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2018 Supreme(Cal) 497
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT CALCUTTA
Md. Mumtaz Khan, Jay Sengupta, JJ.
Badal Das - Appellant
Vs.
The State of West Bengal - Respondent
CRA 30 of 2003
Decided On : 06-08-2018
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant : Mr. Prabir Majumder, Mrs. Rupa Bandopadhyay, Mr. Sujoy Sarkar, Mr. S. Majumder
For the State : Mr. A.K. Maity, Mr. Sanjoy Bardhan, Ms. Rita Dutta
The direct testimony of eyewitnesses and corroborating medical evidence are crucial in establishing a prosecution case, and the failure to produce certain evidence does not necessarily render the case doubtful.
Headnote:
IPC - Murder and Attempt to Murder - Section 302/307 IPC - Summary of the acts and sections referenced and discussed by the court: The court discussed the evidence of the prosecution witnesses, medical reports, and the failure to produce the weapon of offence or the FSL report. The court emphasized the direct testimony of the eyewitnesses and the corroborating medical evidence, concluding that the prosecution case was fully established.
Fact of the Case:
The appellant was convicted for committing offences punishable under Section 302/307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for murdering his father and attempting to kill others. The prosecution's case was based on the testimony of eyewitnesses and medical evidence.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the prosecution's case was fully established by the direct testimony of the eyewitnesses, which was corroborated by the medical evidence.
Issues: The issues revolved around the sufficiency of evidence to prove the appellant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the failure to produce the weapon of offence or the FSL report, and the reliability of the eyewitness testimony.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the importance of the direct testimony of the eyewitnesses and the corroborating medical evidence in establishing the prosecution's case. It also noted that the failure to produce the weapon of offence or the FSL report did not render the prosecution case doubtful.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the conviction and sentence imposed on the appellant.
Md. Mumtaz Khan, J.
This appeal has been preferred by the appellant assailing the judgment, order of conviction and sentence dated July 10, 2002 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, 1st Court, Burdwan in Sessions Trial No. 12 of 2000 arising out of Sessions Case No. 102 of 1994. By the impugned judgment appellant was convicted for committing offences punishable under Section 302/307 of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as IPC) and was sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life and also to pay a fine of Rs. 2000/- in default to suffer rigorous imprisonment for the period of two months for the offence under Section 302 IPC and also to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/-, in default to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a further period of one month for the offence under Section 307 of IPC with a direction that both the sentences shall run concurrently.
2. The case of the prosecution, briefly stated, is as follows:
On February 4, 1990 at about 8/8.30 p.m. appellant's father namely the victim returned back home from outside. Appellant who was inside his room getting sound of his father came out from his room with a 'Bagi da' (chopper) and started threatening his father using abusive languages. P.W.5, victim's daughter, who was sitting in the varanda to serve food to her father, seeing furious attitude of her brother and being afraid of, rushed to the road to call people and while going out she heard the screams of her father saying ‘killed me’, ‘killed me’. On hearing her cries para people rushed there but by that time the appellant had already killed the victim. After killing the victim appellant went to his uncle Dukhiram Das's house which is adjacent to their house and there he attacked Jhaku Das, Labibala Dasi and Jyotsna Das who were sleeping in the veranda of the house with that 'da' and Labani Sardar, the neighbour, who came there rushing causing severe bleeding injuries on their persons. Appellant was apprehended by the villagers when he tried to flew away.
3. P.W.7 informed the incident over phone to the Officer-in-charge, Katwa P.S. (P.W.22). After diarizing the said information (Ext.8), P.W.22 directed P.W.19 and P.W.25 to look into the matter. P.W.19 and P.W.25 then proceeded to the place of occurrence along with force and on reaching there they found the dead body of the victim lying in his courtyard. P.W.25 recorded the statement of P.W.5, the daughter of the deceased, and forwarded the same to Katwa P.S. for registering a case and took up charge of investigation.
4. P.W.22, on receipt of the said statement of P.W.5, started Katwa P.S. case No. 55 dated February 5, 1990 under section 302/326/ 307/448 IPC against the appellant.
5. On the same day at 11 P.M. P.W.19 held inquest over the dead body of the victim in presence of the witnesses and prepared a report (Ext.4). He, thereafter, sent the dead body for postmortem examination to Sub-divisional hospital, Katwa. He also held inquest over one amputed finger of Rabi Dasi and prepared a report (Ext.3/1). The name of the appellant surfaced during inquest.
6. On February 5, 1990 at 13.00 hrs., P.W.20 conducted postmortem examination over the dead body of the victim at Sub-divisional hospital, Katwa and prepared P.M. report (Ext.6). During postmortem examination the doctor (P.W.20) found one incised wound upper anterior neck superficial on right side and deep to the base of the skull on left side starting from right ample of mandible to the left mastoid process dividing trachea esophagus left carotid vessels and muscles 7'' X 2½'' and opined that the death was caused due to shock and hemorrhage from the above mentioned injuries which was ante mortem and homicidal in nature. According to him, those incised wounds might be caused by sharp cutting weapon like “Ramda”.
7. On February 5, 1990, P.W.20 also examined the injured Labibala Dasi, Jyotsna Dasi, Labani Sarkar and Jhaku Dasi who were admitted in tha
