Reportable
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1089 OF 2010
Subhash Krishnan ….Appellant
VERSUS
State of Goa .…Respondent
WITH
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1224 OF 2012
(ARISING OUT OF SLP (CRL) 3966/2010)
Subhash Krishnan ….Appellant
VERSUS
State of Goa .…Respondent
J U D G M E N T
Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, J.
1. Leave granted in SLP (Crl) 3966 of 2010.
2. These appeals have been preferred by the second accused.
Though, in all eight persons were accused of the alleged offences,
records reveal that accused Nos. 7 and 8 were absconding even at the time
of filing of the charge sheet and hence as many as six accused persons
were charge-sheeted for the offences under Section 120B read with Section
302, IPC, Sections 342, 364, 504 read with Section 34, IPC for the
alleged abduction, wrongful confinement and killing the deceased Shanu
Komarpant on 10.10.2003. Accused No.5 and A-6 were acquitted by the
trial Court giving benefit of doubt while A-1 to A-4 were acquitted of
charges under Section 342, 504 and 364 read with Section 34 IPC. The
accused Nos.1 to 4 were, however, convicted for offences under Sections
120B, 302 read with Section 34, IPC and were imposed with the sentence of
life imprisonment apart from a fine of Rs.5,000/-each, in default to
undergo further three months rigorous imprisonment. Accused Nos.1 to 4
preferred individual appeals being Criminal Appeal Nos.7/2007, 12/2007
and 13/2007. The appeal preferred by the second accused was Criminal
Appeal No.13/2007. The State preferred Appeal No.6 of 2008 against the
acquittal of charges under Sections 342, 504 and 364 read with Section 34
IPC and the total acquittal of A-5 and A-6. All appeals were tried
together and by a common judgment impugned in these appeals, the High
Court dismissed the appeal filed by the accused and the State appeal
being Criminal Appeal No.6/2008 was partly allowed, where under, the
accused Nos.1 to 4 were also convicted for offences under Sections 342
and 364 read with Section 34, IPC. The High Court held that the
conviction of the said accused would, therefore, be for all the offences
including offences under Sections 342, 364 read with Section 34, IPC. At
the outset, it has to be mentioned that as against the common judgment of
the High Court, appeal was stated to have been preferred by A-3.
However, it was dismissed at the stage of preliminary hearing. The
review preferred by A-3 in Review Petition (Crl) No.115 of 2011 was
also dismissed on 09.03.2011.
3. According to the case of the prosecution, on 10.10.2003, the
accused 1 to 6 went to the garage of Shanu Komarpant (hereinafter called
‘the deceased’) in a white colour Maruti van and enquired about his
whereabouts. The friend of the deceased by name Alex Viegas who was
present at that time in the auto garage noticed the belligerent behaviour
of the accused persons, and informed about the same to his cousin, the
complainant-Avelino Viegas (PW-2) and proceeded to the house of the
deceased, that there they met the deceased and informed him about the
anxious enquiries made by the accused about his whereabouts. It is
stated that the deceased himself wanted to straightaway go and meet the
first accused with a view to arrive at some settlement relating to an
issue relating to a love affair and in that view the deceased along with
PW-2 and Alex Viegas went to the place of occurrence in two motor cycles
one driven by PW-2 along with the deceased and the other hired by Alex
Viegas and that after reaching the place of occurrence when the deceased
asked A-1 as to for what purpose he was searching for him, the accused
persons stated to have assaulted the deceased with knife, sword and
bamboo stick (danda) and gave kick blows by hand in the middle of the
road viewed by persons standing nearby. It is further stated that PW-2
was held by A-1 from extending any help to the deceased and save him from
the assault by the other accused while Alex Viegas stated to have been
directed by PW-2 to fetch other people for saving the deceased from the
severe onslaught meted out to him. The said assault stated to have taken
place at 4.30 p.m. on 10.10.2003 on the road at Galjibagh in the vicinity
of Saint Anthony High School within the limits of Canacona police station
of South Goa District.
4. After the severe assault on the deceased, it is stated that A-2
brought a white colour Maruti van to the spot in which the deceased was
stated to have been placed in the dicky and the van proceeded towards
Talpona side. Based on a telephonic information about the above incident
recorded by PW-35 and at his instance, the crime was stated to have been
registered which was subsequently registered based on the complaint of PW-
2 for offences under Sections 302,342,504,364 and 120B, IPC read with 34
IPC in Crime No. 32/2003. Based on the information received, the
registration number of the Maruti van in which the deceased was carried,
the police stated to have alerted the check post and that the Maruti van
was intercepted at Assolna around 5.45 pm to 6 pm on the same day when
accused A-1 was found driving the vehicle with the other accused persons
in the van in which the knife, sword, bamboo stick (danda) and a right
foot chappal with blood stains were recovered. Shailesh Gadekar (A-4)
had an injury on his forehead who was sent to Primary Health Centre, Bali
along with A-5 and A-6 and that from there he was shifted to Hospicio
Hospital of Margao. All of them were subsequently arrested by the
police.
