2006 (11) TMI 622

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....k was tied with a frock which was worn by her. She was found to be dead. The blood was found to have been oozing out from her private part. The knicker worn by her was also missing. He informed the police. The appellant was arrested by the investigating officer Mr. R.G. Patel on 12.08.2002. He purported to have made a confession about committing rape and murdering Savita. He also allegedly showed the place of incidence to the investigating officer. He prepared panchnama of the scene of offence and recorded statement of the concerned witnesses. He then sent the frock worn by the deceased to Forensic Science Laboratory. The appellant purported to have made a confessional statement before PW-2 Ambalal. Principally relying on or on the basis of said judicial confession made by the appellant, he was found guilty of commission of offence. The learned Sessions Judge took into consideration the fact that he has been found guilty of commission of similar offences as also other offences and, thus, imposed death penalty on him. The High Court affirmed the said judgment of conviction and sentence by its judgment dated 2.03.2005. The High Court while recording that the confession was foun....

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....ter I have given the noose on the neck with her frock as a result of which the girl was died. And I have taken the girl to the corner of the field and left the field after keeping the girl in the corner of the field. I have not told anybody about the incident, this is my confession regarding the offence." It preceded by routine questions. It was accompanied by a certificate in usual form. The learned Magistrate examined himself as PW-2. In his deposition he reproduced the statements of the appellant. In his cross-examination, he accepted that the confession started at about 11.15 a.m. and was completed at about 11.30 a.m. He did not remember that on the same day he recorded another confession of the appellant in relation to Session Case No. 298 of 2000. He, however, accepted that he had done so when it was brought to his notice. Recording of that confession was completed at 11.45 a.m. Till then no legal aid was provided to him. He did not examine the body of the accused. He asked only the routine question as to whether he was ill-treated by the police. He accepted that the accused was produced before him under police protection and was also taken back under the police prot....

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....e and its truth is judged on the basis of the entire prosecution case. [See Bharat v. State of U.P., (1971) 3 SCC 950 and Subramania Goundan v. The State of Madras, (1958) SCR 429] In State (NCT of Delhi) v. Navjot Sandhu Alias Afsan Guru [(2005) 11 SCC 600], this Court observed: "Confessions are considered highly reliable because no rational person would make admission against his interest unless prompted by his conscience to tell the truth. "Deliberate and voluntary confessions of guilt, if clearly proved are among the most effectual proofs in law". (vide Taylor's Treatise on the Law of Evidence Vol. I). However, before acting upon a confession the court must be satisfied that it was freely and voluntarily made. A confession by hope or promise of advantage, reward or immunity or by force or by fear induced by violence or threats of violence cannot constitute evidence against the maker of confession. The confession should have been made with full knowledge of the nature and consequences of the confession. If any reasonable doubt is entertained by the court that these ingredients are not satisfied, the court should eschew the confession from consideration. So also the author....

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....a matter of some concern that he started recording the confession of the appellant in the second case soon thereafter. Both the cases involved serious offences. They resulted in the extreme penalty. The learned Magistrate, therefore, should have allowed some more time to the appellant to make his statement. He should have satisfied himself as regards the voluntariness and truthfulness of the confession of the appellant. In Devendra Prasad Tiwari v. State of U.P. [AIR 1978 SC 1544], this Court opined: " It is also true that before a confessional statement made under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure can be acted upon, it must be shown to be voluntary and free from police influence and that the confessional statement made by the appelant in the instant case cannot be taken into "account, as it suffers from serious infirmities in that (1) there is no contemporaneous record to show that the appellant was actually kept in jail as ordered on Sept. 6, 1974 by Shri R.P. Singh, Judicial Magistrate, Gorakhpur, (2) Shri R.P. Singh who recorded the so called confessional statement of the appellant did not question him as to why he was making the confession and (3) there is al....

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....circumstances may be adopted as the standard laid down. To put it in other words, "on the evidence and the circumstances in a particular case it may appear to the Court that there was a threat, inducement or promise, though the said fact is not strictly proved." 17. Having thus reached a finding as to voluntary nature of a confession, the truth of the confession should then be tested by the Court. The fact that the confession has been made voluntarily, free from threat and inducement, can be regarded as presumptive evidence of its truth. Still, there may be circumstances to indicate that the confession cannot be true wholly or partly in which case it loses much of its evidentiary value. 18. In order to be assured of the truth of confession, this Court, in a series of decisions, has evolved a rule of prudence that the Court should look to corroboration from other evidence. However, there need not be corroboration in respect of each and every material particular. Broadly, there should be corroborated so that the confession taken as a whole fits into the facts proved by other evidence. In substance, the Court should have assurance from all angles that the retracted confession wa....