Sheikh Sintha Madhar @ Jaffer @ Sintha vs State Rep.By Inspector Of Police

The brief facts necessary to dispose of these appeals are that after the Coimbatore serial blasts, a conspiracy was hatched to do away with Dr. Sridhar (deceased), who was BJP Town Secretary at Trichy, and also actively involved in the propagation of the Hindu religion in the town. There were a total of 13 accused that hatched conspiracies in two separate groups to kill Dr. Sridhar and curb the growth of BJP in the city. A1 to A6 formed one group and hatched a conspiracy under the leadership of A1. The second group was formed under the guidance of A8 and included A7 to A13 who conspired at Tirunelveli. Both these groups had planned to kill the deceased in two separate conspiracies at two different places. In pursuance of the conspiracy, A1 to A7 formed an unlawful assembly on 2.2.1999 and attacked the deceased at about 10 p.m. when he was returning back from his clinic. A1 to A6 attacked the deceased with weapons in pursuance of the common object and caused his death and A7 stood nearby unarmed. As claimed by the prosecution, this incident was witnessed by the daughter of the deceased (Lakshmi Priya-PW1), neighbours of the deceased (Domnic Raja-PW2, Sagayarajan-PW3 and Dr. Soundirarajan-PW65) and the night-watchman in the area (Mr. Marimuthu-PW5).

The matter came up before the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) vide Criminal Appeal No.1736 of 2003 filed by A5 and Criminal Appeal No.1807 of 2003 filed by A1, A2, A3, A4, A6 and A7. No appeal was filed by the State against the acquittal of A8 to A13. The High Court by the impugned judgment and order dismissed both the appeals on the ground that the prosecution had established beyond reasonable doubt that A1 to A6 had conspired to kill Dr. Sridhar and A7 was a part of the unlawful assembly and participated in the murder of Dr. Sridhar (deceased). Since the conspiracy and murder were proved, the High Court refused to interfere with the judgment of the Trial Court.

The first aspect for consideration before us is the testimony of the eye- witnesses. There were allegedly 5 eye-witnesses to the murder who were examined: the daughter of the deceased (Lakshmi Priya-PW1), neighbours of the deceased (namely, Domnic Raja-PW2, Sagayarajan-PW3 and Dr. Soundirarajan-PW65) and the night-watchman in the area (Mr. Marimuthu-PW5). PW1 stated that she was studying in her house when she heard a scream- “Save me”. Realizing that it was of her father, she went out of the gate and saw 6-7 persons stabbing her father with knife-like weapons. She was standing at about a 100 feet distance from the place of incident and though it was around 10 p.m. but still she could clearly see the incident as it took place at a spot which was then lit up by the tube lights of PW65’s house. Apart from the lights of PW65’s house, the street lights as well as her own compound lights were on. She shouted at the accused persons to stop, but they only turned and saw her and thus she could see them clearly. After the incident, she saw them going away on their bikes and they also took her father’s bike. She immediately went to the house of the deceased’s elder brother Shanmugasundaram (informant), who came along with her and saw the deceased lying in a pool of blood. The elder brother could not be examined as he died before the trial could commence. PW1 also identified all the seven accused appellants in the Test Identification Parade. PW65, on the other hand, stated that he heard the distress call of the deceased and came outside and saw 4-5 persons attacking the deceased, but he only saw PW1 when she came near the dead body of her father after the assailants had left.

The main issues are whether the conspiracy was proved or not and whether the presence of the accused at the place of incident was established or not. We shall deal with A1 to A6 first and subsequently with A7. We have perused the oral and documentary evidence on record. We shall now examine each and every contention in light of the arguments adduced before us.

Also, when the offence of Section 147 IPC is not proved beyond reasonable doubt, A7’s presence becomes doubtful and if that is the case, he cannot be made liable for abetment to commit murder by A1 to A6. The conviction of A7 is, therefore, set aside and he is acquitted of all the charges and is directed to be set at liberty.

In the light of the above discussion, we find no ground to interfere with the judgment passed by the High Court so far as it has confirmed the conviction and sentence of A1 to A6. Criminal Appeal Nos.2118-2119 of 2009 are, accordingly, dismissed. However, the judgment of the High Court so far as it concerns the conviction of A7, is set aside. Criminal Appeal No.2117 of 2009 is, accordingly, allowed. A7 is already released on bail granted by this Court on 4th July, 2011. His bail bond shall stand discharged.

…....................................J (Pinaki Chandra Ghose) …...................................J (Amitava Roy) New Delhi;

April 13, 2016.