IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE R.BASANT & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE V.CHITAMBARESH THURSDAY, THE 8TH DECEMBER 2011 / 17TH AGRAHAYANA 1933 CRL.A.No. 1117 of 2007() ------------------------ SC.216/2006 of ADDL.DIST. SESSIONS COURT (SPL.COURT), KOTTAYAM .................... APPELLANT(S): ACCUSED --------------------- SADASIVAN @ SIVAN, S/O.KESAVAN, ENNACKAPPALLIL HOUSE, ULLALA KARA, THALAYAZHAM VILLAGE, VAIKOM TALUK, KOTTAYAM DISTRICT. BY ADV. JOHN S.RALPH[STATE BRIEF] RESPONDENT(S): COMPLAINANT -------------------------- STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY THE CIRCLE INSPECTOR OF POLICE, VAIKOM. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SRI. ROY THOMAS THIS CRIMINAL APPEAL HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 08/12/2011, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: R. BASANT & V. CHITAMBARESH, JJ -------------------------------------------- Crl. Appeal No. 1117 OF 2007 ------------------------------------ Dated this the 8th day of December, 2011. JUDGMENT Basant, J. Did the learned Sessions Judge err in coming to the conclusion that the offence under Section 302 IPC is established against the appellant? Do the circumstances throw up any reasonable doubt against the complicity of the appellant? 2. These are the questions that arise for consideration in this appeal preferred by the appellant, who has been found guilty, convicted and sentenced under Section 302 IPC. 3. The 68 year old appellant is alleged to have intentionally caused the death of his wife Sukumari on account of strain in their relationship by stabbing her with MO1 knife and by setting fire to her after dousing her with kerosene. 4. Investigation commenced with the crime registered by the police on the basis of Ext.P1 First Information statement lodged by PW1, a neighbour who is not an eye witness to the occurrence. Investigation was completed and 2 CRA No. 1117/2007 final report was filed by PW16. The learned Magistrate after observing all legal formalities committed the case to the court of Session. The appellant denied the charges levelled against him and pleaded not guilty. Thereupon, prosecution examined PWs 1 to 16 and proved Exts. P1 to P15. MOs 1 to 17 were also marked. 5. The accused in the course of cross-examination of prosecution of witnesses and when examined under Section 313 Cr.Pc., denied all circumstances which appeared in evidence and which were put to him. When examined under Section 313 Cr.PC., he narrated his tale of woes. 6. According to him, he and his wife were sharing a very good relationship. His children were not looking after them. His children are well positioned in life. But the parents were not properly looked after. However he did not offer any specific explanation for the death of his wife. No defence witnesses were examined. Ext.D1, a case diary contradiction was marked, when PW2 was examined in an attempt to discredit her testimony. 7. PW1 as stated earlier is only the informant. He is a 3 CRA No. 1117/2007 neighbour. He is not a witness to the occurrence. He came to the scene after he was informed by some others that such an incident had taken place. PW2 is the mother of PW1. She occupies the adjacent house. On hearing the cries of deceased Sukumari, she had allegedly rushed to the house of the deceased. There she allegedly found the appellant with MO1 knife on which there was blood. The deceased was lying with bleeding injuries. Kerosene was doused on the deceased and she was set ablaze. The accused then went away from the scene of the crime when people collected at the scene of the crime. PW3 is the daughter of the deceased. She had allegedly left the house earlier on that morning and at that time only the appellant and the deceased were available in the house. PWs 5 and 11 are examined by the prosecution in an attempt to prove that extra judicial confessions were made by the appellant after the crime to them. According to the prosecution, the appellant had surrendered before the police with MO2 cover which inter alia contained Ext.P12 letter - a letter in which the appellant is alleged to have explained his unfortunate position in life and the 4 CRA No. 1117/2007 harsh decisions which he was compelled to take. 8. We have heard the learned counsel for the appellant and the learned Public Prosecutor. The learned counsel for the appellant submits that the prosecution has not succeeded in establishing the circumstances against the appellant. This case must be considered as one resting entirely on circumstantial evidence. Circumstances have not been firmly established. Together the circumstances do not point to the guilt of the appellant. At any rate, the appellant is entitled to the benefit of doubt, contends the learned counsel for the appellant. 9. We have considered all the relevant inputs. An appellate judgment is and must be read in continuation of the judgment of the trial court. In this view of the matter we do not deem it necessary to re-narrate the oral evidence of PWs1 to 16 or the contents of Exts.P1 to P15. Suffice it to say that we have been taken through the oral evidence of PW1 to 16 and the contents of Exts.P1 to P15 in detail. We have also been taken through the charge framed by the learned Sessions Judge against the appellant and the answers given by him in the course 5 CRA No. 1117/2007 of examination under Section 313 Cr.PC. We shall advert to specific materials if necessary while undertaking discussions later. 