2018 Supreme(Del) 2888

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
VIPIN SANGHI, P.S.TEJI, JJ.
Sheetal - Appellant
Versus
State - Respondent
Crl. A. 126 & 247 of 2018
Decided On : 27-07-2018

The prosecution has to prove the entire chain of circumstances beyond reasonable doubt.

Headnote:

CRIMINAL APPEAL - [KEYWORD] - [SUBJECT] - [ACT SECTION LIST] - [SUMMARY]

Fact of the Case:

On 28.02.2014, upon receiving information through a PCR call, Vide DD No. 7A that a dead body was seen lying near a water tank at Pusta Road, Thokar No. 13, in a field near Jhangola Village, SI Jaibeer and Const. Rajbir reached the spot. Insp. Mahesh Kumar on getting the information also reached the spot along with SI Kamlesh, HC Praveen and HC Ramesh. They found that a dead body of a male Sikh aged about 45 years was lying there. It appeared to them that due to heavy impact the body was crushed, and blood was also lying near the head of the deceased. The dead body was lying near a berry tree and bushes, in which a blood-stained stone was lying. The deceased was wearing a grey colour pant, a jersey and a white coloured striped shirt, and was also wearing a hawai slippers of green and white colour. Half of the face of the deceased was covered with a black coloured turban. The scene of crime was got examined by the crime team and the photographs were taken. As per the report of the crime team Ex PW-4/A, the right eye and the forehead of the deceased were having injury marks and one Driving License (DL No. 0120100066867) and cash worth Rs.800/- was recovered from the inner pocket of the deceased’s pant. The name and address mentioned on the Driving License was of one Satwant Singh, S/o Narottam Singh, R/o H.No. 3566/2011, Gali No. 95, B-Block, Sant Nagar, Burari. There was no eye witness at the scene of crime. It appeared that the deceased was killed by a stone, which was lying in the bushes nearby and was stained in blood. Accordingly, the case was registered under section 302 IPC.

Finding of the Court:

The prosecution has been able to conclusively establish the complete chain of circumstances, which lead only to one conclusion i.e. of the accused Inderjeet Arora having murdered the deceased. The recovery of the Ritz car of the accused with a false number plate is indicative of his intention to cover his steps and hide the identity of the vehicle and, consequently, his own identity at the time of commission of the offence, and soon thereafter. The recovery of the original number plate on the disclosure of the accused Inderjeet establishes his knowledge about the same. Pertinently, he has not explained as to why the number plate of his car was changed, and a false number plate was put on the car – as found when it was seized. The act of the accused Inderjeet Arora in taking his car for washing at the service station of PW-13 in February 2014, on the day following the rain in the night in the month of February’ 2014, which coincides with the fateful night (as per the statement of DW-1 and DW-2), and the statement of PW-13 that he had removed the seat covers form the said car which were then seized by the police vide Ex. PW-9/L, and were found to contain the blood, the DNA whereof matched with that of the deceased, establishes that the accused had taken the deceased in his car in a bleeding condition. The discovery of the body of the deceased at a remote location i.e. near a water tank at Thokar No.13 in a field near Jhangola Village and the seizure of the iron rod at the behest of the accused Inderjeet Arora shows that the accused was not only aware of the location of the iron rod, but also the fact that the same had been used to strike the deceased with it. The opinion of the doctor that the said iron rod could be the one used to cause the injury suffered by the deceased, conclusively establishes that the accused had used the said rod - apart from the stone, to attack the deceased. Pertinently, the accused failed to give any explanation as to how he was aware of the location of the iron rod in the field and about the fact that the iron rod had been used to attack the deceased leading to the definite conclusion that it is the accused who had used the iron rod to attack the deceased. He failed to explain how the blood of the deceased came on his car seat covers.

Issues: None

Ratio Decidendi: The prosecution has been able to complete the chain of circumstances, and the only conclusion which emerges clearly points to the guilt of the appellant Inderjeet Arora in the commission of the murder of the deceased.

Final Decision: The judgment of conviction passed against the appellant Inderjeet Singh Arora for the offence under Section 302 IPC is hereby upheld and his conviction is sustained. Consequently, both the appeals stand disposed of in the aforesaid terms.