IMPORTANT POINTS
Merely because the recoveries are made from the same place which was already visited by the police, that would itself not dispel the evidence of discovery and recovery.
2. Where it could not be said that murders were brutal, grotesque and diabolical nor could it be said that murders were committed in a revolting manner so as to arise intense and extreme indignation, sentence of death sentence awarded to accused was held not justified and same was modified to life imprisonment.

Headnote:Indian Penal Code,1860- Sections 120-B, 302, 201, 404, 414, 457, 460/34 -Prosecution of four accused persons for entering into conspiracy for committing robbery at deceased’s place and for actually committing crime of robbery and in that process committing murder of deceased D1 and his wife D2-While A3 was sentenced to death by Trial and appellate Courts, the other two accused A-2 and A-1 were sentenced to life imprisonment -Appeals-Huge amount of gold was found with A3 being 1347 gms. for which there was virtually no explanation, as also the ornaments found with accused A2 and A3 without any reason completely destroyed argument that there was no theft- When (A-3) was arrested, he was having a black bag containing huge amount of gold ornaments- No explanation by (A-3) for the possession of the huge haul of gold. - It could not be possible for police to collect all the gold and to put it against three accused persons- No explanation for presence of human blood on his A3’s clothes - Prosecution proved its case against (A-3) that he was involved in the robbery which was clear from the human blood detected on his clothes and the murder weapon which was recovered at his instance- The necessity of melting the gold and the fact that the accused persons made efforts to melt the gold and further accused A3 being found in possession of gold ingots which could not have been in that form lended support to the theory that A3 was in possession of stolen property- No reason for the police to falsely implicate (A-3) and the other two accused persons- No explanation by A2 as to how his T-shirt and shoes were found to be stained with human blood- Recoveries from (A-1) and Bharat Kumar (A-2) of the ornaments including the identified bangles and the chain were fully proved.— Prosecution had been able to prove the guilt of A2 and A3 who were not only a participant in the crime but was also found in possession of the gold ornaments-Appeals dismissed. (Paras 14 to 20)
        Death Sentence-Award of to A3 for committing robbery and for causing death of two persons-Appeal-It was no doubt true that murder of deceased persons was cruel- However, that could not be said to be brutal, grotesque and diabolical nor could it be said that murder was committed in a revolting manner so as to arise intense and extreme indignation- This was not a case where accused was in a dominating position or in a position of trust nor could it be said to be a murder for personal reasons- This was also not a case of bride burning or dowry death which was committed in order to remarry for extracting dowry once again-Though this was a double murder, it could not be said to be a crime of enormous proportion-This was undoubtedly a murder for gains. No previous conviction had been proved against A3 by prosecution. It was apparent that original intention was theft and on account of deceased having been awakened, accused persons took the extreme step of eliminating both the inmates of the house for the fear of being detected- Not clear from evidence as to who was actual author of injuries on deceased though all three were participants of the crime- There was no definite evidence about the acts on the part of each of accused- Difficult to say that A3 alone was the author of injuries on deceased - True it was that accused was driven by their avarice for wealth but given a chance there was every possibility of their being reformed- In this case it was not established that alternative punishment of life imprisonment would be futile and would serve no purpose- Death sentence awarded to accused held not justified and same modified to life imprisonment (Paras 27 to 39))
       Facts of the Case :
        Four accused persons were prosecuted herein in the instant case for entering into conspiracy for committing robbery at deceased’s place and for actually committing crime of robbery and in that process committing murder of deceased D1 and his wife D2.While A3 was sentenced to death by Trial and appellate Courts, the other two accused A-2 and A-1 were sentenced to life imprisonment.
        2. Present appeals have been filed against said order of High Court.
       Findings of the Court :
        Huge amount of gold was found with A3 being 1347 gms. for which there was virtually no explanation, as also the ornaments found with accused A2 and A1 without any reasonable completely destroyed argument that there was no theft. When (A-3) was arrested, he was having a black bag containing huge amount of gold ornaments. No explanation by (A-3) for the possession of the huge haul of gold. It could not be possible for police to collect all the gold and to put it against three accused persons. There was No explanation for presence of human blood on A3’s clothes . Prosecution proved its case against (A-3) that he was involved in the robbery which was clear from the human blood detected on his clothes and the murder weapon which was recovered at his instance. The necessity of melting the gold and the fact that the accused persons made efforts to melt the gold and further accused A3 being found in possession of gold ingots which could not have been in that form lended support to the theory that A3 was in possession of stolen property. No reason for the police to falsely implicate (A-3) and the other two accused persons. No explanation by A2 as to how his T-shirt and shoes were found to be stained with human blood. Recoveries from (A-1) and Bharat Kumar (A-2) of the ornaments including the identified bangles and the chain were fully proved. Prosecution had been able to prove the guilt of A2 and A3 who were not only a participant in the crime but was also found in possession of the gold ornaments. Appeals were dismissed.

