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1971 Supreme(Gau) 36
Manipur High Court
R. S. BINDRA, J.
Union Territory of Manipur
Versus
Moirangthem Khomei Singh
Criminal Appeal Case No. 6 of 1970
Decided On : 16-07-1971
Munindra Kumar Singh, Asst. Public Prosecutor, for Appellant; N. Benoy Singh, for Respondents.
The court held that the statement of an identifying witness, when corroborated by an earlier identification proceeding, can form the basis for conviction of an accused so identified.
Headnote:
CRIMINAL APPEAL - SECTION 395 I. P. C. - DAOCITY - IDENTIFICATION OF ACCUSED - CORROBORATION OF EVIDENCE - SECTION 9 OF THE EVIDENCE ACT - SECTION 162 CRIMINAL P. C. - SECTION 342 CRIMINAL P. C. - SECTION 397 I. P. C. - INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION.
Fact of the Case:
The prosecution alleged that 15 or 16 persons, clad in olive green uniforms and carrying weapons, entered the official quarter of Doctor S. P. Sarkar, Medical Officer in charge of Primary Health Centre, Sagolmang, and demanded money and other valuables from him. The culprits tied his hands, marched him outside the quarter, trained their sten guns at him, and demanded money and other valuables from him. Doctor Sarkar told the culprits to take all that lay in his quarter. The culprits however insisted on Doctor Sarkar paying them Rs. 1,000/- beyond what they could lay their hands on. However, the Doctor exhibited his inability to pay Rs. 1000/- for he did not have that much cash with him. His inability to pay was perhaps taken for his unwillingness and so the culprits began to administer him cane beating. The culprits then ransacked the house and marched away with rich booty.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the trial court had erred in acquitting the accused. The court held that the statement of Doctor Sarkar, who had identified all of the accused in the parade held on 27-11-1967, gathered corroboration from the identification done by him at the time of the parade. The court also held that the statement of Doctor Sarkar was corroborated by the testimony of P. W. 4 Ibochou Singh respecting all the three accused identified by the former in test parade; and in addition the statement of Dr. Sarkar was corroborated by Mangkham Kom respecting the accused Khomei. The court further held that the statements of Ibobi Singh (P. W. 3) and Ibochou Singh (P. W. 4) were sufficient to prove the charge against Bira Sarma and Ibomacha Singh.
Issues: 1. Whether the identification of the accused by Doctor Sarkar was sufficient to convict them of dacoity. 2. Whether the testimony of Ibochou Singh and Mangkham Kom corroborated the statement of Doctor Sarkar. 3. Whether the statements of Ibobi Singh and Ibochou Singh were sufficient to prove the charge against Bira Sarma and Ibomacha Singh.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the statement of Doctor Sarkar, who had identified all of the accused in the parade held on 27-11-1967, gathered corroboration from the identification done by him at the time of the parade. The court also held that the statement of Doctor Sarkar was corroborated by the testimony of P. W. 4 Ibochou Singh respecting all the three accused identified by the former in test parade; and in addition the statement of Dr. Sarkar was corroborated by Mangkham Kom respecting the accused Khomei. 2. The court held that the statements of Ibobi Singh (P. W. 3) and Ibochou Singh (P. W. 4) were sufficient to prove the charge against Bira Sarma and Ibomacha Singh.
Final Decision: The court allowed the State appeal to the extent that it set aside the order of acquittal respecting the charge under Section 395 I. P. C. and convicted each of the five accused under that section. The court sentenced each of the five accused to five years rigorous imprisonment.
2. The prosecution story, succinctly put, is that late on the evening of 9-11-1967 when Puja was being performed in the official quarter of Doctor S. P. Sarkar, Medical Officer in charge of Primary Health Centre, Sagolmang, in connection with the birth of a son to him, as many as 15 or 16 persons, clad in olive green uniforms and carrying weapons including sten guns and daos, entered the quarter from its back side. Some of them stepped into the bed room of Doctor Sarkar where the latter was taking rest. The culprits asked Doctor Sarkar to be up on his feet and raise his hands, and he complied. The culprits then tied his hands, marched him outside the quarter, trained their sten guns at him, and demanded money and other valuables from him. Faced with that eerie situation, Doctor Sarkar told the culprits to take all that lay in his quarter. The culprits however insisted on Doctor Sarkar paying them Rs. 1,000/- beyond what they could lay their hands on. However, the Doctor exhibited his inability to pay Rs. 1000/- for he did not have that much cash with him. His inability to pay was perhaps taken for his unwillingness and so the culprits began to administer him cane beating. The culprits then ransacked the house and marched away with rich booty. It is part of the prosecution story that five petromax were burning in the house at the time of the occurrence and that their light was sufficient to permit identification of the culprits, who, it is said, regained in the quarter for about half an hour.
3. It was at 10-00 a. m. on 11-11-1967 that the report Ext. P/2 was lodged by Doctor Sarkar with the Police and on the basis thereof a case was registered by Th. Muhon Singh (P. W. 6) of Police Station Lamlai. He examined a number of eye-witnesses and prepared injury statements of those who out of them had been assaulted by the culprits. He arrested the accused W. Thawan Singh and Th. Birahari Singh on 16-11-1967 and the accused M. Khomei Singh on the next day. The remaining two accused. S. Bira Sarma and L. Ibomacha Singh, could be arrested only after report under Section 173 Criminal P. C. had been submitted to the Court.
4. An identification parade was held on 27-11-1967 by Shri Upendra Singh, Magistrate First Class, Imphal, in respect of the accused Khomei Singh, Thawan Singh and Birahari Singh, Doctor, Sarkar correctly picked up those three accused while P. W. 5 Mangkham Kom could identify Khomei Singh alone. The three accused, it may be stated, had been paraded with another 24 persons. The other two accused, Bira Sarma and Ibomacha Singh, had earlier been specifically mentioned as the culprits by certain witnesses examined by the Police during the investigation.
5. All the five accused entered the plea of not guilty. Their defence was one of pure denial.
6. The prosecution examined 8 witnesses to establish the charge. The accused however led no defence.
7. The learned Sessions Judge acquitted the accused Khomei Singh, Thawan Singh and Birahari Singh primarily on the ground that the statement of Doctor Sarkar, who had identified all of them in the parade held on 27-11-1967, did not gather corroboration from any other evidence led by the prosecution and that in the absence of corroboration they could not be legally convicted on the basis of Dr. Sarkars testimony. The remaining two accused, Bira Sarma and Ibomacha Singh, were exonerated of the charge on the footing that P. W. 3 Ibobi Singh and P. W. 4 Ibochou Singh, who had specifically named them as dacoits, could not have made them out because they (the two culprits) must have got mixed with the guests participating in the puja celebration, and that "There was a chance that even though the persons who had assembled there in conn
