IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT NAGPUR
R.K. DESHPANDE, M.G. GIRATKAR, JJ.
Bhupesh @ Rinku s/o Vitthalrao Tichkule and Ors. - Appellant
Versus
The State of Maharashtra, through Police Station Officer, Sakkardara, Nagpur and Ors. - Respondent
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 254, 255, 393 OF 2015 WITH CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 121, 180, 181 OF 2016
Decided On : 05-06-2018
the Indian Penal Code, 1860 - Sections 120B and 149 - Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 - Section 313 - Evidence Act - Section 27 – Offence of murder – Punishment - All accused persons are convicted for offences punishable under Section read with Sections and of the Indian Penal Code apart from offences under Sections and of IPC in relation to murder of one on - between - In Seven Hills Bar and Restaurant at Nagpur - All of them are sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life for the offences punishable under Sections and of IPC with fine of - to suffer rigorous imprisonment for period of one year with fine of - For offence punishable under Section of and to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years for offences punishable under Sections and of IPC with fine - All sentences are directed to run concurrently – Held, After narrating the facts and circumstances proved on record and keeping in view law laid down in by Apex Court in the matter of circumstantial evidence in case of Maharashtra reported in court hold that the facts and circumstances established in present case are conclusive in nature pointing towards guilt of all accused persons for offences alleged against them - Chain of circumstantial evidence is completely established without any missing link - Facts and circumstances proved are consistent only with the hypothesis of guilt without leaving any reasonable ground for conclusion consistent with innocence of accused persons and exclude every possible hypothesis except one which is proved guilty of accused for offences alleged - Offences alleged against all accused are established beyond reasonable doubt - Court are therefore constrained to maintain the conviction of accused persons recorded by Sessions Court for offences punishable under Sections and of IPC along with sentence imposed upon each of them for offences established and the fine imposed - Appeals dismissed
Key Points: - The court upheld the conviction of all accused for murder and related offenses, finding the circumstantial evidence conclusive and without any missing links [4000570160001][4000570160145]. - The incident of murder of Jitendra Marotrao Gawande on 10-1-2013 in Seven Hills Bar and Restaurant, Nagpur, was not disputed [4000570160001]. - The court found that the CCTV footage, despite challenges regarding its admissibility as electronic evidence, was true and genuine and consistent with oral evidence [4000570160115][4000570160145]. - The court determined that the electronic evidence (Hard Disk, CD, DVD) was admissible even without a Section 65B certificate because the primary and secondary evidence were proven to be true and genuine, and no objections were raised regarding tampering or authenticity at the appropriate stages [4000570160115][4000570160145]. - The court found that the evidence established an unlawful assembly of six accused persons who conspired to commit the murder, with each member having a specific role [4000570160143][4000570160145]. - Recoveries of bloodstained knives and vehicles used in the crime were established under Section 27 of the Evidence Act [4000570160007][4000570160008][4000570160030][4000570160031][4000570160144]. - The court found the oral evidence of PW 4 Pramod, the brother of the deceased, to be trustworthy in establishing the motive and identifying the assailants based on CCTV footage [4000570160143]. - The court found the eyewitness testimony of PW 1, PW 2, and PW 3 to be unreliable for identifying the accused, as they were declared hostile and refused to identify the assailants [4000570160129][4000570160145]. - The court noted that the chain of circumstantial evidence was completely established without any missing link, consistent only with the hypothesis of guilt [4000570160001][4000570160145]. - The court dismissed all appeals, upholding the conviction and sentences imposed by the Sessions Court [4000570160146].
R.K. DESHPANDE, J.
1. All the accused persons are convicted for the offences punishable under Section 302 read with Sections 120B and 149 of the Indian Penal Code (“IPC”) apart from the offences under Sections 147, 148, 506-B and 149 of IPC in relation to the murder of one Jitendra Marotrao Gawande on 10-1-2013 between 5.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. in the Seven Hills Bar and Restaurant at Sakkardara, Nagpur. All of them are sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 120B and 149 of IPC with fine of Rs.2,000/-, to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year with fine of Rs.5,000/- for the offence punishable under Section 147 of IPC, and to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years for the offences punishable under Sections 506B and 149 of IPC with fine of Rs.5,000/-. All the sentences are directed to run concurrently.
Facts of the case :
2. The incident of murder of Jitendra Marotrao Gawande at 5.30 p.m. on 10-1-2013 in the Seven Hills Bar and Restaurant (“the said Bar”) at Sakkardara, Nagpur, is not in dispute. The story deposed by PW 1 Raghuveer Ramesh Vallabhdas, the Manager of the said Bar, is that on the date of the incident at about 5 to 5.30 p.m., four persons entered the said Bar and one of them came to his counter and made a demand for a peg (liquor), which he gave it to him in the glass. The other three persons were standing behind him and all of them were looking outside the door again and again, giving an impression of waiting for someone's arrival. After some time, a big white car came, from which one person (victim) alighted and entered the said Bar. There were altercation between the four persons and the victim who came in the car, which resulted into quarrel. Out of four persons, two persons started assaulting the victim by means of knife and rest two went outside. The victim, who was assaulted, fell down, the assault continued and thereafter two assailants left the said Bar and the victim was lying in a pool of blood. PW 2 Raju and PW 3 Sitaram, the waiters in the said Bar, were also the eyewitnesses to an incident. PW 1 Raghuveer informed the incident on phone to the police.
3. PW 16 Rupali Bawankar, working as PSI at Sakkardara Police Station, states that she received the information from the Control Room that in the said Bar one person is assaulted by a knife at about 6 p.m. She, therefore, proceeded along with the Head Constable Sawarkar and other staff to the said Bar. Inside the said Bar, she found the victim lying in a pool of blood and he was dead. She arranged two panchas and prepared the inquest panchanama at Exhibit 162. She arranged to collect the blood samples with the help of cotton swab and also seized the glass from the counter of the said Bar, used for consuming peg by one of the assailants, as was told by PW 1, the Manager of the said Bar. PW 1 showed her the cameras installed in the said Bar, the description of which she mentioned in the spot panchanama at Exhibit 163. PW 1 also showed her LCD TV where the live video of the camera was being displayed. The Finger Print Expert PW 8 Sunil Lonarkar was called, who, after encircling finger prints on the glass, asked the photographer to snap it. The body of the deceased was sent for post mortem examination to the Government Medical Hospital along with the requisition at Exhibit 164.
4. PW 16 called the owner of the said Bar, PW 5 Kailash Gulhane, and after getting the information, the Expert PW 14 Shubham Narayan Padgilwar, who installed the CCTV system in the said Bar, was called. The Expert PW 14 told that he installed the cameras in the said Bar and the same were working properly. According to PW 14, the DVR contains the recording of camera and he showed the recorded footages of the incident from DVR on LCD TV. The camera No.1 contained the footage of two persons assaulting one person by a sharp weapon and the other persons were instigating the assailants. The footage
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