Reportable
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 2168 OF 2009
Polamuri Chandra Sekhararao
@ Chinna@ Babji ….Appellant
VERSUS
State of A.P. .…Respondent
J U D G M E N T
Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, J.
1. This appeal is directed against the conviction and sentence
imposed upon the appellant for the offence punishable under Section 302,
Indian Penal Code (for short ‘IPC’) imposing the sentence of imprisonment
for life and a fine of Rs. 1,000/- with default sentence of simple
imprisonment for a period of three months.
2. The case of the prosecution as projected in Exhibit P-1 was that
on 06.04.2004, in the evening at 5.10 p.m. the deceased, Ravi Kishore,
went to the house of the accused in his Hero Honda Motor Bike, when the
accused and his two daughters Polamrui Divya and Polamrui Jaya Chandrika
[PWs-1 and 2] were chatting outside the house. It is alleged that when
the accused asked the deceased as to why he came there, the deceased
declared that he wish to marry both his daughters and threw a challenge as
to whom he would give them in marriage. It is further alleged that the
accused, enraged by the statement of the deceased, brought a long knife
from his bed room and inflicted several blows on the deceased due to which
he fell down breathless on the floor.
3. According to the prosecution, the accused along with his two
daughters PWs-1 and 2, thereafter, went to the Steel Plant Police Station
in his two-wheeler and handed over the knife to the Station writer stating
that he had killed the deceased with that knife.
4. According to the prosecution, statement of PW-1 (Exhibit P-1)
was registered against the appellant for an offence under Section 302, IPC
on 06.04.2004. As many as 15 witnesses were examined in support of the
prosecution. Exhibits P-1 to P-29 were exhibited and M.O.-1 to M.O.-14
were marked. The appellant was questioned under Section 313, Cr.P.C. to
which the appellant simply denied his involvement in the occurrence.
5. Though PWs-1 and 2 were examined as eye-witnesses, they turned
hostile and none was examined on the defence side.
6. Dr. N.V.S.L. Narasimham [PW-13] in the post mortem report opined
that the deceased appeared to have died of hemorrhage and shock due to
incised cut injuries on the neck and multiple incised cut injuries on the
other parts of the body.
7. The trial Court based on the evidence of doctor (PW-13), Dasari
Yerrayya [PW-9] and Y. Suryanarayana, Deputy Superintendent of Police [PW-
15] as well as Exhibits P-4 and P-8 held that the death of deceased was a
homicidal one.
8. The trial Court held that though PWs-1 and 2 turned hostile,
they deposed that they saw the dead body of the deceased in the house of
the appellant, that they went to the police station along with the
appellant and that Exhibit P-1 report was given by PW-1. The learned
Sessions Judge rejected the case of the appellant that he along with PWs-1
and 2 went for shopping on that day and they were not present at the place
of occurrence, inasmuch as, there was no independent witness to support
the said version. The trial Judge noted that presence of PWs-1 and 2 in
the police station was admitted and that the correctness of Exhibit P-1
cannot be questioned by them. It was also held that when the deceased was
lying dead in front of the house of the accused, it was for the accused to
explain as to how the dead body was found in that place and what steps he
had taken to explain the same. In that view, the learned Sessions Judge,
by relying upon the other evidence, namely, FSL Report (Exhibit P-29)
which made specific reference to Item No. 10-the knife and Item Nos.4,5,6
and 7 which contained human blood, the cloths which were seized from the
deceased and Exhibit P-5- the Seizure Memo of M.O.-10 prepared by PW-14
while effecting the seizure in the presence of PW-10, a technician in the
Steel Plant who had no axe to grind against the appellant, to support its
conclusion.
9. The circumstances relied upon by the learned Sessions Judge are
set out in detail in paragraph 49 of the judgment. Having found the
appellant guilty of the offence of murder of the deceased on 06.04.2004 at
about 5.10 p.m. with the aid of M.O.-10 within the compound of his house,
the trial Court imposed the sentence of imprisonment for life apart from a
fine of Rs. 1000/- with a default sentence of three months of simple
imprisonment. The High Court declined to interfere with the conviction
and sentence of the appellant in the judgment impugned in this appeal
against which the appellant has come before us.
