Full Judgment Text
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CASE NO.:
Appeal (crl.) 491-492 of 2000
PETITIONER:
MUNSH1 PRASAD AND ORS.
RESPONDENT:
STATE OF BIHAR
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 10/10/2001
BENCH:
UMESH C. BANERJEE & K.G. BALAKRISHNAN
JUDGMENT:
JUDGMENT
2001 Supp(4) SCR 25
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
BANERJEE, J. It is now a well-settled principle of law, that in an appeal
against conviction for the offence of murder. Supreme Court would be rather
slow to intervene, in the event of there being a concurrent finding of
fact, unless of course, the finding reached suffers from some vice and thus
violative of fundamental rules or even a definite procedural injustice
going to the root of the prosecution case. (See in this context, the
decision of this Court in Arjun Marik and others v. Stale of Bihar, [1994]
Suppl. 2 SCC p.372. It is on this perspective that the present appeal
against (he common judgment dated 28th July, 1999 passed by the High Court
of Patna in Crl. A.No. 590 of 1984 and 686 of 1984 shall have to be
considered. Before adverting to the contentions in support of the appeal,
in the matter in issue, a note of caution shall have to be kept in mind, us
has been administered by this Court from time to time, that scrutiny of
evidence in a murder trial should be effected with more than ordinary care
so as not to affect ’dispassionate judicial scrutiny’.
The judgment under appeal stands criticised on three major counts; the
first of the three counts relate to the plea of alibi. The word ’alibi’, a
Latin expression means and implies in common acceptation ’elsewhere’ : It
is a defence based on the physical impossibility of participation of a
crime by an accused in placing the latter in a location other than the
scene of crime at the relevant time, shortly put the presence of the
accused elsewhere when an offence was committed. This Court in Dudh Nath
Pandey v. Slate of U.P, AIR (1981) SCC 911 has ’he following to state in
regard to the plea of alibi :
"...The plea of alibi postulates the physical impossibility of the presence
of the accused at the scene of offence by reason of his presence at other
place. The plea can therefore succeed only if it is shown that the accused
was so far away at the relevant time that he could not be present at the
place where the crime was committed..." - Distance thus would be a material
factor in the matter of acceptability of the plea of alibi. Interestingly
this plea as raised by Mr. Venkararamani, learned senior counsel appearing
in support of the appeal has been by reason of specific evidence as
tendered before the Court by the defence witnesses. On assumption of the
factum of the evidence being otherwise truthful, there appears to be some
difficulty, however, in the matter of acceptance of submission of Mr.
Venkataramani. The evidence on record as tendered by Raj Narain Prasad
(defence witness No. 2) was to the following effect .
"2. On 27.6.80 at 12 P.M. a panchayat was held in the garden of Yogendra
Prasad. I went to Panchayat and told the head that I came to know that a
murder was committed in Nakka Tola. At that time it was not known to me as
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to who is murdered.
3. At that time there were Bose Sahib, Manglue Sahani, Dasai Sahni, Naga
Mehto. Hira Sahni, Multan Mian and Raghnath Mehto etc. in the Panchayat.
4. When I reported then they became worried and all of them left with Head
Mukhiaji. I also went.
5. On the western side of the road 25-30 yards towards East there was a
dead body in the sugar cane field. There 1 also asked the people but I was
not known as to who had killed. The dead body was at four-five hundred
yards from this place of panchayat, we stayed [here near the dead body till
5-5, 1/2 o’clock. Jamadar Sahib came there after we reached there."
