Full Judgment Text
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PETITIONER:
BINAY KUMAR SINGH
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
THE STATE OF BIHAR
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 31/10/1996
BENCH:
A.S. ANAND, K.T. THOMAS
ACT:
HEADNOTE:
JUDGMENT:
J U D G M E N T
THOMAS. J.
A veritable holocaust took place in a Bihar village
(Paras Bigha in Gaya District) on a moonlit night in early
February, 1980. In that massacre lives of 13 human beings
were snuffed out and 17 others were badly mauled, a large
number of mute cattle were burnt alive and many dwelling
houses were gutted. The venue of that macabre was the area
where houses of Harijans and people belonging to Backward
Classes were clustered together in Paras Bigha village.
After investigation the police charge-sheeted 56 persons for
various offences committed in connection with the aforesaid.
incident, but due to different reasons only 44 of them were
put on trial. Sessions Court convicted 37 among them of
various offences ranging from Section 302 IPC (read with
Section 149) to minor offences such as Section 429 IPC and
sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years for the
principal offence and to lesser terms of imprisonment for
the lesser offences. The Patna High Court confirmed the
conviction and while dealing with the sentences rectified an
illegality in awarding a sentences of imprisonment only for
10 years for the offence under Sections 302/149 IPC by
enhancing it to imprisonment for life. The maximum fine
imposed by the Sessions Court was reduced from Rs.5,000/- to
Rs. 3,000/- and made it applicable to all the convicted
accused. We are now dealing with the appeals filed by the
convicted persons in this Court by special leave.
During the pendency of these appeals the appellant in
Criminal Appeal No.91 of 1994 (Surendra Prasad Singh) died
and hence his appeal has abated. We may point out that
appellant Moiddin Mian(ranked as 7th accused in the trial
court) has not filed any appeal before the High Court and
hence the conviction and sentence passed on him remained
unchallenged. He is one of the many appellants arrayed in
Criminal Appeal NOs.280-283 of 1987 in this Court. But he
could not have Come to this Court without approaching the
High Court in appeal first. We, therefore record that his
appeal before us is not maintainable and hence the
conviction and sentence passed on him the Sessions Court
would remain undisturbed. We, therefore dismiss his appeal
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filed in this Court.
Due to the crowding of many accused person in this case
we deem it convenient to refer to the individual appellant
as far as practicable by the rank in which the were arrayed
in the trial Court. We do not think it necessary to
mention the facts elaborately yet a brief narration of the
story would be advantageous to deal with the questions
raised before us.
One Ram Niranjan Sharma (father of A-3 Madan Mohan
Sharma) was Killed on 28.10 1979 for which the police
charge-sheeted certain persons including Sukhdev Bhagat (PW-
32) and some other prosecution witnesses who were all
inhabitants of the venue of this crime. From then onward
tension was mounting up this lacality. Police patrol as well
as bandobust were provided and some measures, such as
initiation of security proceeding under Section 107 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure (for short ’the Code’) for easing
down the tension and to preserve law and order situation,
were adopted but the Police perambulation was subsequently
lifted. On the occurrence night these appellants and lot of
their henchmen formed themselves into an unlawful assembly
arming themselves with deadly weapons, gun, rifles and
cutting instruments. When the inhabitants of the place Of
occurrence were sleeping the rioters made a blitz on them
around 11 in the night. Many houses occupied by the victims
in this case were set on fire and (heap of straws) were set
blaze. The occupants who emerged out of the burning houses
were sot at by the appellant though some of them could
escape either by fleeing off or by hiding from then spewing
barrels of the firearms which prowled for them. when the
assailants were satisfied that they had accomplished their
objects they. all retreated from the scene.
The Sub-Inspector of Jehanabad Police Station got
information From Rabindra Bhagat (PW-36) about some serious
occurrence involving arson and a large number of people He
then rushed to the scene. He spotted PW-32 (Sukhdev Bhagat)
and elicited statement from him (Ext.14). he Forwarded it
to the Police Station where an Fir was prepared on its
basis. Investigation was commenced and inquests were held
autopsy on the dead bodies was arranged and hospitalisation
of the injured was ensured. On completion of the
investigation charge sheet was laid as aforesaid.
