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IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
B. N. Katju, K. C. Agarwal
NASEEM AHMAD - Appellant
Versus
STATE OF U.P. - Respondents
Criminal Appeal 302 Of 1977
Decided On : 02/08/1984
CRIMINAL APPEAL - Murder - Conviction - Evidence - Extra-judicial confession - Corroboration - Recovery of weapon - Ballistic report - Admissibility.
Fact of the Case:
The appellant was convicted of murdering his cousin, Kalua, by shooting him in a train compartment. The prosecution's case was based on circumstantial evidence, including extra-judicial confessions made by the appellant to three witnesses, the recovery of the murder weapon from the appellant's shop, and a ballistic report linking the weapon to the bullet found in Kalua's body.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the extra-judicial confessions were admissible and reliable, as they were made voluntarily and were corroborated by other evidence. The court also found that the recovery of the murder weapon and the ballistic report were admissible and reliable evidence. The court concluded that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt and upheld the appellant's conviction.
Issues: 1. Whether the extra-judicial confessions were admissible and reliable. 2. Whether the recovery of the murder weapon and the ballistic report were admissible and reliable. 3. Whether the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. Extra-judicial confessions are admissible if they are made voluntarily and are corroborated by other evidence. In this case, the confessions were made voluntarily and were corroborated by the recovery of the murder weapon, the ballistic report, and the testimony of witnesses who saw the appellant with the victim shortly before the murder. 2. The recovery of the murder weapon and the ballistic report were admissible and reliable evidence. The recovery of the weapon was made pursuant to a disclosure statement made by the appellant, which is admissible under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act. The ballistic report was admissible under Section 293(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows for the admission of reports from certain government scientific experts without the need for the expert to testify in court. 3. The prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The extra-judicial confessions, the recovery of the murder weapon, the ballistic report, and the testimony of witnesses who saw the appellant with the victim shortly before the murder all provided strong evidence of the appellant's guilt.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appellant's appeal and upheld his conviction for murder.
( 1 ) NASEEM Ahmad son of Abdul Hamid resident of village Burbanpur, police station Sheohara, district Bijnor has filed this appeal under Section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure against the judgment dated December 18, 1976 passed by the Second Additional Sessions Judge, Nainital in Sessions Trial No. A-123 of 1975, convicting him under Section 302 Indian Penal Code and sentencing him to life imprisonment.
( 2 ) ON June 27. 1974 at about 11. 40 P. M. , Jagannath (P. W. 3) was on duty at Railway Station Ramnagar of the North. Eastern Railway. At that time 127 Up arrived from Moradabad. For purposes of clearing the line of a goods train which was stationed at the Ramnagar station be passed through compartment No. 7782a of 127 Up [train.- He had a lantern in his hand. He saw a man lying on the floor of the said compartment of 127 Up train who was covered with chadar. He met Tika Ram waterman on the way and asked him to awake the said person who was in the aforesaid compartment and, in the mean-time, he went to give signal to the goods train. On return after clearing the line of the goods train Jagannath (P. W. 3) again met Tika Ram aforesaid. Tika Ram told him that there were blood marks in the compartment where the person pointed out by Jagannath (P. W. 3) earlier was lying. Jagannath (P. W. 3) sent Tika Ram to call Rafiq Ahmad (P. W. 4) the station master. He thereafter telephoned the local police and sent a memo (Ex. Ka 5) intimating that one man was lying on the floor of the aforesaid compartment. The police was asked to attend immediately. After receipt of the message constable Rajendra Prasad (P. W. 7) prepared a chick at about 12. 15 A. M. , vide Ex. Ka 5 at Police Station Ramnagar. He also entered a case in the General Diary vide Ex. Ka 6. The papers were thereafter received by Han Singh Tomar (P. W. 8) at about 8. 30 A. M. through constable Budgi Singh while he was on gasht duty. Along with the constable and other police personnel he went to the spot and saw the dead body lying on the floor of the compartment. He found that the deceased had received one firearm injury in his chest. He sealed the dead body and sent the same for postmortem to Kashipur Civil Hospital through constable Abdul Wahid (P. W. 5) and Jagdish Chandra. He took samples of blood stained plaster as well as plain plaster of the compartment and sealed them on the spot and prepared the memo (Ex. Ka 12 ). He also took into possession a second class ticket from the pocket of the trouser of the deceased. Since the murder had been detected within the jurisdiction of the G. R. P. therefore S. I. Tomar entrusted the investigation to Bhupal Singh, S. 0. G. R. P. Kathgodam who reached the spot on June 28, 1974 on receiving information from the station master.
( 3 ) THE dead body was taken in the sealed cover to the Kashipur Civil Hospital by the two constables Abdul Wahid (P. W. 5) and Jagdish Chandra. Dr. N. C. Panrle (P. W. 14) performed the postmortem of the dead body at about 9. A. M. At that time, Rais Ahmad real brother of the deceased, reached with Abdul Hamid (P. W. 13) the hospital and identified the dead body to be that of his brother Kalua alias Mohd. Yaqub. On examination of the dead body, Dr. N. C. Pande (P. W. 14) found that the age of the deceased was about 22 and 25 years and about 37 hours had elapsed since his death. Rigor mortis had passed off. The antemortem injuries on the person of the deceased found were: 1. Multiple abrasion around right eye scattered in an area 10 cm x 10 cm. 2. Abrasion on left knee 3 cm x 3 cms. 3. Gunshot (firearm injury) on upper one third sternum 1/2 cm x 1/2 cm x depth of thoracic cavity fracturing bone. Profused bleeding; corresponding hole in shirt and undershirt. Blackening and tatooing present which was suggestive of near range.
( 4 ) ON internal examination, Dr. Pande found hole and fracture in corresponding sternum of injury no. 3 and there was hole in lung corresponding to injury no 3 w
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