Criminal Appeal No 36 of 1987
From the Judgment and Order dated 191986 of the High Court of Madras in Crl
Appeal No 893 of 1985
N Natarajan V Krishnamurthi and V Balachandran for the Appellants
UR Lalit AV Rangam VR Venkataswami and L Rajendran for the Respondents
710 The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SEN J
Appellant No 1 Laxmi Raj Shetty is under sentence of death on his conviction under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code 1860 for having committed the murder of the deceased PN Gnanasambandam Actg
Manager of the Karnataka Bank Main Branch Madras by the First Additional Sessions Judge Madras by his judgment and sentence dated October 28 1985
He has further been convicted under section 392 for having committed the offence of robbery of Rs1397900 from the strong room of the Bank and also under section 449 for having committed house trespass with intent to commit the said robbery and murder
He has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years on each of these counts and the sentences are directed to merge in the sentence of death
Appellant No 2 Shivaram Shetty father of appellant No 1 a retired Sergeant Major of the Indian Air Force re employed as Security Officer Karnataka Bank Main Branch Mangalore has been convicted by the learned Additional Sessions Judge under section 212 for having harboured his son Laxmi Raj Shetty having known or having reason to believe that he had committed the murder of the Bank Manager and disappeared with a very large sum of money from the Bank and also under section 411 for having with dishonest intention retained possession of the huge sum of Rs1227500 knowing the same to be stolen and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years on both counts the sentences have been ordered to run concurrently
On a reference by the learned Additional Sessions Judge a Division Bench of the High Court by its judgment dated September 1 1986 has confirmed the sentence of death passed on appellant No 1 Laxmi Raj Shetty under section 366 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 as also the conviction and sentences passed on him under sections 392 and 449 of the Indian Penal Code and those under sections 212 and 411 on his father Shiva Ram Shetty
The Karnataka Bank has seven branches in the Metropolitan City of Madras the main branch being at 171 Thambu Chetty Street
In each branch there is a strong room for keeping the cash and other valuables
The main Branch at 171 Thambu Chetty Street is on the first floor and the Regional Development Office at the second floor of the same building which belongs to the Bank 711 the ground floor being used for a car park and godown
The strong room in the main branch has a double locking system with two sets of keys
One set of keys ie including the master key remained with the officer next to the Manager and the second set with the officer next to him
The strong room could not be opened except by the use of both the keys
The total cash in the strong room on May 20 1983 as per the entry in the Double Lock Register ExhP10 was Rs142611370 in bundles of currency notes bearing the Bank seal MO 11 Series to MO 169 Series
This is borne out by the Cash Scroll Register Exh
The Cash Scroll Register was not kept under lock and key and used to remain on the table of PW 6 Smt
Shasikala Officer and she has testified that the total cash at the end of that day was Rs142611370 and she handed over the amount to the Double Lock officer
The assailant would therefore know by a look at the Cash Scroll Register as to the exact amount in the strong room on that day
The topography of the Main Branch is given in the sketch plan Exh
The Manager s cabin is on the first floor at the north eastern corner
The central hall in the middle is empanelled with different counters and there is a big lounge outside facing the Manager s cabin
The Bank officials used to sit in the central hall at their respective places while transacting the business of the Bank
The bathroom and the WC where the murder was committed are on the south western corner
For going to the bathroom one has to cross the central hall get into a foyer where the water cooler is kept and beyond it is the bathroom and WC
Just across the foyer and opposite the bathroom is a flight of steps leading upto a mazzanine floor on which the strong room is located
It appears that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty aged 24 years is a 6 feet tall fair complexioned young man with curly hair
He along with PW 9 Govindaraj was recruited as a trainee clerk at the Main Branch in the month of August 1982 placed on probation in October 1982 and thereafter confirmed in the month of April 1983
It has come in evidence that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty and the deceased Gnanasambandham were known to PW 18 from before as they both used to leave the Bank premises together at night around 9 or 930 pm
The accused was a karate expert and always attired in a red T shirt carrying a karate bag on his shoulder
He was thus a 712 man with distinctive features and would naturally stand out in a crowd
All the other witnesses examined by the prosecution to prove the various circumstances appearing in the case after the gruesome murder speak of the person involved being a tall fair complexioned young man with curly hair aged about 24 or 25 years
The evidence also shows that PW 50 Deviasigamani Inspector of Police who was investigating into the crime carried with him a photograph of the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty and when the witnesses were shown the photograph they identified the accused to be the person in question
According to the prosecution on the fateful night ie On May 20 1983 the deceased Gnanasambandham was as usual working in the Bank after the normal banking hours
He used to sit on his table in the central hall next to the Manager s cabin underneath a fan
Being the seniormost officer he had the custody of the first set of keys to the strong room the second set of keys used to remain with the officer next to him PW 16 K Chandrasekara Holla
Apparently at about 730 pm appellant No 1 Laxmi Raj Shetty hereinafter referred to as the accused after doing physical exercises at Physical Development Institute returned to the Bank premises
The prosecution case is that during the probationery period the accused used to work late in the evenings and gained the confidence of the deceased by helping him with the work
They would both leave the Bank together after completing the day s work roundabout 9 pm
The deceased would hand over the keys of the outer door and the shutter to the accused who would lock the same and hand back the keys to the deceased
The accused would then accompany the deceased some way towards his house
Shasikala as supported by the entry in the Cash Scroll Register Exh
P 8 and that in the Double Lock Register Exh
P10 was Rs142611370 in bundles of currency notes of different denomina tions all bearing Bank seals being Mo 11 Series to MO 169 Series
From the testimony of PW 16 who had the custody of the second set of keys and was expected to take them home after the day s business it appears that he would instead lock the same in the cupboard of his table and take the key of the cupboard with him
At times out of forgetfulness he would leave the key in one of the drawers
713 On that day unfortunately PW 16 left the key of the cupboard on the table which sealed the fate of the deceased
On the night the deceased was working in the Bank after the normal banking hours
Presumably some time after 730 pm he left his seat in the central hall to go to the bathroom and when he was in the toilet he was struck on the head with the iron portion of one of the stitchers as a result of which he slumped
Thereafter the assailant first roughed him up then strangulated him with a twisted towel with a knot and stabbed to death by a pair of stitchers on both sides of his neck ordinarily used as part of official stationery for stitching papers
He had apparently been done to death to relieve himself of the first set of keys
At bout 9 pm the accused was seen coming out of the building by PW 18 SmtKanaka a flower vendor sitting on the steps of the Bank
The accused closed the outer door of the Bank and was seen by PW 18 going towards Burma Bazar
He returned after some time with a light blue colour suitcase and re entered into the Bank premises
After about half an hour he came out with a bag on his shoulder the blue colour suitcase in one hand and a brief case which the deceased used to carry with him in the other and placed the suitcase on the steps of the Bank
He again went inside and brought out a large coffee coloured skybag and placed it beside the suitcase
He then went towards Burma Bazar and came back with an auto rickshaw and with the help of PW 31 Venkatesan auto rickshaw driver placed the suitcase and the skybag in the autorickshaw and disappeared into the night
The testimony of PW 18 is that she repeatedly queried whether the Periya Ayya meaning the elderly person or the Manager Ayya thereby meaning the deceased had not come but the accused did not respond to her queries
On the next morning ie on May 21 1983 at about 815 am PW 2 Mallaiya the day watchman opened the Bank premises and when he switched on the lights he found the fan over the table of the deceased still on and he switched it off
