2015 Supreme(Jhk) 1314

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
VIRENDER SINGH AND R.R.PRASAD, JJ.
Yogendra Sharma @ Munna Sharma And Ors. – Appellant
Versus
State of Jharkhand - Respondent
Cr. Appeal(DB) No. 177, 365, 356 of 2006
Decided On : 15-10-2015

A confessional statement is admissible in evidence if it is voluntary and truthful. A retracted confession can be acted upon if the court is satisfied that it was retracted because of an after-thought or advice, and that the earlier statement was true.

Headnote:

The court convicted and sentenced four accused persons under Section 302 read with 120 B of IPC and 27 Arms Act for the murder of V.G. Gopal, President of Tata Workers' Union. The case was investigated by three different agencies, namely, Bistupur P.S. Case No. 346 of 1993, Special Investigation Team, and CBI. The prosecution examined 29 witnesses, out of which 12 were official and police witnesses. The main attack by the defense counsel was that the confessional statement of accused Lalit Chandra Biswas, in which he admitted his complicity and of other co-accused also, was made under duress, compulsion, and inducements emanating from the Police authorities. The court analyzed the confessional statement, retracted confessional statement, extra-judicial confessions, and a letter sent to his girlfriend by Raju Sen @ Raju in detail.

Fact of the Case:

On 14-10-1993, at about 9.30 A.M., the informant along with V.G. Gopal and security guard Madan Prasad arrived at the Union Office by the said Ambassador car. At about 12.05 P.M., the security guard Madan Prasad (also deceased) intimated to the informant that Gopal Babu was alighting down the stairs. Hearing this the informant hurriedly moved towards the car and saw that V.G Gopal was accompanied by a press reporter and another companion of his. They were descending from the stairs. As soon as V.G Gopal reached near the Ambassador car, the security guard Madan Prasad opened the rear door of the car and as V.G Gopal stepped into the car, the informant heard a gunshot. Thereafter, the informant noticed Madan Prasad, the body guard scampering towards the office for cover. He seemed to be giving some interdicting signal by shaking his hand. Thereafter, other persons of the office were also seen scuttling here and there for cover against the firing. Soon thereafter, one of the assailants bearing a good, stodgy physique came near V.G. Gopal and fired a shot at his head. Consequentially, V. G. Gopal fell down on the rear seat of the car. Thereafter, the same miscreant again fired 4-5 shots at V.G. Gopal. This assailant was accompanied by another miscreant, aged about 27/28 years, who was also brandishing a pistol in his hand. As per the informant, he had noticed two other persons standing outside the main gate, one of them was heard exhorting these two miscreants to hurry and he shouted “Jaldi Chalo Bahar Aaoo”. Thereafter, both the miscreants went out of the main gate, where one person was sitting on a blue L.M.L scooter, while another person was sitting on one Bajaj Super Scooter. Both the accused persons sat on scooters and escaped in the western direction.

Finding of the Court:

The court found that the confessional statement of accused Lalit Chandra Biswas was voluntary and truthful and its subsequent retraction was a mere afterthought which was a result of tutoring. The court also found that the extra-judicial confessions brought forward by the prosecution by producing a letter written by accused Lalit Chandra Biswas to his girlfriend PW Kusum Lata and proved by PW H.M.Saxena (Government Examiner of Questioned Document) can also be said to be a clinching factor in this case. The court further found that besides this, there is otherwise sufficient, corroborating, and incriminating evidence on record to establish the guilt of all the four accused, therefore, their conviction as recorded by the learned trial court deserves to be maintained.

Issues: 1. Whether the confessional statement of accused Lalit Chandra Biswas was voluntary and truthful or made under duress, compulsion, and inducements emanating from the Police authorities? 2. Whether the extra-judicial confessions brought forward by the prosecution by producing a letter written by accused Lalit Chandra Biswas to his girlfriend PW Kusum Lata and proved by PW H.M.Saxena (Government Examiner of Questioned Document) can be said to be a clinching factor in this case? 3. Whether there is otherwise sufficient, corroborating, and incriminating evidence on record to establish the guilt of all the four accused?

Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the confessional statement of accused Lalit Chandra Biswas was voluntary and truthful and its subsequent retraction was a mere afterthought which was a result of tutoring. The court relied on the following factors to arrive at this conclusion: a. The accused was not in the custody of Bistupur police, which had jurisdiction to carry on the investigation in the murder case of V.G. Gopal, at the time he made the confessional statement before the Kadma Police. b. The accused is a well-educated person, who had expressed his wish to give his confessional statement in English language and hence the court felt that he himself had full knowledge and awareness about the consequences of his confession before the Judicial Magistrate. c. The Judicial Magistrate while recording the confessional statement of the Accused has substantially complied with all the precautionary rules enumerated in Section 164, Cr.P.C., thereby ensuring that the confession was made voluntarily and out of free volition. d. The Accused has subsequently resiled from his confessional statement. The retraction was done 24 days after it was recorded in the Court of Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Jamshedpur. In the interregnum period i.e. between the time it was first made and when it was subsequently retracted from, the Accused had ample opportunity to tell the Chief Judicial Magistrate, before whom he was brought twice or thrice, that he had been coerced to make the confessional statement. Accused failed to avail of these opportunities which also clearly indicates that the retraction is a mere afterthought. 2. The court held that the extra-judicial confessions brought forward by the prosecution by producing a letter written by accused Lalit Chandra Biswas to his girlfriend PW Kusum Lata and proved by PW H.M.Saxena (Government Examiner of Questioned Document) can also be said to be a clinching factor in this case. The court relied on the following factors to arrive at this conclusion: a. The letter was sent to PW-11, Kusumlata Toppo (ex girlfriend of the accused), which also reveals another extra-judicial confession of the accused Lalit Chandra Biswas, regarding the commission of murder of V. G. Gopal. b. PW 11 has deposed in Court on oath that the said letter was sent to her by Lalit Chandra Biswas to her old address (P.N.B South extension New Delhi) from where it was redirected and thereafter received at her Safdarjang address (present address). c. PW 11 has also identified the accused in court and has also recognised his handwriting on letter and envelop. d. Handwriting of Lalit Chandra Biswas is at no stage disputed. 3. The court held that besides this, there is otherwise sufficient, corroborating, and incriminating evidence on record to establish the guilt of all the four accused. The court relied on the following factors to arrive at this conclusion: a. The evidence of PW-3 Ashit Biswas and PW-5 Ram Lakhan Singh corroborates the confessional statement of accused Lalit Chandra Biswas regarding firing on V.G.Gopal (since deceased) and fleeing away of the accused on scooter. b. The evidence of PW Shiv Kumar Yadav also corroborates the confessional statement of accused Lalit Chandra Biswas regarding something which had happened prior to the occurrence. c. The evidence of PW-9 also gives corroboration to the extral judicial confession of accused Lalit Chandra Biswas.

Final Decision: The court convicted and sentenced three accused persons, namely Lalit Chandra Biswas @ Rajiv Sen @ Raju, Amarendra Kumar Singh, and Kunal Jena @ Kunna, under Section 302 read with Section 120 B of IPC and Section 27 Arms Act. The court acquitted the fourth accused person, Yogendra Sharma @ Munna Sharma, of the charges framed against him.