N Criminal Appeal No 221 of 1981
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated 23101979 of the Madras High Court in Criminal Appeal No 75979 Referred Trial No 979
ATM Sampath and PN Ramalingam for the Appellant
AV Rangam for the Respondent
272 The Judgment of the Court was delivered by CHANDRACHUD C J
The appellant Muniappan was convicted by the learned Sessions Judge Dharmapuri under section 302 of the Penal Code and sentenced to death on the charge that he had committed the murder of his mother s brother also called Muniappan and his son Chinnaswamy
The conviction for murder and the sentence of death having been confirmed by the High Court of Madras by a Judgment dated October 23 1979 this appeal has been filed by the accused by special leave
The leave is limited to the question of sentence
The judgments of the High Court and the Sessions Court in so far as the sentence is concerned leave much to be desired
In the first place the Sessions Court overlooked the provision contained in section 3543 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 which provides in so far as is relevant that when the conviction is for an offence punishable with death the judgment shall in the case of sentence of death state special reasons for such sentence
The learned Sessions Judge in a very brief paragraph consisting of two sentences has this to say on the question of sentence When the accused was asked on the question of sentence he did not say anything
The accused has committed terrific double murder and so no sympathy can be shown to him
 The judgment of the Sessions Judge is in Tamil but we understand from the learned counsel who appear in the case and both of whom understand Tamil well enough that the Tamil word Bhayankaram has been rightly translated as terrific
We plead our inability to understand what is meant by a terrific murder because all murders are terrific and if the fact of the murder being terrific is an adequate reason for imposing the death sentence then every murder shall have to be visited with that sentence
In that event death sentence will become the rule not an exception and section 3543 will become a dead letter
We are also not satisfied that the learned Sessions Judge made any serious effort to elicit from the accused what he wanted to say on the question of sentence
All that the learned Judge says is that when the accused was asked on the question of sentence he did not say anything
The obligation to hear the accused on the question of sentence which is imposed by section 2352 of the Criminal Procedure Code is not discharged by putting a formal question to the accused as to what he has to say on the 273 question of sentence
The Judge must make a genuine effort to elicit from the accused all information which will eventually bear on the question of sentence
All admissible evidence is before the Judge but that evidence itself often furnishes a clue to the genesis of the crime and the motivation of the criminal
It is the bounden duty of the Judge to cast aside the formalities of the Court scene and approach the question of sentence from a broad sociological point of view
The occasion to apply the provisions of section 235 2 arises only after the conviction is recorded
What then remains is the question of sentence in which not merely the accused but the whole society has a stake
Questions which the Judge can put to the accused under section 235 2 and the answers which the accused makes to those questions are beyond the narrow constraints of the Evidence Act
The Court while on the question of sentence is in an altogether different domain in which facts and factors which operate are of an entirely different order than those which come into play on the question of conviction
The Sessions Judge in the instant case complied with the form and letter of the obligation which Section 2352 imposes forgetting the spirit and substance of that obligation
The High Court condemned the murders in terms equally strong by calling them cold blooded and thought that its duty to consider the propriety of the death sentence began and ended with that assertion
Its failure to see the failings of the Sessions Court in the matter of sentencing led to an unexamined confirmation of the death sentence
Coming to the judgement of the High Court itself there are certain features of it which need a close reflection
One of the questions before the High Court was as to the time when the double murder was committed because upon that circumstance depended the veracity of the eye witnesses
The doctor who performed the post mortem examination stated in his evidence that the deceased must have taken their food about four or five hours before their death
The case of the prosecution was that the murders were committed at about 900 pm PW 1 who is the son of the deceased Muniappan stated in his evidence that the deceased had taken their food at 830 pm
This was a very important aspect of the case to which the High Court should have applied its mind with care
Instead it took an extempore expedient by saying Both the deceased might have died a couple of hours after they substained the injuries at 900 pm
It is impossible to appreciate how after being shot in the chest and receiving the kind of injuries 274 which are described in the post mortem report the deceased could have survived for a couple of hours after they were shot
Yet another question which had an important bearing on the case was as to the delay caused in filing the FIR The case of the prosecution is that PW 1 went to the Police Station promptly but the solitary police constable who was present there directed him to go to the village Munsif to have his complaint recorded
Now the record of the Police Station shows that a Sub Inspector of Police was also present at the Police Station which falsifies the evidence that only a police constable was present at the Police Station at the material time and therefore the FIR could not be recorded
The High Court has dealt with this aspect of the matter thus In passing we may mention that this is a grave dereliction of duty on the part of the policeman who was in charge of the police station at that time and is a matter that ought to be enquired into by the higher authorities
We hope that suitable directions will be issued to subordinate officers in this district to prevent a recurrence of such lapses on the part of policemen when reports of cognizable offences are given
