  The inclusive energy distributions of fragments (3$\leq$Z$\leq$7) emitted in
the reaction $^{16}$O + $^{27}$Al at $E_{lab} = $116 MeV have been measured in
the angular range $\theta_{lab} $= 15$^\circ$ - 115$^\circ$. A non-linear
optimisation procedure using multiple Gaussian distribution functions has been
proposed to extract the fusion-fission and deep inelastic components of the
fragment emission from the experimental data. The angular distributions of the
fragments, thus obtained, from the deep inelastic component are found to fall
off faster than those from the fusion-fission component, indicating shorter
life times of the emitting di-nuclear systems. The life times of the
intermediate di-nuclear configurations have been estimated using a diffractive
Regge-pole model. The life times thus extracted ($\sim 1 - 5\times 10^{-22}$
Sec.) are found to decrease with the increase in the fragment charge. Optimum
Q-values are also found to increase with increasing charge transfer i.e. with
the decrease in fragment charge.