We do not propose to refer to the evidence regarding
the injuries sustained by the victims nor to the records
showing the extensive damage inflicted on the cattle as
well as to the dwelling houses. The trial court and High
Court have dealt with those aspects in extenso and reached
findings substantially in favour of the prosecution. In
fairness to all the learned senior counsel(who argued for
the appellants) we must observe that none of them disputed
before us that on the dreadful night the devastating carnage
took place at this place in which those 13 persons died and
a number of other persons were injured at the hands of
armed assailants. The nub of the points stressed by the
leaned counsel is that these appellants were not the
miscreants involved in the incident. In other words,
basically the only point now to be considered is whether
appellants were also among the assailants in the said
occurrence ?
A number of witnesses examined by the prosecution have
identified these assailants in the trial court. Leaned
Sessions Judge and the High court did place reliance on the
evidence of large of such witnesses on that aspect.
However, the trial court did not act on the evidence of Raja
Dev Bhagat (PW-5), Peru Bhagat (PW-2), Feken Yadav (PW-17)
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and Chandrika paswan (PW-19).
Learned counsel pointed out that neither the trial
court nor the High court has treated Ext.14 (statement of
PW-32 sukh Dev Bhagat) as forming the FIR in this case,
instead the statement made by PW-36 Ravindra Bhagat which
was marked as Ext.10/3 was treated as the FIR. True it is
that before the Sub Inspector of Jehanabad Police Station
(PW-42 Kalika Prasad) could record the statement of Sukhdev
Bhagat (PW-32) some information had already reached the
Police Station when Rabindra Bhagat (PW-36) went there by
early morning. It has been marked as Ext 10/3. That
information was entered in the station diary in the
following words.
At this time Rabindra Bhagat Son of
Soharai Bhagat resident of Paras
Bigha, P.s Jahanabad came to Police
Station accompanied by Bhangi Yadav
resident of village Titai Bigha and
gave the information that the sons
(probably he meant sons and grand
sons) of late Ram Niranjan Sharma
had collected with large number of
persons in his collected, with
large number of persons in his
village and they have set fire to
the houses and piles of straws and
had fled away seeing the fire and
he was not aware of the full facts
as to what had happened."
But we do not f ind any error on the part of the police
in not treating Ext 10/3 as the first information statement.
for the purpose of preparing the FIR in this case It is
evidently a cryptic information and is hardly sufficient for
discerning the commission of any cognizable offence
therefrom. Under Section 154 of the Code the information
must unmistakably relate to the commission of a cognizable
offence and it shall be reduced to writing (if given orally)
and shall he signed by its maker. The next requirement is
that the substance thereof shall be entered in a book kept
in the police station in such form as the State Government
has prescribed. First Information Report (FIR) has to be
prepared and it shall be forwarded to the magistrate who is
empowered to take cognizance of such offence upon such
report. The officer incharge of a police station is not
obliged to prepare FIR on any nebulous information received
from somebody who does not disclose any authentic knowledge
about commission of the cognizable offence. It is open to
the officer incharge to collect more information containing
details about the occurrence, if available, so that he can
consider whether a cognizable offence has been committed
warranting investigation thereto. (Tapinder Singh vs. state
of Punjab, 1971 (1) SCR 599; Some Bhai vs. state of Gujarat
AIR 1975 SC 1453; sc 1453; State of U.P. vs. P.A.Madhu AIR
1984 sc 1523).
Learned counsel who argued for the appellant, however,
contended that first information statement in this case is
neither Ext.14 nor Ext.10/3, but it should have been the
statement which PW-32 (Sukhdev Bhagat) had given before
Jehanabad Police Station much prior to the other two
statements. Learned counsel submitted that the police had,
for reasons best known to them, hushed up that statement.
Basis for the above submission is the evidence given by DW-
19 ( Nawal Kishore Prased) a member of the Board of Revenue
of the State of Bihar who conducted an official enquiry into
the administrative lapses involved in this incident. Of
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course, DW-19 claimed that one Sukhdev Bhagat had told him
during such enquiry that his first statement was not
recorded at the village but at the police station.