5. At the instance of A-1, the body of the deceased was discovered
in the morning of 11.10.2003 which was found hanging to the branch of a
cashew tree in an isolated place along side the road at village Onshi.
The blood stained clothes of the deceased and his left foot chappal with
blood stains were stated to have been recovered along with his
belongings, as well as, the nylon rope with which the body was found
hanging. After holding the inquest on the body of the victim the body
was stated to have been sent for postmortem. PW-9 was the postmortem
doctor who noted the injuries on the deceased numbering 36. PW-15
examined A-4 for the injuries sustained by him and issued the certificate
about the nature of the injuries found on him.
6. The prosecution examined 35 witnesses. The FSL report relating
to the blood stains found on the various articles seized revealed the
blood group of the deceased as ‘A’.
7. When the accused were questioned under Section 313 Cr.P.C. A-4
stated that 4 to 5 persons and two other motor cyclists assaulted him
with a sword when he was waiting at a bus stop at Canacona at 4.30 p.m.
on 10.10.2003, that pursuant to the said assault he fell unconscious on
the spot and thereafter regained consciousness only at the hospital at
Margao. A-3, A-5 and A-6 stated that they went to see A-4 in the
hospital on the evening of 10.10.2003 where they were stated to have been
taken into custody by the police. A-1 and A-2 made total denial of the
offence in their questioning under Section 313, Cr.P.C. As stated
earlier, the trial Court acquitted A-5 and 6 and convicted A-1 to A-4 for
offences under Sections 302 and 120B read with Section 34, IPC and
acquitted them for the offences under Sections 342, 504 and 364 read with
Section 34 IPC.
8. Assailing the judgment of the High Court as well as of the trial
Court, Mr. Jaspal Singh, learned senior counsel made elaborate
submissions. The sum and substance of the submissions of the learned
senior counsel were as under:-
a) Exhibit 96, complaint of PW-2 was not proved;
b) PW-2 having not offered himself for cross examination, his
evidence in chief was of no value and the High Court rightly
ignored the evidence of PW-2.
c) Though there was a specific overt act alleged against the
appellant with the aid of talwar Exhibit 12, the medical
evidence to the effect that there was no cut injury on the body
of the deceased go to show that the appellant had nothing to do
with the killing of the deceased.
d) The name of the appellant was not mentioned in Exhibit 96.
e) The appellant was a total stranger. The appellant’s case
should have, therefore, been equated to that of A-5 and A-6 and
he should have been acquitted on that basis.
f) The test identification parade was not held immediately
after the occurrence apart from the fact that the procedure in
holding the test identification parade was not duly followed.
The identification of the appellant by PWs-14 and 33 should not
have, therefore, been relied upon.
g) According to PW-35, the Investigating Officer, the place
from where the eye witnesses stated to have seen the occurrence,
namely, Marina store was admittedly 70 metres away from the
place of occurrence and, therefore, the eye witnesses could not
have seen the participation of the accused, in particular the
appellant, in the crime.
h) There was total repugnancy in the ocular vis-a-vis the
medical evidence as regards the use of the weapon, having regard
to the nature of injuries found on the body of the deceased.
Even according to the eye witnesses, the occurrence took place
only for 4-5 minutes and from a distance of 70 metres, the eye
witnesses could not have noted the persons with any certainty in
order to identify them with regard to specific part played by
them.
i) In the test identification parade, identical persons were not
kept and that a wrong procedure was followed in the holding of
test identification parade.
j) There were improvements in the statements of the eye witnesses
as compared to the statement found in Section 161 Cr.P.C.
k) PW-23 referred to the bleeding injuries on A-2 in definite
terms, whereas according to PW-9 as well as PW-15, no injury was
found on A-2 and the only accused on whom knife injury was found
was A-4. Therefore, the presence of the appellant and his
involvement in the crime was not made out.
Learned counsel relied upon the reported decisions of this Court in
Mohanlal Gangaram Gehani v. State of Maharashtra - 1982 (1) SCC 700,
Manzoor v. State of Uttar Pradesh - 1982 (2) SCC 72, Raju @ Rajendra v.
