IMPORTANT POINT
Conviction in a case of rape could be based solely on testimony of prosecutrix but where Court was convinced about truthfulness of prosecutrix and there existed no circumstances which cast a shadow of doubt over her veracity.

Headnote:(i) Indian Penal Code, 1860 - Section 376/34 - Rape of married woman by three appellants after she was dragged out of her father’s house at about 10 P.M. where she had come to stay - Delay of eight days in lodging FIR - Defence plea of enmity on account of dispute over land between appellants and father of prosecutrix - Sustainability of conviction on sole testimony of prosecutrix - PW 5, uncle of prosecutrix, who claimed to have seen appellant taking prosecutrix away by force and to whom prosecutrix narrated incident in next morning, appeared totally unreliable witness by his conduct and facts not narrated in FIR - No reasonable explanation came from prosecution to explain delay in lodging report - Conviction could be based solely on testimony of prosecutrix where Court was convinced about truthfulness of prosecutrix and there existed no circumstances which cast doubt on her veracity - Prosecutrix did not appear to be a witness of sterling quality - She deviated from case narrated in FIR solely with a view to avoid burden of explaining for earlier report made by her which as per PW 6 related to non-cognizable offence - Appellants were entitled to benefit of doubt.
       Held : It is no doubt true that the conviction in a case of rape can be based solely on the testimony of the prosecutrix, but that can be done in a case where the court is convinced about the truthfulness of the prosecutrix and there exist no circumstances which cast a shadow of doubt over her veracity. If the evidence of the prosecutrix is of such quality that may be sufficient to sustain an order of conviction solely on the basis of her testimony. In the instant case we do not find her evidence to be of such quality.(Para 23)
       In the instant case there are two eye witnesses who have been examined to prove the case of the prosecution. We have rejected outright the evidence of PW-5. We have also critically scrutinized the evidence of the prosecutrix, PW-2. She does not appear to us to be a witness of sterling quality on whose sole testimony a conviction can be sustained. She has tried to conceal facts from the court which were relevant by not deposing about the earlier first information report lodged by her, which is proved to have been recorded at the police station. She has deviated from the case narrated in the first information report solely with a view to avoid the burden of explaining for the earlier report made by her relating to a non cognizable offence. Her evidence on the question of delay in lodging the report is unsatisfactory and if her deposition is taken as it is, the inordinate delay in lodging the report remains unexplained. Considered in the light of an earlier report made by her in relation to a non cognizable offence, the second report lodged by her after a few days raises suspicion as to its truthfulness. (Para 25
       Having carefully scrutinized the evidence on record, we are not satisfied that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. We are left with a strong suspicion that the case put forward by the prosecution may not be true. In any event the appellants are entitled to the benefit of doubt.(Para 26)
       (ii) Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 - Section 3(2)(v) - Appellants convicted under besides offence u/s. 376 IPC - Apart from fact that prosecutrix belonged to scheduled caste, there was no other evidence to prove offence under the Act - Mere fact that victim girl belonged to scheduled caste would not attract offence under the Act.
       Held : At the outset we may observe that there is no evidence whatsoever to prove the commission of offence under Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The mere fact that the victim happened to be a girl belonging to a scheduled caste does not attract the provisions of the Act. Apart from the fact that the prosecutrix belongs to the Pardhi community, there is no other evidence on record to prove any offence under the said enactment. The High Court has also not noticed any evidence to support the charge under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and was perhaps persuaded to affirm the conviction on the basis that the prosecutrix belongs to a scheduled caste community. The conviction of the appellants under Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 must, therefore, be set aside. (Para 11)

JUDGMENT

B.P. Singh, J. - In these appeals by special leave the appellants – Ramdas, Ashok and Madhukar have challenged their conviction under Section 376 read with Section 34 IPC and Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. They were tried by the VIth Additional Sessions Judge, Beed in Special Case No. 69 of 1996 charged of having committed the aforesaid offences. The trial court by its judgment and order of July 30, 1998 found them guilty of the aforesaid offences and sentenced them to undergo imprisonment for life under Section 376/34 IPC but passed no separate sentence under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. On appeal, the High Court by its impugned judgment and order of July 1, 2005 in Criminal Appeal Nos. 225, 229 and 251 of 1998 dismissed the appeals preferred by the appellants.

2. The occurrence giving rise to the present appeals is said to have occurred on January 10, 1996 at about 10.00 p.m. The case of the prosecutrix, as deposed to by her, is that she belongs to Pardhi caste. She was married 3 years earlier and was residing at her matrimonial home at village Ekurka. Her parents and other family members resided at village Kewad. She had come to village Kewad on January 9, 1996, a day previous to the date of occurrence. Her parents and brothers had gone to work in Jagdamba Sugar Factory in the Ahemadnagar district. She had come to her village Kewad to help them in harvesting of the pulse crop grown by her parents. She came to the village Kewad on Saturday and the incident took place on Sunday, the very next day. In village Kewad, she was residing in the house of her father alongwith her niece Sharda, aged about 10 years, who was the daughter of her sister Sindhubai, PW-3. On the date of the occurrence, after working in the fields, she had returned to her home and taken her dinner. At about 10.00 p.m. appellant Ramdas came to her house and asked her as to what she was doing. She replied that she had just taken her dinner whereupon appellant Ramdas asked her to come out with him. When she refused to do so, he dragged her outside the house and whistled twice. The remaining two appellants came on signal being given by him and they all dragged her to a distance of about 500 feet from her house. When she was being dragged out of her house, she raised alarm but no one came to her rescue. She was thereafter rapped by all the three appellants who threatened her not to report the matter to anyone otherwise she will be killed. After the occurrence she returned home at about midnight and then went to sleep. She admitted that her uncles were living in the adjacent houses but one of them was not in the village on the night of occurrence, while the other uncle Fakkad (PW-5) living in the adjacent house did not come to her rescue as he had been threatened by appellant Ramdas before she was dragged outside the house. Since it was midnight, she did not report the matter to anyone. Her uncle and aunt already knew about the incident.

3. Next morning she went to her sister, PW-3 at village Kelgaon who advised her to lodge a report. She along with PW-3 and two others, namely – Yamunabai and Subbabai went to police station Kaij and reported the matter. However, the information given by her was neither recorded nor any action taken. She thereafter returned to village Kelgaon and on the next day she went to Jagdamba Sugar Factory and narrated the incident to her parents. On the day following, she came to Beed and narrated the incident to the Superintendent of Police. Thereafter she went to police station Beed in the night at about 10.00 p.m. along with her parents and lodged the report about the incident. She was then sent to the Civil Hospital, Beed for examination. The report lodged by her was shown to the witness who was examined as PW-2 and she admitted that the same bore her thumb mark. The contents of the report was read over to

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2006 Supreme(SC) 1060

IMPORTANT POINTConviction in a case of rape could be based solely on testimony of prosecutrix but where Court was convinced about truthfulness of prosecutrix and there existed no circumstances which cast a shadow of doubt over her veracity.

IMPORTANT POINT
Conviction in a case of rape could be based solely on testimony of prosecutrix but where Court was convinced about truthfulness of prosecutrix and there existed no circumstances which cast a shadow of doubt over her veracity.