(Emphasis supplied),
Without attributing any motive and taking the evidence on its face value,
therefore, it appears that the place of occurrence was at 400 - 500 yards
from the place of panchayat and it is on this piece of evidence, the
learned Advocate for the State heavily relied upon and contended that the
distance was far too short so as lo be an impossibility for the accused lo
be at the place of occurrence - we cannot but lend concurrence to such a
submission : A distance of 400-500 yards cannot possibly be said to be
"presence elsewhere’- it is not an impossibility to be at the place of
occurrence and also at the panchayat meet, the distance being as noticed
above : The evidence on record itself negates the plea and we are thus
unable lo record our concurrence as regards acceptance of the plea of
alibi as raised in the appeal. Before drawing the curtain on this score
however, we wish to clarify that the evidence tendered by the defence
witnesses cannot always be termed to be a tainted one by reason of the
factum of the witnesses being examined by the defence. The defence -
witnesses arc entitled to equal respect and treatment as that of the
prosecution The issue of credibility and the trustworthiness ought also to
be attributed to the defence witnesses at par with that of" the prosecution
- a lapse on the part of the defence witness cannot be differentiated and
be treated differently than that of the prosecutors’ witnesses.
Adverting to the second count of submissions raised by Mr. Venkataramani,
it appears that there is existing some difference between the inquest
report and the post-mortem report having due regard to the injuries as
found on the body of the deceased. For convenience sake, the same is
tabulated hereinbelow :
Inquest Report - Injuries noted
Post Mortem Report - injuries noted
1. The nech cut with some sharp edged weapon. The neck slightly attached
to the body. Past of the neck cut.
2. On left side of the head, cut with some sharp-edged weapon.
3. On the left hand below the elbow and forearm, cut with some sharp-edged
weapon.
4. On the left foot the wounds of spear at three places.
5. On the right foot three wounds inflicted with a sharp edged weapon.
6. A wound on the cheek below right eye.
Externally :-
1. One incised wound on skull on left side 4" above left ear 8" x 2" x
Brain deep. There was clot under scalp and brain. Left Parietal a pan of
frontal and occipital bone were cut. Brain matter was lacerated.
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Internally :-
2. One incised wound on the front of neck cutting nuscles, trachea, large
vessels and nerves on both sides and oesophagus vertebrae colurnnal
(IV survical) and spinal chord.
(i) One incised wound in the front of left arm 3"x3"x muscle deep
(ii) One incised wound in the back of left arm 4"x3"x bone deep. All
mussels and both radium and ulna were cut.
(iii) There were three penetrating wounds on left shoulder 1-1/2" x 1-1/2"
each (penetrating the mussels upto bone.)
(iv) Three incised wound on right shoulder 2" x 1/2" x mussels deep each.
(v) One penetrating wound below right eye 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/2".
On the basis of the aforesaid, it has been rather emphatically contended in
support of the appeal that by reason of the difference as noticed above,
between the inquest report and post-mortem report, the prosecution’s case
suffers from a very serious suspicion warranting in any event a doubt in
favour of the accused persons. It is in support of the contention that Mr.
Venkataramani placed reliance on the decision of this Court in the case of
Balaka Singh and others v. The Stale of Punjab, AIR (1975) SC 1962 wherein
this Court observed :
"... In these circumstances, therefore, the High Court was fully justified
in holding that the omission of the names of the four accused acquitted by
the High Court in the inquest report was a very important circumstance
which went in favour of the four accused. This omission has a twofold
reaction. In the first place it throws doubt on the complicity of the four
accused acquitted by the High Court and secondly it casts serious doubt on
the veracity and authenticity of the F.I.R. itself. It is not
understandable as to why the four accused who are alleged to have taken an
active part in the assault on the deceased were not at all mentioned in the
inquest report and in the brief statement of the very person who had lodged
the F.I.R. four hours before. Counsel for the State tried to justify this
omission on the ground that in the inquest report Ext. P.H. the names of
all the nine accused appear to have been mentioned at the top of that
document. There is, however, no column for mentioning the names of the
accused and, therefore, there was no occasion for the Investigating Officer
to have mentioned the names of the accused in that particular place.