State of Maharashtra - 1998 (1) SCC 169, Kanan & Ors. v. State Of Kerala
- 1979 (3) SCC 319 in support of his submission as regards the
infirmities in holding the Test Identification Parade (TIP). Learned
counsel also relied upon the decisions reported in Ganga Prasad v. State
of U.P.- 1987 (2) SCC 232, Balaka Singh & Ors. v. The State of Punjab -
1975 (4) SCC 511, State of Uttar Pradesh v. Abdul Karim & Ors. - 2007
(13) SCC 569 and Animireddy Venkata Ramana & Ors. v. Public Prosecutor,
High Court of Andhra Pradesh - 2008 (5) SCC 368.
9. As against the above submissions, learned counsel appearing for
the State submitted as under:-
a) that the test identification parade was held in
accordance with law;
b) that PWs-14 and 33 who participated in the test
identification parade stated that they had never seen A-
2 or his photograph immediately before the holding of
the TIP.
c) When the appellant raised objection at the time of
holding of TIP and wanted to change his shirt, PW-30 who
held the TIP allowed the appellant to change his shirt
and thereby whatever objection he had was also duly set
right.
d) The appellant and other accused never cross examined the
witnesses about any shortcoming in the holding of the
TIP and, therefore, they cannot now be heard to complain
about the procedure followed in the holding of TIP.
e) PW-14 who was one of the witnesses, who identified the
appellant in the TIP also made it clear that she had
earlier seen him in her village though she did not know
his name.
f) As far as the distance factor was concerned, learned
counsel submitted that PW-35 clarified that the
witnesses viewed the occurrence from the entrance of
Marina stores and, therefore, they had a clear view of
what was taking place when the assailants were
assaulting the deceased.
g) Apart from the identification of the appellant by PWs-14
and 33 in the test identification parade, the other
witnesses, namely, PWs-16, 23, 26, 27 and 34 identified
the appellant in the Court and thereby corroborated the
version of Pws-14 and 33.
h) The evidence of PW-21, the owner of Maruti van who made
a categorical statement that it was the appellant who
took his Maruti van which was later on found to have
been used in the crime for which he applied for the
return of the vehicle.
i) The evidence of PW-25 who was a worker in the garage
also proved the presence of the appellant in the Maruti
van earlier in the day when the accused persons went to
the garage of the deceased enquiring about the
whereabouts of the deceased.
j) The subsequent interception of the said Maruti van by
the police PWs-13 and 18 and the presence of the
appellant along with other accused and their subsequent
arrest support the case of the prosecution.
k) The evidence of post mortem doctor PW-9 about the nature
of injuries, namely, injury Nos. 2 to 36 except injury
Nos. 21, 22, 23, 32, 33, 34 which according to PW-9
could have been caused by Exhibit 12 from its blunt side
and that the said injuries collectively could have
caused the death of the deceased.
l) The evidence of PW-16 as well as other witnesses,
namely, PWs-14, 33, 23 and 27 in having made specific
reference to the red colour shirt worn by the appellant
while indulging in the crime was never disputed.
m) The said witnesses specifically attributed the over act
played by the appellant. The medical evidence,
therefore, was in tune with the ocular evidence.
n) The evidence of PWs-14, 33, 16 and 23 in having
specifically referred to the removal of the deceased in
the Maruti van and the subsequent recovery of the body
of the deceased at the instance of A-1 on the next day
when the body was found hanging on a Cashew tree in
village Onshi established the offence of abduction and
the killing of the deceased as per Sections 342, 362,
364 read with 34, IPC.
o) The FSL report confirmed the presence of blood group ‘A’
belonging to the deceased in the red shirt worn by the
appellant while the blood group of the appellant was
‘O+’.
p) The version of PW-35 was truthful when he stated about
the telephonic message was received by him about the
ongoing assault on a person at Galjibagh in the vicinity
of Saint Anthony High School and the subsequent
complaint Exhibit 96 received by him on the basis of
which he commenced the investigation which resulted in
the filing of the final report against the accused.
Learned counsel appearing for the State relied upon the decision of
this Court reported in Sayed Darain Ahsan alias Darain v. State of West
Bengal & Anr. - 2012 (4) SCC 352, Dana Yadav alias Dahu & Ors. v. State
of Bihar- 2002 (7) SCC 295, Sidhartha Vashisht alias Manu Sharma v. State
(NCT of Delhi) - 2010 (6) SCC 1, Pramod Mandal v. State of Bihar - 2004
(13) SCC 150, Pravin v. State of Madhya Pradesh - 2008 (16) SCC 166,
Ashok Kumar v. State (Delhi Administration) - 1995 Suppl.(3) SCC 626,
Satish Narayan Sawant v. State of Goa - 2009 (17) SCC 724 in support of
his submissions.