He also found the Seiko watch of the deceased his ball pen pass book and other belongings along with an open ledger lying on the table
He asked PW 1 Lakshmi the sweeper not to touch any of these articles and attend to her work
His version is that he went out for a cup of tea but shortly thereafter PW 1 came out shouting that there was a dead 714 body lying in the toilet and in the meanwhile the members of the staff had started arriving
PW 2 along with Venkataraj Cashier and one Rajaiah went inside and saw the body of the deceased sprawled in the toilet
He immediately contacted PW 3 PT Rajan Chief Manager of the Bank and asked him to come at once
PW 3 rushed to the Bank and saw the ghastly sight and got in touch with the police control room
On the 21st morning which was a Saturday the accused attended the Bank as usual presumably to allay suspicion
He was present when the Investigating officer PW 47 Anandam Inspector of Police Esplanade B 2 Police Station came to the Bank along with a Sub Inspector and a Police Constable on receipt of a message flashed by the police control room as conveyed by PW 46 Manikkam Sub Inspector of Police attached to B 1 North Beach Police Station
On his arrival he took cognizance of the offence on the first information report Exh
P3 lodged by PW 3 and started making investigation and made the usual seizures
After holding an inquest over the dead body he sent for the police photographer the fingerprint expert and the police dog squad
He also recorded the statements of PW 1 Lakshmi PW 2 Mallaiya PW 3 PT Rajan and PW 16 K Chandrasekara Holla and one Ravi Shankar
He did not interrogate the other Bank officials including the accused
The testimony of PW 3 is that immediately on arrival at the Bank he sent for PW 16 and asked for the second set of keys
He came and told him that the key of his cupboard was missing and therefore it could not be opened
It had then to be wrenched open and the second set of keys was also found missing
PW 3 told PW 47 that he would get the duplicate set of keys from the Triplicane Branch and with the help of duplicate set of keys the strong room was opened at about 230 pm and a sum of Rs1397900 was found missing
A message was then transmitted by PW 3 to PW 10
P Raghuram Chairman of the Karnataka Bank at the Mangalore Head office about the murder of the ActgManager and the theft of Rs1397900 from the strong room
PW 43 Dr Cecilia Cyril Associate Professor Department of Forensic Medicine Medical College Madras performed an autopsy on the dead body of the deceased
She found that the deceased had been strangulated by a dark colour twisted towel 36x7 cm long with knot which completely encircled his neck near the thyroid 715 cartilage
She found several external injuries
Underneath the towel there was a faint ligature mark 32x5 cm over the front side and back of the neck
Apart from this there were also several lacerations bruises and abrasions on the upper part of the body particularly on the face and the neck as also on both the hands
The doctor also found two stitchers measuring 14 cm in length thrust into both sides of the neck in the front
One of the stitchers had been thrust 5 cm deep and got stuck in the cartilage and the other was embedded 11 cm deep
On dissection she found extensive bruising of tissues over both sides of thyroid cartilage 7x5x14 cm
as also on the front of trachea 7x3x12 cm
According to the Doctor each of injuries nos 1 2 and 3 was by itself sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death
She further opined that the cumulative effect of some of the injuries viz nos
1 3 4 10 and 17 was necessarily fatal
She stated that the blood marks on the walls of the toilet as well as on the floor could be due to sprouting and spillage of blood
In her opinion death was not caused by strangulation alone
For quite a while the police drew a blank
At about 6 pm PW 47 Anandam Inspector of Police accompanied by PW 46 Sub Inspector returned to the Bank and started making inquiries in the neighbourhood
During the course of the inquiry he traced out one Ganesan a plumber by profession who used to sleep on the pavement near the Bank
He furnished a valuable clue which ultimately led to the detection of the murderer
He revealed that SmtKanaka a flower vendor belonging to village Tharamani whose husband Neerappan was employed as a cook at the nearby Krishna Bhawan Hotel on Errabalu Chetty Street might disclose information about the murderer if she were to be interrogated
On getting this vital information PW 47 went to village Tharamani but found the house of SmtKanaka locked
On enquiry he learnt that she had gone to the house of her sister at Vyasarpadi
PW 47 obviously did not realise the importance of this witness
He states that he did not go to Vyasarpadi that night although the place was only 7 kilo metres from the Police Station as it was very late
Nor did he personally go to the nearby Krishna Bhawan Hotel which was only two furlongs away and instead sent a Sub Inspector to fetch Neerappan husband of PW 18 but he was not there
On the next morning ie the 22nd under the orders of the Deputy Commissioner of Police the case was transferred to the Crime Branch and 716 investigation was taken over by PW 48 Guruvandi Inspector of Police Crimes M 1 Post Trust Police Station without further progress
He states that he had been to Tharamani in search of SmtKanaka but she was not there and learnt from the neighbours that she had gone to her sister s house at Vyasarpadi but since her place at Vyasarpadi was not known he did not proceed to Vyasarpadi and instead left a message that on her return she should report to the police
He admits that he did not go himself to Krishna Bhawan Hotel but sent a Police Constable but he could not find Neerappan
On the 23rd morning at 10 am PW 50 Deviasigamani Inspector of Police Crimes B2 Police Station who had taken over investigation in that morning went to the Bank and further examined PW 2 Mallaiya PW 3 PT Rajan and PW 12 Balasubramaniam as also the nearby shopowners
He then went to village Tharamani in search of PW 18 SmtKanaka but till then she had not returned from her sister s house at Vyasarpadi
He left a message that she should report to the Police Station on her return
On that day he had also inspected all the relevant records including the attendance register and detected that apart from two others the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty did not report for duty after the 23rd
He accordingly went to the Christian Home where the accused was staying in Room No 4 but found the room locked
It was revealed that the main gate of the hostel used to be closed at 1030 pm and till then the accused had not returned
On the 21st morning at about 5 am PW 27 saw the accused going up the stairs to his room
After his bath he came down for breakfast but did not take any food complaining of stomach disorder and left after a cup of milk
On the 24th at 11 am PW 50 again went to the Bank and examined some of the Bank employees namely PW 5 Rangarajan PW 6 SmtShasikala and PW 9 Govindaraj
On that day at 4 pm he left for Vyasarpadi and remained there till 11 pm moving about in different localities making an extensive search in an effort to trace out SmtKanaka but this was of no avail
On the 25th he went to the Bank at 10 am and further examined PW 16 Chandrasekara Holla and also recorded the statement of PW 17 SmtSaraswathi Somasundar an officer of the Bank
At 4 pm PW 50 left for Tharamani where he found PW 18 SmtKanaka at her 717 house and recorded her statement which revealed the actual involvement of the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty in the commission of the murder and robbery till then PW 50 treated him as a prime suspect
After the disclosure by PW 18 SmtKanaka that she had seen the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty coming out of the Bank premises on the night in question after 9 pm locking the premises and of his suspicious movements thereafter PW 50 directed all his energies in tracking down the accused
He along with PW 49 Selvaraj Inspector of Police and a police party left in the early hours of 26th morning at 1 am  by a police jeep for Mangalore in search of the accused
They reached Mangalore at 930 pm
At 1130 pm PW 50 called on the Deputy Superintendent of Police and requested for help of the local police
With the local police headed by PW 40 Sundar Shetty Sub Inspector of Police State Intelligence PW 50 raided the house of appellant No 2 Shivaram Shetty at Kodial Bail
Appellant No 2 and his wife were present in the house but the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty was not there he having in the meanwhile left for Madras by the West Coast Express
The police carried on intensive search of the house till about 2 am but nothing incriminating was found
When they questioned appellant No 2 he did not disclose that his son had already left for Madras by train
As a result of this the Madras police throughout on the 27th searched for the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty at Mangalore and neighbouring places but could not trace him out
