Case: State of Punjab &amp; Another Vs. Suraj Prakash &amp; Another

destroy the corpus of the offence.(xi) The testimony of P.W. 4 Rajender Kumar, testifying about the disclosures made by accused Dharminder to him about the conspiracy and the execution thereof to murder Gurdip.(xii) A failed attempt on the part of Bhalla Ram to show that he was on duty that night from 9:00p.m. to 5:00a.m in the face of his presence at the time of Inquest that was conducted after 3:30a.m. by the Police and his signature on the Inquest report. 21. True it is, that a conviction on the basis of circumstantial evidence alone would demand that the circumstances be such so as to form a complete chain so much so that every possible hypothesis of the innocence of the accused person(s) is ruled out. The test would depend on the facts of each case and the circumstances presented thereby. On an assessment of the evidence adduced by the prosecution and the incriminating circumstances noted hereinabove, we are of the unhesitant opinion that the same unmistakably establish the culpability of all the accused persons in the charges framed against them. To start with, not only accused Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are members of the same family and were fully aware that accused No. 1 Dharminder was uncontrollably enamoured by Ranju and that Gurdip was also a contender for her, which in our opinion is a motive for the perpetration of the crime for which they have been charged with, the materials on record establish that in order to facilitate the commission of the offence they took along with them accused No. 4 Nazar Singh so that the deceased could be trapped in their design, taken to the temple, first injured in the leg so as to maim him and then over power him to be doused with kerosene and put on fire and ensure that he was dead by the time, the report was made to the Police posing as if their brother accused No. 1 Dharminder had committed suicide. The criminal intent of the accused persons, according to us is writ large and the circumstances enumerated hereinabove do not permit any other view. The circumstances fit in with the version of the witnesses and present a complete and a clear picture of the incident and the manner of commission of the offence. Had the accused persons not conspired to commit the offence, the family members would have endeavored at first to procure medical help than letting the body lie in the temple and take enough time to inform the Police to be sure that death had taken place. The very fact that after having participated in the crime and also having ensured that Gurdip had died, a false information was lodged with the Police to the effect that it was accused No. 1 Dharminder, who had committed suicide demonstrates the mens rea of the accused persons beyond any reasonable doubt. There was a criminal intent to mislead the Police and cover up the incident of murder of Gurdip to be that of suicide of Dharminder and had not Jagjit met this accused at the railway station, the episode might have ended in this fashion.22. Though an attempt has been made to contend that the witnesses are all relatives of the deceased and, therefore, partisan having regard to the substance and the coherence of their testimony, we are of the view that this factor perse cannot discredit them or adversely affect the probative worth of their statements on oath. The recovery of the personal belongings of Gurdip from the place as shown by Dharminder and that of the blood stained shirt of Suraj worn by him at the time of commission of the offence, at their instance, also in our opinion furnishes a fool proof evidence of nexus between the accused persons and the crime. There is no dispute with regard to the identity of the dead body as well. Not only the post mortem indicates that the body was identifiable as the face was not burnt which is also a fact supported by the findings recorded in the Inquest Report, the witnesses as referred to hereinabove on being shown the photographs of the dead body have identified the same to be that of Gurdip. There is no plea on behalf of the defence and rightly so, that accused No. 1 Dharminder is not alive. In that view of the matter on a consideration of the evidence as a whole, we are of the opinion that there is no room for any reasonable doubt about the culpability of the accused persons in a body to have conspired to murder Gurdip by first assaulting him with an iron reti in the leg and then set him ablaze alive by over powering him in the temple in the dead of light. The situs of the occurrence, being a temple of which accused No. 4 Rani was the Priestess, in our opinion, overwhelmingly prove her knowledge, collaboration and participation in the same.23. In all, therefore, the incriminating circumstances established by the prosecution form a complete chain of events which do not permit any