10. Having heard learned counsel for the appellant as well as
learned counsel for the State and having perused the judgment impugned as
well as that of the trial Court and the other material papers, at the
outset we wish to deal with the submission regarding the registration of
the FIR and the alleged shortcomings. According to learned counsel, the
author of the complaint-Exhibit 96 having abstained from offering himself
for cross examination the said document ceased to have any effect.
Learned senior counsel would, therefore, contend that once Exhibit 96 and
the evidence of PW-2 goes out of picture and since he was not named in
the FIR, there was no possibility of implicating the appellant to the
offence alleged against him. According to him if Exhibit 96, the
complaint cease to exist what remained was the prior telephonic
information received by PW-35, based on which the appellant could not
have been convicted.
11. When we examine the said submission, it is true that PW-2, the
author of the complaint did not offer himself for cross examination. The
High Court in paragraph 37 made extensive reference to the circumstances
namely, the non-availability of PW-2 who was in abroad at the relevant
point of time, when his cross examination was fixed and that no fault can
be found with the prosecution since in spite of its best efforts, the
witness could not be produced. The High Court also noted that the trial
Court, therefore, had no option than to ignore his evidence. The High
Court then rightly pointed out that the whole purpose of the complaint
was to ignite the investigation, that PW-35, the investigating officer
after receipt of the complaint Exhibit 96 set the law in motion, sent the
record of the complaint to Canacona Magistrate on the morning of
11.10.2003 itself apart from the commencement of the investigation based
on the telephonic message regarding the ongoing assault at Galjibagh
without reference to either the victim or the accused involved in the
assault. We fully agree with the approach of the trial Court as
confirmed by the High Court in proceeding with the case of the
prosecution, ignoring the evidence of PW-2 while at the same time the
factum of the nature of offence alleged in the complaint Exhibit -96 as
proceeded with by the prosecution deserved to be considered in accordance
with law.
12. As rightly pointed out by the Courts below, apart from PW-2 who
was the author of the complaint and also eye witness, there were nine
other witnesses in the case who fully supported the case of the
prosecution. Those witnesses were cross examined in detail on behalf of
the accused. In the above stated background when the law was set in
motion by PW-35, the Investigating Officer who initially received a
telephonic message regarding the occurrence allegedly from the local MLA
about a serious crime taking place at Galjibagh in which somebody was
being assaulted, PW-35 stated to have sent his staff who brought PW-2 to
the police station through whom Exhibit 96 came to be received and crime
No.32/2003 was subsequently registered for offences under Section 302,
342, 504, 364, 120B read with Section 34, IPC. Closely followed by the
said act it is in evidence that police in the District was alerted which
resulted in PW-13 and 18 apprehending the accused along with the Maruti
van bearing registration No.GA 02J-7230 along with the weapons used.
Therefore, taking the totality of the above facts, it will be futile on
the part of the appellant to contend that PW-2 did not offer himself for
cross examination and, therefore, the whole genesis of the case should be
thrown out of board. In the said background, the submission of the
learned counsel about the non-reference of the name of the appellant in
Exhibit 96 pales into insignificance especially, when the complicity of
the appellant in the commission of the crime was otherwise fully
established by the prosecution. Therefore, the claim that the case of
the appellant should be equated to that of A-5 and A-6 does not merit any
consideration. Consequently, the submission of the learned counsel based
on the failure of PW-2 in offering himself for cross examination and non-
mentioning of the name of the appellant in Exhibit 96 also stands
rejected.
13. In this respect the reliance placed upon by the learned counsel
for the State on the decision of this Court reported in Satish Narayan
Sawant v. State of Goa - 2009 (17) SCC 724 can be usefully referred to.
In paragraph 22 to 27, this Court while dealing with such a situation has
noted that the Court will not become helpless. Inasmuch as any crime
alleged is against the society, it is the bounden duty of the Court to
find out the truthfulness or otherwise of the prosecution case allegedly
based on initial information received and the steps taken in furtherance
of its investigation for acceptance or otherwise of such information in
order to determine the further course of action to be taken to unearth
the details of the crime, the persons involved in the crime and
ultimately ensure that the guilt are brought to book. In that respect in
our view, there is every responsibility in the police as a law enforcing
machinery and as savior of the society from the unlawful elements
indulging in crimes, take necessary steps based on the information
collected by it in the first instance and set the law in motion and
proceed with its action as prescribed under the provisions of law. When
the case of the prosecution is brought to Court by placing all the
materials, it is for the Court to examine the action taken by the
investigating machinery in the anvil of the law in force and on being
satisfied with the correctness of the procedure followed can proceed to
find the proof of guilt and pass its judgment. In other words, the Courts
should examine and find out whether the story of the prosecution as
projected before the Court trying the offence merits acceptance.
