TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1973 (9) TMI 102
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....leprosy. This disease had resulted in partially destroying the hands and feet of Dhianu. For about a couple of months before the present occurrence. Nanti, daughter of Dhianu, had been staying with him in his house in village Amrahi. There was no other house near the house of Dhianu. Dhianu did business of money lending on the security of ornaments. The accused, it is stated, is a previous convict having been convicted in cases under sections 380, 454 and 457 Indian Penal Code in the years, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1962 and 1963. He was sentenced to undergo various terms of imprisonment in those cases. The last sentence of imprisonment- undergone by the accused was from December 17, 1963 to November 7, 1967 on which day he was released from Central Jail Nahan. On August 1, 1968 the police presented a challan against the accused under section 1 10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the court of District Magistrate Naban. Notice under section 112 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was then issued to the. accused. It was served upon him for September 16., 1968. As the. notice was not received back, the District Magistrate adjourned the case to October 16, 1968 and thereafter to November ....
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....ce of occurrence at about 9 a.m. on October 2, 1968. Sub Inspector Attar Singh prepared inquest reports PB and PC relating to the dead bodies of Dhianu and Nanti. The dead bodies were thereafter sent to Civil Hospital Renuka where post mortem examination was performed by Dr. N. C. Jain (PW 43) on October 3, 1968. The case of the prosecution further is that on November 22, 1968 at 9.15 a.m. Kedar Nath (PW 2), who was in those days a clerk in Government High School, Tikri Dasakna, went to the shop of one Mulak Raj for buying some goods. Near that shop Kedar Nath saw the accused, who was having a gun with him. The accused called Kedar Nath and asked him to write, a letter on his behalf to the Deputy Commissioner. Mulak Raj then told Kedar Nath that the accused was a dangerous man and that Kedar Nath should write the letter as desired by the accused. Kedar Nath then told the accused 'that he had to go to the school and that he would write the letter after taking the permission of the Head Master. The accused thereupon remarked that the Head Master was nobody and that the accused would shoot him. Kedar Nath was at that time carrying a notebook. At the dictation of the accused, Ke....
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....ng from leprosy, would die of hunger. This circumstance induced the accused to kill Dhianu. Accordingly, the accused gave blows to Dhianu with a dhangra. Nanti then got up and, on seeing the injuries of Dhianu, she became unconscious. The accused then went inside the house of Dhianu and picked up a sword. With that sword, he gave further blows an the head and neck of Dhianu. He, also gave blows with the sword to Nanti. It was further stated by the accused that be found Rs. 180 in cash and silver ware weighing about two or three kilograms. Sahi Ram then wrote letter PEEE dated November 28, 1968 to the Station House Officer of police station Renuka wherein Sahi Ram apprised the Station House Officer of the extra judicial confession made by accused to Sabi Ram, as mentioned above. Letter PEEE was received at the police station on December 2, 1968. Sub Inspector Budh Ram (PW 50) then recorded the statement of Sabi Ram. On December 20, 1968 Sub Inspector Attar Singh on receipt of information went to village Minus. On the night between December 20-21, 1968 the Sub Inspector surrounded a hotel wherein the accused was stated to be present in village Minus. The, accused was arrested early o....
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....s also held by the trial court that the accused had stayed at the shop of Parma Nand in village Paliara on the day preceding the occurrence and that he had gone from that shop towards the house of the deceased. The evidence of Parma Nand that the accused had shouted to him from outside the shop at mid-night hour and that he had thereafter gone away was not accepted by the trial court. On appeal and reference, the High Court upheld the finding of the trial court with regard to the confession of the accused contained in letter PD. The High Court also agreed with the trial court that the accused had made confession to Sahi Ram as contained in Sahi Ram's letter PEEE. The, High Court further upheld the findings of the trial court regarding the stay of the accused with Parma Nand before the occurrence. The High Court agreed with the trial court that the evidence of Parma Nand regarding the shout of the accused at mid-night hour from outside the shop could not be accepted. The High Court, however, disagreed with the trial court regarding its findings of the possession of silver ornaments, belonging to the two deceased persons by the accused after the occurrence. As regards the reco....
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.... of right eye and bones of the bridge of nose is, completely fractured. Pieces of bones are clearly seen in the hollow of the skull. And one can nicely peep into the hollow of skull by making wound apart by fingers. Margins of the wound are even. (2) A sharp cut wound of 8" size, starting from 1-1/2" above the middle of left eye having a semilunar shape, reaching to the most prominent part of the, occipital bone. Wound is tapering at both the ends, margins are even. Scalp and skull is completely apart. Skull during the course of wound is completely fractured and depressed at the places. (3) Neck injury. A deep sharp wound starting from the right angle of the mandible to the middle of the neck and reaching to I" short of laryngeal prominence, wound is 2-1/2" deep at the angle of the mandible and tapering towards the middle of neck. All underlying structures, nerves, arteries, veins are cut, laryngeal prominence is also fractured Wound is 3" long and 1/2" broad." According to Dr. Jain, the injuries on the bodies of Dhianu and Nanti had been caused with a heavy sharp weapon. The injuries were sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. The case of the prosecution....