confusion or doubt with regard to the involvement of all the accused persons in this heinous crime of murder. What makes this offence abhorrent is the fact that not only the murder was committed in a deceitful manner, the same was designed to be a case of suicide by one of their sons, thereby trying to mislead the investigating agency and abuse the process of law. In the above view of the matter, we are constrained to hold that the learned appellate Court grossly erred in assessing the evidence on record in acquitting accused Nos. 2 and 3 Suraj and Bhalla Ram. We, therefore, reverse the order of acquittal of these two accused persons into one of conviction under Sections 302, 419, 404, 201, 120B of the I.P.C.24. Further, we find no persuasive reason to differ from or interfere with the findings recorded by the trial Court.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]Though an attempt was made by the learned counsel to rely on a letter dated 1st July, 2000 addressed on behalf of the accused person to the concerned police authority to plead that their association was only with regard to the identification of the dead body which was wrongly done to be that of accused Dharminder, as the said document does not form a part of the record of the trial, we are not inclined to either refer thereto or rely thereon.The evidence on record when analysed provides the following incriminating circumstances(i) On 22nd June, 2000, at about 6/7 p.m., the evening before the discovery of the dead body of the deceased later that night, accused Dharminder and Nazar Singh had visited the house of Gurdip and had taken him along with them whereafter the deceased did not return.(ii) The fact that Gurdip was in the company of Dharminder and Nazar Singh was confirmed by accused No. 2 Suraj, accused no. 3 Bhalla Ram, accused No. 4 Rani and accused No. 5 Nazar to the informant along with Harbhajan had gone to their house to enquire about the whereabouts of Gurdip Singh, the very same evening.(iii) On 23rd June, 2000, when P.W. 6 Harbhajan Singh had visited the house of Rani, accused No. 4 she disclosed to her that her son Dharminder, accused No. 1 had committed suicide and had also requested him to search for Gurdip Singh whose whereabouts were not known till then.(iv) On the basis of disclosures made by accused No. 5 Nazar Singh, hisshirt which he was wearing at the time of offence and also the gold kara belonging Gurdip was recovered. The gold kara was identified to be that of Gurdip by P.W. 7.(v) No explanation has been provided by accused No. 4 as to how his shirt got stained with blood.(vi) Acting on the disclosures of Dharminder, accused No. 1, the personal belongings of the deceased were recovered from the place which he had indicated. There was no explanation from the side of the accused Dharmender as to how these personal belongings came into his possession or got recovered from the place shown by him.(vii) Theconfession made by accused Dharminder to Jagjit Singh who conveyed it to Gurmeet, the informant that he (Dharminder) along with his brothers, mother and friend Nazar Singh had conspired and murdered Gurdip in the temple and had endeavoured to pass on the incident as one of suicide by Dharminder.(viii) Suraj, accused No.2 had informed the Police between 1:15A.M. and 3:30A.M. on 23rd June, 2000, that his brother accused No. 1 Dharminder had committed suicide by immolating himself in the temple and expressing at the same time that no legal action was called for.(ix) The dead body was found about 1:15a.m inside the temple and Suraj and his mother Rani had gone to the place of occurrence. They seemed to be certain about the death of the person concerned and did not attempt to provide any medical attention and had waited for a sufficient long time to inform the Police only to apprise them of the incident and not for any legal action in connection therewith. Such a conduct is incomprehensible if the body was really that of Dharminder.(x) The visible haste on the part of the accused persons to get the Inquest anddone and have the dead body cremated before the real identification would surface so as to destroy the corpus of the offence.(xi) The testimony of P.W. 4 Rajender Kumar, testifying about the disclosures made by accused Dharminder to him about the conspiracy and the execution thereof to murder Gurdip.