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High Court of Patna
P.K. Banerji, J.
MANGAR NAGBANSHI MUNDA – APPELLANTS
Versus
THE STATE OF BIHAR – RESPONDENT
Cr. Appeal No. 97 of 1966
Decided On : 15th January, 1969
INDIAN RAILWAYS ACT - SECTION 126 B - CONFESSIONS - RETRACTED CONFESSIONS - CORROBORATION - EVIDENCE - INDEPENDENT CORROBORATION - VOLUNTARY CONFESSIONS - LEADING QUESTIONS - PRESENCE OF PEON DURING CONFESSION - CONVICTION BASED ON RETRACTED CONFESSIONS WITHOUT CORROBORATION - UNSAFE AND IMPROPER.
Fact of the Case:
Eleven appellants were convicted under Section 126 B of the Indian Railways Act for placing two rails across the railway track with intent to endanger the safety of passengers. The conviction was based on retracted confessional statements recorded by two Magistrates, which were allegedly made voluntarily. The appellants denied the confessions and claimed innocence.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the confessional statements were not voluntary as they were recorded in the presence of the Magistrate's peon, leading questions were put to the confessing accused, and the Magistrate failed to question them about their motive for making the confessions. The court also found that there was no independent corroboration of the confessions, as the evidence of two gangmen who found the rails on the railway track did not connect the appellants to the offense.
Issues: 1. Whether the confessional statements were voluntary and admissible in evidence. 2. Whether the retracted confessions were sufficiently corroborated by independent evidence.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the confessional statements were not voluntary and admissible in evidence because they were recorded in the presence of the Magistrate's peon, leading questions were put to the confessing accused, and the Magistrate failed to question them about their motive for making the confessions. 2. The court held that the retracted confessions were not sufficiently corroborated by independent evidence, as the evidence of two gangmen who found the rails on the railway track did not connect the appellants to the offense.
Final Decision: The court set aside the conviction and sentence imposed on the appellants.
The appellants, eleven in number, have been convicted under Section 126 B of the Indian Railways Act and each has been sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for seven years thereunder by the Assistant Sessions Judge of Ranchi.
2. A written report (Ext. 10) dated the 4th September, 1964, was sent by Adi Nath Sen (P.W. 7) an Assistant Engineer of the Eastern Railway at Bano, to the officer-in-charge of Bano police station which was to the following effect : –
“Sri Laluah, P. Way Mistry at Kurkura, informs that on the night of 2.9.64 at about 23.30 hrs Patrolmen on duty noticed that one rail was lying at right angles over the track at K.M. 516/7 near Rabai. The patrolmen on duty informed the sectional mate about this who with his gangmen cleared off the rail from the track.
If this would have remained unnoticed or could not be noticed before any passage of train, serious consequences of derailment of train was inevitable. You are requested to look into the matter and take necessary action to prevent occurrence of similar mischievous activities by miscreants.”
On the basis of this written report., P.W. 6, Nand Kishore Singh, who happened to be the officer-in-charge of Bano police station at the time, drew up a formal first information report (Ext. 7) and started investigation. In course of the investigation he examined on the 5th September, 1964, appellant no. 2, Mangat Rai Nagbanshi Munda, who was under arrest in connection with another occurrence relating to case no. 2(ix)64, pertaining to Kolebira Police Station. The informant A.N. Sen, as also S.K. Chakravarty and another were examined and the Investigating Officer reached the alleged place of occurrence pointed out to him by Lalu Munda (not examined in this case) and it was found to be the railway track between 516 and 517 kilometre at 47 ft. inches to the north of culvert no. 532. The Investigating Officer found two big rails kept beside the track on the eastern side of the railway lines and at the place of the occurrence he noticed two big rails lying transversely across the railway track close north to the place of occurrence, which was found to be in Mauja Jamtoli within Bano police station. In course of the investigation three letters (marked Exhibits i to i/b) and the envelope (marked Exhibit ii) were said to have been produced by appellant no. 1, Mangar Nagbanshi Munda. They were seized under seizure list (Exhibit 8) and appellant no. 1 was put under arrest and on the 8th September, 1964, he was forwarded to the Subdivisional Magistrate, Simdega, with a remand report about appellant no. 2 Mangat Rai Nagbanshi Munda. The other appellants were arrested subsequently by P.W. 6 and they were forwarded to the Subdivisional Magistrate, Simdega, on the 18th September, 1964, with a request to get their confessional statements recorded. A test identification parade was arranged on the 26th September, 1964, in which Mangar Munda was the suspect and it was conducted by P.W. 4, Sri Zafirul Hassan Khan, Magistrate, on the 31st October, 1964. P.W. 1 A.S.I. Kameshwar Nath Trivedi, on the direction of P.W.6, obtained specimen writings of appellant no.2, Mangat Rai Nagbanshi Munda in the presence of Shree K.P. Sinha, Magistrate (P.W.2), and they were marked Exhibits I to i/q. Another set of specimen writings was obtained from the same appellant no. 2 by P.W. 1 on the 2nd November, 1964 and they were marked Exhibits i/r to i/w. The confessional statements of the appellants were duly recorded by two Magistrates, Shree K.P. Sinha (P.W.2) and Shree B.B. Sinha (P.W.3) and the specimen writings obtained in the case were sent to the hand-writing expert for comparison with the writings in the letter (Exhibits I to i/b) and after the conclusion of the investigation chargesheet was submitted in the case.
3. The accusation against the accused-appellants was that they, on the 2nd September, 1964, at Mauja Rabai put two rails across the railway track at kilometer 516 with intent or with kn
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