The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has confirmed the life sentence imposed by a trial court in Ramanathapuram district on a man for killing his brother’s father-in-law following a dispute over payment of electricity bills.
The court was hearing a batch of appeals preferred against the judgment of the I Additional District and Sessions Court in Paramakudi, including that of the convict K. Shanmugasekar. The trial court had convicted and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The case of the prosecution is that Shanmugasekar and Kesavan were brothers. They were the sons of Kaari and Mandiammal. The brothers were married and had children. They were residing with their respective families in Gandhi Nagar in Emaneswaram area.
Kesavan was residing with his family in the area and in the adjacent land, his parents were residing on the ground floor and his brother Shanmugasekar was residing on the first floor with his family. They shared the electricity bills as the three houses had a common electricity metre.
It was said that Shanmugasekar and Kesavan had agreed to pay electricity charges every alternate month. In September 2016. Kesavan was supposed to pay the bill. However, he had not paid the bill.
Shanmugasekar questioned Kesavan over the non-payment of the bill. This led to a wordy duel between the family members. The wordy duel soon escalated into a fight between the family members.
In the ensuing fight, Shanmugasekar and his father Kaari attacked Kesavan’s father-in-law Muthu with billhooks. Due to the impact, Muthu fell on the ground. Muthu was rushed to the government hospital in Paramakudi. He was declared brought dead.
The trial court convicted Shanmugasekar for murder and other offences under the IPC and Kaari was convicted for the offence of voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means. While Shanmugasekar was sentenced for life, Kaari was imposed fines.
Shanmugasekar preferred an appeal against the life sentence imposed by the trial court in 2019. Appeals were also preferred against the acquittal of the other family members in the murder case and the sentence imposed on Kaari.
A Division Bench of Justices P.N. Prakash and R. Hemalatha observed, “ We find no infirmity in the judgment and order of the trial court warranting interference”. The court dismissed the criminal appeals preferred against the trial court judgment and confirmed the life sentence imposed on Shanmugasekar.
