TMI Blog1980 (12) TMI 194X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ict Akola. His house is situated near a temple called Gopal Mandir, and a little beyond the temple is a public well. Ramrao Wagh, the father of the deceased Sunita, used to reside in a house near about the well. On December 10, 1978 at about 10-30 a.m., Sunita's mother Renukabai, went to the well for fetching water. Sunita accompanied her. Renukabai returned after a little while but Sunita, who was playing with some children, stayed back. She did not come home for quite some time and feeling concerned, Renukabai went in search of her. Unable to find the girl, she went back to her house and told her neighbours, Shilabai Deo and Shobhabai Waghode, that Sunita was missing. The three ladies thereafter went in search of Sunita. Believing that she might be in the appellant's house, they knocked at his door repeatedly. The door was bolted from inside but there was no response from within. As the ladies were running out of their guesses and patience, a teacher called Shrinarayan Sharma, who lived in a house next to the appellant's, arrived on the scene. Sharma climbed over the roof of his house, entered the appellant's house through an open courtyard and opened the front ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on on it. The defence of the appellant was one of simple denial. He stated that he was falsely implicated in the case at the instance of his brother, mother and his neighbour Shrinarayan Sharma. There can be no doubt that the deceased Sunita died a homicidal death. The post-mortem report prepared by Dr. Santani shows that she had a contusion over the left cheek, a contusion with soft red bruise and abrasions over the whole of the anterior aspect of the neck, small bruises and abrasions over the lips and mouth, an abrasion over the chest, an abrasion over the right shoulder and an incised wound behind the right ear, below the mastoid process. These injuries, according to Dr. Santani, were sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. There is also no reason to doubt that Sunita was raped or at least attempted to be raped before being murdered. The evidence of Dr. Santani shows that her vagina was lacerated and her hymen was ruptured. These are strong indications of her being subjected to a sexual assault. The inquest panchanama shows that her vagina was swollen and a whitish fluid and blood were coming out of it. The evidence of Renukabai and Shilabai that Sun ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was involved falsely at the instance of his mother, brother and the neighbour Sharma is patently false. Since this is a case of circumstantial evidence, it is necessary to find whether the circumstances on which the prosecution relies are established by satisfactory evidence, often described as 'clear and cogent' and secondly, whether the circumstances are of such a nature as to exclude every other hypothesis save the one that the appellant is guilty of the offences of which he is charged. In other words, the circumstances have to be of such a nature as to be consistent with the sole hypothesis that the accused is guilty of the crime imputed to him. There is credible evidence in support of the first circumstance out of the 12 circumstances enumerated above. The evidence of Renukabai (PW 2), Shilabai (PW 3) and Shrinarayan Sharma (PW 5) proves that when they entered the appellant's house they saw the dead body of Sunita lying in a bath-room of the house. The dead body was wrapped in a blanket which Renukabai, the mother of Sunita, discarded while removing Sunita to her own house. The blanket, which bore a few stains of human blood was seized by the police from the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that Shrinarayan Sharma climbed over the roof of his house for the purpose of entering the appellant's house, it seems to us impossible to accept his claim that he saw the appellant sleeping on a cot in the court-yard, that he called out for him and that on hearing the call, the appellant merely turned his side and said that he will not open the door. That takes us to the consideration of what we consider to be the most important link in the chain of circumstances implicating the appellant. The focal point of the case is that the appellant was present in his house while the dead body of Sunita was lying in the bath-room. A part of circumstance (4) and the 5th circumstance relate to the question as to whether the appellant was sleeping on a cot in the court-yard of his house whilst the dead body of Sunita was lying in the bath- room. There are several reasons which make it impossible to believe that the appellant was in the house when Shrinarayan Sharma and the three ladies found the dead body of Sunita after entering the house. It is incredible that if Shrinarayan Sharma and the ladies saw the appellant in the house, they would not exchange a single word with him. The dead ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re made to him by his wife Renukabai, he straightaway went to the police station. The only statement which he made at the police station was that his daughter Sunita had died a mysterious death. Nothing at all was said by him regarding the presence of the appellant in the house at the time when the dead body of Sunita was discovered. The statement made by Ramrao Wagh to the police was evidently not reduced to writing, but it is clear that Ramrao went back to the house along with the police officers. He went again to the police station, when the First Information Report, Exhibit 11, was recorded. It is surprising that even in the FIR, Ramrao Wagh did not say that the appellant was present in the house when Renukabai and the other persons entered the house and when the dead body of Sunita was discovered. All that Ramrao stated in the FIR was that the appellant had killed his daughter in order that she should not cry while she was being raped. Surely, the FIR was recorded after Ramrao had learnt of the incident from his wife and a few others including Shrinarayan Sharma, Shilabai and Shobhabai. The disclosure made by Ramrao to the police in his complaint leaves no manner of doubt that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rucial link in the chain of circumstances is the presence of the appellant in his house at the time when the dead body of Sunita was discovered. Once that link snaps, the entire case would have to rest on slender tit-bits here and there. This discussion disposes of the second part of the 4th circumstance part of the 5th circumstance and circumstances (6) and (7). The discovery of Sunita's under-pant, which is the 8th circumstance, is also enveloped in suspicion. At the time when the under pant was discovered, the appellant was not in the house. PSI Katke has not stated in his evidence as to whether the appellant's house was open or locked when he and the panchas entered it. It is also difficult to believe that the appellant would keep the under-pant under his pillow while making good his escape from the house after the dead body of Sunita was taken away. We are inclined to the view that Sunita's under-pant was placed under the pillow as a part of the scheme to involve the appellant, first by fixing that he was sleeping on the cot at the crucial time and then by showing that the under-pant of the girl was found under the very pillow which was lying on the cot on which ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... consistent with the sole hypothesis of the guilt of the accused. It is not to be expected that in every case depending on circumstantial evidence the whole of the law governing cases of circumstantial evidence should be set out in the judgment. Legal principles are not magic incantations and their importance lies more in their application to a given set of facts than in their recital in the judgment. The simple expectation is that the judgment must show that the finding of guilt, if any, has been reached after a proper and careful evaluation of circumstances in order to determine whether they are compatible with any other reasonable hypothesis. The High Court, it must be said, has referred to the recent decisions of this Court in Mahmood v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Chandmal v. State of Rajasthan in which the rule governing cases of circumstantial evidence is reiterated. But, while formulating its own view the High Court, with respect, fell into an error in stating the true legal position by saying that what the Court has to consider is whether the cumulative effect of the circumstances establishes the guilt of the accused beyond the shadow of doubt . In the first place, ' ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that a person who was so good-for-nothing was ultimately in the hands of law. Such people have no partisans. But that does not mean that justice can be denied to them. We may mention in passing, though in the view which we are taking it is not relevant, that while confirming the sentence of death imposed on the appellant by the Sessions Court, the High Court even took into consideration the appellant's relations with the members of his family. After mentioning that he had beaten his mother and brother and that his wife was living separately from him, the High Court concluded: In our opinion, such a person could neither be an asset to his wife and children nor entitled to live in the society. Unfaithful husbands, unchaste wives and unruly children are not for that reason to be sentenced to death if they commit murders unconnected with the state of their equation with their family and friends. The passing of the sentence of death must elicit the greatest concern and solicitude of the Judge because, that is one sentence which cannot be recalled. For reasons aforesaid, we allow the appeal and set aside the judgments of the High Court and the Sessions Court. The senten ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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