Finally the Investigating Officer P.W, 23 Teja Singh admitted in his
evidence that he had prepared the inquest report and that he had read out
the same to Banta Singh and Harnam Singh P.Ws. but later tried to say that
he did not read out the inquest report to Banta Singh and Harnam Singh
before getting their thumb impressions on the inquest report. This
circumstance speaks volumes against the prosecution case. If, therefore, it
is once established that the names of the four accused were deliberately
added in the inquest report at the instance of the prosecution there is no
guarantee regarding the truth about the participation in the assault on the
deceased by the appellants." Let us, however, examine the omissions in
either of the documents as produced before the Court and consider for
ourselves as to whether there is any material difference which would
otherwise affect the trial by reason of a doubt as regards the reliability
of the prosecution case. Item Nos. 4 and 5 in the inquest report are the
two basic items, which are said to be missing in the post-mortem report, as
such the contention of existence of suspicious nature of prosecution. We,
however, cannot lend our concurrence thereto. There may or may not be
injuries on the left or the right foot but the fact remains that there is
no mention of the same in the post-mortem report - does it otherwise affect
the credibility of the prosecution case? Post-mortem report is prepared by
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the doctor, who held the post-mortem examination on the body of the
deceased Indrasan Prasad and his findings have been recorded therein. The
document by itself is not a substantive evidence but it is the doctor’s
statement in Court, which has the credibility of a substantive evidence and
not the report, which in normal circumstance ought to be used only for
refreshing memory of the doctor witness or to contradict whatever he might
say from the witness box. In this context reference may be made to a
decision of the Madras High Court in Re. Ramaswarni, AIR (1938) Madras 336.
In the similar vein the inquest report also cannot be termed to be a basic
or substantive evidence being prepared by the police personnel being a non-
medical man and at the earliest stage of the proceedings. On the wake of
the aforesaid, a mere omission of a particular injury or indication therein
of an additional one cannot however invalidate the prosecution case. The
evidential value of inquest report cannot be placed at a level as has been
so placed by the appellant, preparation of an inquest report is a part of
the investigation within the meaning of the Criminal procedure Code and as
noticed above neither the inquest report nor the post-mortem report can be
termed to be a basic evidence or substantive evidence and discrepancy
occurring therein can neither be termed to be fatal nor even a suspicious
circumstance, which would warrant a benefit to the accused and the
resultant dismissal of the prosecution case. On the factual score Mr.
Venkataramani relied heavily on the evidence of PW-7 being the Jagdishpur
Police Camp-in-charge. In his evidence. PW-7 stated that the inquest report
was prepared on the basis of the information contained in Sanah No. 306 and
since the Sanah has not been produced, it has been contended that Sanah
being the basic information sheet, non-production there of would entail the
consequences of adverse presumption as regards the involvement of the
accused persons. Obviously, thus it has been contended that nobody had any
clue as to how the incident had occurred. Eloquent us always, Mr.
Venkataramani has. in our view. over-emphasised the issue. Non-production
of a substantive piece of evidence can under certain circumstances bring
forth an adverse inference, but not in the present context. Technicality
ought not to outweigh the course of justice on the face of trustworthy
credible evidence on record and more so when the failure to produce docs
not go to the root of the prosecution case. Situations, obviously would
entail such consequences but in the present context, one cannot possibly
stretch it that far.
Fabricated and delayed FIR as a matter of fact has been the basic
submission in support of the appeal. It is now, however, well settled and
we need not dilate on this score over again that mere delay cannot be said
to be fatal to a criminal prosecution. First Information Report cannot but
be termed to be the starting point and thus sets in motion of a criminal
investigation. In this context the observation of this Court in Apren
Joseph alias Current Kunjukunju & others v. The Slate of Kerala. AIR (1973)
SC 1 seems to be rather apposite. In paragraph 11 of the report this Court
slated as below :
"11. Now first information report is a report relating to the commission of
an offence given to the police and recorded by it under Section 154,
Cr.P.C. As observed by the Privy Council in Emperor v. Khwaja, ILR 1945 Lah
1=A!R (1945) PC 18 the receipt and recording of information report by the
police is not a condition precedent to the setting in motion of a criminal
investigation. Nor does the statute provide that such information report
can only be made by an eyewitness. First information report under S. 154 is
not even considered a substantive piece of evidence. It can only be used to
corroborate or conirdict the informant’s evidence m court. But this
information when recorded is the basis of the case set up by the informant.