 The High Court added that the Inspector of Police was not on good terms with the Sub Inspector and therefore the former made a false entry that the latter was present at the police station which according to the High Court was a serious matter which required to be probed by the Senior Officers
We are not quite sure whether there is credible evidence on record to show any enmity between the Inspector and the Sub Inspector and whether the High Court merely relied on the statement made by counsel for the State that the relations between the two Police Officers were cordial
Whatever that may be we do not think that the High Court has explained satisfactorily why the FIR was not recorded at the police station when PW1 went there
The ex parte strictures passed by the High Court are likely to involve the two Police Officers or at least one of them into grave consequences
They should have been given an opportunity to explain themselves before the High Court persuaded itself to make such scathing criticism on their conduct
There is one more aspect of the Judgment of the High Court which with great respect we are unable to appreciate
A question arose before the High Court as to whether a muchilikka bears the signature of the appellant
The High Court compared the 275 admitted signatures of the appellant with the disputed signature and came to the conclusion that the disputed signature was of the appellant himself
The High Court castigated the Public Prosecutor who conducted the prosecution in the Sessions Court by saying that he had not followed the cross examination of PW1 with attention and not chosen to bring to the notice of PW 1 that the accused had signed the muchilikka exhibit P 1
We do not know how the High Court came to know that the Public Prosecutor was not following the cross examination of the witness with attention but we can guess why the High Court made that observation
It added in parenthesis such lapses on the part of this Public Prosecutor have become frequent and have been commented upon by us and we hope that at least hereafter he will take some interest in the cases which he is conducting
 It is not the normal function of the High Court to pass judgment on the conduct of lawyers who appear before the lower courts
One should understand if the High Court were to make its guarded observation on the conduct of lawyers appearing before it
But how the learned Judges of the High Court had in their capacity as Judges of the High Court come to know that such lapses on the part of this Public Prosecutor have become frequent  we are unable to understand
These various matters make it unsafe to confirm the sentence of death imposed upon the appellant
The reasons given by the learned Sessions Judge for imposing the death sentence are not special reasons within the meaning of section 3543 of the Criminal Procedure Code and we are not sure whether if he were cognisant of his high responsibility under that provision he would have necessarily imposed the death sentence
Accordingly we set aside the sentence of death and sentence the appellant to imprisonment for life
NVK Appeal allowed


Summary:
The Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 by section 3543 provides that when the conviction is for an offence punishable with death the judgment shall in the case of sentence of death state special reasons  for such sentence
The appellant was charged under section 302 of the Penal Code for having committed the murder of his maternal uncle and his son
The Sessions Judge convicted the appellant for murder and being of the opinion that it was a terrific double murder sentenced the appellant to death The High Court condemned the murders as cold blooded and confirmed the conviction and sentence
Allowing the appeal to this Court limited to the question of sentence
 HELD 1
The sentence of death imposed on the appellant is set aside and he is sentenced to imprisonment for life
275 F 2
The reasons given by the Sessions Judge for imposing the death sentence are not special reasons  within the meaning of section 3543 of the Criminal Procedure Code
It is not certain if he were cognizant of his high responsibility under that provision that he would have imposed the death sentence
275 E 3
It is not understood what is meant by a terrific murder as suggested by the Sessions Judge
All murders are terrific and if the fact of the murder being 271 terrific is an adequate reason for imposing the death sentence then every murder shall have to be visited with that sentence
Death sentence will then become the rule not an exception and section 3543 would become a dead letter
272 F G 4i
On the question of sentence it is not merely the accused but the whole society which has a stake
273 B ii After the conviction is recorded the occasion to apply the provisions of section 2352 of the Criminal Procedure Code arises
The obligation under this section to hear the accused on the question of sentence is not discharged by putting a formal question to the accused as to what he has to say on the question of sentence
The Judge must make a genuine effort to elicit from the accused all information which will eventually bear on the question of sentence
All admissible evidence is before the Judge but that evidence itself often furnishes a clue to the genesis of the crime and the motivation of the criminal
It is the bounden duty of the Judge to cast aside the formalities of the Court scene and approach the question of sentence from a broad sociological point of view
Questions which the Judge can put to the accused under section 2352 and the answers which the accused makes are beyond the narrow constraints of the Evidence Act
The Court while on the question of sentence is in an altogether different domain in which facts and factors of an entirely different order operate
273 B 272 H 273 A 273 C In the instant case the Sessions Judge complied with the form and letter of the obligation which section 2352 imposes forgetting the spirit and substance of that obligation
273 D 5
It is not possible to appreciate how after being shot in the chest and receiving the injuries described in the post mortem report the deceased could have survived for a couple of hours thereafter
There is also no explanation as to why the FIR was not recorded at the Police Station when PW 1 went there
It is therefore unsafe to confirm the sentence of death imposed upon the appellant
273 H E 6
It is not the normal function of the High Court to pass judgment on the conduct of lawyers who appear before the lower courts
275 C 7
The High Court should have given an opportunity to the two police officers to explain their conduct before making criticism on it
274 G