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2009 Supreme(Mad) 822
High Court of Judicature at Madras
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE C. NAGAPPAN & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE T. SUDANTHIRAM
Sivagami & Others
Versus
State, represented by Inspector of Police, Villupuram Taluk Police Station
Criminal Appeal Nos.293 & 171 of 2008
Decided on : 26-03-2009
For the Appellants :V. Gopinath Senior Counsel, M/s L. Mahendran, S.Suresh, A.Shiv Kumar Advocates.
For the Respondent: V.R. Balasubramanian Additional Public Prosecutor.
The prosecution must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and fabricated or delayed complaints and perfunctory investigations can undermine the case.
Headnote:
HOMICIDE - Criminal Law - IPC 302, IPC 148, IPC 149, IPC 147, IPC 341 - The judgment discusses the prosecution's case against the accused for the murder of Murugan. It highlights the medical evidence establishing homicidal violence, contradictions in witness testimonies, delay in lodging the complaint, and the perfunctory investigation. The court ultimately acquitted the accused due to lack of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Fact of the Case:
The prosecution accused five individuals of murdering Murugan. The medical evidence established homicidal violence, but witness testimonies had contradictions. The delay in lodging the complaint and perfunctory investigation were also noted.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, leading to their acquittal.
Issues: Contradictions in witness testimonies, delay in lodging the complaint, and perfunctory investigation.
Ratio Decidendi: The prosecution must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Fabricated or delayed complaints and perfunctory investigations can undermine the prosecution's case.
Final Decision: The court acquitted the accused due to lack of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
C. Nagappan, J.
The appellants, four in number, in Criminal Appeal No.293/2008, were Accused Nos.1, 2, 4 and 5 in Sessions Case No.116 of 2005 on the file of Principal Sessions Judge, Villupuram. The appellant in Criminal Appeal No.171/2008 was Accused No.3 in the above Sessions Case and hereinafter, in this Judgment, they will be referred to Accused Nos.1 to 5 respectively for the sake of convenience.
2. Accused Nos.2 to 4 were convicted by the learned Principal Sessions Judge under Section 302 and 148 IPC and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life each and to pay a fine of Rs.2,000/- each in default, to undergo simple imprisonment for three months for offence under Section 302 IPC and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year each for offence under Section 148 IPC;
Accused Nos.1 and 5 were convicted under Section 302 IPC read with 149 IPC and 147 IPC and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life each and to pay a fine of Rs.2,000/-each, in default, to undergo simple imprisonment for three months for the offence under Section 302 IPC read with 149 IPC and to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for six months each for offence under Section 147 IPC;
Accused Nos.1 to 5 were convicted under Section 341 IPC and sentenced to pay a fine of Rs.500/- each, in default, to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for three months and the learned Principal Sessions Judge ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
3. To prove its case, the prosecution examined P.Ws.1 to 14 and marked Exs.P1 to P17 and M.Os.1 to 10.
4. The case of the prosecution, as could be discerned from oral and documentary evidence, can be briefly summarised as follows.
Accused No.2-Devanathan and Accused No.4-Ratchakan are the brothers of Accused No.1-Sivagami. Accused No.3-Azhagar is the paramour of Accused No.1-Sivagami. P.W.1-Dhanabakkiyam is the wife of deceased-Murugan. P.W.5-Kadirvel Kounder is the father of Murugan. P.W.5-Kadirvel Kounder has two wives and through the first wife, he got a son by name Thangaraj and through his second wife, he got two sons by name Murugan and Ramakrishnan and three daughters by name Shanthi, Lakshmi and Mallika. Ramakrishnan eloped Accused No.1-Sivagami and married her and they were living for about two years in Thayumanavar street, Villupuram. The marriage was not accepted by P.W.5-Kadirvel Kounder and he settled four acres of land in favour of children of P.W.1-Dhanabakkiyam by name Thilagan and Tamilkumaran and he also gave one acre of land to Ramakrishnan. Ramakrishnan was electrician by profession and Accused No.3-Azhagar was his friend and there was illicit intimacy between Accused No.3-Azhagar and Accused No.1-Sivagami and Ramakrishnan died of electric shock. Accused No.1-Sivagami used to bring Accused No.3-Azhagar to one acre of land for cultivation and that was objected by Murugan and there was quarrel between them and Murugan issued Advocate notice.
On 3. 2005, at about 9.30 pm, Murugan drove the Suzuki motorcycle and P.W.1-Dhanabakkiyam was in the pillion and they were returning from Villupuram to their native village and when they were proceeding near Mandakulam, Accused Nos.1 to 5, armed with billhooks, restrained them and Accused No.1 instigated the other accused to attack and murder Murugan and Accused No.5 caught hold Murugan and Accused No.2-Devanathan cut Murugan with billhook on the left side forehead and Accused No.4-Ratchakan cut Murugan on the eyebrow with billhook and Accused No.3-Azhagar cut Murugan on the right knee. The occurrence was witnessed by P.W.3-Sundaram and the injured-Murugan ran to nearby Ramaraj Reddiars house and P.W.1-Dhanabakkiyam followed him and swooned there.
P.W.2-Narayanan took injured-Murugan to Government Hospital, Villupuram in a car. On 3. 2005, at 10.20 pm, Dr. Amudha examined Murugan and declared him dead and Ex.P6 is the Accident Register extract issued by her. P.W.13-Sub Inspector Mohan, Villupuram Taluk Police Station, on 3. 2005 at 9 am, received Ex.P1-complaint from P.W.
