IMPORTANT POINTS
Medical and ocular evidence.
Ante dating and ante timing of FIR – effect.

Headnote:(a) Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – Section 154(1) – The person who gives the information and who has to sign the information has to choose which particular information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence is to be treated as an FIR – Informant opting to choose the typed report as FIR – Moreover wireless message being cryptic not sufficiently disclosing nature of offence – No infirmity. (Para 28)
        (1997) 1 SCC 283; (1995) 3 SCC 392 – Relied upon
        (b) Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – Section 154(1) – FIR – Ante-dating and ante-timing – Effect – Creates suspicion – By itself does not make the prosecution version vulnerable – Court should carefully analyze the evidence in support of prosecution. (Para 30)
        (2003) 10 SCC 414 – Relied upon
        AIR 1988 SC 1158; (1978) 4 SCC 371; (1980) 4 SCC 425 – Distinguished
       (1991) 3 SCC 206; (2003) 2 SCC 518 – Referred
        (c) Criminal Trial – Witnesses – Merely because 4 out of 14 witnesses did not speak about exhortation by A1 to the shooter, it cannot be held that the evidence of the rest ten witnesses is not reliable. (Para 35)
        AIR 1974 SC 45; 1964(8) SCR 133 – Relied upon
        (2003) 2 SCC 661 – Referred
        (d) Criminal Trial – Medical and ocular evidence – Medical evidence not entirely contradicting ocular evidence – Conviction – No infirmity. (Para 36)
        (2010) 10 SCC 259 – Relied upon impliedly
        (2007) SCC 625; (2003) 2 SCC 661 – Referred
        AIR 2006 SC 2500; (2006) 2 SCC 250 – Distinguished impliedly
        (e) Indian Evidence Act 1872 – Section 103 – Burden of substantiating the plea that A-1 was in front of the procession in his car and could not be present at the spot of incident, i.e., middle of the procession was on the accused – This plea should have been taken before the Trial Court u/s 313 Cr. P.C., and not before the supreme Court – No infirmity in conviction. (Para 38)
        (f) Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Deceased, though a District Magistrate, killed by chance in another district on account of mob fury and exhortation – Further, A1 was not the assailant himself – A1 liable to RI for life. (Para 39)
        (2010) 7 SCC 477; (2010) 8 SCC 407 – Referred
       Facts of the case:
        1. These appeals relate to conviction in the case of murder of the District Magistrate, Gopalganj, G. Krishnaiyyah. In a mob action the said D.M. was murdered.
        2. Accused A1 (the appellant herein) was sentenced to life imprisonment and A2-7 were acquitted.
       Finding of the Court;
        There is no infirmity in the impugned judgment.

JUDGMENT

A. K. Patnaik, J.-These are all appeals by way of special leave under Article 136 of the Constitution against the common judgment of the Patna High Court in Death Reference No.12/2007 and Criminal Appeals (DB) Nos. 1282, 1308, 1318, 1327, 1345, 1354 of 2007.

FACTS

2. The facts are that a typed report was lodged by Mohan Rajak, Deputy Superintendent of Police (East), Muzaffarpur (for short ‘the informant’) on 05.12.1994 at 22.10 hours (10.10 p.m.) at PS Sadar, District Muzaffarpur (East), which was treated as FIR. The prosecution case in the FIR briefly was as follows:

On the night of 04.12.1994, certain unknown criminals had murdered Shri Kaushlendra Kumar Shukla @ Chhotan Shukla and his associates at NH-28 and the post mortem on Chhotan Shukla and the other deceased persons was done on 05.12.1994 at the SKM College Hospital. The supporters of Chhotan Shukla belonging to the Bihar Peoples Party gathered in large numbers at the hospital. Considering the possibility of breakdown of law and order, the officers of the civil and police administration remained present with armed force and lathi force at the hospital. After the post mortem, the dead bodies were taken in a procession to the house of Chhotan Shukla. The procession was led by Arun Kumar Singh, Ramesh Thakur, Shashi Shekhar Thakur, Ram Babu Singh, Harendra Kumar, Vijay Kumar Shukla @ Munna Shukla and others and was escorted by the officers of the civil and police administration. When the procession reached the house of Chhotan Shukla, Anand Mohan, MLA, and Lovely Anand, M.P., and others who were present there, offered flowers to the dead body of Chhotan Shukla. At about 3.30 p.m., the dead body of Chottan Shukla was taken in a procession to his ancestral house in village Jalalpur under Lalganj Thana in Vaishali district where about 5000 people gathered. Thereafter, the procession was led by Anand Mohan, Lovely Anand, Professor Arun Kumar Singh, Akhlak Ahmad, Harender Kumar, Rameshwar Wiplavi and others and they were all in different vehicles. Anand Mohan and Lovely Anand were sitting in their Contessa car. An Ambassador car and a white coloured Gypsy were moving in front of the procession. When the procession reached the Bhagwanpur Chowk, the dead body of Chottan Shukla was kept for a while and Anand Mohan, Lovely Anand and Professor Arun Kumar Singh gave speeches instigating the crowd to take revenge of the murder of Chhotan Shukla and others by murder and to teach the administration a lesson if it created any hurdle. After listening to the speeches, the people became aggressive. The procession then moved from Bhagwanpur Chowk towards Ram Dayal Nagar through the National Highway. At about 4.15 p.m. when the procession came near Khabra Village on the National Highway, the shouts “Maro Maro” were heard from the midst of the procession. When the informant along with other officers reached the place from where the shouts were being heard, they found that on the right hand side of the road the Ambassador car of the District Magistrate, Gopalganj, G. Krishnaiyyah (coming from the opposite direction) had turned turtle and the District Magistrate was lying on the ground. They also saw Anand Mohan, Lovely Anand, Professor Arun Kumar Singh and some others were loudly provoking Bhutkun Shukla (brother of Chhotan Shukla) to kill the District Magistrate and take revenge. Thereafter, Bhutkun Shukla drew out a revolver from his waist and fired three shots and then escaped into the crowd. The District Magistrate got wounded. Looking at the gravity of the situation, the Sub-Divisional Officer (East) ordered lathi charge and the police and other officers present started charging lathi at the crowd. The District Magistrate, Gopalganj, was sent in a Gypsy to the SKM College Hospital for treatment. Information was sent through wireless to the District Headquarters of Vaishali District about the incident. In the meantime, the assailants fled to Hajipur and the informant and the Sub-

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2012 Supreme(SC) 446

IMPORTANT POINTS Medical and ocular evidence. Ante dating and ante timing of FIR – effect.

Cases Referred (18)

IMPORTANT POINTS
Medical and ocular evidence.
Ante dating and ante timing of FIR – effect.