Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2024 Supreme(MP) 123

IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
Vivek Rusia and Anil Verma, JJ.
Kammu @ Kamlesh v. State of M. P.
Criminal Appeals No. 917 of 2013, 936 of 2013 and 988 of 2013 (I); Decided on 21.3.2024

Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
Vivek Singh and Nilesh Dave for respective appellants; Tarun Kushwah, Government Advocate for respondent/State.

Eyewitness testimony, even from related witnesses, must be evaluated seriously, and a conviction can be sustained on such evidence if corroborated by additional reliable sources.

Headnote:(A) Indian Penal Code, Sections 120-B, 302 - Criminal conspiracy and murder - Appellants convicted for conspiracy to murder resulting in the death of Ahsan; evidence corroborated by postmortem report and testimonies of prosecution witnesses - Trial Court's conviction based on cogent evidence and established chain of circumstantial evidence. (Paras 1, 23, 25)

(B) Criminal Procedure Code, Section 311 - Consideration of witness testimony - Weight of eyewitness accounts, even when family members, shall not be discarded based on relationships alone. (Paras 15, 18)

Facts of the case:
On 29/01/2011, appellants conspired and executed the murder of Ahsan, who was shot dead by Ansar, corroborated by eyewitness and physical evidence.

Findings of Court:
Trial Court's conviction was upheld by demonstrating sufficient evidence, including eyewitness accounts and forensic reports.

Issues: Whether the accused were rightly convicted based on the available evidence.

Ratio Decidendi: The court affirmed the validity of eyewitness testimony despite contradictions, citing precedents that emphasize the reliability of such evidence when corroborated properly.

Result: Appeals dismissed; conviction and sentence affirmed.

Table of Content
1. overview of the case and convictions (Para 1 , 2 , 3)
2. defense arguments against conviction (Para 4 , 5 , 13 , 15)
3. assessment of medical evidence and postmortem (Para 6 , 7 , 8 , 9)
4. witness testimonies related to the incident (Para 10 , 11 , 12 , 14)
5. credibility of witnesses and legal precedents (Para 16 , 17 , 18 , 19)
6. circumstantial evidence establishing guilt (Para 20 , 21 , 22)
7. motive and conviction affirmation (Para 23 , 24 , 25)
8. final judgment and orders (Para 26 , 27 , 28 , 29)

JUDGMENT

1. This judgment shall govern the disposal of Criminal Appeal No.917/2013 (Kammu @ Kamlesh v. State of M.P.), Criminal Appeal No. 936/2013 ( Sheju Mewati @ Shahjad Kha v. State of M.P.) and Criminal Appeal No. 988/2013 (Rijwan @ Teju Sheikh, Jafar and Ansar v. State of M.P.) as all these criminal appeals are arising out of common judgment dated 29/06/2013 passed in Sessions Trial no 100/2011 by 5th Additional Sessions Judge, Mandsaur, whereby the appellants have been convicted and sentenced as under :

Nos	Appellant's name	Conviction	Sentence	Fine	In default of fine
1.	Kammu @ Kamlesh	120-B and 302/120-B	Life Imprisonment each	Rs. 1000/- each	Three months R.I. each
2.	Sheju @ Shabjad	120-B and 302/120-B	Life Imprisonment each	Rs. 1000/- each	Three months R.I. each
3.	Ansar	120-B and 302/120-B	Life Imprisonment each	Rs. 1000/- each	Three months R.I. each
4.	Rijwan @ Tinu	120-B and 302/120-B	Life Imprisonment each	Rs. 1000/- each	Three months R.I. each
5.	Jafar	120-B and 302/120-B	Life Imprisonment each	Rs. 1000/- each	Three months R.I. each

2. Brief facts of the case are that on 29/01/2011, appellants Kammu @ Kamlesh, Sheju, Ansar, Rijwan @ Teju, Jafar hatched criminal conspiracy for murder of Ahsan and in furtherance of their criminal conspiracy, at about 9.00 pm at night, the accused persons came at the house of deceased Ahsan with white colored Indica car. They called Ahsan. When Ahsan came out of his house, accused Kammu and Sheju started talking with him. Thereafter, they took Ahsan with them in the aforesaid car. On the next day morning at about 7.00 am, one Nahru informed complainant Chand Kha that one dead body was lying near the boundary of Suresh Seth, then the complainant went there and saw that the dead body, which was lying there, was of his son Ahsan, who sustained gun shot injury on the head. Then, complainant Chand Kha went to police station- Kotwali, Mandsair and lodged FIR Accordingly, Crime No. 76/2011 under section 302/34 of IPC was registered against accused/appellant Kammu @ Kamlesh and Sheju. During investigation, Investigating Officer reached the spot, prepared spot map and recovered blood stained soil, simple soil, four empty shell of cartridges, two live cartridges, one cap and slipper (chappal) etc from the place of the incident. During investigation, it was gathered that appellant/accused Kammu and Sheju Mewati @ Shahjad Kha took deceased Ahsan towards Chhajukheda road with other persons. Appellant Kammu informed co-accused Ansar, Jafar and Rijwan, then Jafar, Ansar and Rijwan came there.Thereafter, Ansar fired gun shot at the head of Ahsan, due to which, he died on the spot. Police arrested all the accused persons and on the basis of their disclosure statements, Indica car and motorcycle were recovered and pistol was also recovered from the possession of accused Ansar's brother Jafar. All the seized articles were sent to FSL, Sagar for its chemical and ballistic examination.

3. After completion of investigation, charge sheet was filed before JMFC, Mandsaur, who committed the case to the Court of Sessions, Mandsaur. Later on, matter was transferred to the Court of 5th ASJ, Mandsaur. Prosecution examined as many as 27 witnesses, while the defence did not examine any witness. The trial Court, after scrutinizing the evidence available on record, convicted and sentenced the appellants as stated herein above. Being aggrieved by the impug