Judgement Key Points

The legal principle regarding circumstantial evidence, as derived from the provided document, emphasizes that the case must rely on proof of every circumstance beyond reasonable doubt. The chain of circumstances should be so complete and watertight that the only logical inference is the guilt of the accused. Furthermore, there should be no plausible alternative explanation for the circumstances established by the prosecution. The evidence must collectively lead to a single, conclusive conclusion of guilt, leaving no room for doubt or alternative hypotheses. This principle underscores the importance of a tightly connected set of circumstances that together form a complete chain, ensuring that the guilt of the accused is the only reasonable inference from the proven facts (!) .

JUDGMENT

V.S. Sirpurkar, J. —

1. This judgment will dispose of Criminal Appeal No. 1236 of 2006 filed by Ramesh @ Gaguda (original accused No. 3), Criminal Appeal No. 1235 of 2006 filed by Bharat Kumar @ Bhatia (original accused No. 2) and Criminal Appeal No. 1237 of 2006 filed by Gordhan Lal (original accused No. 1). We shall refer to the appellants as per their position before the Trial Court. While Ramesh @ Guguda (A-3) is sentenced to death by Trial and appellate Courts, the other two accused being Bharat Kumar @ Bhatia (A-2) and Gordhan Lal (A-1) are facing the life imprisonment alongwith fines on different counts. That is how the matters have come up before us.

2. Human avarice has no limits nor does it know of any emotions. The present case is the sordid saga of the crime which emanated purely from human avarice.

3. Phalodi is a quiet Taluk place in the State of Rajasthan. Ramlal Lunawat alongwith his wife Shanti Devi was doing business of money lending by pledging gold and silver ornaments and was selling steel utensils. On 5.2.2003, Anil (PW-1) telephoned to Police Station Phalodi that the door of the house-cum-shop of Ramlal was lying suspiciously open and nobody from the house was responding to the calls. Kishan Singh (PW-35) who was the Station House Officer of the Police Station Phalodi, reached the house alongwith some other police personnel. They found that Ramlal and his wife Shanti Devi were lying dead in the pool of blood. The FIR by Anil (PW-1) was recorded and the investigation was commenced for offences under Sections 302 and 457 of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter called “the IPC” for short). The necessary spot panchnamas were executed and the Material Objects found on the scene were seized. It was found that both the deceased persons had human hair in their hands. There was a blood-stained needle and syringe found near the dead body of Shanti Devi. Some other materials were collected from the spot to find out the finger prints. The clothes of the deceased persons were also seized. On suspicion, the accused persons were arrested. One other accused Rajesh (original accused No. 4) was also arrested. He stands acquitted by the Courts below. The accused persons gave information under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act and the clothes that they were wearing at the time of incident and their shoes were recovered. The ornaments stolen from the house of Ramlal were also recovered. Their hair were also taken for comparing with the sample of hairs founded at the scene of occurrence. The instrument used for melting ornaments was found at the house of Rajesh (A-4), which was allegedly stolen from the house of deceased Ramlal. The materials were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Jaipur/Jodhpur and the reports were obtained. On the completion of investigation, the chargesheet was filed against four persons.

4. Case of the prosecution is that Gordhan Lal (A-1) had some dealings with Ramlal (deceased) which was evident from the diary found from the pocket of Ramlal. The prosecution alleged that Gordhan Lal (A-1), therefore, decided to commit a robbery at the place of Ramlal, who was a rich person, and conspired with the other accused persons, namely, Bharat Kumar @ Bhatia (A-2), Ramesh @ Guguda (A-3) and Rajesh (A-4). They trespassed into the house of Ramlal by night and looted the house and decamped with the looted ornaments of silver and gold, cash and other articles. It is alleged by the prosecution that certain stolen gold ornaments were melted at the house of Rajesh (A-4) and converted into a nugget (Dhalia). Ramesh (A-3) and Bharat Kumar (A-2) had past criminal background. They were involved in number of criminal cases for offences such as attempt to murder, house trespass, looting etc. The murder weapon ‘Jharbad’ was recovered from Ramesh (A-3). The chargesheet was filed for offences punishable under Sections 120-B, 302, 201, 404, 414, 457, 460/34 of the IPC as also for the offence punishable und

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2011 Supreme(SC) 212

Cases Referred (20)