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High Court Of Madhya Pradesh
S. S. JHA, R. B. DIXIT
STATE OF M.P. - Appellant
Versus
VEDRI - Respondents
Cri. A. 160 Of 1986
Decided On : 08/10/2000
(ii) Criminal Trial - Identification by voice Can be relied upon If person who is to be Identified Is Intimately known to person who identified. (Para 24)
(iii) Criminal Trial - Question of absconding of accused - Though such conduct of accused is relevant evidence as indicating to some extent his guilty mind. It cannot be held as a determining link. (Para 25)
(iv) Criminal Trial - Hostile witness - Evidence of hostile witness also can be relied on to extent it supports the prosecution version. (Para 28)
(v) Criminal Trial - Appreciation of evidence - Duty of Court Traditional dogmatic hypertechnical approach has to be replaced by a rational, realistic and genuine approach for administering Justice.
Held: The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of State of H.P. v. Lekh Raj and Another. 2000 (1) sec 247 has pointed out the duty of the Courts in appreciating the evidence and observed that the criminal trial cannot be equated with a mock scene from a stunt film. The legal trial is conducted to ascertain the guilt or innocence of the accused arraigned. In arriving at a conclusion about the truth, the Courts are required to adopt a rational approach and judge the evidence by its intrinsic worth and the animus of the witnesses. The hyper technicalities or figment of imagination should not be allowed to direst the Court of its responsibility of sifting and weighing the evidence to arrive at the conclusion regarding the existence or otherwise of a particular circumstance keeping in view the peculiar facts of each case, the social position of the victim and the accused, the larger interests of the society particularly the law and order problem and degrading values of life inherent in the prevalent system. The realities of life have to be kept in mind while appreciating the evidence for arriving at the truth, The Courts are not obliged to make efforts either to give latitude to the prosecution or loosely construe the law in favour of the accused. The traditional dogmatic hyper-technical approach has to be replaced by a rational, realistic and genuine approach for administering justice in a criminal trial. Criminal jurisprudence cannot be considered to be a Utopian thought but have to be considered as part and parcel of the human civilization and the realities of life. The Courts cannot ignore the erosion in values of life which are a common feature of the present system. Such erosions cannot be given a bonus in favour of those who are guilty of polluting society and mankind. (Para 30)
(vi) Indian Penal Code, 1860 Section 302 - Respondent accused tried for murder of his wife and married daughter - Case based on circumstantial evidence - Acquittal by trial Court - Appeal- Accused had strong motive to commit crime Witnesses of vicinity and neighbourhood turned hostile under influence and due to close relation with accused - Evidence of even hostile witnesses proved that on the night of incident except both deceased and mother of accused and accused himself there was no other person in house - A duty was cast upon accused to explain his presence - His plea of alibi was found not believable Conduct of accused proved as a missing link in chain of circumstances - Trial Court acted with material irregularity and accused was liable to be convicted. (paras 35 to 37)
Result: Appeal allowed.
( 1 ) THE lust, passion and greed makes the man blind, who can go to any extent in committing crimes even against his kith and kin. This is an unfortunate case, as alleged, where accused-respondent had killed his own wife and young married daughter on intervening night of 20-21st June, 1984.
( 2 ) ABOUT 20 years before the incident, deceased Shyam Sundri was married to accused-respondent and from this wed-lock after about 8 to 10 years, a daughter deceased Kamlesh was born. After about 7-8 years, accused entered into second marriage with Sukhrani and that was the beginning of befalling calamaties on his first wife deceased Shyam Sundri. It is said that after selling a part of his ancestral agricultural land, accused performed marriage of his daughter deceased Kamlesh some 4-5 years before the incident with Devi Singh (PW3 ). After sometime, some other agricultural land, which stood in the name of Jagdevi (PW7), mother of the accused, were sold and out of the same proceeds, a plot was purchased at Gohad chauraha in the name of Sukh Rani, second wife of the accused. The deceased Shyamsundri feeling aggrieved by sale of ancestral property thereby took it as future loss to her and her daughter, filed a Civil Suit on 14-5-1983 in the Court of Civil Judge, Gohad against accused, his second wife, Sukhrani and Mahila Hem Kuwar. She had also filed objections before the Tehsildar Gohad against mutation proceedings where-under mutation was proposed in favour of Hem Kuwar on the basis of sale-deed executed by Jagdevi in her favour in respect of S. N. 418. It was alleged by the deceased Shyam Sundri Bai that her husband is a shrewd and mischievous type of person, who in order to avoid her maintenance has managed to record ancestral land in the name of his mother and had also sold a part of the land to Hem Kuwar. It is further alleged that after marriage of her daughter, accused had started treating her with mental and physical cruelty and beating her under the influence of liquor. In order to expel her from the house, her mother-in-law Jagdevi and second wife of accused, Sukhrani also abated cruelty and beating by the accused. They had also snatched her jewellery, received from her parental house as Estri Dhan.
( 3 ) SARMAN Singh (PW9), brother of deceased, Shyam Sundri, after about 5-6 months from second marriage by accused, was approached by Shyam Sundri, who told him about the atrocities committed upon her by the accused. Since accused had neglected the deceased Shyam Sundri some 3-4 years before the incident, a case for awarding maintenance to her was filed in Gohad Court. Since then Shyam Sundri started residing at village Ehrani with her brothers. Some 15 days before the incident, when deceased Shyam Sundri had appeared for recording her statement in the maintenance case against the accused, the accused offered her maintenance and to keep her with him. Shyam Sundri, therefore, accompanied with her daughter-deceased Kamlesh went to live with accused at village Tehri. The returning of deceased with accused seems to have caused another trouble in the house because both the wives of accused quarrelled and consequently 2nd wife Sukhrani left for her parental house.
( 4 ) ON the fateful intervening night of 20-21st June, 1984, it is alleged that when deceased Shyam Sundri and her daughter deceased Kamlesh were sleeping on the cot, accused assaulted and killed them with kulhadi (axe ). After the assault, accused had disappeared and remained absconded, when he was arrested in Crime No. 305/80 of Police Civil Lines, Morena and in compliance of production warrant, he was brought before the committal Court on 1-1-1985. 4a. In the morning, Jagdevi (PW 7), mother of the accused informed about incident to her neighbours. Pappu alias Harish Chandra Singh (PW8) who went to inform the incident to Devi Singh (PW3), brother of the deceased, who lodged the FIR (Ex. P/9) at Police Station Gohad Chauraha. On the basis of this report, Polic
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