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2016 Supreme(Mad) 469
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
M. JAICHANDREN & S. NAGAMUTHU, JJ.
Thambidurai – Appellant
Vs.
State by the Inspector of Police, G1 Vepery Police Station – Respondent
CRL Appeal No. 339 of 2012
Decided On : 04-02-2016
For the Appellant : Mr. K.S. Suresh and M/s. T.K. Sampath Associates.
For the Respondent: Mr. M. Maharaja, Additional Public Prosecutor.
The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for corroboration of evidence from independent sources when the evidence of a witness is partly believable.
Headnote:
FIR - Criminal Law - IPC 147, 148, 302 - The court discussed the evidences of eyewitnesses, the significance of the FIR, and the requirement of corroboration from independent sources. The court emphasized the need for corroboration when the evidence of a witness is partly believable and held that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
Fact of the Case:
The appellant was convicted for offenses under IPC sections 148, 341, and 302 read with 149. The case involved the murder of Mr. Kannan, where the appellant and six others armed with knives intercepted a motor-cycle, resulting in the death of the deceased. The prosecution presented eyewitness accounts and material evidence to support their case.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the Trial Court's approach of treating the FIR as substantive evidence and convicting the appellant based solely on the presence of his name in the FIR was incorrect. The court emphasized the need for corroboration of evidence from independent sources and held that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
Issues: The issues revolved around the credibility of eyewitness accounts, the significance of the FIR, and the requirement for corroboration of evidence from independent sources.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the principle that when the evidence of a witness is partly believable, it requires corroboration from independent sources to be considered reliable. The court applied this principle to hold that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
Final Decision: The Criminal Appeal was allowed, the conviction and sentence imposed on the appellant were set aside, and he was acquitted of all charges.
S. NAGAMUTHU, J.
1. The appellant is A1 in S.C. No. 152/2002 on the file of the learned II Additional Sessions Judge, Chennai. Including the appellant, there were a total number of seven accused. Pending trial, A6 (Rajesh) died. By Judgment dated 24.02.2005, the Trial Court acquitted A2 to A5 and A7, viz., Sekar @ Umai Sekar @ Umaikottan Sekar, Soori @ Gajendran, Kunjan @ Siva @ Ponnusamy, Dana @ Danasekaran and Auto Raj @ Samsaraj, from all charges and convicted the appellant alone for the offences u/s. 148, 341 and 302 read with 149 IPC and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life for the offence u/s. 302 IPC to undergo 2 years rigorous imprisonment for the offence u/s.148 IPC and to undergo one month simple imprisonment for the offence u/s. 341 IPC. Challenging the said conviction and sentence, the appellant/A1 is before this Court, with this appeal.
2. The case of the prosecution, in brief, is as follows:-
(a) The deceased in this case was one Mr. Kannan. There was enmity between A1 and the deceased. On 05.06.2000, at about 8.00 p.m., P.W.1 and the deceased were coming in a motor-cycle. The deceased was the pillion-rider. When they were passing through Erran Street, Purasawakkam, Chennai, the above six accused and one Rajesh (now no more) emerged at the scene of occurrence. All the seven persons were armed with one knife each. They intercepted the motor-cycle with murderous intention. P.W.1 stopped the motor-cycle and ran to a distance with a view to escape. All the six accused and Rajesh cut the deceased indiscriminately. The deceased fell down, sustained grievous injuries and died instantaneously. P.W.1 went to Vepery Police Station and made a complaint.
(b) P.W.20, the then Inspector of Police, on receipt of the said complaint, registered a case in Cr. No. 1222/2000 u/s. 147, 148 and 302 IPC. Ex.P.1 is the complaint and Ex.P.11 is the printed FIR. He forwarded both the documents to the Court and took up the case for investigation.
(c) In the FIR, P.W.1 had mentioned the name of the appellant alone as one of the assailants and he further mentioned that four other persons who could be identified, but whose names were not known to him, also participated in the crime.
(d) Taking up the case for investigation, he proceeded to the scene of occurrence and prepared Observation Mahazar (Ex.P.12) in the presence of P.W.12 and another witness. He recovered blood stained earth (M.O.8) and sample earth (M.O.9) from the place of occurrence. There were three knife pouches found in the scene and he recovered them under a cover of Mahazar. Then he sent the dead body to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital and kept the body in the Mortuary. P.W.20 conducted inquest on the dead body of the deceased on 06.06.2000 from 6.30 a.m. onwards. Then he forwarded the body of the deceased for postmortem.
(e) P.W.17, Dr. Shantha Kumar, conducted autopsy on the body of the deceased on 06.06.2000 at 10.30 a.m. He found the following injuries:-
External Injuries:-
(1) An oblique linear, brown abrasion 5x0.3 cm on the front upper third of right arm.
(2) An oblique linear, brown abrasion 3x0.2 cm on the front of upper third of right forearm.
(3) An irregular, brown abrasion, 1x0.5 cm on the back of the upper third of right forearm.
(4) An irregular, brown abrasion 2x1 cm on the back of the left elbow.
(5) An irregular, brown abrasion 4x1 cm on the upper part of left cheek.
(6) An irregular, brown abrasion 2.5x1 cm on the left side of forehead abutting the outer third of the left eye brow.
(7) An irregular, brown abrasion 3x2 cm on the upper part of the left side of the forehead.
(8) An oblique cut wound 1.5x0.3x0.3 cm on the back of upper third of right index finger.
(9) An oblique cut wound 2x0.3x0.3 cm on the back of the middle third right ring finer.
(10) An oblique cut wound 1x0.3x0.3 cm, on the back of the middle third of right right finger.
(11) An oblique cut wound 3.5x1x0.5 cm, on the lower part of the right cheek, 0.5 cm right lateral to the right an
