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1998 Supreme(Cal) 447
High Court Of Calcutta
Bijitendra Mohan Mitra, Surya Kumar Tiwari
RANADHIR BASU - Appellant
Versus
STATE OF WEST BENGAL - Respondent
CRIMINAL APPEAL 257 Of 1996
Decided On : 09/23/1998
The court held that the evidence of an accomplice must be corroborated by the evidence of other witnesses in order to be admissible in evidence and that the evidence against the accused, Krishnendu Jana, was not sufficient to prove the offence of abetment.
Headnote:
CRIMINAL APPEAL - SECTION 302/120B AND 201 IPC - OFFENCE OF MURDER - SECTION 302/120B AND 302/109 IPC - OFFENCE OF ABETMENT - SECTION 306(4) CR. PC - EXAMINATION OF APPROVER - SECTION 60 OF THE EVIDENCE ACT - HEARSAY EVIDENCE - SECTION 114 OF THE EVIDENCE ACT - PRESUMPTIVE EFFECT - SECTION 302 IPC - DEATH SENTENCE - GUIDELINES FOR IMPOSING DEATH SENTENCE - SECTION 133 OF THE EVIDENCE ACT - CORROBORATION OF EVIDENCE - SECTION 113 OF THE EVIDENCE ACT - ILLUSTRATION (B) - CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.
Fact of the Case:
The accused, Ranadhir Basu, was convicted of the offence under sections 302, 302/120b and 201 IPC and sentenced to death. The accused, Krishnendu Jana, was convicted of the offence under sections 302/120b and 302/109 IPC and sentenced to death. The prosecution case was that on March 20, 1991, the accused, along with Sudipa Pal, an accomplice, murdered four persons, namely, Sm. Sulekha Pal, Subhas Chandra Pal, Sm. Latika Pal and Sri Debendra Mohan Pal, all members of the same family, by administering different types of poison, namely, Mercuric Chloride, Chloroform, etc. and finally by administering Sodium Cyanide.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the evidence of the approver, Sudipa Pal, was corroborated by the evidence of other witnesses and that the accused, Ranadhir Basu, was guilty of the offence of murder. The court also held that the evidence against the accused, Krishnendu Jana, was not sufficient to prove the offence of abetment and that he was entitled to an acquittal.
Issues: 1. Whether the evidence of the approver, Sudipa Pal, was corroborated by the evidence of other witnesses? 2. Whether the accused, Ranadhir Basu, was guilty of the offence of murder? 3. Whether the evidence against the accused, Krishnendu Jana, was sufficient to prove the offence of abetment?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the evidence of the approver, Sudipa Pal, was corroborated by the evidence of other witnesses, including the evidence of the post-mortem examination report, the evidence of the seizure of the poison and the evidence of the relationship between the accused and the deceased. 2. The court held that the accused, Ranadhir Basu, was guilty of the offence of murder because he had planned and executed the murders and had administered the poison to the deceased. 3. The court held that the evidence against the accused, Krishnendu Jana, was not sufficient to prove the offence of abetment because there was no evidence that he had conspired with the accused, Ranadhir Basu, to commit the murders or that he had supplied the poison to the accused, Ranadhir Basu.
Final Decision: The court confirmed the death sentence of the accused, Ranadhir Basu, and acquitted the accused, Krishnendu Jana.
( 1 ) THE instant appeal is directed against a judgment of conviction against accused appellant No. 1, namely, Ranadhir Basu, under sections 301, 302/120b and 201 of Indian Penal Code and for the offence under section 302 of Indian Penal Code, the accused appellant is sentenced to death and he has been further awarded a sentence to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000/- and, in default, to suffer rigorous imprisonment for two years and, for the offence under section 201 of Indian Penal Code, the accused appellant is awarded a punishment of rigorous imprisonment for seven years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/- and, in default, to suffer imprisonment for a further period of one year.
( 2 ) SO far as the accused appellant No. 2 Krishnendu Jana is concerned, he is convicted of an offence under sections 302/120b and 302/109 of Indian Penal Code and, for the offence under section 302/120b of Indian Penal Code, he is sentenced to death and he is also sentenced for a fine of Rs. 2,000/- and, in default, to suffer rigourous imprisonment for a period of two years. The said appeal is directed against the judgment passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, 1st court, Barasat, 24-Parganas (North) dated August 9, 1996. There are altogether two appeals before us, namely, Criminal Appeal Nos. 277 of 1996 and 257 of 1996. As such, both the appeals are taken up for hearing on contest.
( 3 ) SO far as the factual matrix of the case is concerned, the accused Ranadhir Basu stands charged under sections 302, 302/120b and 201 IPC and the accused Krishnendu Jana stands charged under sections 302/120b and 302/109 IPC on the accusation that they on and from January 21, 1991 at Messrs. Scientronic India situate at 24-A College Row, P. S. Amherst Street, Calcutta and at other places ultimately leading to the fateful incident at premises No. 26 Brajanath Pal Street, P. S. Noapara, District-24-Parganas (North), agreed to perform an illegal act for commission of an offence for murdering four persons, namely, Sm. Sulekha Pal, Subhas Chandra Pal, Sm. Latika Pal and Sri Debendra Mohan Pal, all members of the same family, by illegal means by way of administering different types of poison, namely, Mercuric Chloride, Chloroform, etc. and finally by administering Sodium Cyanide which was done in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy with each other. On March 20, 1991 at premises No. 26 Brajanath Pal Street, as stated before, four persons died and it was alleged that offence of murder was committed by accused Ranadhir Basu which was aided and abated by accused Krishnendu Jana. The prosecution case, inter alia, is that on March 21, 1991 at about 00. 15 hours the defacto complainant Rabindranath Ghosh of Goalpara heard some groaning sound punched with wail whereupon after listening to the sound the neighbours congregated at the site and they found Sudipa Pal, daughter of Subhas Chandra Pal, lying in the ground in front of their house with hands tied on the back with the help of cloth mattress with which her legs and neck were also found to have been tied up. It was realised by the said neighbours that the said Sudipa Pal was making such sound. After the neighbours assembled there, she was rescued from that condition. As no response was forthcoming from other members of the family, the matter was reported to the local police station. On arrival of the police, the defacto complainant along with others and the police personnel entered the house of Subhas Chandra Pal where it was detected that Debendra Mohan Pal, father of Subhas Chandra Pal, was lying dead in a ground floor room and his hands and feet were tied with copper wire connected with the plug point of the switch board of that room. In the first floor rooms of that house, the dead bodies of three other person, namely, Subhas Chandra Pal, his wife Sulekha Pal and his mother Latika Pal were detected. Like the dead body of Debendra Mohan Pal, the other three dead bodies as mentioned were also found to be in the sa