On the 27th night at about 9 pm PW 50 along with the police party left for Madras and reached there in the early hours of 29th morning at 1 am At 730 pm PW 50 along with PW 49 and the police party went to the Aerodrome Egmore Railway Station and the Madras Central in search of the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty
At the Madras Central PW 50 received information at about 145 pm that the accused was seen moving about in My Lady s Park
He accordingly with the police party rushed to the Park where he arrested the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty and recovered from his person currency notes in bundles of Rs5 denomination marked MOs Nos 198 and 199 bearing the Bank seals
On the 30th morning at 715 am PW 50 accompanied by the accused visited the Hotel Chola Sheraton but except for the receptionist the other witnesses were not present
Apparently during investigation PW 50 derived information from the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty that the money stolen from the Bank was kept in his house at Mangalore
At about 930 am he accordingly went to the Madras Central presum 718 ably because he thought that appellant No 2 Shivaram Shetty would be arriving by train but he could not be traced there
At 2 am he obtained police remand of the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty
At 430 am PW 50 along with PW 49 and the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty together with the police party left in a policy jeep for Mangalore
However on the way while the jeep was near the Madras Central the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty pointed out his father Shivaram Shetty coming in a cycle rickshaw from the opposite direction
PW 50 asked the rickshaw puller to stop and took appellant No 2 Shivaram Shetty into custody
Appellant No 2 was carrying three boxes
The police party returned to the Flower Bazar Police Station where the boxes were opened
Of them two of the boxes marked MOs 176 and 177 contained bundles of currency notes bearing the seal of the Bank totalling Rs1227500 and the same were seized
The case presents a feature which is rather disturbing and gave rise to a prolonged argument lasting over several days
The Indian Express Mangalore edition and the two regional newspapers Malai Murasu and Makkal Kural both published from Madras bearing the date line 29th May and the regional paper Dina Thanthi also published from Madras of the 30th carried a news item that the entire amount stolen from the Bank had been recovered from the residence of appellant No 2 at Mangalore and that both the accused had been taken into custody
A similar news item appeared in the regional newspaper Dina Thanthi on the 30th
If the news item published was true it would falsify the entire prosecution case about the alleged recoveries at Madras
There is however nothing on record to substantiate the story appearing in the newspapers
On the 30th late MG Ramachandran the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu at a public function felicitated PW 18 SmtKanaka the flower vendor for the exemplary courage shown by her in coming forward to help the police in furnishing the vital clue in solving the crime and presented her with a cash reward of Rs5000
The Hindu published from Madras in all its editions of 31st carried a news item about the function and reported that the Chief Minister used the occasion to caution the newspapers against the danger of conjectural reporting of such crimes during investigation based on rumours unrelated to facts which would not only prejudice the case but sometimes pave the way for the offender to escape
He said that rumours were bound to sidetrack and mislead the public and even police officers concerned in solving the crime
After the 719 function the Police Commissioner is reported to have told newsmen that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty had been taken into custody on Sunday afternoon ie the 29th and had confessed that the cash removed from the strong room had been secreted out to Mangalore where his father lived
He informed that a police party was already there and the father Shivaram Shetty was likely to be nabbed anytime
In the meanwhile the family of the appellants suffered a great tragedy
On the 30th Smt
Madhavi wife of appellant No 2 employed as a School Teacher at Mangalore and his daughter Kumari Usha Rani an employee of the State Bank of Mysore Hassan Branch out of the sheer shame could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide by walking into the Arabian Sea
The Indian Express and the Hindu of the 31st carried the news of their suicide and it was reported that their bodies were washed ashore on the Someswar Ullal Beach on the outskirts of Mangalore
The appellants abjured their guilt and denied the commission of the alleged offences
When the accused were questioned about the facts and circumstances appearing against them they denied their complicity in the crime
Appellant No 1 asserted that he had left for Mangalore on the 22nd as he was feeling unwell
When he called upon PW 10 Chairman of the Bank who enquired as to why he had come to Mangalore he told him of his ailment
On his advice he left for Madras to resume his duties
His version is that on the 27th afternoon when the West Coast Express by which he was travelling arrived at the platform at the Madras Central he saw members of the staff of the Bank namely PW 9 Govindaraj Padmanabhan and Ramesh
When he went near them he was tapped on his shoulder by a stranger who asked him whether he was Laxmi Raj Shetty
On his giving an affirmative answer he asked him to accompany him
On his query he disclosed that he was a police officer
By that time the other members of the staff had stopped him and they advised him to accompany the police
Appellant No 2 states that he had on 26th met the Chairman of the Bank and informed that his son had come to Mangalore and the Chairman wanted to speak to him
He accordingly went with his son who enquired about his ailment and then directed him to proceed to Madras
He admitted that there was a search made of his house on the night between 26th and 27th at Mangalore but the police did not find 720 anything
His version is that on the next day ie 27th at about 9 pm PW 50 accompanied by the Assistant Commissioner of Police Sitaram and PW 10 and Thalithiya Assistant General Manager visited his house and told him that his son had been arrested and they wanted him to go with them to Madras
He was advised by PW 10 to accompany the police and he was first taken to the Chairman s house and from there to the Blue Star Hotel at Mangalore
Early next morning all of them left for Madras and reached the Flower Bazar Police Station the same evening at 6 pm where he was detained for the subsequent days and nights till he was produced before the Court along with his son on the 31st
The learned Sessions Judge has relied upon the testimony of PW 18 SmtKanaka the flower vendor and the other prosecution witnesses and come to the conclusion that the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn have been fully established against both the accused and all the facts so established are consistent only with the hypothesis of their guilt and exclude every reasonable possibility of their innocence
He accordingly convicted the accused with the commission of the offences with which they were charged and sentenced them as above
Ratnavel Pandian J speaking from himself and Singaravelu J constituting the Division Bench in a singularly well written judgment has carefully marshalled the entire circumstantial evidence and come to the conclusion that the prosecution has established its case against both the accused beyond all reasonable doubt and accordingly maintained the conviction and sentences passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge
The prosecution case against the appellants rests purely on circumstantial evidence
The circumstances relied upon by the prosecution against the principal accused for the charges of murder androbbery which were parts of the same transaction are
i The fact that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty was seen leaving the building on the fateful night at about 9 pm as testified by PW 18 SmtKanaka the flower vendor sitting on the steps of the Bank after finishing her day s work and the fact that the deceased was not seen alive thereafter
The accused had gained knowledge about the mode of operating the strong room in the first week of April 1983 when he entered the strong room along with PW 8 Ananthakrishnan PW 9 Govindaraj and PW 12 P Balasubramaniam and got his doubts cleared about the method of opening the strong vault where there were Godrej bureaus in one of which the currency notes were kept
The murder and robbery were obviously an inside job by a person who had knowledge about the 721 manner in which access could be had to the safety vault
ii The accused had gained the confidence of the deceased as a sincere and loyal worker by attending to the work every day even after the banking hours and assisting the deceased leaving the Bank at about 9 or 930 pm with the deceased as was clear from the evidence of PW 5 Rangarajan PW 6 SmtShasikala PW 9 Govindaraj PW 12 P Balasubramaniam and PW 18 SmtKanaka
iii The accused had the opportunity of knowing about the cash balance available in the Bank from the cash scroll register ExhP 8 which was always kept open on the table of PW 6 SmtShasikala whose seat was adjacent to that of the accused as is clear from the testimony of PW 6