In this context, we may point out that Sukhdev Bhagat
(PW-32) has stated in his evidence in the trial court that
many officials would have recorded his statements though he
could not remember precisely whether an officer by name,
Nawal Kishore Prasad would have examined him. PW-32 has
further said in his evidence that Ext.14 statement was
recorded at the place of occurrence and that he had not
given any other statement to the police. If he was to be
contradicted with any other statement, the defence should
have adopted the procedure prescribed in Section 145 of the
Evidence Act. Learned counsel contended that it is enough if
he was asked questions in cross-examination with reference
to such statement. In support of it he relied on the
decision of this Court in Bhagwan Singh State of Punjab, AIR
1952 SC 214.
The credit of a witness can be impeached by proof of
any statement which is inconsistent with any part of his
evidence in court. This principle is delineated in Section
155(3) of the Evidence Act and it must be borne in mind when
reading Section 145 which consists of two limbs. It is
provided in the first limb of Section 145 that a witness may
be cross-examined as to the previous statement made by him
without such writing being shown to him. But the second limb
provides that "if it is intended to contradict him by the
writing his attention must, before the writing can be
proved, be called to those parts of it which are to be used
for the purpose of contradicting him." There is thus a
distinction between the two vivid limbs, though subtle it
may be. The first limb does not envisage impeaching the
credit of a witness, but it merely enables the opposite
party to cross-examine the witness with reference to the
previous statements made by him. He may at that stage
succeed in eliciting materials to his benefit through such
cross-examination even without resorting to the procedure
laid down in the second limb. But if the witness disowns
having made any statement which is inconsistent with his
present stand his testimony in Court on that score would not
be vitiated until the corss-examiner proceeds to comply with
the procedure prescribed in the second limb of Section 145.
In Bhagwan Singh’s case, Vivian Bose J. pointed Out in
paragraph that during Cross-examination of the witnesses s
concerned the formalities prescribed Section 145 are
complied With. The cross-examination in that case indicated
that every circumstance intended to be used as contradiction
was put to him point by point and passage by passage.
Learned Judges were called upon to deal with an argument
that witnesses attention should have been specifically drawn
to that passage in addition thereto. Their Lordships were
however satisfied in that case that the Procedure adopted
was in substantial compliance with Section 145, and hence
held that all that is required is that the witness must be
treated fairly and must be afforded a reasonable oportunity
of explaining the contradictions after his attention has
been drawn to them in a fair and reasonable manner. On the
facts of that case, there is no dispute with the
proposition laid therein.
So long as the attention of PW 32 (Sukhdev Bhagat) was
not drawn to the statement attributed to him as recorded by
DW-19(Nawal Kishore Prasad) we are not persuaded to reject
the evidence of PW 32 that he gave Ex.14 statement at the
venue of occurrence and that he had not given any other
statement earlier thereto.
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Learned counsel for the appellant next pointed out as
a peculiar feature in the case that none of the injured had
identified the assailants (except two or three appellants)
but only those witness who did not sustain any injury have
claimed to have identified a bulk of them. Even if so, it
cannot have any adverse impact on the credibility of the
witness relied on by the two courts as it could happen many
a times that person sustaining injuries in a mass of attack
night not be in the same position to observe men and events
as the non injured persons. It is quite probable that the
vision of the injured might get blurred, as their focus of
attention would instinctively get diverted to the injuries
sustained by them. They could then be in a less advantageous
position to watch or observe the events than the non-injured
witnesses.
That apart, there is no justification in drawing a
hiatus between injured witnesses and noninjured witnesses in
this case as for the capacity to identify the assailants
while in action. PW-4 (Babanand Bhagat), PW-9 (Doman
Bhagat), PW-14 (Krishna Das), PW-27 (Damyanti Devi), PW-33
(Ajay Kumar) are the witnesses who sustained injuries in
this episode. Among them PW-14 is a small boy who said he
got up from sleep on hearing gun shots and even at the first
sight of occurrence he fell under a shock and become
unconscious. The other injured witnesses have said that they
woke up from sleep and on seeing the surroundings in flames,
they ran for life and some sustained gun shots during the
flight while the others sustained burns. If this was the
position, we cannot find fault with then as to their
inability to identify a good number of assailants.
Some of the appellants have putforth the plea of alibi.
The appellants who resorted to the plea of Alibi in this
case are A-1 (Krishnadev), A-2 (Shyam Sunder Singh), A-3
(Madan Mohan Sharma ) and A-34 (Vinay kumar Singh). As
against the testimony of a large number of witnesses who
claimed to have noticed those appellants actively
participating in the occurrence the above noted appellants
have led evidence to show that during the relevant time
they were at far away places. Such plea was emphatically
reiterated by the learned counsel in this Court also.