10. The learned counsel for the appellant is correct in his submission that the case is to be reckoned as a case resting on circumstantial evidence. This is so notwithstanding the evidence tendered by PW2 to which we shall advert to later in detail. She also does not witness the infliction of the injury proper. 11. About the burden on the prosecution and the accused in a case resting on circumstantial evidence, the law is to well established to justify or warrant reference to any precedent. We need only attempt to remind ourselves of the law. 12. In a case resting on circumstantial evidence, the burden is heavy on the prosecution to prove all circumstances. The circumstances have to be firmly established. The circumstances must constitute strong links and together they must constitute a strong chain which points unmistakably and un-erringly to the guilt of the accused - to the exclusion of every reasonable theory of innocence of the accused. It is not the 6 CRA No. 1117/2007 number of the links in the chain that matters. It is the probative significance and conclusiveness of the circumstances that really matter. 13. We shall now attempt to narrate the circumstances relied on by the prosecution. 1. Motive - strained relationship between the appellant and the deceased. 2. The appellant and the deceased were alone together when PW3 left the house on that morning for shopping. 3. PW2 heard the cries of the deceased and rushed to the house of the appellant. There she saw the appellant standing with MO1 knife which had blood on it. The deceased was lying with bleeding injuries inside the house. Kerosene was poured on the decease and she was set ablaze. 4. The accused went away from the scene on the sly without waiting there when 7 CRA No. 1117/2007 people started collecting them. 5. The accused surrendered before the police after the incident. 6. When the accused so surrendered before the police he had in his possession inter alia MO1 knife and Ext.P12 letter. 7. MO14 dhoti worn by the appellant when he surrendered before the police had blood marks on it. 8. The accused does not offer any explanation for the death of his wife or for his conduct of leaving the house on the night and surrendering before the police. 9. The accused allegedly made extra judicial confessions to PWs 5 and 11. 14. We shall now proceed to consider whether these circumstances have been established by the prosecution satisfactorily and whether the established circumstances are sufficient to lead the court to a safe and un-erring conclusion 8 CRA No. 1117/2007 about the guilt of the appellant. 15. Circumstance No. 1 :- It is the case of the prosecution that the appellant and the deceased shared a very strained matrimonial relationship. On this aspect we have the oral evidence of PWs 1 to 3. PW3 is the daughter. PWs 1 and 2 are neighbours. No reasons have been revealed to the court as to why the evidence of PWs 1 to 3 on this aspect should not be accepted. When the accused surrendered before the police he had in his possession Ext.P11 order passed by the Family court in a maintenance claim filed under Section 125 Cr.PC. by the appellant against his children. It reveals that the appellant had alleged before the Family Court that his children and wife were behaving cruelly to him. The evidence of PWs 1 to 3 further indicates that after his claim for maintenance was turned down by the Family Court and even earlier he was demanding that his wife should surrender half rights in a joint property held by them. It is very difficult to hazard an opinion as to whether such strain in matrimony could have prompted a spouse to cause the death of his partner. Suffice it to say that the evidence available 9 CRA No. 1117/2007 convincingly suggests that there was a strained relationship between the appellant and the deceased. Circumstance No. 1 is to the above extent proved satisfactorily. 16. Circumstance No. 2 :- The evidence of PW3 shows that the spouses - the appellant and the deceased, alone were available in the house when she left the house on that morning. When she returned, she found her mother with fatal injuries including burn injuries. No explanation is offered by the appellant as to how his wife, the deceased had suffered injuries. This is definitely a significant circumstance against the appellant. The second circumstance is also thus been proved satisfactorily. 