9911796707
TMI Blog2006 (8) TMI 523X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s a result of the assault and his dead body was carried away in their boat. It was stated that the occurrence had been seen by Satyanand Singh (PW-1), Kameshwar Singh (PW-2) and Pancham Singh (PW-5). It was alleged that in view of the flood conditions as also due to night fall, the report could not be lodged in the night. As regards motive for commission of the said offence, the informant alleged that the deceased had a piece of land near the house of the accused and they repeatedly used to pluck the maize and cut away the Masuria crop grown on that land as a result whereof the parties had been quarreling with each other. Allegedly, Baijnath Singh had also apprehended the accused cutting away his Masuria crop wherefor he had abused them in retaliation. The accused persons are said to be belonging to one family and they had been indulging in commission of theft and dacoity. The murder of Baijnath Singh was said to have committed in retaliation of the said incident. In the First Information Report, two accused were said to be carrying country made pistols while the rest were armed with gandasas, lathies and spears. The dead body was recovered after five days, i.e., 26.8.1980. The dea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in view of the evidence of the eye witnesses to the occurrence, viz., PWs. 1, 2, 3 and 5. The learned Trial Judge in his judgment inter alia held: (i) The injuries inflicted on the body of the deceased were homicidal in nature. (ii) The prosecution has been able to show that the dead body of Baijnath Singh had been identified. (iii) Although PW-3 was inimically disposed of towards the accused, it cannot be said that he had falsely implicated the Appellants. (iv) The prosecution has assigned sufficient reasons for non- examination of the witnesses named in the chargesheet. (v) Evidences adduced on behalf of the prosecution witnesses being consistent, the prosecution case has been proved. The High Court in its judgment opined: (i) The prosecution has brought on records sufficient evidences to prove that the assailants had arrived on a boat, assaulted the deceased and carried away his dead body. (ii) The prosecution witnesses being closely associated with the deceased, it was not difficult for them to identify the corpse. (iii) Ocular evidences being consistent in nature, the prosecution has been able to prove the ch ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... olice that I was in my field on the date of incident. I saw Baijnath Singh, Rajnath Singh in their field before the coming of the accused. There was sickle in their hand at that time. At the time when Rajnath Singh jumped from the boat there was nothing in his hand. The field of Rajnath Singh in Dhudhiya village is at a distance of 2-4-10 Laggi from the Basti." He also stated that despite cries nobody from the village came in view of the water. They have gone to their respective fields by wading through risen water. One Pancham Singh was examined as PW-5. He also was an eye- witness. He testified having seen Baijnath Singh was being assaulted. According to him, as the deceased stopped shouting, he realized that he was no more. The learned Sessions Judge had placed implicit reliance on the testimonies of these witnesses opining: "Therefore, in view of the discussions made above, I find that all the eye-witnesses are quite competent and reliable and their evidence coupled with the evidence of Doctor (PW.6) and I.O. (PW.7) fully establishes that on the alleged date all the accused persons armed with lathi, Bhala, Gandasa, pistol cam ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e categorically stated that the dead body was thrown in water and the soft parts were eaten away by the fish. According to him, it was difficult to assess the period past since death. But, according to him, it may be approximately 10 days. The Appellants did not even suggest that the deceased did not have the special features whereabout PW-4 made categorical statement. His age at the time of death had also not been disputed. The Investigating Officer Ram Naresh Shukla (PW-7) also stated in categorical terms that the entire flesh below the stomach had been eaten away by the animals and the dead body had been identified by Chowkidar Ram Swarup Singh and Raghunandan Paswan, Ganga Paswan and Kameshwar Singh of Banwarichak stating that the same was that of Baijnath Singh. Even the age of the deceased was not disputed. It is now a trite law that corpus delicti need not be proved. Discovery of the dead body is a rule of caution and not of law. In the event, there exists strong circumstantial evidence, a judgment of conviction can be recorded even in absence of the dead body. [See Rama Nand and Others v. State of Himachal Pradesh, (1981) 1 SCC 511]. In Ram Gulam Chaudhary and Others v. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... p; "It is true that it is not necessary for the prosecution to multiply witnesses, if it prefers to rely upon the evidence of the eyewitnesses examined by it, which it considers sufficient to prove the case of the prosecution. However, the intrinsic worth of the testimony of the witnesses examined by the prosecution has to be assessed by the court. If their evidence appears to be truthful, reliable and acceptable, the mere fact that some other witnesses have not been examined, will not adversely affect the case of the prosecution" In Balram Singh v. State of Punjab, [(2003) 11 SCC 286], this Court opined: "The appellants' contention that the prosecution has relied only on interested evidence of PWs 1 and 2 and has not examined the other independent witnesses who were present or for that matter the non-examination of another son of the deceased by the name of Jasbir Singh should give rise to an adverse inference, cannot also be accepted because so far as Jasbir Singh is concerned, though there is some material on record to show that he was examined by a doctor on the night of the incident, t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d by the omission on the part of the prosecution to examine the said officer and other officers in the circumstances of the said case and the conviction of the Appellant merely based on the testimony of the police jamedar cannot be said to have been arrived at after a fair trial, particularly, when no satisfactory explanation has been given or even attempted for this omission. In Sahaj Ram (supra) again, relied by Mr. Mishra, there was a group rivalry. In that case, the Court found serious mistakes committed by the Sessions Judge as also the High Court in appreciating evidence. Keeping in view the peculiar nature of the case and having regard to the fact that there had been group rivalry, it was opined: "As pointed out by this Court in Habeeb Mohammed v. State of Hyderabad though the prosecution is not bound to call all available witnesses irrespective of considerations of number or reliability, witnesses essential to the unfolding of the narrative on which the prosecution is based must be called by the prosecution, whether in the result the effect of their testimony is for or against the case of the prosecution. This C ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ioner to categorically state in regard to the exact time of death. In a case of this nature, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact time of death. The autopsy surgeon told about the approximate time lag between the date of post mortem examination and the likely date of death. He did not explain the basis for arriving at his opinion. This Court on a number of occasions noticed that it may not be possible for a doctor to pinpoint the exact time of death. In Ramreddy Rajeshkhanna Reddy and Anr. v. State of Andhra Pradesh [(2006) 3 SCALE 452], this Court observed: "In this case, the time of actual offence having regard to the different statements made by different witnesses may assume some importance as one of the grounds whereupon the High Court has based its judgment of conviction is the time of death of the deceased on the basis of the opinion rendered by Dr. P. Venkateshvarlu (P.W.13). In Modi's Medical Jurisprudence, 22nd edition, as regard duration of rigor mortis, it is stated: "Average Minimum Maximum Hours Minutes/Hours Minutes Hours Minutes Duration of rigor mortis 19 12 3 0 4 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