According to the appellants - Krishnadev (A 1) and
Shyam Sunder Singh (A-2) on 5.2.1980 evening they were
arrested by police in connection with case No.9(2)90 of
Kankerbagh police station and was remanded to judicial
custody by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Patna and were
interned in the Central Jail, Patna where they remained till
19.2.1980 and were shifted to sub jail at Jehanabad where
they remained till 23.2.1980 until they were released on
bail. Those appellants examined official and non-official
witnesses to prove the plea of alibi; the Public Prosecutor
in the trial court had mounted a severe onslaught on the
said plea by contending that jail records were manipulated
at the instance of these appellants, though perhaps in the
later period of incarceration in connection with the said
case those accused might have been detained in jail.
Appellant Madan Mohan Sharma (A-3) advanced his plea of
alibi by saying that he was on the security guard o a
Minister of the Bihar Government (Thakur Prasad Singh - DW
38) and that on the night of 6.2.1980 a dinner was hosted by
that Minister in his official residence and that A-3 (Madan
Mohan Sharma) was then attending his security duty at the
residence of the Minister. The said appellant examined a
number of witnesses including the Private Secretary to the
Minister and some MLAs, besides the Minister himself, to
establish his plea. Public Prosecutor who crossexamined the
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witnesses took the stand that PW-38 had stoopped down to
speak to the false evidence only to salvage himself from the
murk of accusation flung on him inside the legislative
assmebly that someone in his personal staff played the main
role in the carnage which shocked Bihar State.
Appellant, Binay Kumar Sharma (A-32) adopted the
defence that he was admitted as an inpatient at Nalanda
Medical College Hospital with accute appendicitis and was
treated there for a long period which covered this crucial
period of 6.2.1980 also. He examined Dr. Binod Bihari Sinha
(DW-6) and DIG of Police Kapil Dev Dubey (DW-8) to prove
his plea. The Public Prosecutor who cross-examined those
witnesses assailed DW6 - Doctor suggesting that he became
privy to the fabrication of documents to concoct the plea of
alibi.
The trial court and the High Court concurently
replelled in toto, the plea of alibi putforth by the above
appellants after dealing, in extenso, with the materials
produced them in the Court in support of the plea. Learned
counsel who argued for the appellants in this Court
submitted first that the strict view adopted by the two
Courts bellow that unless the plea of alibi is conclusively
eastablished no benefit. would enure to the accused, is not
a sound proposition in criminal cases. Learned counsel
further contended that if an accused succeeded in creating a
reasonable doubt regarding the- possibility of himself to be
elsewhere then the plea of alibi need acceptance.
We must bear in mind that alibi not an exception
(special or general) envisaged in the Indian Penal code or
any other law. It is only a rule of evidence recognised in
Section 11 of the Evidence Act that facts which are
inconsistent with the fact in issue are relevant.
Illustration (A) given under the provision is worth
reproducing in this context:
"The question is whether A
committed a crime at Calcutta on a
certain date; the fact that on that
date, A was at Lahore is relevant."
The Latin word alibi means "elsewhere" and that word is
used for convenience when an accused takes recourse to a
defence line that when the occurrence took place he was so
far sway from the place of occurrence that it is extremely
improbable that he would have participated in the crime. It
is basic law that in a criminal case, in which the accused
is alleged to have inflicted physical injury to another
person, the burden is on the prosecution to prove that the
accused was present at the scene and has participated in the
crime. The burden would not be lessened by the mere fact
that the accused has adopted the defence of alibi The plea
of the accused in such cases need be considered only when
the burden has been discharged by the prosecution
satisfactorily. But once the prosecution succeeds in
discharging the burden it is incumbent on the accused, who
adopts the plea of alibi to prove it with absolute certainty
So as to exclude the possibility of his presence at the
place of occurrence. When the presence of the accused at the
scene of occurrence has been established satisfactorily by
the prosecution through reliable evidence, normally the
court would be slow to believe any counter evidence to the
effect that he was elsewhere when the occurrence happened.
But if the evidence adduced by the accused is of such a
quality and of such a standard that the court may entertain
some reasonable doubt regarding his presence at the scene
when the occurrence took place, the accused would no doubt,
be entitled to the benefit of that reasonable doubt. For
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that purpose, it would be a sound proposition to be laid
down that in such circumstances, the burden on the accused
is rather heavy. It follows, therefore, that strict proof is
required for establishing the plea of alibi. This Court has
observed so on earlier occasions (vide Dudh Nath pandey vs
state of Utter Pradesh (1981) 2 SCC 166; state of
Maharashtra vs Narsingrao Gangaram Pimple AIR 1984 SC 63).