iv The accused had knowledge about the availability of the first set of keys including the matter key with the deceased and the second set of keys with PW 16 Chandrasekara Holla while he worked in the Bank for a period of about nine months
He also noticed that PW 16 was in the habit of leaving of second set of keys in the cupboard of his table and at times used to leave the key of the cupboard in one of the drawers
v The movement and conduct of the accused afterwards
After he was seen coming out of the Bank premises on that night at 9 pm his act of going towards Burma Bazar and returning within half an hour with a light blue colour suitcase then entering into the Bank again coming out of the Bank half an hour thereafter with a bag on his shoulder and a suitcase in one hand and a brief case which the deceased used to carry with him in the other placing the suitcase on the steps of the Bank where PW 18 the flower vendor was sitting and thereafter bringing out a large coffee colour sky bag and placing the same beside the suitcase closing the outer door and the shutter and locking the same then proceeding along Errabalu Chettu Street towards Burma Bazar and bringing an auto rickshaw placing the suitcase and the sky bag with the help of the auto rickshaw driver in the auto rickshaw and disappearing towards the High Court
vi His act of not responding to the queries put by PW 18 about the deceased whom he used to accompany every night on closing the Bank
vii His act of not returning to the Christian Home where he stayed and instead staying at Hotel Chola Sheraton on the night of 20th and the whole of 21st
He obviously stayed at the five star hotel for reasons of safety as he was carrying the huge amount of about Rs14 lakhs
viii His visit to Christian Home early in the morning of 21st at 5 am going to the room taking bath collecting his belongings and not taking breakfast saying that his stomach was upset
ix His act of attending to his duties at the Bank on the 21st to allay suspicion making reservation of a first class berth by train No 27 and leaving Madras for Mangalore on the morning of the 22nd which was a Sunday x On reaching Mangalore 722 on the 23rd morning at 6 am his act of not proceeding to the family house there but instead staying at Hotel Moti Mahal along with the suitcase and the bag containing the stolen money
xi His act of disappearing from Madras on the 23rd morning and not returning till 27th afternoon
xii The fact remains that the currency notes worth Rs1232000 recovered from the accused bear the Bank seal and have been identified to be stolen
We had the benefit of hearing Shri N Natarajan learned counsel for the appellants who argued the appeal with considerable perspicuity and resource and an equally forceful and realistic argument advanced by Shri UR Lalit learned counsel appearing for the State Government
Apart from questioning the credibility and trustworthiness of PW 18 SmtKanaka the flower vendor whom the learned counsel for the appellants characterised as a got up witness by the prosecution to furnish the missing links the chain of circumstances as well as the alleged recoveries of Rs4500 effected by PW 50 Deviasigamani Inspector of Police from the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty at My Lady s Park Madras on May 29 1983 and of the amount of Rs1227500 from appellant No 2 Shivaram Shetty he endeavoured to create doubts and difficulties as to the truthfulness of the entire prosecution case
He contends that the prosecution case regarding the recovery of the stolen amount at Madras stands falsified by the news item carried in the Indian Express Malai Murasu and Makkal Kural of the 29th and Dina Thanthi of the 30th showing that the entire amount had been recovered from the residence of appellant No 2 Shivaram Shetty and both the accused had been taken into custody
The learned counsel also brought out several improbabilities in the prosecuion case
It was pointed out that the accused had left Madras by the West Coast Express on the 22nd morning and reached Mangalore on the next day ie on the 23rd
If that be so both the father and the son were freely moving about at Mangalore till the 26th evening
On the 23rd they paid a visit to the clinic of PW 11 Dr Madhava Bhandari as the accused was complaining of stomach disorder and thereafter on the 25th evening they called on PW 10 P Raghuram Chairman of the Bank who advised the accused to return to Madras at once
It was not till 26th evening that the accused boarded the West Coast Express
The learned counsel contends that if really PW 50 became aware from recording of the statement of PW 18 on the 25th evening at 4 pm that the accused was the person involved in the commission of murder and robbery he would have at once flashed a message to the Mangalore police to intercept him particularly in view of the fact that a huge amount of about Rs14 lakhs was stolen from the Bank
On their own 723 showing a police party consisting of PW 50 accompanied by PW 49 instead left for Mangalore in the early hours of 26th morning reaching there at 930 pm and contacted the local police and thereafter conducted a raid at the house of appellant No 2 in the early hours of the 27th at 1 am
The police would necessarily have known from the railway reservation that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty under the assumed name of his father Shivaram Shetty had boarded the West Coast Express for Madras on the 26th
They would have immediately contacted the Madras police and intercepted the accused on his arrival at the Madras Central on the 27th afternoon at 4 pm
The submission is that this lends credence to the testimony of PW 9 Govindaraj that the accused arrived by the West Bengal Coast Express on the 27th afternoon and was taken into custody by the police
We are expected to believe the learned counsel argues that the accused was freely roaming about in Madras between the 27th and the 29th till he was taken into custody at My Lady s Park
It is therefore submitted that the prosecution evidence of the so called recovery of the incriminating currency notes worth Rs4500 from the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty could not be true
As regards the testimony of PW 18 Smt
If really PW 47 had derived knowledge from Ganesan the plumber that PW 18 might furnish a vital clue which would lead to the detection of the murderer it was expected from PW 47 and PW 48 who took over the investigation from him that they would make every effort to track down PW 18 or her husband
Further the learned counsel contends that the repeated visits made by PWs 47 and 48 to Tharamani when on their own showing they knew that PW 18 had gone to her sister s house at Vyasarpadi creates considerable doubt about his version
Nor did they take the trouble to track down her husband Neerappan from the Krishna Bhawan Hotel which was just two furlongs from the police station
According to the learned counsel the cumulative effect of all these circumstances taken together renders it extremely unsafe to rely on the sole testimony of PW 18 unless it was corroborated in material particulars by evidence of an independent character
In reply Shri UR Lalit learned counsel for the respondent mainly contends that even if the prosecution evidence regarding the 724 recoveries were to be discarded there was ample material brought on record which raises an inference of guilt of the appellants
Broadly stated the learned counsel in substance advanced a two fold submission namely i The course of investigation during which it was revealed that PW 18 SmtKanaka had information which might result in solving the murder and ii The fact as deposed by PW 18 that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty was the person last seen leaving the Bank premises after locking the front door and the shutter on the fateful night at about 9 pm taken in conjunction with the prosecution evidence regarding the conduct and movement afterwards clearly show that he alone and no one else could have committed the murder because both he and the deceased were the persons working late in that night
As regards the news item which appeared in the Indian Express and the other regional papers showing that the entire amount stolen from the Bank had been recovered on a search of the house of appellant No 2 Shivaram Shetty at Mangalore and that they have both been taken into custody the learned counsel contends that the news items has no evidentialy value and cannot be taken into consideration
It is pointed out that the defence had not examined the reporters who had gathered the news appearing in the newspapers and authenticate the version though the reporters had been summoned
Further in a case of this nature the Court cannot reject the oher reliable and credible evidence led in accordance with law merely on the publication of this kind of unauthenticated news item in the press
It is said that if the Court were to act on such news item though not brought into evidence in accordance with law and were inclined to dispose of a case on such news item then the Court had either to convict a person or acquit him on such publication of news item ignorning the overwhelming legal evidence brought on record
There is in our opinion considerable force in his submissions