It is very useful if recorded before there is tune and opportunity to
embellish or before the informant’s the FIR. therefore, inevitably gives
rise to suspicion which puts the court on guard to look for the possible
motive and the explanation for the delay and consider its effect on the
trustworthiness or otherwise of the prosecution version. In our opinion, no
duration of time in the abstract can be fixed as reasonable for giving
information of a crime to the police, the question of reasonable time being
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a matter for determination by the court in each case. Mere delay in lodging
the first information report with the police is, therefore, not
necessarily, as a matter of law. fatal to the prosecution. The effect of
delay in doing so in the light of the plausibility of the explanation
forthcoming for such delay accordingly must fall for consideration on all
the facts and circumstances of a given case."
It is thus strictly speaking of no consequence in the event the FIR has
been delayed with a plausible explanation though on the factual score it is
not even so. Let us, therefore, refer to the factual score briefly at this
juncture:
The occurrence in this case is said to have taken place on 27th June. 1980
at a place near village Jagdishpur. Nauka Tola, about 20 Kms. North-East of
the Police Station, Nautan at about 3.00 PM in the afternoon. It appears
that the informant Laxuman Prasad (PW5) had gone to Bettiah on the alleged
date of occurrence alongwith his brother Indrasan Prasad from where they
had returned by bus to Jagdishpur stand and after alighting from the bus,
both of them took tea near the bus stand and thereafter both of them
started for their village on bicycles. When they proceeded further, they
saw Nathuni Prasad (PW-3) and Bhagwat Prasad (PW-4) coming behind them at
some distance. When the informant and his brother (deceased) came to a
place at some distance ahead of village Jagdishpur Nauka Tola, all of a
sudden the accused persons, namely, Nagendra Mahton @ Naga Mohton, Kamal
Mahton, Raghu San, Shankar Raut, Munshi Mahton, Ganga Bishun Mahton and
Nathuni Raut emerged from the bushes and fields of sugarcane nearby and
they surrounded the informant and his brother. They had weapons like Bhala
: Farsa and Dabia in their hands. However, the informant as the evidence
records, extricated himself and started running away and raised alarm. He
stood at some distance from the P.O. and saw that all the above named
accused persons surrounded his brother deceased Indrasan Prasad, who was
also trying to run away. According to the informant, Ganga Bishun Mahton
and Nathuni Raut assaulted the victim with Bhala on his back and Raghu Sah
caught hold of the victim by his waist and felled him on the ground.
Thereupon Munshi Prasad ordered to kill him and Naga Mahton started hitting
the victim with Dabia in his hand when the victim was trying to wriggle out
and other accused over-powered him and his neck was cut. In the meanwhile,
two other witnesses, i.e., Nathuni Prasad and Bhagwat Prasad also arrived
and they saw the culprits running away. Later, some other persons also
arrived which included Laxmi Mahton (PW-2) and Nayak Mahto(PW-l) and they
also saw the culprits running away. According to the informant, the accused
persons had previous enmity with the family of (he informant and, therefore
they intercepted the brother of the informant and brutally killed him.
After this incident the informant (PW-5) went to the out-post at Jagdishpur
where he met ASI Abhay Kumar Singh (PW-7) and gave his statement in the
Fard Beyan which was recorded at 4.30 PM. The ASI [hereafter came to the
P.O. and he prepared the inquest report and sent the dead-body for
Postmortem Examination who also inspected the P.O. and made some seizures
and also recorded the further statement of the informant. The Fard Beyan
was sent to the Police Station at nautan from Jagdishpur O.P. where the
case was registered. However, the investigation was taken up by the ASI
Abhay Kumar Singh (PW-7) who did preliminary investigation and subsequently
he made over the charge to the Officer-in-charge of nautan PS. who on
completing investigation submitted chargesheet in the case, the deadbody
was carried to M.G.K. Hospital by a constable No. 214 Bhuneshwar Singh and
Dafadar and some others and there the Postmortem Examination over the dead-
body was held by Dr. Ansuman Shukla (PW-6) on 28th of June, 1980.