14. This Court has noted with approval the earliest case reported in
State of Uttar Pradesh v. Bhagwant Kishore Joshi - AIR 1964 SC 221
wherein while explaining what is investigation which is not defined in
the Code of criminal Procedure, the Court placed reliance upon an earlier
decision of this Court reported in H.N. Rishbud & Anr. v. State of Delhi
- AIR 1955 SC 196, in which it was held that the investigation consisted
of five steps, namely, proceeding to the spot, ascertainment of facts and
circumstances of the case, discovery and arrest of the suspected
offender, collection of evidence relating to the commission of the
offence which may consist of examination of various persons including the
accused reducing them into writing, proceed with the search of places or
seizure of things considered necessary for the investigation to be
produced at the time of trial and formation of the opinion as to whether
on the material collected there is a case to place the accused before a
Magistrate for trial and, thereafter, taking necessary steps for the said
purpose by filing the charge sheet under Section 173.
15. In that case, according to PW-1 the investigation officer
received information about the death of a person through PSI of another
police station without any details as to how the incident happened and as
to the cause of the incident and with that cryptic information regarding
the death of a person who was residing within the jurisdiction of the
investigating officer in an incident alleged to have taken place on the
date and time informed to him without making any entry in the general
diary or get any FIR lodged, the IO stated to have gone to the place of
occurrence and noted certain blood marks with his torch light where even
the complaining party was not present. Thereafter by bringing the
persons present at the place of occurrence to the police station and
after collecting necessary information, the FIR was recorded.
16. Keeping the principles laid down in H.N. Rishbud & Anr. v. State
of Delhi - AIR 1955 SC 196 as noted by this Court in the later decision
in State of Uttar Pradesh v. Bhagwant Kishore Joshi - AIR 1964 SC 221 and
further referred to in the recent decision in Satish Narayan Sawant v.
State of Goa - 2009 (17) SCC 724, we hold that the procedure followed by
PW-35 in having commenced the investigation based on Exhibit 96 along
with site inspection, the prior information received by him through phone
about the alleged occurrence and every further steps taken by him in
having recorded the statements of the other eye witnesses, the initiation
taken by him for apprehending the vehicle in which the accused alleged to
have travelled, recovery of weapons from the vehicle, arrest of the
accused including the appellant, the recovery of the dead body at the
instance of A-1 from the village Onshi, the step taken for getting the
dead body examined through PW-9, the ascertainment of the injuries
sustained by the accused themselves, gathering of the FSL reports on the
materials seized from the accused as well as the deceased, considered in
a sequence, disclose that the case of the prosecution as projected based
on Exhibit 96 even in the absence of the cross examination of PW-2 in the
peculiar facts and circumstances of this case was perfectly in order and
we do not find any good ground to reject the case of the prosecution
based on the present submission of the learned counsel for the appellant.
17. With this, when we come to the alleged participation of A-2, in
the offence, there are overwhelming evidence to implicate him to the
death of the deceased by sharing the common intention along with the
other accused who were convicted of the various offences as set out in
the earlier part of this judgment. In the first instance, there was a
clear cut evidence of PW-21 owner of the Maruti van whose evidence was
not controverted in any manner relating to the fact that it was the
appellant who took the Maruti van from him which was identified by PW-21
which was used for the crime. PW-25, the mechanic who was working in the
garage of the deceased made a specific reference to the presence of the
appellant in the van when the accused persons visited the garage of the
deceased to enquire about his whereabouts. PW 14, 33, 16, 23 and 27 made
specific reference to the overt act played by the appellant in the
assault on the deceased with a big knife (talwar). Talwar is a long
knife with sharp edge on the one side and blunt edge on the other. PW-9,
the post mortem doctor stated that the injury Nos. 2 to 20, 24 to 31, 35
and 36 were caused by hard and blunt weapon. Of the above injuries,
injury Nos.2 to 12 were on the face itself. Injury Nos. 13 to 20 were on
the arms and shoulder. Injury Nos. 24 to 31 were on the leg and in the
buttocks. Injury Nos. 35 and 36 were on the back side of the body. To a
specific query put to him, the doctor opined that except injury Nos. 21,
22, 23, 32, 33 and 34, other injuries of 2 to 36 found on the body of the
deceased could have been caused by Exhibit 12 which is the sword and
knife (Exhibit-13) while injury Nos. 21, 22, 23, 32, 33 and 34 on the
deceased could have been caused by Exhibit 14, the danda. Therefore, the
extensive part played by the appellant in the crime using the talwar
Exhibit 12 was conclusively made out and the submission of the learned
counsel on this aspect is grossly futile.
