IMPORTANT POINT
Modes of proof envisaged in Section 45 and 47 of Evidence Act are not exhaustive for proving the genuineness or authorship of a document.

JUDGMENT

Thomas, J.-Three brothers were charged for implementing a designed criminal conspiracy for elimination of one who was their bete noire. The Sessions Court and the High Court concurrently found them guilty of Section 120B and Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and consequently they were convicted and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life besides payment of some fine. These appeals, by special leave have been filed by the aforementioned three brothers.

2. The person who was murdered in pursuance of the criminal conspiracy - Tara Chand - was the factotum of Jai Paul (PW-13) with whom appellants had scores to settle for long. Prosecution case, briefly, is that on the morning of 9.5.1990 the three appellants had a dig at Smt. Kiran Chauhan (wife of Jai Paul) and it resulted in the initiation of a proceeding under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure against them. Appellants were infuriated by it and the acerbity between the two factions got aggravated further. At about 6.00 p.m. the three appellants together proceeded to a glade situate near a jungle where deceased Tara Chand was working and showered blows on him with gandasi and chhura (both cutting weapons). The victim made a loud cry which attracted the attention of some people in the proximity who rushed to the spot, but in the meanwhile the assailants took to their heels towards the jungles. Those who reached the spot found Tara Chand lying dead in a pool of blood.

3. As there was no eye-witness for the murder, the prosecution had to rest on circumstances alone for proving that appellants have murdered Tara Chand. Sessions Court and the High Court found, in one accord, that the circumstances have concatenated into a complete chain pointing unerringly to the complicity of the appellants in the murder of Tara Chand.

4. There was no dispute that Tara Chand was murdered on the evening of 9.5.1990 at the place of occurrence mentioned by the prosecution. The post-mortem examination conducted on the body of Tara Chand revealed that he had a number of incised injuries, fracture of ribs, and some stab wounds. One of the stab injuries had penetrated into the abdominal cavity. Another stab wound plunging through the second and third intercoastal space (right side) had caused a cut on the peritoneum. It is clear that deceased was the victim of a murderous attack inflicting many blows with cutting weapons.

5. The main circumstances found by the two Courts are the following : (1) appellants were sore with Tara Chand for his role as goonda of Jai Paul, (2) The three appellants were found proceeding towards the place of occurrence just a few minutes before the occurrence. PW-6A (a clerk attached to the post office of Nahan) saw the three appellants during the evening and later PW-6A heard about the murder of Tara Chand; (3) PW4 a boy aged 13 saw the appellants sitting on the open field near the place of occurrence at about 5.30 p.m. and a few minutes later PW4 heard a cry "Hai Ram mar diya" (Oh God, I am killed); (4) PW2 Ram Singh heard the same cry from near the place of occurrence and the witness ran to the spot and saw the three appellants running towards jungle area and Tara Chand lying dead in a pool of blood; (5) A1 - Raj Mohammad told the investigating officer, during interrogation, that he had concealed a gandasi inside the bush. When he was taken to that place he took out P2-gandasi from the concealed place. Likewise second accused, when interrogated, told the investigating officer that he had concealed the knife in the jungle and when he was taken to that place he took out P3-chhura from beneath the growth of the jungle; (6) that the gandasi and chhura were subjected to chemical tests in the Forensic Science Laboratory and blood was found sticking on both the weapons.

6. Learned counsel contended that there is real dearth of evidence to prove that there was any motive for the appellants to target Tara Chand, for, their grouse was only towards