10. We heard Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, counsel for the appellant
and Mr. Amit K. Nain, counsel for the State. Learned counsel for the
appellant, in his submissions contended that when the so-called eye
witnesses, namely, PWs-1 and 2 turned hostile, Exhibit P-1, alleged to
have been given by PW-1 cannot be acted upon. He further submitted that
if the evidence of the alleged eye witnesses are eschewed from
consideration, what remains is the evidence of PW Nos.3, 4, 6 and 7, who
were not eye witnesses but were closely related to the deceased and,
therefore, their version also cannot be relied upon. Learned counsel
would, therefore, contend that when there was no incriminating
circumstance connecting the accused with the death of the deceased, the
conviction and sentence imposed upon him by the Courts below cannot be
sustained.
11. As against the above submissions, learned counsel appearing for
the State contended that though PW-1 supported Exhibit P-1 in her
Examination-in-Chief, she had to be treated as hostile in the course of
her cross examination and the conclusion of the trial Court by relying
upon various other circumstances narrated in the order, cannot be faulted.
According to the learned counsel there was motive for the appellant to
kill the deceased, that the absence of proper explanation as to how the
body of the deceased was found in the courtyard of the accused and failure
to satisfy the Court about the plea of alibi was sufficient to prove the
guilt of the appellant of the killing of the deceased. Learned counsel,
therefore, submitted that the conviction and sentence imposed on the
appellant by the trial Court and confirmed by the High Court does not call
for interference.
12. Having heard learned counsel for the appellant and having
perused the material papers placed on record, the judgment of the trial
Court as well as the High Court, we are also convinced that the conviction
and sentence imposed on the appellant does not call for interference. PW
Nos.1 and 2 who are none other than the daughters of the appellant, though
said to have initially preferred the complaint-Exhibit P-1 through PW-1
alleging murder of the deceased by the appellant on 06.04.2004, turned
hostile.
13. To reiterate the facts, the deceased is none other than the
nephew of the appellant i.e. son of his elder sister, Karem Veera Veni (PW-
3). Since the appellant was not in talking terms with his wife, his
daughters, namely, PW Nos.1 and 2 were living along with their mother in
their grandparents’ house at a different place. The above facts are not
in dispute inasmuch as the appellant admitted the same in the 313
questioning. It has also come in evidence that the move of the appellant
to secure divorce from his wife was not supported by PW-3 and, therefore,
he was not in good terms with PW-3 also. His wife is none other than PW-
3’s elder sister’s daughter. K. Hema Sekhar (PW-4) is the father of the
deceased, K. Kiran Kumar (PW-6) is the brother of the deceased and K.
Swarnalatha (PW-7) is the sister of the deceased. Though according to PW-
3, the appellant and PW-3 were not in talking terms, the children of both
were moving friendly with each other. According to the prosecution, the
deceased developed a liking for PW-2, daughter of the appellant which was
also known to the appellant’s elder sister as well as K. Swarnalatha (PW-
7), sister of the deceased.
14. It is stated that it was in the above stated background when PWs-
1 and 2 visited the house of the deceased to spend their holidays, the
appellant having come to know about the move of the deceased to develop
close relationship with PW-2, got enraged by his conduct which made him to
call him to his house on 06.04.2004 and that after the deceased arrived,
the appellant questioned his conduct towards his daughter PW-2 to which
the deceased appeared to have retorted saying that he can even marry both
his daughters, which provoke d the appellant to ultimately inflict the cut
injuries with the knife (M.O.-10) and the deceased succumbed to his
injuries on the spot. The fact that the dead body of the deceased was
found in the compound of the appellant is not in dispute. It is also not
in dispute that the said fact was reported to the Steel Plant Police
Station by PWs-1 and 2 along with the accused. The knife (M.O.-10) was
seized in the presence of PW-10 by PW-14 under Exhibit P-5. The Forensic
Science Laboratory (FSL) report also confirmed that human blood was found
on the weapon (M.O.-10) though the origin of the blood group was stated to
be not traceable.
15. Inasmuch as PWs.1 and 2 turned hostile, the trial Court
attempted to examine as to whether there were circumstances enough to link
the appellant with the death of the deceased. In that attempt the trial
Court has culled out the following 16 circumstances:
“49. The following circumstances/chain of events make the
Court to draw an inference that the accused dealt blows on the
deceased with M.O.10 and murdered him:-
a) The accused and his wife on account of their
differences are living separately and the wife of
the accused is residing with her parents at
Kesanapalli of East Godavari District along with
PWs 1 and 2 and her son;
b) The deceased was also residing in the house of the
parents of the wife of the accused and he was
having close intimacy with the daughters of the
accused; especially PW-2;
c) On account of differences between him and his
wife, the accused is not having talking terms with
his sister i.e. PW-3;
d) On account of the grudge developed against the
deceased, having been informed by PWs-1 and 2, the
accused gave a telephonic call to PW-3 and
requested her to send the deceased to his house;
e) The deceased went to the house of the accused on
06.04.2004 at 5 p.m. on his motor cycle (PW-2
deposed about the blue coloured Hero Honda Motor
Cycle parking it in front of her house and having
dents);
f) The dead body of the deceased was found lying in
the premises of the house of the accused;
g) PWs-1 and 2 i.e. daughters of the accused going to
the police station along with the accused and
giving Ex.P.1 report to the police at 17.40 hours
i.e. 5.40 p.m. on 06.04.2004;
h) The accused not admitting himself going to the
police station along with his daughters i.e. PWs-1
and 2.
