Back
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Manoj Kumar Ohri, J.
Anil @ Sunil @ Senior - Appellant
Versus
State - Respondent
Criminal Appeal No. 1234 of 2019
Decided On : 17-09-2020
Section 392/397/411/34 IPC - Identification of Accused - TIP Refusal - In-Court Identification - Reliability of Witnesses
Fact of the Case:
The appellant was convicted for robbery and sentenced to 7 years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine. The incident involved three unidentified men robbing a jewelry shop at gunpoint. The appellant was the only accused found guilty, while others were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Finding of the Court:
The court found the in-court identification of the appellant by the witnesses to be reliable, despite the appellant's refusal to participate in the TIP proceedings. The court also dismissed the appellant's claim of non-matching fingerprints and disbelieved the recovery of robbed jewelry articles due to lack of evidence.
Issues: The issues revolved around the reliability of in-court identification, refusal to participate in TIP, non-matching fingerprints, and the credibility of the recovery of robbed jewelry articles.
Ratio Decidendi: The court relied on the witnesses' opportunity to view the accused, their degree of attention, and the accuracy of their prior description of the accused. The court also emphasized that the appellant's refusal to participate in the TIP proceedings did not undermine the reliability of the witnesses' identification.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction of the appellant based on the reliable in-court identification by the witnesses and the lack of evidence to support the appellant's claims.
JUDGMENT
Manoj Kumar Ohri, J. - The present appeal is preferred under Section 374(2) read with Section 482 Cr.P.C. on behalf of the appellant Anil @ Sunil @ Senior challenging the judgment on conviction dated 29.08.2019 and order on sentence dated 31.08.2019 passed by the Addl. Sessions Judge, North District, Rohini Courts, New Delhi in SC No. 58293/2016 arising out of FIR No. 226/2008 registered under Sections 392/397/411/34 IPC at Police Station Rohini, Delhi whereby the appellant was convicted for the offence punishable under Sections 392/34 IPC read with Section 397 IPC. Further, vide order on sentence dated 31.08.2019, the appellant was directed to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for 7 years along with payment of fine of Rs.20,000/- in default whereof, to undergo Simple Imprisonment for 5 months for the offence punishable under Sections 392/34 IPC read with Section 397 IPC.
2. The brief facts as noted by the Trial Court are reproduced hereunder: -
"1. Brief facts as stated in the charge sheet are that on 15.04.2008 one Rakesh Singhal made a complaint to the police as under:
"That he was residing at B-13/53, Sector 8 Ground Floor, Rohini and running a jewellery shop in the name of "Rohini Jewellers" at D-13/20, Sector 8, Rohini, Delhi. On 15.04.2008, at about 8:30 pm, he along with his cousin brother Ankit and servant Mahesh were present at the showroom then three boys aged around 25-30 years height 5''10" having strong, thin build and fair colour came there and asked them to keep mum.
They all took out their pistols and other person strong built clean shave put off his red colour bag on counter and third one strong built, brown hair stood on the gate. The person, who was carrying red colour bag picked out all the diamond and golden jewellery items and the first one asked him to hand over the cash, on which he took out Rs. 40,000/- from the cash box (galla) and handed over to him in fear on the pistol point.
Thereafter, all those three boys ran away on two wheeler, parked on the other side of the road and fired two shots in the air to show fear. He informed police on 100 number and stated that he could identify all the accused persons, if shown to him."
2. On the said statement, FIR u/S. 392/34 IPC was registered at PS Rohini and investigations were taken up by SI Jagdish Chander.
3. During investigations, SI Jagdish prepared the site plan, recorded the statement of witnesses and also prepared the sketch of suspects. On 06.07.2008, on the basis of secret information three persons were apprehended from main road Shamshan Ghat, Sector-3, Rohini and a stolen Santro car no. DL-4CS-7118 (fake no. HR-13B-2285) in FIR No. 274/08, PS Saraswati Vihar and a stolen motorcycle no. DL-6SY- 0667 (fake no. HR-13B-2235) in FIR No. 75/08, PS Paschim Vihar were also recovered from their possession. Two .32 bore pistols along with two live cartridges each were also recovered from their possession.
4. The said accused persons namely Ashwani @ Sonu, Manesh @ Monu and Anil @ Sunil @ Senior disclosed about the commission of various heinous crimes in Delhi and NCR including the present case. Accordingly, the said case was transferred to SOS, Crime Branch for the purpose of further investigations by the order of senior officers. The further investigations were handed over to SI Virender Singh, SOS/Crime Branch.
The said accused persons were arrested in this case, interrogated and their disclosure statements were also recorded. The accused Ashwani @ Sonu disclosed his involvement in the present case and that he had sold the robbed jewellery to different jewellers in Tikri Kalan, Palam, Delhi, Bahadur Garh and Sonepat. Accused Manesh @ Monu and Anil @ Sunil @ Senior further disclosed that they could recover the case property from their house in the village Kidoli, Sonepat Haryana.
On the pointing out and at the instance of the accused persons 7 goldsmiths namely Bijender, Abhishek Verma, Ramesh Chand, Vinod Jain, Pardeep Kumar, Jitesh Verma and Devende
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