18. The appellant was identified by at least two of the witnesses PW-
14 and 33 in the TIP held on 03.11.2003 at the behest of PW-30 the
Special Judicial Magistrate. Though it was contended that the appellants
raised an objection to the effect that they were already shown by the
police officials to the said witnesses, in order to rule out any hazard
on that score, the accused himself suggested that he be permitted to
change his shirt which PW-30 allowed and, thereafter, he subjected
himself to the TIP in which he was identified by PWs-14 and 33 without
any hesitation. As pointed out by learned counsel for the State with
regard to the holding of the TIP nothing was elicited in the cross
examination in order to hold that the whole of the TIP was not conducted
in the manner it was to be held and that the identification of the
appellant was not proved in the manner known to law. PW-14 also stated
in her evidence that she had seen the appellant in the village earlier
though she did not know his name. Therefore, when such identification of
the appellant was proved to the satisfaction of the Court, there was
nothing more to be proved about the manner in which it was held or to
find any flaw in the holding of the TIP. At the risk of repetition it
will have to be stated that the witnesses were not questioned as to the
manner in which they were asked to identify the appellant in the TIP or
the alleged defect in the holding of the said parade when the witnesses
were examined before the Court. Therefore, it is too late in the day for
the appellant to contend that the identification parade was not carried
out in the manner known to law. Coupled with the above, the evidence of
other eye witnesses, namely, PWs-16, 23, 26, 27 and 34 in having
identified him in the Court by making specific reference to the red
colour shirt worn by him at the time of the occurrence fully corroborated
the version of PWs-14 and 33. It will be appropriate to refer to the
decisions of this Court reported in Simon & Ors. v. State of Karnataka
-2004 (2) SCC 694, Dana Yadav alias Dahu & Ors. v. State of Bihar -2002
(7) SCC 295 and Daya Singh v. State of Haryana - AIR 2001 SC 1188. The
following passages in the above referred to decisions can usefully be
referred as under:
Simon & Ors. v. State of Karnataka (supra)
“14…………mere identification of an accused person at the trial for
the first time is from its very nature inherently of a weak
character. The purpose of a prior test identification is to test
and strengthen the trustworthiness of that evidence. Courts
generally look for corroboration of the sole testimony of the
witnesses in court so as to fix the identity of the accused who
are strangers to them in the form of earlier identification
proceedings. This rule of prudence, however, is subject to
exceptions, when, for example, the court is impressed by a
particular witness on whose testimony it can safely rely, without
such or other corroboration. It has also to be borne in mind that
the aspect of identification parade belongs to the stage of
investigation, and there is no provision in the Code of Criminal
Procedure which obliges the investigating agency to hold, or
confers a right upon the accused to claim a test identification
parade. Mere failure to hold a test identification parade would
not make inadmissible the evidence of identification in court.
What weight is to be attached to such identification is a matter
for the courts of fact to examine. In appropriate cases, it may
accept the evidence of identification even without insisting on
corroboration……….”
Dana Yadav alias Dahu & Ors. v. State of Bihar (supra)
“38. (a) xxx
(b) xxx
(c) xxx
(d) xxx
(e) xxx
(f) In exceptional circumstances only, as discussed above,
evidence of identification for the first time in court, without
the same being corroborated by previous identification in the test
identification parade or any other evidence, can form the basis of
conviction.
(g) xxx”
Daya Singh v. State of Haryana (supra)
“12………For this purpose, it is to be borne in mind that purpose of
test identification is to have corroboration to the evidence of
the eyewitnesses in the form of earlier identification and that
substantive evidence of a witness is the evidence in the Court.
If that evidence is found to be reliable then absence of
corroboration by test identification would not be in any way
material. Further, where reasons for gaining an enduring
impress of the identity on the mind and memory of the witnesses
are brought on record, it is no use to magnify the theoretical
possibilities and arrive at conclusion - what in present day
social environment infested by terrorism is really unimportant.
In such cases, not holding of identification parade is not fatal
to the prosecution……..”
19. With this, when we examine the reliance placed on the decision
reported in Mohanlal Gangaram Gehani v. State of Maharashtra (supra)
wherein it was held that without knowing the accused beforehand the
identity made by a witness, the absence of any TIP would be valueless and
unreliable, the said decision does not apply to the facts of this case.
