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2023 3 1502 52269 Judgement 10-Apr-2024
2023 3 1502 52269 Judgement 10-Apr-2024
WITH
JUDGMENT
B.R. GAVAI, J.
2024.
Digitally signed by
1
dismissed the criminal appeals preferred by the appellants,
10 of 2012.
are as under:-
the Bhatgaon Canal Road and had thereafter thrown his body
2
am, respectively, whereas the memorandum statement of
very same day, a First Information Report (‘FIR’ for short) being
homicidal.
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instruction, Ravishankar Tandon (accused No.1) and
same night, after taking the dinner, they left Sunil’s house on
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murder, the accused persons tied the dead body of the
deceased with his own clothes and stuffed it into a jute sack
Kumar Patre (accused No.4), and threw the dead body into the
Sections 302 read with 34, Sections 120B and 201 of the
Indian Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’ for short) whereas accused No.3
302 read with 34 and 120B of the IPC. Since the case was
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3.5 The prosecution examined 18 witnesses and exhibited 37
The defence, on the other hand, did not examine any witness
3.6 At the conclusion of the trial, the trial Court found that
read with 34, Sections 120B and 201 of the IPC and convicted
read with 34 and 120B of the IPC and sentenced all of them to
Criminal Appeals before the High Court. The High Court vide
trial Court.
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learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants in
set aside.
High Court and the trial court have concurrently held that the
submitted that the findings of the trial court and the High
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Court are based upon cogent appreciation of evidence and as
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guilt of the accused. Again, the
circumstances should be of a conclusive
nature and tendency and they should be
such as to exclude every hypothesis but
the one proposed to be proved. In other
words, there must be a chain of evidence
so far complete as not to leave any
reasonable ground for a conclusion
consistent with the innocence of the
accused and it must be such as to show
that within all human probability the act
must have been done by the accused.”
153. A close analysis of this decision would show
that the following conditions must be fulfilled before
a case against an accused can be said to be fully
established:
(1) the circumstances from which the
conclusion of guilt is to be drawn should
be fully established.
It may be noted here that this Court indicated that
the circumstances concerned “must or should” and
not “may be” established. There is not only a
grammatical but a legal distinction between “may be
proved” and “must be or should be proved” as was
held by this Court in Shivaji Sahabrao Bobade v.
State of Maharashtra [(1973) 2 SCC 793 : 1973 SCC
(Cri) 1033 : 1973 Crl LJ 1783] where the observations
were made: [SCC para 19, p. 807: SCC (Cri) p. 1047]
“Certainly, it is a primary principle that
the accused must be and not merely may
be guilty before a court can convict and
the mental distance between ‘may be’ and
‘must be’ is long and divides vague
conjectures from sure conclusions.”
(2) the facts so established should be
consistent only with the hypothesis of the
guilt of the accused, that is to say, they
should not be explainable on any other
hypothesis except that the accused is
guilty,
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(3) the circumstances should be of a
conclusive nature and tendency,
(4) they should exclude every possible
hypothesis except the one to be proved,
and
(5) there must be a chain of evidence so
complete as not to leave any reasonable
ground for the conclusion consistent with
the innocence of the accused and must
show that in all human probability the act
must have been done by the accused.
154. These five golden principles, if we may say so,
constitute the panchsheel of the proof of a case based
on circumstantial evidence.”
the accused ‘must be’ and not merely ‘may be’ proved guilty
before a court can convict the accused. It has been held that
with the guilt of the accused, that is to say, they should not
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possible hypothesis except the one to be proved. It has been
with the innocence of the accused and must show that in all
accused.
11
State (NCT of Delhi) v. Navjot Sandhu alias Afsan Guru2.
said judgment:
2
(2005) 11 SCC 600 : 2005 INSC 333
12
“clearly the extent of the information
admissible must depend on the exact
nature of the fact discovered”
and the information must distinctly relate to that
fact.
Elucidating the scope of this section, the Privy
Council speaking through Sir John Beaumont said:
(AIR p. 70, para 10)
“Normally the section is brought into
operation when a person in police custody
produces from some place of concealment
some object, such as a dead body, a
weapon, or ornaments, said to be
connected with the crime of which the
informant is accused.”
(emphasis supplied)
We have emphasised the word “normally” because
the illustrations given by the learned Judge are not
exhaustive. The next point to be noted is that the
Privy Council rejected the argument of the counsel
appearing for the Crown that the fact discovered is
the physical object produced and that any and every
information which relates distinctly to that object can
be proved. Upon this view, the information given by
a person that the weapon produced is the one used
by him in the commission of the murder will be
admissible in its entirety. Such contention of the
Crown's counsel was emphatically rejected with the
following words: (AIR p. 70, para 10)
“If this be the effect of Section 27, little
substance would remain in the ban
imposed by the two preceding sections on
confessions made to the police, or by
persons in police custody. That ban was
presumably inspired by the fear of the
legislature that a person under police
influence might be induced to confess by
the exercise of undue pressure. But if all
that is required to lift the ban be the
inclusion in the confession of information
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relating to an object subsequently
produced, it seems reasonable to suppose
that the persuasive powers of the police
will prove equal to the occasion, and that
in practice the ban will lose its effect.”