Subsequently, the case, after the cognizance was taken, was committed to
the court of Sessions. The session’s case was registered and the sessions
case was entrusted to Addl. Sessions Judge II, Bettiah where the charges
were framed against the accused persons on 16th of August, 1983 and after
the evidence was recorded on behalf of the prosecution, the statements of
the accused persons were recorded under Section 313 Cr.P.C. and some
defence witnesses were also examined and the trial concluded.
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Altogether seven appellants in both the appeals have been convicted and
have been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life by the 2nd
Additional Sessions Judge, West Champaran, Bettiah. An appeal thereform
however resulted in an Order of dismissal and hence the appeal before this
court upon grant of Special Leave.
It is on the above factual score, Mr. Venkataramani strongly contended that
the proceedings initiated in the matter cannot but be ascribed to be a case
of blind murder, which has not been witnessed by any person. It has been
contended that the prosecution story is a fabricated one as regards the
involvement of the accused persons and the case of blind murder has been
converted into one of the involvement of the accused by reason of enmity
and hostile relationship between the family of PW-5, the brother of the
deceased and the accused persons, The enmity aspect will be dealt with al a
later stage in this Judgment but presently it would be convenient to not
the submissions in support of the appeal as regards the happenings of the
event of blind murder-the circumstances relied upon are. however, as
follows :- (i) PWs 1 to 5 are supposedly interested witnesses by reason of
the factum that they belong to the same village and are related to each
other. Strong criticism has been levelled on the evidence of PWs. 3, 4 and
5, who claimed to be eye-witnesses and in the similar vein criticism has
also been levelled against the evidence of PWs. 1 and 2, who claimed to
have heard the shouting from a distance of about 700 to 800 yards. Let us
thus analyse the evidence of prosecution witnesses - records depict that
PWs 1 and 2 are independent witnesses, who have stated that while they were
proceeding towards Jagdishpur Market and when they reached near the place
of occurrence, they saw the appellants running away with Dabia in their
hands and it is only on seeing the accused persons running away with
weapons, they came at the place of occurrence and saw the dead body of the
deceased lying there. It is this evidence which has been attributed to be
highly improbable by Mr. Venkataramani since they were carrying a load of
about 15 Kgs. of vegetables on their shoulders - a rustic villager growing
vegetables and selling it to the market place obviously will carry the load
on their shoulders. Weight of 15 Kgs may be of some consequence to a
sophisticated city baboo but the same may not be so to a village peasant or
even a trader. The cross-examination of these two witnesses, though
effected extensively, has not yielded any benefit to the appellants and the
evidence remained totally unshaken and thus worthy of acceptance by a Court
of law. The evidence of PWs 3, 4 and 5 stands thus corroborated by two
independent witnesses and it is on the evidence of the other three
prosecution witnesses, the main plank of submission of Mr. Venkataramani is
that a contradiction in the evidence is the only merit in the story made
out by the prosecution.