In the decision reported as Mohanlal Gangaram Gehani v. State of
Maharashtra (supra), it was only held that where at the earliest
opportunity the eye witness failed to mention any identifying feature of
the accused persons, the identification of the accused by one of the
witnesses nearly two months later in TIP cannot be accepted. In the case
on hand while the occurrence took place on 10.10.2003 the TIP was held on
03.11.2003, therefore, it cannot be held that there was a long gap in
between in order to state that the witnesses could not have identified
the accused appellant. On the other hand, PW-14 stated that she had
already seen the appellant in the village though she did not know his
name.
20. In the decision reported as Raju alias Rajendra v. State of
Maharashtra (supra) it was held that a TIP parade after about 1 ½ years
after the incident was not reliable. We do not find any support from the
said decision to the facts of this case. Equally we do not find any
scope to apply the decision reported as Kanan & Ors. v. State of Kerala
(supra) where no TIP was held in respect of the witness who did not know
the accused earlier. Therefore, the submission based on the alleged
defect in the TIP does not merit any consideration.
21. According to the learned senior counsel, the version of the eye
witnesses is not reliable inasmuch as none of the witnesses had anything
to say about the severe injury suffered by A-4 on his forehead. PW-9
post mortem doctor has referred to the injuries sustained by A-4. Before
that on 10.10.2003 itself at 7 p.m. he was examined by PW-15 doctor who
noted the injuries and opined that it was caused by a sharp weapon less
than six hours before examination. There was a visible fracture of skull
and it was grievous in nature. A-4 was referred to the Hospicio Hospital
Margao. Exhibit 12 was shown to PW-15 who opined that there was every
possibility of the injury being caused by the said weapon. She stated
that though A-4 complained that he was assaulted by fist blows all over
his body she did not notice any injury or marks on his body. Learned
counsel would contend that when such specific injuries on A-4 to A-6 were
spoken to by PW15 and PW-9 none of the eye witnesses referred to that in
their evidence and thereby they were suppressing the truth. Learned
counsel therefore, contended that their whole version cannot be believed.
22. In this respect, it will be worthwhile to refer to the approach
of the High Court where it has taken pains to analyze the crime
threadbare and found that there was no evidence led as regards the
alleged assault on him by sword, that not even a suggestion was put to
any of the prosecution witnesses to state that there was assault by
anyone and the trial Court, therefore, noted that there was every
possibility of A-4 having sustained the injures with Exhibit 12 which was
very widely used by the appellant on the deceased in which occurrence A-4
also fully participated. Such an approach of the trial Court in the
peculiar facts and circumstances of the case cannot be held to be wholly
improbable.
23. Accused No.4 except making a statement in 313 questioning that
he was assaulted by 4 to 5 person along with two other motor cyclists
with a sword when he was waiting at Canacona bus stop at 4.30 p.m. on
10.10.2003, there was no supporting material placed before the Court in
the form of legally acceptable evidence and further in the absence of any
cross examination on that aspect to any of the witnesses examined in
support of the prosecution, there is no scope to consider the said
submission of the learned counsel to grant any relief to the appellant.
Learned counsel relied upon Thaman Kumar v. State of Union Territory of
Chandigarh - 2003 (6) SCC 380 para 16 and Khambam Raja Reddy and Anr. v.
Public Prosecutor, High Court Andhra Pradesh – 2006 (11) SCC 239 para 17.
We do not find any support from the said decisions to the case before us.
Therefore, the submission of the learned counsel that the prosecution
failed to explain the grievous injury found on A-4 or other accused does
not in any way support the case of the appellant and the said submission,
therefore, stands rejected.
24. It was then contended that none of the ingredients of Section
364, IPC were made out for the High Court to find the appellant guilty of
the said offence along with A-1, A-3 and A-4. In this context, it is
sufficient to refer to what has been stated by the High Court. In
paragraph 87, the High Court has observed on this aspect which reads as
under:
“87. The learned trial Court, however, erred in acquitting the
accused No.1- Valeriano Barretto, the accused No.2-Subhash
Krishnan, the accused No.3-sanjay Gadekar, the accused No.4-
Shailesh Gadekar under Sections 342, 364 read with Section 34 of
IPC, 1860. The view taken by the learned trial Court for
acquitting the said accused persons proceeded from the fact that
the victim Shanu fell unconscious and thereafter, he was put in a
dicky of the Maruti van. This fact, the learned trial Court
reasoned, did not further materialize into his prevention from
proceeding in any direction and or his abduction in order to
murder him or to put him in danger of being murdered. Essentially
both the offences i.e. wrongful confinement and abduction are the
offences which are committed as a result of curtailment of
personal liberty. The offence of wrongful confinement as defined
under Section 340 of the Code occurs when individual is wrongfully
restrained in such a manner as to prevent him/her from proceeding
beyond certain circumscribing limits. The offence of abduction
under Section 362 of the Code involves use of force or deceit to
compel or induce any person to go from any place. Evidence
clearly shows that the victim Shanu by use of criminal force i.e.