Then, Their Lordships proceeded to give a lucid
exposition of the expression “fact discovered” in the
following passage, which is quoted time and again by
this Court: (AIR p. 70, para 10)
“In Their Lordships' view it is fallacious to
treat the ‘fact discovered’ within the
section as equivalent to the object
produced; the fact discovered embraces
the place from which the object is
produced and the knowledge of the
accused as to this, and the information
given must relate distinctly to this fact.
Information as to past user, or the past
history, of the object produced is not
related to its discovery in the setting in
which it is discovered. Information
supplied by a person in custody that ‘I will
produce a knife concealed in the roof of my
house’ does not lead to the discovery of a
knife; knives were discovered many years
ago. It leads to the discovery of the fact that
a knife is concealed in the house of the
informant to his knowledge, and if the
knife is proved to have been used in the
commission of the offence, the fact
discovered is very relevant. But if to the
statement the words be added ‘with which
I stabbed A’ these words are inadmissible
since they do not relate to the discovery of
the knife in the house of the informant.”
(emphasis supplied)
128. So also in Udai Bhan v. State of U.P. [1962
Supp (2) SCR 830 : AIR 1962 SC 1116 : (1962) 2 Cri
LJ 251] J.L. Kapur, J. after referring to Kottaya
case [AIR 1947 PC 67 : 48 Cri LJ 533 : 74 IA 65]
stated the legal position as follows: (SCR p. 837)
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“A discovery of a fact includes the object
found, the place from which it is produced
and the knowledge of the accused as to its
existence.”
The above statement of law does not run counter to
the contention of Mr. Ram Jethmalani, that the
factum of discovery combines both the physical
object as well as the mental consciousness of the
informant accused in relation thereto. However, what
would be the position if the physical object was not
recovered at the instance of the accused was not
discussed in any of these cases.”
accused.
15
prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the
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the police that at the behest of accused Dinesh, they
have killed Dharmender for Rs. 90,000 and made a
plan and Ravishankar called Dharmender called him
to buy silver and killed him in Bhatgaon stuffed his
dead body in a sack and threw it in the pond. On
being shown the memorandum statement of Exhibit
P- l0 have told to be his signature on Part A to A.
3. Umed had also told the police in front of me that
Sattu along with Ravi Shankar had killed
Dharmendra and threw him in Bhatagaon's lake on
the advice of Dinesh. Witness Memo statement is
Exhibit P-11 and accepts his signature on part A to
A.
4. Dinesh had told in front of me that 6 months back
he had made a deal with Ravishankar and sattu to
kill Dharmender for 90 thousand rupees. Dinesh also
told that Shankar had said that the work is done, give
him the money. On being shown Exhibit P-12,
accepted to have his signature on Part A to A.
Witness states that it was seized from the pond in
front of me.
5. Village Kunda is 16 km away from my village. It is
correct that Dharmendra had come to know about
the murder on 3rd. Witness states that it was
informed by the police. On that other morning, at
about 7 -8 o'clock in the morning, it is correct that
on my arrival in village Kunda, my brother-in-law
and nephew Narendra had told me about the murder
which was done by the accused. By that time we did
not reach the spot that's why whether it was
Dharmender's body or not I cannot.”
6. I went from Kunda to Bhatgaon on 2nd with the
police, then he says that at that time it was about two
and a half o'clock in the evening. It is correct that
when I reached Bhatgaon there were many people of
the village. It is correct that because of dead body
there were many people there. It is correct to say that
police have brought the dead body to Mungeli police
station where PM was done.
7. It is correct that accused were brought to Mungeli
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police station. It is incorrect that I had taken the
signature of accused at Mungeli police station.
Accused have given the statement at Kunda police
station, in front of me. Apart from the accused we
were 5-6 other family members in the Police station
Kunda. The police took the statement at around 12
o'clock.
…………..
14. We have reached Bhatgaon at 4.30-5. And
reached Mungeli before sunset. It is incorrect to· say
that the police have taken my signature Witness itself
states that I have signed in Bhatgaon. It is incorrect
to say that I did not read the papers before signing
them. Witness says that the I have read the main
part. It is incorrect to say that I am seeing accused
for the first time today. It is incorrect to say that I
know accused by name only, witness states that I
know him by face also. It is incorrect to say that the
name of the accused was revealed by my brother-
in-:law and Narendra it was told by the police.”
had not reached the spot and that is why they were not aware
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because of the dead body, many people were there. He has
Bhatgaon.
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Witnesses say that it was signed in Dandaon.”
19. It could thus be seen that Ajab Singh (PW-18) has clearly
admitted that he did not read the papers before putting his
He has stated that, after his brother went missing; on the next
After that, they went to Bhatgaon with the police. The extract
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found at Bhatgaon prior to the statements of the accused
police.
21
documents being created to rope in the accused persons
incriminating fact.
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also totally silent as to how the dead body was discovered and
of the IO (PW-16) would also not bring the case at hand under
case.
and
3
(2019) 12 SCC 253 : 2018 INSC 985
4
2023 SCC OnLine SC 50 : 2023 INSC 23
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(iii) The appellants are directed to be acquitted of all the
…….........................J.
[B.R. GAVAI]
…….........................J.
[SANDEEP MEHTA]
NEW DELHI;
APRIL 10, 2024.
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