In Brief
In this criminal appeal arising from a factional conflict in an Andhra Pradesh village, the State challenged the High Court's acquittal of all accused. The incident of 30 October 1994 resulted in four deaths—three from bomb explosions and one from attacks with sickles and iron pipes. While the High Court rejected all eyewitness testimony as partisan and riddled with contradictions, the Supreme Court held that minor inconsistencies do not render wholesale rejection of testimony justified. The Court convicted nine accused who were shown to have wielded sickles and iron pipes against deceased no. 3, and one accused who threw a fatal bomb. The Court affirmed other acquittals where no specific overt acts were attributed to the accused.
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