the assault was made to loose his consciousness. Even if the
victim would have wished to proceed in any one direction, he would
not have been in position to do so for the reason of his
unconsciousness. Certainly, Shanu never wished to go with his
assailants in the Maruti Van, but was compelled by the said
accused persons to go from the place of incident to the place
where he ultimately met his death. Deceit involves tricking away
of individual from reality. Unconsciousness paralyzed the mental
faculties of the victim and freezed his perception as regards the
place. Virtually, the victim was, thereafter, tricked away from
the reality while in unconscious state and made to go from one
place to another. Thus, the learned trial Court grossly
misinterpreted the facts and recorded manifestly illegal finding.”
25. As rightly pointed out by the High Court under Section 362, IPC
when by force or deceit if any person is compelled or induced to go from
any place and such an abduction takes place in order to ultimately
eliminate him, the offence would be made out under Section 364, IPC. As
rightly pointed out by the High Court, examining the conduct of the
appellant along with the other accused in wrongfully restraining the
deceased by inflicting severe injuries on the body of the deceased i.e.
by causing as many as 36 injuries in which process the person lost his
conscious where after he was shifted to a different place, where it
ultimately came to light that the person was killed by hanging, every
description of the offence under Sections 342 and 364 with the aid of
Section 34, IPC was clearly made out. Therefore, we do not find any
fault in the said conclusion of the High Court in having reversed the
judgment of the trial Court for convicting the appellant for the offence
under the said Sections.
26. The submission of learned counsel for the appellant about the
impossibility of the eyewitnesses in having noted the participation of
the appellant and the other accused in the crime was on the basis that
according to PW-35 the distance between the place of occurrence and the
point from which the eye witnesses stated to have seen the occurrence was
more than 70 metres. In the first place, when the occurrence had taken
place at 4.30 in the evening there would be no difficulty for anyone to
have a clear view of what was happening before them. Even in the
vicinity of 70 metres when about 8 persons were assaulting the deceased
with sword, knife and danda on the road, in full public gaze, it would
have definitely caught the eye of everyone standing thereat. The
presence of the eye witnesses at the place of occurrence was not in
dispute. The witnesses made it clear that they were seeing the
occurrence from the shop called Marina stores. It is not as if they were
not looking at the occurrence. According to the witnesses, as well as,
the prosecution, the eye witnesses were viewing the occurrence from the
entrance of Marina stores. Therefore, the version of the eye witnesses
that they were able to see the specific part played by different accused
and, in particular, the appellant who was using a talwar in the absence
of any malafide attributed to the witnesses, their version cannot be
rejected. We, therefore, do not find any substance in the said
submission of the learned counsel. As regards the time factor, it cannot
be held that since the incident happened within 4-5 minutes, it was not
possible for the witnesses to have noted the participation of the accused
in the crime. It is relevant to note that according to PW-9, as many as
36 injuries were found in the body of the deceased which were caused by
the blunt side of the talwar, knife as well as danda. In inflicting so
many injuries, the time taken would have been sufficient enough for the
witnesses to have made an observation as to the role played by the
accused in the crime. Therefore, on that score as well there is no scope
for doubting the version of witnesses as regards the participation of the
appellant in the crime. It is true that PW-23 in his evidence stated
that he saw the appellant having suffered bleeding injury which was not
proved. It was also true that it was A-4 who suffered the bleeding
injuries on his forehead which was caused with the aid of a knife. We
have already concurred with the conclusion of the Courts below about the
possibility of A-4 having suffered the injury with the aid of Exhibit -12
(talwar) which was widely used by the appellant and inasmuch as A-4 was
also actively involved in the crime. Since the appellant used Exhibit 12
extensively, there was every possibility of A-4 having suffered the
injury. In the light of the overwhelming evidence of the other eye
witnesses, the medical evidence and the forensic reports, the wrong
statement of PW-23 cannot be said to have caused any serious dent in the
case of the prosecution. Therefore, on that score, we do not find any
scope to interfere with the judgment impugned.
27. Having regard to our above conclusions, we do not find any merit
in these appeals. The judgment impugned in these appeals does not call
for any interference. The appeals fail and the same are dismissed
accordingly.
…..……….…………………………...J.
[Swatanter Kumar]
…………….………………………………J.
[Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla]
New Delhi;
August 17, 2012
-----------------------
33
