In Brief
Three appellants (Subhash, Dattatrey, and Digambar) were convicted of murdering Mahadevappa following a neighbourly dispute over a blocked pathway. After morning verbal abuse, when Mahadevappa went unarmed to the appellants' house to inquire why the path was blocked, the appellants attacked him with a stick, chopper, and stones, inflicting grievous injuries that caused his death. The appellants claimed they acted in self-defence, but the Supreme Court found no provocation by the deceased and held the violence was unduly disproportionate. All four elements of murder were established. The Court upheld their life sentences under IPC Section 302, dismissing the appeal.
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