Incidentally, be it noted that while appreciating the evidence of a
witness, minor discrepancies on trivial matters without affecting the core
of the prosecution case, ought not to prompt the court to reject evidence
in its entirety. If the general tenor of the evidence given by the witness
and the trial court upon appreciation of evidence forms opinion about the
credibility thereof, in the normal circumstances the Appellate Court would
not be justified to review it once again without justifiable reaons. It is
the totality of the situtation. which has to be taken note of, and we do
not see any justification to pass a contra note, as well, on perusal of the
evidence on record. In this context reference may be made to two decisions
of this Court. The first being the State of U.P. v. M.K. Anthony, [1985] 1
SCC 505 as also a later one in the case of Leela Ram v. State of Haryana,
(1999) 9 SCC 525. Needless to record that difference in some minor detail,
which does not otherwise affect the core of the prosecution case, may be
there but that by itself would not prompt the Court to reject the evidence
on minor variations and discrepancies. In Leela Ram (supra), this Court
observed in paragraph 9 of the report :
"24. When an eyewitness is examined at length it is quite possible for him
to make some discrepancies. No true witness can possibly escape from making
some discrepant detail. Perhaps an untrue witness who is well tutored can
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successfully make his testimony totally non-discrepant. But courts should
bear in mind that it is only when discrepancies in the evidence of a
witness are so incompatible with the credibility of his version that the
court is justified in jettisoning his evidence. But too serious a view to
be adopted on mere variations falling in the narration of an incident
(either as between the evidence of two witnesses or as between two
statements of the same witness) is an unrealistic approach for judicial
scrutiny."
This Court further observed : (SCC pp, 656 - 57, paras 25-27)
"25. It is a common practice in trial courts to make out contradictions
from the previous statement of a witness for confronting him during cross-
examination. Merely because there is inconsistency in evidence it is not
sufficient to impair the credit of the witness. No doubt Section 155 of the
Evidence Act provides scope for impeaching the credit of a witness by proof
of an inconsistent former statement. But a reading of the section would
indicate that all inconsistent statements arc not sufficient to impeach the
credit of the witness. The material portion of the section is extracted
below :
’155. Impeaching credit of witness - The credit of a witness may be
impeached in the following ways by the adverse party, or with the consent
of the court, by the party who calls him (1) - (2).
(3) by proof of former statements inconsistent with any part of his
evidence which is liable to be contradicted;’
26. A former statement though seemingly inconsistent with the evidence need
not necessarily be sufficient to amount to contradiction. Only such of the
inconsistent statement which is liable to be ’contradicted’ would affect
the credit of the witness. Section 145 of the Evidence Act also enables the
cross-examiner to use any former statement of the witness, but it cautions
that if it is intended to ’contradict’ the witness the cores-examiner is
enjoined to comply with the formality prescribed therein. Section 162 of
Code also permits the cross-examiner to use the previous statement of the
witness (recorded under Section 161 of the Code) for the only limited
purpose i.e. to ’contradict’ the witness.
27. To contradict a witness, therefore, must be to discredit the particular
version of the witness. Unless the former statement has the potency to
discredit the present statement, even if the latter is at variance with the
former to some extent it would not be helpful to contradict that witness
(vide Tahsildar Singh v. State of U.P., AIR (1959) SC 1012".
The issue, therefore, is whether the evidence available on record is
otherwise trustworthy and an acceptable piece of evidence : In the
contextual facts the answer is in the affirmative and both the trial court
and the High Court have also considered the same to be so.
(ii) A complaint focussed that except the interested witnesses none else
from the nearby residential areas have been examined - this is so : It is
the quality of the evidence and not the quantity, which is required. The
crux of the issue being has the prosectution been able to bring home the
charges with the evidence available on record - if the evidence on record
is otherwise satisfactory in nature and can be ascribed to be trustworthy,
an increase in number of witnesses cannot be termed to be a requirement for
the case. The two independent witnesses have also been grouped in the group
of interested witnesses, which is neither acceptable nor worthy of
acceptance and in any event the same does not have the support from the
available records. Apart there from PWs. 1, 2 and 3, they may be related to
each other but that does not mean and imply total rejection of the evidence
: interested they may be but in the event they are so - it is the
predominant duty of Court to be more careful in the matter of scrutiny of
the evidence of these interested witnesses and it on such a scrutiny it is
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found that the evidence on record is otherwise trustworthy, question of
rejection of the same on the ground of being interested witnesses would not
arise. As noticed above, it is the totality of the evidence, which matters
and if the same creates a confidence of acceptably of such an evidence,
question of rejection on being ascribed as ’interested witness’ would not
be justifiable. On the wake of the aforesaid thus the second plea of
rejection of evidence of prosecution witnesses cannot be sustained.
