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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Chandramauli Kr. Prasad, Pinaki Chandra Ghose, JJ.
Dhan Raj @ Dhand – Appellant
Vs.
State of Haryana – Respondent
[Criminal Appeal No. 1410 of 2010]
Badal – Appellant
Vs.
State of Haryana – Respondent
[Criminal Appeal No. 703 of 2011]
Decided On : 09-05-2014
(2008) 17 SCC 128; (2011) 10 SCC 165; (2012) 6 SCC 403 – Relied upon
(b) Criminal trial – Recovery – Petty articles recovered from house of accused – Identification of wrist watch not reliable – Not corroborated by independent witnesses – Such recovery cannot be relied upon for conviction. (Para 12,
(2007) 13 SCC 795; (2012) 2 SCC 399; (2011) 11 SCC 666 – Relied upon
(c) Criminal trial – Last seen theory – Only PW-15, an interested witness, deposing about accused last seen with deceased – No other evidence establishing presence of accused persons at the place of occurrence – Conviction cannot be based on such evidence. (Para 14)
(1984) 4 SCC 116; Madhu – Relied upon
(d) Criminal trial – Circumstantial evidence – Conviction – Many loop-holes found in prosecution story – Not completing chain of circumstances – Conviction not sustainable. (Para 16, 17, 18)
(2012) 10 SCC 464 – Relied upon
Facts of the case:
This case discusses conviction on circumstantial evidence.
Accused appellants were acquitted by the trial court, but the High Court reversed the judgment and convicted them.
Finding of the Court:
Prosecution failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt.
JUDGMENT
Pinaki Chandra Ghose, J. –
1. Vijaypal (the deceased herein) was posted as a doctor in the Kheri Jat village dispensary and he was residing at Jhajjar. As per the statement of Raj Singh (PW 15), who was the elder brother of the deceased and stayed in the deceased's house, on January 24, 1997 at about 9.45 a.m., Dr. Vijaypal left his home for the dispensary in his Maruti car, the registration of which was awaited; that after a few minutes, the accused Sanajay, Dhan Raj and Badal in a four-wheeler reached the deceased's home and inquired about him and disclosed their names afterwards, whereafter they immediately left towards Delhi. Later in the day, Sukhbir Singh (PW 13) a dispenser posted at Village Kheri Jat, informed Harpal Singh (PW 6), the younger brother of the deceased, and the complainant that the dead body of Vijaypal was found lying in the wheat crop bearing injuries caused by a sharp edged weapon with blood on the ground nearby and the car of the deceased was also found to be missing. On the basis of the statements of Harpal Singh, FIR No. 26 of 1997 was registered and investigation was initiated with the conduction of the post-mortem and the recording of statement of the witnesses by the Investigating Officer.
2. The statement of the wife of the deceased being PW 7 which was corroborated with the statement of Sub-Inspector Brij Pal (PW-10) revealed that the deceased also had with him a wrist watch and a briefcase when he had left his home, which were also missing. On the next day, accused Sanjay was arrested by the Delhi Police in a case under Section 411 of the Indian Penal Code arising out of FIR No. 32 of 1997 and from him, the car of the deceased (determined after the engine and chassis-number of the car were tallied) was recovered. While in custody of Delhi Police, he made a statement about the present case on January 25, 1997. In the said statement, it must be noted that he named one Rohtas as his accomplice and stated that Rohtas only took the wrist-watch and the briefcase of the deceased.
3. Subsequently, Sanjay's production warrants were obtained and he was arrested by the Haryana Police on February 4, 1997 in the present case arising out of FIR No.26 of 1997 and therein he made a disclosure statement averring that appellants Dhan Raj and Badal were associated with him in the commission of the crime and that Badal had taken away the wrist-watch of the deceased and Dhan Raj had taken away the briefcase. It must be noted that there is a discrepancy between the two statements of Sanjay.
4. Furthermore, Sanjay's disclosure led to the recovery of a Kirpan concealed by him and blood-stained clothes, as specified in the statement. The blood on the Kirpan was found to be human blood by the Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban. It appears that the accused Dhan Raj was also arrested on February 4, 1997 and the recovery of the briefcase was effected. Accused Badal remained absent during the trial inspite of issuance of warrant of arrest and he was declared a proclaimed offender but he was arrested later and subsequently the recovery of the wrist-watch was effected. The briefcase and the wrist- watch were duly identified by Shanti Devi (PW 7) as possessions of the deceased.
5. As per the report of Dr. Rajinder Rai (PW-5), who had conducted the post-mortem of the deceased's body, there were seven injuries found on the body, and, in his opinion, death was due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple injuries which were ante mortem in nature and sufficient to cause death might have been committed by a Kirpan.
6. The investigation was completed and the challan was duly presented in court. The case was duly committed to the Court of Sessions vide order dated May 8, 1997 and charge under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code was framed against Sanjay and under Section 302 read with Section 34 and Section 392 read with Sections 395 and 397 of the Indian Penal Code, against the two accused wherein they pleaded not gu
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