The law relating to the proof of a case based purely on circumstantial evidence has been settled by several authorities of this Court as well as of the High Court
In Earabhadrappa vs State of Karnataka  it was observed In cases in which the evidence is purely of a circumstantial nature the facts and circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is sought to be drawn must be fully established beyond any reasonable doubt and the circumstances so es tablished should not only be consistent with the guilt of the accused but they must in their effect be such as to be entirely incompatible with the innocence of the accused and 725 must exclude a reasonable hypothesis with his innocence
Shri Natarajan learned counsel appearing for the appellants rightly points out that in such cases there is always the danger that conjecture or suspicion may take the place of legal proof  and draws our attention to the caution administered by Baron Alderson to the jury in the oft quoted passage in Reg vs Hodge where it was said The mind was apt to take a pleasure in adapting circumstances to one another and even in straining them a little if need be to force them to form parts of one connected whole and the more ingenious the mind of the individual the more likely was it considering such matters to overreach and mislead itself to supply some little link that is wanting to take for granted some fact consistent with its previous theories and necessary to render them complete
 It is therefore well to remember that in cases where the evidence is of a circumstantial nature the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn should in the first intance be fully established and all the facts so established should be consistent only with the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused
Again the circumstances should be of a conclusive nature and tendency and they should be such as to exclude every hypothesis but the one proposed to be proved
In other words there must be a chain of evidence so far complete as not to leave any reasonable ground for a conclusion consistent with the innocence of the accused and it must be such as to show that within all human probability the act must have been done by the accused
In spite of the forceful arguments addressed to us by the learned counsel for the appellants we have not been able to discover any infirmity in the reasoning or the conclusions arrived at by the learned Additional Sessions Judge or the High Court
Nor can it be said that they have just fallen into an error against which caution was administered by Baron Alderson in Reg vs Hodge
The learned counsel began his address by stating that if we were to accept the conclusion arrived at by the learned Additional Sessions Judge and the High Court that there was nothing to impeach the credibility of PW 18 SmtKanaka the flower vendor as a truthful witness and that her evidence was such as to accord with the ordinary course of events and human nature it would tend to tilt the balance against the appellants 
That really furnishes a key to the entire prosecution case
We have therefore minutely been taken through the testimony of PW 18 SmtKanaka by learned counsel for the parties who presented their respective points of view with consummate skill and after going through her evidence over and over again we have no doubt whatever that the Courts below were perfectly justified in reaching the conclusion that she was a witness of truth and there was no reason to discard her testimony or that of the other prosecution witnesses
Once the version of PW 18 SmtKanaka that the accused was the person last seen leaving the Bank premises on the 20th night at 9 pm is accepted with all his subsequent movements it would be seen that every other circumstance appearing from the evidence of the other prosecution witnesses fits in and it lends support to the irresistible inference drawn from the attendant facts and circumstances by the Courts below that the deceased Gnanasambandham was done to death by no one else except the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty and that both the accused were guilty of the offences with which they were charged
We shall briefly enumerate the circumstances arising from the evidence adduced by the prosecution along with our findings thereon
1 The accused had occasion to learn the method of operating the safety vault
It transpires from the evidence of PW 3 PT Rajan Chief Manager and Regional Development Officer of the Bank that in that building the Regional Development Office was functioning on the second floor
The Main Branch was on the first floor and the ground floor was used as a car park and godown
The strong room was on a mezzanine floor over the first floor and reached by a flight of stairs
The walls of the strong room were constructed with RCC
There was an iron door fixed to that room supplied by Godrej company of the thickness of 3 having a dimension of 6 ft x 3 ft
There was a rotating wheel fitted to the iron door
It had to be turned to the right and then both the sets of keys inserted in the upper and lower key holes
On the lever being released the iron door would open outside
Inside there was another door with a lock attached and it would open inside
The strong room was divided by a partition wall with a wooden door
In one portion of the strong room there were safe deposit lockers
In the other portion there were two Godrej bureaux of which one was used for keeping currency notes and the other for keeping valuable documents viz blank term deposit receipts cheque books drafts etc
It is in evidence that there was no night watchman of the Bank
It appears from the testimony of PW 8 Ananthakrishnan PW 9 727 Govindaraj PW 12 Balasubramaniam and PW 16 Chandrasekara Holla that the accused gathered knowledge about the manner in which the strong room could be operated
It is clear from their evidence that access to the strong room could not be had except by a person acquainted with the manner in which it was operated
According to these witnesses the accused got an opportunity when in the first week of April the wife and children of PW 8 Ananthakrishnan Bank Manager visited the Bank and evinced a desire to see how the safety vault was operated
While he was going up the stairs along with the members of his family and PW 12 Balasubramaniam attendant the accused who was standing with PW 9 expressed a desire to come up and see the strong room
Although taken aback at the unusual request PW 8 permitted them to come up
With his inquisitiveness the accused cleared all his doubts about the mode of operating the safety vault and gained sufficient knowledge
From the evidence of PWs 56912 and 16 it is amply clear that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty gained the confidence of the deceased as a busy and hard working young man by remaining in the premises and continuing to work even after the banking hours and assisting the deceased in disposing of the day s work
He also had knowledge about the availability of the first set of keys of the strong room with the deceased and must have noticed that PW 16 Chandrasekara Holla who had the custody of the second set of keys was in the habit of leaving them in the cupboard of his Godrej table
It appears from the evidence of PW 15 V Kannan Manager in the Physical Development Institute that on the 20th at about 6 pm the accused left the Institute within half an hour after doing some exercises
P 8 which was kept open on the table of PW 6 which was adjacent to the table of the accused
2 The fact that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty was last seen leaving the Bank premises
Kanaka the flower vendor tends to show that after finishing the day s work she came and sat on the steps of the Bank
At about 9 pm she saw the accused coming out of the Bank premises and locking the outer glass door
She testifies that she used to sell flowers at the junction of Thambu Chetty Street and Errabalu Chetty Street not far from the Bank
According to her she was originally residing at Vyasarpadi but six months prior to the occurrence she shifted her residence to village Tharamani
Her version is that every day she used to begin selling 728 flowers in the day from 6 am to 8 pm and thereafter return to her house but on Thursdays and Fridays due to rush of customers she was constrained to remain late upto 9 pm and since she could not get a bus at that hour she used to sleep on the raised platform near the outer door of the Bank
She knew the deceased Gnanasambandham who used to buy flowers from her as well as the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty as they both used to come out of the Bank together at night
The deceased would give the keys to the accused who would lock the outer glass door and thereafter pull down the shutters and lock the same and return the keys
The deceased would then check the locks and thereafter both would leave the premises
She distinctly remembered that on Friday prior to the incident the deceased while buying flowers enquired from her whether she used to sleep there and she had to explain that on thursdays and Fridays she could not go back home due to late hours as there was no connecting bus
That was the last when she saw the deceased alive