The appellants Krishnadev (A-1) and Shyam sunder Singh
(A-2) adopted the defence that they were taken to Central
Jail, Patna on 5.2.1980 on a remand order passed by the
Chief Judicial Magistrate, Patna. We need not vex our mind
with the evidence pertaining to the internment of those
appellants in the sub-jail, Jehanabad from 19.2.1980 till
23.2.1980 Let that be as they say. But their detention in
the Central Jail) Patna from 5.2.1980 which continued any
day beyond 6.2.1980 is the crucial period so far as this
case is concerned In considering that. crucial aspect the
first question to be pondered over is, why should they have
been arrested at all. Their case is that one Anil Kumar
lodged a complaint with the police alleging that these two
appellants had snatched Rs.10/-from one of the and so an FIR
was registered against them which included the offence under
Section 379 IPC and the arrest is said to have been made on
its basis. The two Courts below have observed that the said
Anil Kumar is a fictitious character and he was never traced
out Later. It was beyond comprehension for the two Courts as
to why these two appellants did not even move for bail
inspite of very clear advantageous factors for them. One is,
they are nephews of appellant Madan Mohan Sharma (A-3) who
was a police personnel on the security of one of the
Ministers and he was stationed at Patna itself.Second is,
bailing out the appellants would have been only a matter
for making a motion as the offences lodged against them were
seemingly trivial. Besides those incongruity, the very
unsatisfactory way the gate register of the Central Jail,
Patna was maintained has been specifically noticed by the
two Courts. In view of all such broad circumstances the
trial judge agreed with the contention of the public
prosecutor that a bogus complaint with the fictitious
complaint would have been created in advance for using it
for a plea of alibi. After exhaustively dealing with the
evidence on this aspect, the High Court also concurred with
that view.
Of course, Sri UR Lalit, learned Senior Counsel has
vehemently argued that the courts should have presumed the
genuineness of all official records and accepted the proof
as more than reasonably sufficient to discharge their
burden. We shall not forget that presumption is only a rule
in the realm of burden of proof and the reasons concurrently
weighed with the two courts below for disbelieving the plea
of alibi put forth by these two appellants are quite sturdy.
At any rate, in an appeal by special leave granted under
Article 136 of the Constitution, this Court would not be
inclined to upset the finding of fact based on such weighty
reasons, more so when the reasons advanced by both the
courts in support of the finding appeal to us also.
Sri UR Lalit, learned Senior Counsel, next contended
that the plea of Alibi advanced by the appellant Madan Mohan
Sharma (A-3) that he was on guard duty in the Minister’s
bungalow should have been accepted. The distance between the
Minister’s residence and the place of occurrence is 60
Kilometres. It is possible for anyone to cover the said
distance in two hours. Perhaps, he was doing guard duty in
the bungalow of the Minister but to hold that he was at the
Minister’s bungalow on the night of 6.2.1980 the evidence
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must be very credit-worthy. Those defence witnesses who have
spoken to this aspect, including the Minister himself (DW-
36), have simply said long after that date that one
particular person was doing guard duty on 6.2.1980. It
should be remembered that Madan Mohan Sharma (A-3) had no
special role to play during the dinner hosted by the
Minister. The witness could not say who were the other
persons on guard duty on any other day. Those aspects apart,
it is revealed in the evidence of the Minister (DW-36) that
on the next day of occurrence a furore had erupted in the
Bhiar legislative Assembly with the allegation that a member
of the personal staff of the Minister, by name Madan Mohan
Sharma, was involved in the Paras Bigha massacre and then
the Minister has said on the floor of the Assembly that
Madan Mohan Sharma was not on his personal staff but was
only a security guard. He did not say, in the Legislative
Assembly, that Madan Mohan Sharma was at his official
residence at Patna during the relevant time. For these
reasons, we are satisfied that the trial court and the High
Court have rightly rejected his plea of alibi.