(111) It is on the third count that the appellants contended that since
there is no evidence on record to show that the accused person had the
knowledge about the movement of the deceased on that day, it is well-neigh
impossible to accept that any of the witnesses have really seen the
occurrence, which has led to the death of the deceased and the resultant
effect would be the entitlement of benefit of doubt in favour of the
accused persons. On the nature of the evidence as is available on record
and as noted above, question of any entitlement of benefit of doubt would
not arise; The evidence on-record is worth its credence and trustworthy, as
such creates a condifence in the mind of the Court.
(iv) On the next count it has been contended that since it was a market
day, it is highly improbable that the accused would have taken a risk of
committing the offence in the manner and at the place as stated by the
prosecution witnesses. We have already noticed hereinabove that the tenor
of evidence tendered by the prosecution witnesses creates confidence in the
mind of the Court by reaon wherefor the correctness of the statements made
shall have to be ascribed lo them : as such whether the day was a market
day or not, it really does not make a dent to the prosecution case worthy
of detailing out.
(v) Lastly, the availability of the defence witnesses has been very
strongly argued and non-reliance thereon has been severly criticised by the
appellants. This aspect of the matter has already been dealt with while
dealing with the plea of alibi and as such we need not repeat ourselves.
Suffice it to record that the evidence tendered by the defence witnesses
cannot outweigh the trustworthiness of the prosecution witnesses.
Turning attention on to other counts of submission in support of the appeal
as regards false implication, (he appellants contended that there has been
a series of litigation between the parties, in particular, PW-5 and as such
the accused persons were meant lo suffer (he litigation process in a heavy
way : unfortunately, however, there us no evidence to the effect as is now
being stated before this Court. On the contrary the prosecution alleged a
definite motive and a grudge against the accused persons and the same would
be evident from the observations of the High Court in that regard. The High
Court in paragraph 16 of the Judgment stated as below :
"16. So for as the motive for occurrence is concerned, several documents
have been filed and it has been pointed out that because there was a series
of litigation between the two parties and in some of the cases filed on
behalf of the informant, some of the accused and their relations were also
convicted, they have grudge against the family of the informant, It is,
therefore, clear that the appellants in this case had strong motive for
committing the murder of the brother of the informant in this case.
However, it has been submitted on behalf of the appellants that it is
strange that when the informant himself was the informant in the cases in
which the appellants were either convicted or they were facing trial and
when the informant was also surrounded by them why did they spare the
informant and killed his brother. In this connection, it has been submitted
on behalf of the State that from the evidence of the informant (PW-5), it
becomes clear that when the accused persons were surrounding him alongwith
his brother deceased, he fled away from the ring of the accused persons.
PW-5 has also clearly stated that when he ran to some distance he stopped
and started looking at the P.O. and he found that his brother was
surrounded and was being assaulted by the accused persons. It appears that
because of the smartness and presence of mind the informant succeeded in
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extricating himself from the clutches of the assailants and as his brother
could not be so prompt in taking care and he was surrounded and attacked.
If the accused persons had grievance against the informant and his family,
it is not surprising that they chose the brother of the informant to kill
him when the informant escaped. Therefore, there is nothing unnatural in
it."
By reason of the above, we are unable to record our concurrence in the
matter of even raising a plea of enmity by the defence. As a matter of fact
there is no evidentiary support as such the same does not call for a
detailed discussion in this Judgment.
In support of the appeal, a further submission has been made pertaining to
the First Information Report (FIR). On this score the appellants contended
that delayed receipt of the FIR in the Court of the Chief Judicial
Magistrate cannot but be viewed with suspicion. While it is true that
Section 157 of the Code makes it obligatory on the Officer Incharge of the
Police Station to send a report of the information received to a Magistrate
forthwith, but that does not mean an imply to denounce and discard an
otherwise positive and trustworthy evidence on record. Technicality ought
not to outweigh the course of justice - if the Court is otherwise convinced
and has come to a conclusion as regards the truthfulness of the prosecution
case, mere delay, which can otherwise be ascribed to be reasonable, would
not by itself demolish the prosecution case. The decision of this Court in
Shiv Ram and another v. State of U.P., [1998] 1 SCC 149 lends support to
the observation as above.