On the night in question while she was sitting on the steps of the Bank after finishing her day s work she saw the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty coming out of the Bank premises alone by opening the glass door closing the same and proceeding towards Errabalu Chetty Street
After about half an hour the accused came out of the Bank by opening the glass door with the suitcase in one hand a bag on his shoulder and the briefcase which the deceased used to carry in the other
He kept the suitcase on the steps of the Bank where she was sitting and re entered the premises and brought out a large coffee colour skybag and kept the same beside the suitcase locked the glass door pulled down the shutters and locked the same
She states that when the accused pulled down the shutters she asked him whether the Periya Ayya evidently referring to the deceased had not come the accused did not give any reply
Thinking that he had not understood her words properly she repeated the same query to which there was no response
After locking the shutters the accused went towards Errabalu Chetty Street leaving the suitcase and the skybag on the steps of the Bank
It was a festival day and the deity of Kaliamman Koil was passing along Thambu Chetty Street
PW 18 was feeling unwell and wanted to offer camphor to the deity but could not leave the place because the accused had left the suitcases on the steps
The deity was taken in a procession through the street Thereafter according to her the 729 accused came in an auto rickshaw and with the help of the autorickshaw driver the accused carried and placed the suitcase and the skybag with some difficulty
When she queried why had he left the suitcase when there were a large number of auto rickshaws passing that way the accused did not give any reply
She further states that as she was running temperature she slept on the steps of the Bank
Early next morning at 6 am she left for her house at Tharamani and from there she went to her sister s place at Vyasariadi after informing her husband
She returned to Tharamani 4 5 days later feeling better when the police examined her
We have no doubt in our mind that PW 18 SmtKanaka is a natural witness and there is a ring of truth in her version
Though she was subjected to a searching and incisive cross examination by learned counsel for the appellants nothing was brought out to impeach her credibility as a truthful witness
There was no reason for her to falsely implicate the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty particularly when the vital clue furnished by her led to the unravelling of the crime and recovery of the huge amount of money
We are not impressed with the submission that merely because PW 18 was given a cash award of Rs5000 by the Chief Minister she was a got up witness and must be regarded as a witness who springs from a tainted source 
It is not a phenomenon unknown in the world today for the Government to offer cash rewards to citizens for their act of courage and bravery by coming forward with vital information which results in the ultimate detection of the offender
In such cases there is no question of impairing the testimonial fidelity of such person as a competent witness
Learned counsel however drew our attention to the observations of this Court in Lingala Vijay Kumar  Ors vs Public Prosecutor Andhra Pradesh  where this Court viewed with concern the practice of offering cash rewards to prosecution witnesses when the case was sub judice
We may say at once that the Court in that case did not discard the testimony of the prosecution witnesses on that account
All it did in that case was to endorse the expression of opinion of the learned Sessions Judge that such rewards for bravery may be euphemistic officialese but are apt to be construed by the accused as purchase price for testimonial fidelity and the Government ought not to prejudge the case and award any cash reward to a citizen for his exemplary civic sense since he may figure as a material witness
We need not say anything more
The learned Additional Sessions Judge and the High Court were fully aware of this aspect and have scrutinised the testimony of PW 18 with meticulous care and we agree with them 730 that merely because PW 18 was rewarded for her courage in coming forward to help the police her testimony should not be viewed with suspicion
She withstood a close and searching cross examination but her veracity as a truthful witness remains unshaken
3 Purchase of a suitcase and a skybag from Burma Bazar The testimony of PW 18 SmtKanaka finds support from PW 19 Ramaswami a dealer in suitcases in Burma Bazar
This witness states that at about 9 or 915 pm on 20th May a fair complexioned tall and lean person aged about 24 25 years meaning the accused came to his shop and purchased a light blue colour suitcase for a sum of Rs200 which amount be paid in currency notes of the denomination of Rs20 and also wanted one skybag
Since he had no stock he fetched a coffee colour skybag from his brother in law s shop and showed it to the accused who purchased the same also for Rs200 and paid the price again in currency notes of the denomination of Rs20
According to him half an hour later the same person came back and got into an auto rickshaw driven by PW 31 Venkatesan whom he knew
The testimony of PW 31 Venkatesan auto rickshaw driver also corroborates PW 18
According to him on the night in question at about 1015 pm a lean and tall person fair in complexion meaning the accused engaged his auto rickshaw to go to Hotel Chola Sheraton from Thambu Chetty Street
He further states that when he had driven that person to Thambu Chetty Street he was asked to stop the auto rickshaw outside the Bank
On the steps of the Bank there was a light blue colour suitcase together with a coffee colour skybag
As the suitcases were heavy he together with that person lifted the same and placed them in the auto
Thereafter he drove on straight to Hotel Chola Sheraton and reached there at about 11 pm
At the hotel PW 21 Derick bell boy placed the luggage in the trolley and took them inside the hotel accompanied by the accused
PW 31 further states that the hire charges were fixed at Rs15 and the accused gave him a 20 rupees currency note and he gave back Rs5 and went away
His version is supported by the entry in the trip sheet Exh
It is contended that the evidence of PWs 19 and 31 with regard to the identification of the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty before the Court of Sessions for the first time without any prior test identification parade was not of any value but we are not impressed
Later both these witnesses saw the photograph of the accused carried by PW 50 Deviasigamani and identified him to be the person involved
In the world as a whole today the identification by photographs is the only 731 method generally used by the interpol and other crime detecting agencies for identification of criminals engaged in drug trafficking narcotics and other economic offences as also in other international crimes
Such identification must take the place of a test identification
Further the evidence of PW 19 that the person concerned purchased a coffee colour skybag along with a light blue colour suitcase stands corroborated by the subsequent recovery of the coffee colour skybag from PW 33 SmtJustin D Costa with whom the accused s sister KmUsha Rani used to stay from a house at Hole Narsipur District Hassan
Similarly the testimony of PW 31 finds support not only from the evidence of PWs 18 and 19 but also from the entry in the trip sheet as well as the entries in the Arrival and Departure register of Hotel Chola Sheraton
4 Stay at Hotel Chola Sheraton under the assumed name of Mohanraj The fact that the accused checked into Hotel Chola Sheraton a five star hotel on the night of 20th stayed the whole of the 21st and his departure therefrom on the 22nd morning at 9 am is brought out from the testimony of PWs 20 25 as also from the hotel register which show that the accused stayed in the hotel under the assumed name of Mohanraj
PW 21 Derick bell boy at the hotel states that a tall person about 6 feet in height with curly hair came to the hotel in an auto rickshaw that night carrying with him a light blue colour suitcase and a brown colour travellers bag
He states that the luggage was heavy and therefore he brought a trolley and put the suitcase and the skybag in the trolley and took the same to the reception counter
From there PW 22 Kalyanasundaram another bell boy took charge of the luggage
PW 23 Elizabeth Mitra receptionist testifies that she gave him a registration card Exh
P 24 and asked him to fill in the details
When that person asked PW 23 to fill up the form she told him that as per the rules only the occupant concerned had to fill up the form
So the accused filled it up and gave it to her
He gave his name as Mohanraj 
She allotted room No 230 and when she wanted an advance of Rs1000 the accused told her that he would go up to the room and send the money
According to her PW 22 brought an amount of Rs1040 in currency notes of the denomination of Rs20
She credited Rs1000 towards advance and gave receipt for the same and returned the balance amount of Rs40 to PW 22
PW 22 went up to room No 230 and found the accused standing outside
He told him that the key to the door was inserted from inside and when he came out the door got automatically locked
