnesses would not have seen the assailants. ( 5 ) LASTLY, he has pointed out to us that the prosecution has alleged that there was some hostility over a quarrel concerning water from the tank and that A-2 had been removed from his job, which was the reason for hostility. Even assuming that this is the alleged motive, in our considered view, it is too weak to justify a murderous assault. ( 6 ) ON a very careful reappraisal of the evidence and after having done an independent analysis, we do find that the learned trial judge was right in holding that the evidence in this case is limited and secondly, the non- mentioning of the names of the assailants at the earliest point of time casts serious doubt on the claim of P. W. 7 that he had witnessed the incident, as otherwise the assailants would have been named. Thirdly, p. Ws. 11 and 12 have effectively turned hostile and their evidence is not of much utility. Thirdly, p. Ws. 11 and 12 have effectively turned hostile and their evidence is not of much utility. The medical evidence is in consonance with a murderous assault with axes and clubs, but that does not establish that it was these accused who wielded those weapons. Under these circumstances, the trial Court was fully justified in having recorded the finding that the evidence falls short of establishing the charges and that the accused would be entitled to the benefit of doubt. The appeal accordingly fails on merits and stands dismissed. The bail bonds of the accused to stand cancelled. Appeal dismissed. --- *** --- .