This Court further in Stale of Karnataka v. Moin Patel and others, AIR
(1996) SC 3041 slated vis-a-vis the issue of delay in despatch of FIR as
below:
"The matter can be viewed from another angle also. It has already been
found by us that the prosecution case is that the FIR was promptly lodged
at or about 1.30 AM and that the investigation started on the basis thereof
is wholly reliable and acceptable. Judged in the context of the above facts
the mere delay in despatch of the FIR -and for that matter in receipt
thereof by the Magistrate - would not make the prosecution case suspect for
as has been pointed out by a three Judge Bench of this Court in Pala Singh
v. State of Punjab, AIR (1972) SC 2679, the relevant provision contained in
Section 157 Cr.P.C. regarding forthwith dispatch of the report (FIR) is
really designed to keep the Magistrate informed of the investigation of a
cognizable offence so as to be able to control the investigation and if
necessary to give proper direction under section 159 Cr.P.C. and therefore
if in a given case it is found that FIR was recorded without delay and the
investigation started on that FIR then however, improper or objectionable
the delayed receipt of the report by the Magistrate concerned, it cannot by
itself justify the conclusion that the investigation was tainted and the
prosecution unsupportable".
Let us, however, at this stage, consider the view as expressed by the High
Court in the matter under consideration. The High Court in paragraph 13 of
the Judgment staled as below :
"13. It has been submitted on behalf of the STATE in this regard that it is
clear from the evidence of the 1.0. (P.W. 7) that the informant of this
case had arrived at the out post at 4.30 PM and he had given the statement
which was recorded in the Fard Beyan (Ext. 1), This fact was also noted in
the station diary and thereafter the Investigating Officer proceeding for
the P.O. and it appears that he had prepared the inquest report (Ext. 5) at
5.30 PM and has obtained the signatures of the witnesses on it and then he
sent the deadbody for Postmortem Examination. He also made some seizures at
the P.O. and prepared the seizure list (Ext. 4) at the place of occurrence
at 17.15 hours and he sent the deadbody for Postmortem Examination through
a constable by preparing a forwarding report (Ext. 6). Moreover, according
to PW 7 he had made over charge of the investigation to another Police
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Office PW 8 on 28th June 1980 and then on taking up the investigation PW 8
Arun Kumar Singh had also inspected the P.O. and also recorded the
statments of PW 6. So, it is obvious that not only the Fard Beyan was
prepared; rather the entries were made in the station diary also at the
Police Station and subsequently after taking over the charge from the first
I.O. (PW-7), PW 8 also took up further investigation on 28.6.1980. It is,
therefore, clear that the investigation was promptly taken up and the
investigation promptly proceeded. It is also significant to note that PW 8
happended to be the Officer Incharge of the Police Station and it was his
duty to send the FIR to court, but as he had proceeded for the place of
occurrence on 28th and he remained there till 29.6.80, as stated by him,
the FIR could not be dispatched in time. In this view of the matter, simply
because the FIR in this case was received in the court of the Chief
Judicial Magistrate with delay it cannot be said that the FIR in this case
is not genuine or that it is tainted or that the prosecution case should be
viewed with suspicion."
As noticed above, the statutory obligation warrants utmost promptitude and
in the event of the delay not being unreasonable one and in the event of
availability of some explanation therefore, which is otherwise acceptable
as well, question of prosecution being tainted would not arise. FIR sets
the investigation rolling and in the event of there being some delay
somewhere and as noticed above with the acceptable explanation, the delay
cannot be said to vitiate the trial by reason therefor. On the wake of the
aforesaid, we arc thus unable to record our concurrence (o the submissions
in support of the appeals
The appeals thus have no micrit and hence arc dismissed.