Sri Sushil Kumar, learned Senior Counsel arguing for
the appellant Binay Kumar Singh (A-34) pursued the plea of
alibi put forth by that accused in the trial court. He
examined one Dr. Binod Bihar Singh who was Associate
Professor of Medicine at Nalanda Medical College, Patna as
DW-36. The witness of course, said that appellant Binay
Kumar Singh was admitted as an in-patient of the said
Medical College Hospital for appendicitis and was not in a
position to move out of his bed even on 6.2.1980. The
witness said this with reference to the Bed-head Ticket
produced by him. But the cross-examination of DW-6 has
exposed the falsity of his evidence. That a patient admitted
for acute case of appendicitis in a Medical College Hospital
was never shown to a surgeon creates a serious doubt as to
whether this appellant was really admitted in that hospital
as claimed by DW6. The witness said in cross-examination
that the patient left the hospital soon after his admission
but again returned on the next day. PW-6 also admitted that
the Bed-head Ticket referred to by him did not contain any
entry made by him. No mark of identification of the patient
was noted in such bed-head Ticket and DW-6 had no previous
acquaintance with this appellant. No other document was
produced to support the plea. On such a meagre and
unsatisfactory evidence, the two Courts below have rightly
discarded his plea of alibi.
Turning back to the prosecution evidence regarding
identification of the appellants Sri Sushil Kumar, learned
Senior Counsel adverted to certain anomalies which crept in
the deposition of some witnesses; one such anomaly relates
to the evidence against appellant Binay Kumar Sharma.
There were two accused in this case bearing that name
Binay Kumar Sharma. One of them is the appellant in Criminal
Appeal No.277 of 1987 and he was arrayed as A-34 in the
trial court. The other Binay Sharma is from Sarthua Village
and he has jumped the bail and hence his trial was separated
from the rest of the accused as per order of the trial court
dated 15.5.1982. It is true that PW-11 ( Mithlesh Paswan )
who was examined in Court on 29.11.1982 mentioned two
persons as Binay Sharma as having been identified by him. On
the strength of it, learned senior counsel tried to make out
a strong point as seriously affecting the prosecution case
against appellant Binay Kumar Sharma (A-34). At the first
blush, we too felt that it has some serious implication on
the identification evidence of that appellant, but on closer
scrutiny, we are convinced that there is no merit in that
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contention. What PW-11, in fact, said was that he recognised
those two persons ticipating in the occurrence. It was not
as though he identified two persons in the trial court
bearing that name from out of the accused arrayed.
Arguments were addressed before us for reappreciation
of evidnece of the eye-witnesses on the strength of some
discrepancies highlighted from their testimony. But we are
not disposed to disturb the concurrent finding regarding
reliability of the evidence of those witnesses on such
discrepancies as they do not appear to us to be material or
serious.
We have noticed that Mritunjaya (A-23) and Parmanand
Sharma) and Madan Mohan Sharma son of Ambica (A-24) were
identified by more than two two witnessas as participants in
the occurrence. Out of those witness the testimony of PW-10
and PW-32 was accepted by both courts. As for the remaining
appellants both courts have accepted the testimony of at
least three witnesses each as referring to each appellant.
There is no rule of evidence that no conviction can be based
unless a certain minimum number cf witnesses have identified
a particular accused as member of the unlawful assembly. It
is axiomatic that evidence is not to be counted but only
weighed and it is not the.quantity of evidence but the
quality that matters. Even the testimony of one single
witness, if wholly reliable, is sufficient to establish tho
identification of an accused as member of an unlawful
assembly. All the same when size of the unlawful assembly is
quite large(as in this case) and many persons would have
witnessed the incident, it would be a prudent exercise to
insist on at least two relaible witnesses to vouchsafe the
identification of an accused as participant in the rioting.
In Masalti vs. The State of utter Pradesh (AIR 1965 SC 202),
a Bench of four Judges Of this court has adopted such a
formula. It is useful to extract it here :
"Where a criminal court has to deal
with evidence pertaining to the
commission of an office involving a
large number of offence and a large
number of victims, it is usual to
adopt the test that the conviction
could be sustained only if it is
suported by two or three or more
witnesses who give a consistent
account of the incident."
We feel that the said proposition can profitably be
followed in this case also as the said proposition has
stood the test of time.
We are satisfied that the two courts have considered
thew evidence form the correct angle and found the
appellants guilty of the offences keeping in view the above
proposition. There is no reason for us to interfere with the
conviction and sentences passed on the appellants. The
appeals are accordingly dismissed Bail bonds executed by
the appellants shall stand cancelled. They shall be taken
into custody to undergo the remaining part of sentence.