Ravi @ Ravichandran vs State Rep. By Inspector Of Police

2. The prosecution case shortly stated was as under :

3. When the deceased, PW-2 and PW-3 turned towards a lane which was on the eastern side of the house of PW-2, the appellant and Udayakumar were seen coming from the opposite direction. Appellant allegedly shouted that they were the persons who had thrown the bomb at the RSS office and started stabbing the deceased indiscriminately. PW-3 (Usman Ali) was allegedly stabbed by Udayakumar. When they cried for help, the appellant allegedly picked up a stone and dropped it on the head of the deceased. Appellant and the said Udayakumar thereafter allegedly ran away from the place of occurrence.

4. A First Information Report was lodged against unknown. No mark of identification of the accused was also disclosed therein. While, however, the Investigating Officer was preparing an inquest report, the first informant allegedly disclosed to him that he had noticed a scar on the right hand of one of the assailants. On or about 14.08.1993, i.e. after five days, the appellant was arrested. The said Udayakumar was also arrested. Their photographs were published in a local daily with the caption that they were the persons who were the accused of causing murder of John Basha and injury to PW-3.

5. The said publication was made in a Tamil daily 'Dinakaran' on 16.08.1993. Prior thereto or immediately thereafter, the appellant and the said Udayakumar was not put on test identification parade. They were put on test identification parade only on 24.08.1993. In the said purported test identification parade, whereas PW-1 and PW-3 purported to have identified the appellant, PW-2 and PW-4 could not identify even Accused No. 1.

6. Out of the five accused persons, who not only were charged for commission of the said offences, but also for hatching a conspiracy against the minority community, were put to trial. The learned Trial Judge by a judgment and order dated 17.09.1996 held the appellant guilty of commission of the offence of murder of John Basha punishable under Section 302 IPC and convicted Udayakumar for committing an offence punishable under Section 307 IPC; acquitted the other three accused persons. They were, however, acquitted of other charges.

7. The High Court dismissed the appeal preferred by the appellant herein and the said Udayakumar.

9. We may at the outset notice the evidence of the first informant (PW-1). According to him, the appellant and the said Udayakumar had been running towards John Basha (deceased) and Usman Ali (PW-3) from about a distance of 15 feet from them. According to him, nobody shouted when the first injury was inflicted. Apart from those two, he stated, nobody else was touched. He stated that he been knowing the accused persons from before as also their names, but then stated that he did not know the same at that time. According to him, he had mentioned in the First Information Report about the scar which he had noticed on the right hand of the appellant, but the First Information Report does not show it. He accepted that the photographs of the appellant and the said Udayakumar had appeared in the newspaper that they had committed the murder of John Basha.

25. The manner in which the occurrence took place as well as the conduct of the prosecution witnesses as discussed hereinbefore do not lead to an inference that the appellant has properly been identified. He is, in our opinion, at least entitled to benefit of doubt.

26. For the reasons aforementioned, the impugned judgment cannot be sustained, which is set aside accordingly. The appeal is allowed. The appellant shall be released forthwith, if not required in any other case.