Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2025 Supreme(Telangana) 656

IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA, HYDERABAD
K. SURENDER, ANIL KUMAR, JJ.
Mohd. Ahmed @ Fardeen @ Laddu, S/o Ameen - Appellant
Versus
The State of Telangana - Respondent
Criminal Appeal Nos.1715 of 2017 & 121 And 732 Of 2018
Decided On : 27-02-2025

Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant : Mr. T.Niranjan Reddy, learned, Senior Counsel, Mr. S.Ram Reddy, learned counsel
For the Respondent: Dodla Arun Kumar Additional Public Prosecutor

The conviction based on circumstantial evidence is not sustainable without a complete chain of evidence, and undue delay in handling forensic samples raises integrity concerns.

Headnote:(A) Indian Penal Code - Sections 120-B, 302, and 380 - Appeals filed against conviction and sentence - Accused found guilty of conspiracy, murder, and theft, yet sought to challenge the reliance on circumstantial evidence due to evidentiary issues involving CCTV footage and DNA samples. (Paras 11, 12, 30)

(B) Circumstantial Evidence - Principles concerning chain of custody and admissibility reaffirmed, highlighting that delays in handling evidence can undermine the prosecution's case. (Paras 26, 32)

Facts of the case:
The deceased was found dead in her home with signs of strangulation, leading to suspicion of theft and murder, which prompted investigation and subsequent arrests of the accused. (Paras 3, 10)

Findings of Court:
The prosecution failed to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt due to insufficient and inadmissible evidence, particularly concerning circumstantial evidence. (Paras 32)

Issues: The court addressed whether circumstantial evidence was sufficient to uphold the conviction, questioning the integrities of the evidence presented, like CCTV footage and DNA reports. (Paras 11, 32)

Ratio Decidendi: The court defined strict criteria for relying on circumstantial evidence and emphasized the necessity of a complete chain of evidence, ruling that the prosecution did not meet this burden. (Paras 26, 32)

Result: Appeals allowed and conviction set aside, ordering immediate release of the appellants. (Para 33)

Table of Content
1. introduction of appeals and legal representations. (Para 1 , 2)
2. details on the prosecution case and investigation. (Para 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9)
3. circumstantial evidence relied upon for conviction. (Para 10)
4. arguments regarding admissibility of evidence. (Para 11 , 12 , 13 , 14)
5. prosecution's circumstantial evidence argument. (Para 15)
6. discussion of evidence handling and collection protocols. (Para 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22)
7. recovery of items and admissibility of confessions. (Para 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30)
8. final judgment based on the lack of conclusive evidence. (Para 31)
9. prosecution's failure to establish guilt. (Para 32)
10. conclusion reversing conviction and sentence. (Para 33)

JUDGMENT :

K.Surender, J.

These appeals are filed by appellants/accused Nos.1, 2, and 3, aggrieved by the judgment, dated 11.12.2014 in S.C.No.136 of 2014, passed by the VI Additional District and Sessions Judge, Godavarikhani, questioning their conviction and sentence under Sections 120-B, 302, and 380 of IPC.

2. Heard Mr. T.Niranjan Reddy, learned Senior Counsel for accused No.1, Mr. S.Ram Reddy, learned counsel for accused No.2 and S M Rafeo, learned counsel for accused No.3 and Mr. Dodla Arun Kumar, learned Additional Public Prosecutor, appearing on behalf of respondent-State.

3. The brief facts of prosecution case are that, on 08.07.2012, at about 00.05 hours, PW1, who is husband of Mrs. Jyothikala (hereinafter referred to as the deceased), lodged a complaint in NTPC Police Station stating that, on 07.07.2012, at about 01:45 pm, he left for his second shift of official duty in NTPC and the deceased was alone in the house at that time. While he was on duty, he made a phone call to deceased at about 7:30 P.M., but there was no response from the deceased to his call. Again, he made another call to the landline phone, but there was no response from deceased to his second call. He returned home at about 8:00 P.M, and found the deceased lying dead on cot, in the bedroom. He also observed that a kerchief was gagged into her mouth, and that her hands were tied with an electric wire, and also found that gold pusthelatadu and two gold rings were missing. PW1 suspected that some unknown persons committed theft and killed his wife. He gave a report (Ex. P-1) to the S.I. of Police, NTPC, PW-15, who registered a case in Crime No.101/2012 for the offences under Sections 120-B, 302, and 380 of IPC, and issued express FIR/Ex.P-16.

4. Basing on the report of PW-1, PW-16, Inspector of Police, took up the investigation from PW-15 and recorded the statement of PW-1, and rushed to the scene of offence, and also called for dog squad from Karimnagar. He had collected blood stains on the floor and on door curtain of the bed room, with cotton swabs from the scene, with the help of clues team. PW- 16 also seized the plastic electric wire (MO.19), saree (MO.17), kerchief (MO.18), broken bangle pieces (MO.16), and one tester (MO.20) from the scene of offence, and conducted scene of offence Panchanama in the presence of PW-10 & LW-20. PW-16 also examined PWs.3, 4, & 6 and recorded their statements. PW-16 also recorded the statement of PW-2 and LW-9, who are respectively, the daughter and son-in-law of PW-1 and the deceased. Thereafter, he completed inquest on the dead body of deceased and sent the body for post mortem examination to Government Area Hospital, Godhavarikhani.

5. PW-14 and Dr. Surya Rao (LW.27) conducted post mortem on the dead body of the deceased, and preserved intestine, liver, etc., for chemical analysis. Ex. P-14 is the post mortem report and Ex. P-15 is the final report, and the cause of death as per Doctor's report, is due to asphyxia and shock, and it was opined that the deceased died due to smothering and throttling.

6. It is further case of the prosecution that PW-16 has procured call details of all network companies and verified the call details with the help of tower IDs and calls made at PTS NTPC on 07-07-20