PW 22 accordingly went to the receiptionist and brought the master key with which the room was opened
He gave back Rs40 out of which the accused gave him Rs20 732 as tip
This witness identified the accused in the Court as the occupant of the room
When the accused checked out on the 22nd morning he made an entry in the hotel register to that effect
The testimony of PW 23 is corroborated by the entry in the Arrival and Departure register Exh
The relevant entry marked ExhP 27 shows his arrival and ExhP 28 shows his departure
PW 24 Alexander Alwyn Fernandez Cashier at the hotel approved the bill ExhP 29 relating to Mohanraj who stayed in Hotel Chola Sheraton containing the details with regard to the room rent advance payment room service bills etc
He states that he made the last two entries in ExhP 29 at the time of departure of the said Mohanraj
PW 25 Rocky Williams Senior Lobby Attendant has produced the departure card prepared by him marked Exh
It is true that they had identified the accused from the photograph shown to them by PW 50 and that was sufficient to lend support to their identification in Court
Further the fact remains that the person who came to Hotel Chola Sheraton on the night of the 20th at 11 pm and alighted with two heavy suitcases was the person brought by PW 31 auto rickshaw driver from the Bank and he has been indentified and named by PW 18 as the accused
P 24 the registration card of Hotel Chola Sheraton gives the address of the occupant of room No 230 as Mohanraj Hole Narsipur Hassan
The description given is of a tourist  and the date of arrival as 20583 at 2305 on arrival from Bangalore
The departure date is given as Bangalore on 22583
It is somewhat strange that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty who was merely a Clerk in the Bank should have gone and stayed in Hotel Chola Sheraton a five star hotel on the night in question unless it was for purposes of safety as he was carrying the huge amount of about Rs14 lakhs in the suitcase and the skybag
There is evidence to show that the accused filled up the application form for reservation of a first class ticket Exh
P 37 and signed the same as KLR Shetty  giving the name and address as Shivaram Shetty Kodial Bail Bangalore ie of his father
The stay of the accused at Hotel Chola Sheraton at Madras on the night of the 20th the whole of the 21st till his departure on the 22nd morning under the assumed name of Mohanraj the act of leaving Madras on the 22nd morning by train in a first class compartment under the name of his father Shivaram Shetty giving a wrong address of Kodial Bail at Bangalore which is not there are facts which speak for themselves
5 Stay at Hotel Moti Mahal at Mangalore There is unimpeachable evidence to establish that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty on his 733 arrival at Mangalore by train on the 23rd morning at about 6 aminstead of proceeding to his father s house checked into Hotel Moti Mahal with his luggage
The testimony of PW 32 William Anchan Receptionist is that on the 23rd morning a tall fair complexioned person meaning the accused came to the hotel and gave his name as Kiran Kumar  and address as Hole Narsipur Hassan District saying that he was proceeding to Bangalore
This is borne out from the entry in the Arrival and Departure register Exh
The accused was allotted room No 204 and he made an entry to that effect
According to him the said Kiran Kumar left the hotel on the 25th along with two suitcases
PW 35 Padmanabhan room boy testifies about the occupation of room No 204 by the accused from the 23rd to 25th
He states that the suitcases were heavy and that he carried them from the room and brought them down and put them in an autorickshaw in which the occupant left the hotel and identified the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty as the person who occupied the room
This witness identified the suitcases M Os
176 and 177 which were subsequently seized on the 30th from appellant No 2 Shivaram Shetty containing currency notes worth Rs1227500 as the suitcases carried by him
Again these witnesses on being shown the photograph carried by PW 50 identified him to be the person involved
Further the testimony of PW 34 Surendran Reservation Clerk Mangalore Railway Station shows that the accused filled in the reservation slip Exh
P 47 giving his name as Shivaram Shetty with address as Hole Narsipur Hassan
On a comparison of the handwriting appearing from the registration card Exh
P 24 filled up by the accused when he checked into Hotel Chola Sheraton with that appearing on the reservation form Exh
P 47 with the handwriting of the accused particularly the similarity in describing Bangalore as B lore  and Mangalore as M lore  the learned Judges have come to the conclusion that both the documents were writting by the one and the same person ie the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty
Justin D Costa the colleague and roommate of the deceased Kumari Usha Rani sister of the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty
She states that both of them were working in the State Bank of Mysore and staying together in a room at Hassan
According to her on the 21st she along with Usha Rani and others went to Mangalore after attending to their duties at the Bank
She states on their return on the 26th Usha Rani brought along with her a coffee colour skybag saying that it had been presented to her by her brother who was working in the Karnataka Bank Main Branch Madras
She further states that on 734 the 29th May the Indian Express Mangalore edition carried a newsitem relating to the Karnataka Bank Main Branch s Manager s murder at Madras implicating the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty
Usha Rani tried to contact her parents over the telephone but she could not get the line and thereafter she told her that she was leaving for Mangalore but never returned
PW 33 also states that on the 31st she read in the local Kannada newspaper that both Usha Rani and her mother had committed suicide by drowning themselves in the ocean
On the 6th June PW 50 came to her house and recovered the coffee colour skybag marked MO 175 from her possession
Recovery of the stolen money belonging to the Bank The recovery of Rs4500 in currency notes of the denomination of Rs5 bearing the seal of the Bank from the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty on May 291983 at 2 pm when he was arrested at My Lady s Park and the remaining amount of Rs1227500 in bundles of currency notes of the denominations of Rs 100 50 20 10 and 5 from appellant No 2 Shivaram Shetty on the 30th opposite the Madras Central while he was on his way in a cycle rickshaw
These recoveries have been proved by the Investigating Officer PW 50 Deviasigamani as well as the seizure witnesses PW 37 Neelakandan PW 41 J Kumar and one Sekar
There is no reason to disbelieve their testimony particularly when it is an undisputed fact that the amount of Rs1232300 belongs to the Karnataka Bank
According to learned counsel for the parties however the truth of the prosecution case particularly recoveries at Madras are rendered improbable for two reasons i The report in the Indian Express Mangalore edition and the regional newspapers Malai Murasu and Makkal Kural on the 29th and Dina Thanthi on the 30th that both the accused had been taken into custody at Mangalore and the entire money stolen from the Bank recovered from the residence of appellant No 2 Shivaram Shetty
ii The admission of the prosecution s own witness PW 9 Govindaraj that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty arrived at Madras by the West Coast Express on the 27th afternoon at 4 pm and was taken into custody by the police at the platform
Undoubtedly each of these circumstances by itself was sufficient to falsify the entire prosecution case as regards the alleged recoveries at Madras and therefore we heard learned counsel for the parties at considerable length but nothing really turns on them
735 Learned counsel for the appellants with consummate skill tried to create as he was entitled as counsel for the defence to break the chain of circumstances and to show that there are various missing links in an effort that the Court may give the accused benefit of doubt
We are afraid that is not a proper approach for the Court to adopt
In the present case the circumstances were closely linked up with one another and the Court would be misdirecting itself and commit serious error of law if it were to separately deal with each circumstance rejecting the circumstances one by one and then acquitting the accused on the ground that the incriminating circumstances brought out were not consistent with the guilt of the accused
There can be no doubt whatever that the circumstances enumerated above has been cogently and firmly established by the prosecution which taken cumulatively form a chain so complete that there is no escape from the conclusion that within all human probability the crime was committed by the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty and none else
As to the first the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty was entitled to tender the newspaper report from the Indian Express of the 29th and the regional newspapers of the 30th along with his statement under section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973