(xii) A failed attempt on the part of Bhalla Ram to show that he was on duty that night from 9:00p.m. to 5:00a.m in the face of his presence at the time of Inquest that was conducted after 3:30a.m. by the Police and his signature on the Inquest report.True it is, that a conviction on the basis of circumstantial evidence alone would demand that the circumstances be such so as to form a complete chain so much so that every possible hypothesis of the innocence of the accused person(s) is ruled out. The test would depend on the facts of each case and the circumstances presented thereby. On an assessment of the evidence adduced by the prosecution and the incriminating circumstances noted hereinabove, we are of the unhesitant opinion that the same unmistakably establish the culpability of all the accused persons in the charges framed against them. To start with, not only accused Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are members of the same family and were fully aware that accused No. 1 Dharminder was uncontrollably enamoured by Ranju and that Gurdip was also a contender for her, which in our opinion is a motive for the perpetration of the crime for which they have been charged with, the materials on record establish that in order to facilitate the commission of the offence they took along with them accused No. 4 Nazar Singh so that the deceased could be trapped in their design, taken to the temple, first injured in the leg so as to maim him and then over power him to be doused with kerosene and put on fire and ensure that he was dead by the time, the report was made to the Police posing as if their brother accused No. 1 Dharminder had committed suicide. The criminal intent of the accused persons, according to us is writ large and the circumstances enumerated hereinabove do not permit any other view. The circumstances fit in with the version of the witnesses and present a complete and a clear picture of the incident and the manner of commission of the offence. Had the accused persons not conspired to commit the offence, the family members would have endeavored at first to procure medical help than letting the body lie in the temple and take enough time to inform the Police to be sure that death had taken place. The very fact that after having participated in the crime and also having ensured that Gurdip had died, a false information was lodged with the Police to the effect that it was accused No. 1 Dharminder, who had committed suicide demonstrates the mens rea of the accused persons beyond any reasonable doubt. There was a criminal intent to mislead the Police and cover up the incident of murder of Gurdip to be that of suicide of Dharminder and had not Jagjit met this accused at the railway station, the episode might have ended in this fashion.22. Though an attempt has been made to contend that the witnesses are all relatives of the deceased and, therefore, partisan having regard to the substance and the coherence of their testimony, we are of the view that this factor perse cannot discredit them or adversely affect the probative worth of their statements on oath. The recovery of the personal belongings of Gurdip from the place as shown by Dharminder and that of the blood stained shirt of Suraj worn by him at the time of commission of the offence, at their instance, also in our opinion furnishes a fool proof evidence of nexus between the accused persons and the crime. There is no dispute with regard to the identity of the dead body as well. Not only the post mortem indicates that the body was identifiable as the face was not burnt which is also a fact supported by the findings recorded in the Inquest Report, the witnesses as referred to hereinabove on being shown the photographs of the dead body have identified the same to be that of Gurdip. There is no plea on behalf of the defence and rightly so, that accused No. 1 Dharminder is not alive. In that view of the matter on a consideration of the evidence as a whole, we are of the opinion that there is no room for any reasonable doubt about the culpability of the accused persons in a body to have conspired to murder Gurdip by first assaulting him with an iron reti in the leg and then set him ablaze alive by over powering him in the temple in the dead of light. The situs of the occurrence, being a temple of which accused No. 4 Rani was the Priestess, in our opinion, overwhelmingly prove her knowledge, collaboration and participation in the same.23. In all, therefore, the incriminating circumstances established by the prosecution form a complete chain of events which do not permit any confusion or doubt with regard to the involvement of all the accused persons in this heinous crime of murder. What makes this offence abhorrent is the fact that not only the murder was committed in a deceitful manner, the same was designed to be a case of suicide by one of their sons, thereby trying to mislead the investigating agency and abuse the process of law. In the above view of the matter, we are constrained to hold that the learned appellate Court grossly erred in assessing the evidence on record in acquitting accused Nos. 2 and 3 Suraj and Bhalla Ram. We, therefore, reverse the order of acquittal of these two accused persons into one of conviction under Sections 302, 419, 404, 201, 120B of the I.P.C.24. Further, we find no persuasive reason to differ from or interfere with the findings recorded by the trial Court.