1969 (5) TMI 63 - HC - Indian Laws

Summary

1. ISSUES PRESENTED and CONSIDERED

The core legal questions considered by the Court in this judgment include:

• Whether the statement of Bahadur Singh, who was purportedly tendered pardon and acted as an approver, could be legally accepted as reliable evidence against the accused.
• The legal status and evidentiary value of Bahadur Singh's testimony in the absence of proof of tender of pardon.
• The sufficiency and reliability of corroborative evidence, including forensic evidence such as footprint analysis and the handling of physical exhibits.
• The applicability of procedural safeguards regarding the treatment of evidence in police custody, specifically the sealing and timely dispatch of exhibits to forensic experts.
• The overall sufficiency of evidence to uphold the convictions of Sarbjit Singh and Jaswant Kaur for murder and related offences under the Indian Penal Code.
• Whether the death sentence imposed on Sarbjit Singh should be confirmed in light of the evidence and procedural considerations.

2. ISSUE-WISE DETAILED ANALYSIS

Issue 1: Legal Status and Evidentiary Value of Bahadur Singh's Testimony

The Court examined the legal framework under Section 337 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which permits a competent Magistrate to tender pardon to a person involved in an offence in exchange for full and true disclosure of facts. The tender of pardon is intended as a quid pro quo to encourage truthful testimony free from fear of prosecution.

In this case, the Court found no satisfactory evidence that Bahadur Singh was formally tendered pardon. The Sessions Judge had treated him as an approver and even discharged him after his statement, but the absence of proof of pardon meant that Bahadur Singh legally remained an accomplice rather than an approver.

The Court emphasized that an accomplice's evidence must be treated with greater caution than that of an approver, as the accomplice remains under threat of prosecution and thus has a motive to minimize his own culpability. The twin tests of reliability and corroboration apply even more stringently to accomplice testimony. The Court noted that Bahadur Singh's evidence failed to meet these tests, as it was neither sufficiently reliable nor corroborated by independent sources on material particulars.

The Court also acknowledged the concession by counsel that Bahadur Singh was a competent witness but stressed that his legal status as an accomplice required careful scrutiny of his testimony.

Issue 2: Reliability and Handling of Forensic Evidence

The Court considered the forensic evidence relating to footprints lifted from the crime scene, which were allegedly matched to shoes worn by Sarbjit Singh and Bahadur Singh. The expert, Assistant Director of the Forensic Science Laboratory, examined moulds and test moulds of footprints and shoes.

However, the Court found serious procedural lapses undermining the reliability of this forensic evidence. The moulds and shoes were kept in police custody for an extended period before being sent for expert examination, and crucially, these exhibits were not sealed. The Court referred to established principles that police must promptly send recovered items such as cartridges or weapons to experts to prevent tampering and maintain evidentiary integrity.

By analogy, the Court held that the same principle applied to the footprint moulds and shoes. The delay and the unsealed condition of exhibits created a reasonable possibility of tampering, thereby diminishing the evidentiary value of the forensic comparison.

Issue 3: Sufficiency of Evidence to Uphold Convictions

Given the tainted nature of Bahadur Singh's testimony and the compromised forensic evidence, the Court concluded that the prosecution had failed to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. The absence of reliable and corroborated evidence on material particulars meant that the convictions of Sarbjit Singh and Jaswant Kaur could not be sustained.

The Court thus allowed the appeal and acquitted both accused persons. Consequently, the question of confirming the death sentence imposed on Sarbjit Singh did not arise.

3. SIGNIFICANT HOLDINGS

The Court articulated the following crucial legal principles and determinations:

"The basic idea of a pardon is that the fear of prosecution being removed, a person though privy to the offence may feel free to give true evidence and make a full disclosure of the events about the crime. The tender of pardon is, in other words, quid pro quo."

"Bahadur Singh cannot be regarded in law as an approver, nor is he a person against whom the State at any stage has entered nolle prosequi... his evidence must be treated with even greater caution than that of an established approver."

"The police should not wait for the recovery of the actual weapon of offence before sending the empty cartridges or bullets which are found near the scene of occurrence for expert examination. No ground should ever be allowed for the attack by the defence that there was an opportunity for tampering with these empty cartridges while they remained in police custody."

"On a parity of reasoning the same principle should apply in the instant case where there was a long interval between the lifting of moulds and their despatch to the expert. Whatever value there is of the comparison is lost altogether when we find that the shoes as well as the crime moulds were in an unsealed condition."

"We think that the conviction of the appellants cannot be upheld."

The Court thereby established the principle that evidence of an accomplice without formal pardon must be corroborated and scrutinized with heightened caution, and that procedural lapses in the handling of forensic evidence can fatally undermine its reliability. The final determination was to acquit the accused and reject the confirmation of the death sentence.