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.... witness keeps silent for over two months regarding the said incriminating circumstance against the accused, his statement relating to the incriminating circumstance, in the absence of any cogent reason, is bound to lose most of its value. No cogent reason has been shown to us as to why Parma Nand kept quiet for over two months after coming to know of the murder of Dhianu and Nanti about the fact that the accused had left for the, house of the deceased shortly before the murder. We are, therefore, not prepared to place any reliance upon the second part of the deposition of Parma Nand. The third part of the deposition of Parma Nand PW pertains to the shout of the accused from outside the shop of Parma Nand at about mid-night hour on the night of occurrence. This part of the deposition has not been accepted by the trial court and the High Court and we find no valid reason to take a different view. Coming to the confession of the accused, which is alleged to be incorporated in letter PD, we find that the question which arises for consideration is whether the letter sent by the accused to the Deputy Commissioner contained confession about his having murdered Dhianu and Nanti. The fact ....
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....r Nath at the point of gun to write that letter. The accused also told Kedar Nath not to disclose the contents of the letter to any one. It is not clear as to why the accused should ask Kedar Nath to keep the matter secret when he was himself, according to letter PD, making a confession about his having committed the crime of two murders. Apart from that, if Kedar Nath came to know on November 22, 1968 that the accused had committed the murder of Dhianu and Nanti, his failure to make any statement IQ the police till December 24, 1968 regarding the confession made by the accused to the witness would deprive his evidence of much of its value. We, therefore, find it difficult to act upon the confession incorporated in letter PD. The last piece of evidence upon which the High Court has maintained the conviction of the accused consists of the confession of the accused contained in letter PEEE sent by Sahi Ram (PW 4) to the Station House Officer Renuka. The first question which arises for consideration in respect of letter PEEE is whether it is admissible in evidence. Section 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure reads as, under : 162. (1) No statement made by any person to a polic....
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....an investigation is inadmissible, except for the purposes mentioned in section 162, the same would be true of a letter containing narration of facts addressed by a person to a police officer during the course of an investigation. It is not permissible to circumvent the prohibition contained in section 162 by the investigating officer obtain a written statement of a person instead of the investigating officer himself recording that statement. It has been argued by Mr. Khanna on behalf of the State that at the time letter PEEE was addressed by Sahi Ram to the police, no investigation had been made by the police against the accused and, as such, the aforesaid letter cannot be held to be inadmissible. This contention, in our opinion, is wholly devoid of force. The restriction placed by section 162 on the use of statement made during the course ,of investigation is in general terms. There is nothing in the section to show that the investigation must relate to any particular accused before a statement to the police pertaining to that accused can be held to be inadmissible. Reference has been made by Mr. Khanna to the case of Sita Ram v. State of Uttar Pradesh([1966] Supp. S. C. R. 265....
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....he statement of Sahi Ram about the extra-judicial confession is otherwise also lacking in credence, there should not arise any difficulty in this Court disaggreeing with the above finding of the trial court and the High Court. Mr. Khanna on behalf of the State has also tried to assail the finding of the High Court regarding the possession of silver ornaments of the two deceased persons by the accused. In our opinion, the finding of the High Court in this respect is based upon the appraisement of the evidence on record and there is no valid ground to disturb it. Observations in a recent decision of this Court, Shivaji Sahabrao Bobade & Anr. v. State of Maharashtra (Cr. App.Ho.26 of 1970 decided on August 27, 1973) to which reference has been made during arguments were not intended to make a departure from the rule of the presumption of innocence of the accused and his entitlement to the benefit of reasonable doubt in criminal cases. One of the cardinal principles which has always to be kept in view in our system of administration of justice for criminal cases is that a person arraigned as an accused is presumed to be innocent unless that presumption is rebutted by the prosecution....
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....al here is far too complex to be susceptible of precise and exact propositions for exactness here is a fake. Another golden thread which runs through the web of the administration of justice in criminal cases is that if two views are possible on the evidence adduced in the case, one pointing to the guilt of the accused and the other to his innocence, the view which is favourable to the accused should be adopted. This principle has a special relevance in cases wherein the guilt of the accused is sought to be established by circumstantial evidence. Rule has accordingly been laid down that unless the evidence adduced in the case is consistent only with the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused and is inconsistent with that of his innocence, the court should refrain from recording a finding of guilt of the accused. It is also an accepted rule that in case the 73 5 court entertains reasonable doubt regarding the, guilt of the accused, the accused must have the benefit of that doubt. Of course, the doubt regarding the guilt of the accused should be reasonable : it is not the doubt of a mind which is either so vacillating that it is incapable of reaching a firm conclusion or so timid ....
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....d to securing the conviction only of those who can legitimately be proved guilty, the clash of interest is seen to operate only within a very narrow limit, namely, where the evidence is such that the guilt of the accused should be established. In the case of an accused who is innocent, or whose guilt cannot be proved. the public interest and the interest of the accused alike require an acquittal." It is no doubt true that wrongful acquittals are undesirable and shake the confidence of the people in the judicial system, much worse, however, is the wrongful conviction of an innocent person. The consequences of the conviction of an innocent person are far more serious and its reverberations cannot but be felt in a civilized society. Suppose an innocent person is convicted of the offence of murder and is hanged, nothing further can undo the mischief for the wrong resulting from the unmerited conviction is irretrievable. To take another instance, if an innocent person is sent to jail and undergoes the sentence, the scars left by the miscarriage of justice cannot be erased by any subsequent act of expidation. Not many persons undergoing the pangs of wrongful conviction are fortunate l....