Both the accused at the stage of their defence in denial of the charge had summoned the editors of Tamil dailies Malai Mursau and Makkal Kural and the news reporters of the Indian Express and Dina Thanthi to prove the contents of the facts stated in the news item but they dispensed with their examination on the date fixed for the defence evidence
We cannot take judicial notice of the facts stated in a news item being in the nature of hearsay secondary evidence unless proved by evidence aliunde
A report in a newspapers is only hearsay evidence
A newspaper is not one of the documents referred to in section 782 of the Evidence Act 1872 by which an allegation of fact can be proved
The presumption of genuineness attached under section 81 of the Evidence Act to a newspapers report cannot be treated as proved of the facts reported therein
It is now well settled that a statement of fact contained in a newspapers is merely hearsay and therefore inadmissible in evidence in the absence of the maker of the statement appearing in Court and deposing to have perceived the fact reported
The accused should have therefore produced the persons in whose presence the seizure of the stolen money from appellant No 2 s house at Mangalore was effected or examined the press correspondents in proof of the truth of the contents of the news item
The question as to the admissibility of 736 newspaper reports has been dealt with by this Court in Samant N Balakrishna vs George Fernandez  Ors
1969 3 SCR 603
There the question arose whether Shri George Fernandez the successful candidate returned to Parliament from the Bombay South Parliamentary Constituency had delivered a speech at Shivaji Park attributed to him as reported in the Maratha a widely circulated Marathi newspaper in Bombay and it was said A newspaper report without any further proof of what had actually happened through witnesses is of no value
It is at best a second hand secondary evidence
It is well known that reporters collect information and pass it on to the editor who edits the news item and then publishes it
In this process the truth might get perverted or garbled
Such news items cannot be said to prove themselves although they may be taken into account with other evidence if the other evidence is forcible
 We need not burden the judgment with many citations
There is nothing on record to substantiate the facts as reported in the newspapers showing recovery of the stolen amount from the residence of appellant No 2 at Mangalore
We have therefore no reason to discard the testimony of PW 50 and the seizure witnesses which go to establish that the amount in question was actually recovered at Madras on the 29th and the 30th as alleged
As to the second much emphasis was laid on the statement made by PW 9 Govindaraj showing that the accused Laxmi Raj Shetty was taken into custody at the Railway Station on the 27th when he arrived by the West Coast Express
It was submitted that the admission of the prosecution s own witness PW 9 about the arrest of the accused on the 27th was a serious infirmity which shows that the prosecution case about the alleged recoveries was concocted and untrue
We have gone through the evidence of PW 9 with care
It cannot be forgotten that this witness and the accused were appointed together as Probationary Clerks and obviously he is trying to help the accused
We are satisfied that the Courts below were justified in not placing any credence on the statement made by this accused
It is pertinent to mention that the alleged statement has been brought out during the cross examination of this witness by learned counsel appearing for appellant No 2
It would certainly have been better for the Public Prosecutor to have the witness declared hostile with a view to cross examine him and also called witnesses from the Bank to contradict him
This was unfortu 737 nately not done but that would not have the effect of destroying the entire prosecution case having regard to the fact that the substantial portion of the stolen amount has been recovered from both the accused
It is not disputed that the money recovered belongs to the Bank
It is not suggested that such a large amount as Rs1232000 bearing the seal of the Bank would have been planted on the accused
In the premises we are satisfied that the finding of guilt reached by the learned Additional Sessions Judge and the High Court after a proper and careful evaluation of the facts and circumstances appearing does not warrant any interference
In the fact and circumstances of this particular case we direct that the sentence of death passed on appellant No 1 Laxmi Raj Shetty be commuted to one of imprisonment for life
The evidence does not clearly indicate the exact manner in which the murder was committed
It is noteworthy that appellant No 1 had not taken with him any weapon for assaulting the deceased but used two stitchers lying in the Bank premises indicating that the murder was not pre planned
Looking to the nature of the weapon used if seems to us that the accused acted under a momentary impulse
In the circumstances we direct that the death sentence passed on appellant No 1 should be converted into one for life imprisonment
Subject to this modification the appeal fails and is dismissed
The judgment and sentences passed on the appellants by the learned Additional Sessions Judge as affirmed by the High Court in appeal are upheld being appropriate


Summary:
An agreement was entered into by Dharangadhara Chemical Works Ltd Chemical Company for the sale of all its products to the respondent Trading Company
The agreement contained general terms and the actual quantity sold the sale price the booking station and the destination stations were to be determined in the actual contracts for sale in respect of definite or specified quantities
The mode in which sales were effected was that the respondent Trading Company used to obtain orders from out of State buyers and enter into agreements of purchase with the Chemical Company for these specified quantities
All the goods sold under these contracts of sale were booked at a particular railway station in the State to the various places outside the State where buyers from the respondent Trading Company required the goods and then the railway receipts and invoices concerned were endorsed and handed over to the respondent Trading Company
In the assessment order for the assessment year 1980 81 the assessing authority treated the sales effected by the Chemical Company to the respondent Trading Company as intra State sales and those by the respondent Trading Company to the out of State buyers as inter State sales falling under section 3 of the 
The assessees namely the Chemical Company and the respondent Trading Company filed appeals before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner contending that sales by the Chemical Company to the respondent Trading Company were also inter State sales as these sales were completed by the delivery of railway receipts and invoices only after the inter State journey of the goods had commenced
The Appellate Assistant Commissioner dismissed the appeals
Both the assessees filed appeals to the Tribunal
After considering 806 the manner in which the sales were effected and despatches made by the Chemical Company and examining some specimen orders placed by respondent Trading Company with the Chemical Company the Tribunal came to the conclusion that delivery was effected by the Chemical Company to the respondent Trading Company by delivery of documents of title namely the receipts of invoices and the railway receipts and allowed the appeals
The High Court upheld the views of the Tribunal and dismissed the revision petitions filed by the State
In the appeals by the State it was contended that the first set of sales by the Chemical Company to the respondent Company were local or intra State sales because under the agreement the delivery was to be effected at the booking stations
Dismissing the appeal  HELD The orders were placed for booking specified goods to out of State buyers and the Chemical Company never gave physical delivery of the goods to the respondent Trading Company but booked the goods to the destinations as required by the out of State buyers and merely handed over documents of title to the respondent Trading Company
The movement of the goods from the State to the outside State was occasioned by the terms of the contract themselves and the sales were inter State sales falling under sub section
a of section 3 of the 
Alternatively since the deliveries of goods sold were effected by the transfer of documents after the movement of the goods from the State to the other States had commenced the sales could be regarded as covered under sub section
b of section 3 of the Act
809GH 810A B The agreement entered into by the Chemical Company with the respondent Trading Company is merely a general agreement
The actual terms of the contracts of sales as well as the instructions of the out of State buyers have to be taken into account in determining the nature of the sales in question
810E F The conclusion arrived at by the Tribunal as well as the High Court that the sales by the Chemical Company to the respondent Trading Company were inter State sales cannot therefore be faulted
810F Union of India  Anr
vs KG Khosla  Co P Ltd  Ors 1979 3 SCR 453 at p 460 relied on 807