17. Circumstance No. 3 :- At about 12 noon, PW2 the neighbour, heard cries of the deceased from her house. PW2 rushed to the house of the deceased. There she found appellant with MO1 knife on which there was blood. She also found the deceased lying with bleeding injuries inside her house. PW2 also perceived an attempt to douse the deceased with kerosene and to set fire to her. Smoke was coming out and it is then that PW2 10 CRA No. 1117/2007 reached the scene. If PW2's evidence can be believed, without dispute that should be reckoned as a crucial circumstance against the appellant. It is argued that the evidence of PW2 should not be believed. There is no reason worth the name suggested as to why the oral evidence of PW2 should be discarded by a court or even approached with reservation and suspicion. Nothing has been brought out in evidence to suggest that PW2 has any motive to speak falsehood against the appellant. The court below which had the opportunity to see PW2 perform in the witness box found no reason not to place reliance on her testimony. Her evidence is broadly supported by Ext.P1 FI statement lodged by PW1, the son of PW2 before the police at 2 p.m. on that day. Suffice it to say that we find no reason not to wholly accept the oral evidence of PW2. This circumstance has also been satisfactorily and firmly established by the prosecution. 18. Circumstance No. 4 :- When PW2 reached the house of the appellant, he was present there. When PW3 reached the house, he was not there. It is the version of PW2 that the 11 CRA No. 1117/2007 appellant who was present in the house when she reached there gave the slip and left the house at some point of time after she reached the house. The conduct of the appellant leaving the house at that juncture without informing any other is eloquent and does point to a guilty mind on the part of the appellant. This circumstance is vitally relevant when we consider the vague suggestion in the course of cross-examination and 313 examination that the deceased may have suffered the injuries at the hands of some others. If that be so, this proved conduct of the appellant leaving the house at that juncture without offering any explanation is of crucial relevance. 19. Circumstance No. 5 :- The accused surrendered before the police on the same evening. PW14 tendered direct and specific evidence on this aspect. There is no challenge worth the name raised against this part of the testimony of PW14. The police had seized articles which the accused was carrying with him when he so surrendered under Ext.P9 seizure mahazar to which PW12 is an attestor. Though PW12 does not speak of the surrender by the accused and the seizure of the 12 CRA No. 1117/2007 articles he has admitted his signature in Ext.P9. The contents of Ext.P9 eminently support the oral evidence of PW14 about such surrender by the appellant. We find no reason whatsoever not to accept and act upon the oral evidence of PW14 about the surrender by the appellant before the police on the same evening. We are satisfied that this 5th circumstance has also been satisfactorily established. 20. Circumstance Nos. 6 & 7: - According to the prosecution, when the appellant surrendered before the police he had MO2 plastic bag with him which contained articles including MO1 knife, MO11 order of the Family Court passed in the maintenance claim preferred by the appellant and Ext.P12 a note/letter written by him. MO1, Ext.P5 shows had human blood on it. We have gone through Ext.P12 letter in detail. According to the prosecution, it is a letter written by the accused explaining his helplessness and the fatal decisions which he had taken in respect of his life. Of course, Ext.P12 has not been proved satisfactorily to be in the handwriting of the appellant. In these circumstances, we deem it not necessary to place reliance on 13 CRA No. 1117/2007 Ext.P12 letter. However the production of MO1blood stained knife by the appellant is certainly a very strong circumstance against the appellant. That circumstance is established satisfactorily by the evidence of PW14 as also the contents of Ext.P9 seizure mahazar the signature in which is admitted by PW12 attestor. The prosecution as circumstance No. 7 also relies on the fact that MO14 saffron coloured dhoti worn by the accused at the time of his surrender had blood stains on it. It was seized under Ext.P9 and was sent to the forensic science laboratory. Ext.P5 shows that MO14 had human blood on it. The accused does not offer any explanation for the presence of human blood on his clothes. We are in these circumstances satisfied the circumstances 6 and 7 have been established satisfactorily, though we do not propose to rely on the contents of Ext.P12 note/letter. 21. Circumstance No. 9 :- The prosecution relied on the alleged extra judicial confession made by the appellant to PWs 5 and 11. PW11 the nephew of the appellant turned completely hostile to the prosecution. Exts.P8, P8(a) and P8(b) are case 14 CRA No. 1117/2007 diary contradictions marked by the prosecution in an attempt to discredit PW11. A reading of the evidence on PW11 eloquently reveals the over anxiety of PW11 not to reveal anything inconvenient to his uncle, the appellant herein. The prosecution thus did not succeed in proving the alleged extra judicial confession made by the appellant to PW11. 22. Now coming to the oral evidence of PW15 about the extra judicial confession made to him we have the evidence of PW5 on that aspect. According to PW5, the appellant had come to the shop of his brother and since he did not find the brother of PW5 available there, he met PW5 and revealed to him the fact that he had stabbed his wife and set her ablaze. He was not sure at that point of time whether she was dead. It is argued that the oral evidence of PW5 should not be accepted and acted upon. Extra judicial confession is a piece of evidence which can easily be concocted. The courts must hence be wary of such evidence tendered in a criminal trial. It is in these circumstances argued that no reliance should be placed on the oral evidence of PW5. Why should such confessions have been made at all by the 15 CRA No. 1117/2007 appellant to PW5? What benefit could the appellant have expected by making such a confession to PW5? In the total absence of rational explanations to these queries the alleged extra judicial confession made to PW5 may be discarded, argues the learned counsel for the appellant. 