IMPORTANT POINT
Conviction cannot be based on suspicion.

JUDGMENT :

BANUMATHI, J.

1. This appeal arises out of judgment and order dated 3rd July, 2015 passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad in Criminal Appeal NO.479 of 2004 in and by which the High Court has affirmed the conviction of the appellant under Section 302 I.P.C. and also Section 201 I.P.C. and sentence of life imprisonment imposed upon him.

2. As per prosecution case, on 27.01.2000, deceased-Ramesh, a shepherd, took his 19 sheep for grazing in the outskirts of Beebigudem village; but did not return home. On 28.01.2000, while PW-1 and his family members were searching for the deceased, they found three sheep in possession of Shaik Naseem (PW-9) who informed them that Lingaiah (PW-5) had sold him those sheep. When they made enquiries from Lingaiah (PW-5), whereupon he informed them that the appellant-Uppala Bixam had sold those sheep by receiving an advance of Rs. 100/- from him. On 29.01.2000, appellant-accused was arrested and a case registered against him under Section 379 of the Indian Penal Code. In course of investigation the appellant allegedly confessed to the crime of murdering the deceased, after which a Case was registered against the accused under Sections 302/201 I.P.C. as well. It is the case of the prosecution, based on the confessional statement made by the appellant-accused, that the dead body of the deceased was recovered from under a culvert.

3. Upon consideration of the evidence, in particular, the evidence of recovery of the sheep and that recovery of the dead body of the deceased-Ramesh on the basis of the alleged confessional statement of the appellant (which had been denied by the appellant under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code), the Trial Court convicted the appellant under Section 302 I.P.C. and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment. For the conviction under Section 201 I.P.C. the appellant was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a period of six months. The conviction and sentence of imprisonment of the appellant was affirmed by the High Court.

4. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and also perused the impugned judgment and the evidence and the materials on record.

5. The conviction of the appellant-accused was mainly based upon the circumstances: (i) The body of the deceased-Ramesh was recovered at the instance of the appellant-accused; (ii) The appellant-accused was said to have sold three sheep to Lingaiah (PW-5) who in turn had sold to Shaik Naseem (PW-9). On being enquired, Shaik Naseem (PW-9) told that he purchased the sheep from Lingaiah (PW-5) who in turn purchased the same from the appellant and the rest of the sheep were kept in the house of PW-8, sister of the appellant-accused.

6. It is well settled that when a case rests on circumstantial evidence, such evidence must satisfy three tests: (i) the circumstances from which an inference of guilt is sought to be drawn, must be cogently and firmly established; (ii) those circumstances should be of a definite tendency unerringly pointing towards the guilt of the accused; (iii) the circumstances, taken cumulatively, should form a chain so complete that there is no escape from the conclusion that within all human probability the crime was committed by the accused and none else. [Vide: S.D. Soni v. State of Gujarat, (1992) Supp 1 SCC 567 and Venkatesan v. State of Tamil Nadu (2008) 8 SCC 456].

7. In the light of the well-settled principles of circumstantial evidence, the case of the prosecution needs to be examined whether the circumstances are established and that they form a complete chain in establishing the guilt of the accused.

8. Admittedly, the death of Ramesh was homicidal. The prosecution mainly relies upon the circumstances that the appellant-accused sold three sheep to Lingaiah (PW-5) and his evidence that he purchased the sheep from the appellant-accused. As per the prosecution case, three sheep were actually found in the Shandy of Nemmikal and they were in the