i) The denial of the accused about the presence of
the dead body of the deceased in the premises of
his house in his examination under Section 313,
Cr.P.C.
j) The seizure of M.O.10 by PW-14 in the presence of
PW-10 under Ex.P.5 (PW-10 is also a technician in
the Steel Plant);
k) The presence of the accused in the police station
on 06.04.2004 (PW-10 deposed about the presence of
the accused in the police station apart from
deposing about the seizure of MO-10)
l) The accused not attending to his duty on
06.04.2004;
m) The theory of alibi introduced by the accused
through PWs-1 and 2 who are his daughters that
they had been for shopping along with him from
3.30 p.m. and returning to the house at 7.30 p.m.
not being proved;
n) The police informing PW-3 about the murder of her
son by the accused at 7 p.m. on 06.04.2004;
o) PW-1 informing PW-8 on 06.04.2004 at about 7 p.m.
about the death of the deceased from the police
station;
p) The accused not giving any explanation for the
presence of the dead body of the deceased in the
premises of his house but he simply denying the
offence and stating that the police have foisted
the case against him.”
16. Keeping the above reasoning of the trial Court in mind, when we
examine the submissions, we also notice that there were as many as 17
injuries noted in the post-mortem certificate by the doctor (PW-13). Of
the 17 injuries, 13 injuries were incised cut injuries and the cause of
death was stated to be due to shock and hemorrhage pursuant to the incised
cut injuries on the neck and multiple incised cut injuries on other parts
of the body. The doctor (PW-13) also confirmed that the incised cut
injuries could have been caused by a weapon like Exhibit M.O.-10. Exhibit
P-29, the FSL report disclosed that though the origin of the blood stain
could not be determined, human blood was detected on MO-10. The appellant
admitted the following facts:-that the deceased was son of PW-3, that he
died on 06.04.2004, that he was found dead in the garden which is situated
in front of his house within his compound, that there were number of
bleeding injuries on the body of the deceased, that he was not in talking
terms with his wife and that is why she was living with her parents, and
that the deceased used to stay in the same house in which his wife and PWs-
1 and 2 were also staying.
17. To a specific question put to the accused as to whether he wish
to examine any witnesses he said “no witness”.
18. Having considered the above factors, we find that every
circumstance noted by the trial Court goes to show that it was the
appellant who got enraged by the conduct of the deceased in his attempt t
liking, inasmuch as he was not in good terms with PW-3, the mother of tho
develop close relationship with his daughter PW-2 which was not to hise
deceased. The appellant was stated to have been aggrieved by the non-
cooperation of PW-3 in his attempt to dissolve the marriage with his wife
who is the daughter of the elder sister of the appellant as well as PW-3.
Merely because PWs-3,4,6 and 7 are related to the deceased, there is no
reason why they should implicate the appellant who is also closely related
to them. If according to the appellant, he was not present when the
murder of the deceased took place in his residence, as rightly pointed out
by the trial Court, then it was for him to explain as to how the dead body
was found in his house. Admitting the presence of the dead body of the
deceased in the courtyard of the appellant’s house, no step was taken by
the appellant to explain the situation of the presence of the dead body in
his house. The theory of the hostile witnesses PWs-1 and 2 that they went
for shopping along with the appellant was rightly rejected by the trial
Court in the absence of any other supporting material both oral as well as
documentary. The evidence of the doctor (PW-13) and Exhibit P-8 disclose
that the deceased was mercilessly wounded with the knife (M.O.-10) which
resulted in his instantaneous death due to shock and hemorrhage. The
overall consideration of the evidence available on record only
substantiate the guilt of the accused-appellant in the killing of the
deceased and consequently the conclusion reached by the trial Court and
upheld by the High Court does not call for any interference. The appeal,
therefore, fails and the same is dismissed.
…………………………...J.
[Swatanter Kumar]
........……………………………J.
[Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla]
New Delhi;
July 23, 2012
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