23. We have essential disagreement with the concept that extra judicial confession is an inherently weak piece of evidence. The question is whether the extra judicial confession inspires confidence. If the same inspires confidence it can be a very valuable and strong piece of evidence in the chain of circumstances. In the instant case one can safely come to the conclusion that the appellant had decided not to run away from law and to surrender before law as is evident from the evidence of PW14 about the surrender of the appellant before the police. He did not evidently intend to run away from law. If Ext. P12 can be believed (we have chosen not to place reliance on that) it suggests that the appellant was pre-determined before commission of the crime to surrender before the law and make a clean breast of the circumstances which had driven him to such 16 CRA No. 1117/2007 culpable and contumacious conduct. Even without placing reliance on Ext.P12, the conduct of the appellant surrendering before PW14 shortly after the commission of the crime renders the alleged extra judicial confession made to PW5 probable, reasonable and natural. There is no reason to approach the testimony of PW5 with any undeserve doubt or suspicion. It is also to be noted that it is stated to PW5 as suggestion in the course of cross-examination that he is a political and social activist owing allegiance to a political party. PW5's status in life and his stake in his reputation as an activist can also be realistically taken into account. It is not a case where politics had anything to do with the crime that was committed. The evidence of PW5 according to us on this aspect demands and should receive a fair, natural and reasonable appreciation. When his evidence is so approached we find no reason to doubt or suspect the evidence of PW5. 24. It is of course true that an apology of a suggestion has been made in the cross-examination of PW5 that there was some wordy altercation between PW5 and the appellant a couple of 17 CRA No. 1117/2007 days prior to the date of the incident. A very obliging hostile PW11 when he was cross-examined by the accused had attempted to offer support to this theory of the appellant. Less said about this suggestion and the attempt of PW11, the better. They do not arouse the least amount of dissatisfaction in the mind of this court. We hold that the 9th circumstance has also been satisfactorily established by the prosecution. 25. What remains is only the consideration whether these circumstances safely and surely point to the guilt of the appellant. We find absolutely no difficulty to come to the conclusion that the 9 circumstances proved constitute strong links in a chain of circumstances which effectively rules out any alternative theory consistent with the innocence of the appellant. No reasonable mind can reach any conclusion other than the guilt of the appellant on the basis of these circumstances proved by the prosecution. 26. What is the offence proved against the appellant? That the deceased succumbed to the injuries suffered by her at the hands of the appellant is evident from the oral evidence of 18 CRA No. 1117/2007 PW6 doctor and Ext.P3 postmortem certificate issued by him. The offence defined under Section 299 IPC is thus clearly established. The only question that remains is whether the offence of culpable homicide defined under 299 gets aggravated to the offence of murder under Section 300 IPC. In the facts and circumstances of this case there cannot be any semblance of doubt about the intention of the appellant when he indulged in the overt acts against his deceased wife. The totality of inputs compellingly suggests that the intention of the appellant could not have been anything other than causing the death of the deceased. His subsequent conduct also confirms this. Under clause firstly of Section 300, the offence of murder is thus clinchingly established. We take note of the evidence of PW6 doctor, that injury Nos. 5 and 6 suffered by the appellant described in Ext.P4 are sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. Therefore if not under clause firstly, at least under clause thirdly of Section 300, the appellant who intentionally inflicted those injuries on the deceased must be held to be guilt of the offence of the murder. Conviction and 19 CRA No. 1117/2007 sentence imposed on him under Section 302 IPC is eminently sustainable. 27. No other contentions are raised. We are satisfied in these circumstances that this appeal only deserves to be dismissed. 28. In the result:- 1. This appeal is dismissed. 2. The Registry shall communicate a copy of this judgment to the appellant through prison authorities as the appellant is represented by a legal aid counsel. R. BASANT JUDGE V. CHITAMBARESH JUDGE ncd