Case: Chandran @ Manichan @ Maniyan &amp; Others Vs. State of Kerala &amp; Others

3. All the accused-appellants stood convicted by the Sessions Judge, Kollam by its judgment dated 16.7.2002 for various offences punishable under Sections 120B, 302, 307, 326, 328 and 201 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as also under Sections 55 (a) (g) (h) (i) , 57A and 58 of the Abkari Act. We need not refer to the punishments awarded to all these accused persons. Suffice it to say, that practically all of them were convicted for offences under Section 302, IPC Section 57A (1) (iii) of the Abkari Act which is a State Act for the State of Kerala. The accused persons under those Sections were sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life. They have also been awarded lesser sentences and have been slapped with heavy fines. They appealed against this verdict, the conviction and the sentences before the Kerala High Court which has set aside the conviction for offence under Sections 302 and Section 307, IPC, however, maintained the convictions of most of the appellants for offence under Section 57A (1) (ii) under the Abkari Act along with convictions under Sections 324, 326, 328 and 201, IPC as also the other Sections like Section 55 (h) and (i) and 58 of the Abkari Act. In short, most of the accused persons were directed to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life and, as the case may be, rigorous imprisonment for 10 years along with fine. All these appeals were heard jointly since they were against the common judgment. As many as 48 accused persons came to be tried before the Sessions Judge. Some of them were acquitted at the stage of trial and some others at the appeal stage, leaving the above mentioned appellants in the fray who are before us.4. Alcohol has already proved itself to be one of the major enemies of the human beings. However, its grip is not loosened in spite of the realization of the evil effects of alcohol on the human life. On the other hand, the unholy grip is being tightened day by day. Therefore, when the standard and healthy alcohol in the form of liquor is not available or is too costly for a common man, the poor section of the society goes for illicitly distilled liquor which is sold by the bootleggers. The conscienceless bootleggers - thanks to their avarice for money - take full advantage of this human weakness and without any compunction or qualms of conscience, distill illicit liquor and then to increase the sale and to gain astronomical profits make their product more potent at least in taste so as to attract the poor customers. Such poor customers invariably become the prey of such unholy avarice on the part of the bootleggers and in the process even lose their lives at times or suffer such injuries which are irreparable like total blindness etc. and that is precisely what has happened in this case.5. On 22.10.2000, in the wee hours, Sub-Inspector of Police, Paripally received information that one Raghunatha Kurup of Kulathoorkonam and seven others were admitted in the Medical College Hospital Thiruvananthapuram for treatment on account of illness caused by consumption of illicit liquor. He reached the Hospital and recorded the first information statement of Raghunatha Kurup at 2 a.m. By that time, one Sasidharan who had consumed the illicit liquor had died and two others were lying in unconscious condition. On that basis, Sub-Inspector registered Crime No. 268 of 2000 under Section 302, 307, IPC read with Section 34, IPC and under Section 57A of the Abkari Act. Little did he know the exact ramifications or vastness of the grim tragedy which was about to take place. Three other similar crimes were registered at Kottarakkara police station and this was followed by further crimes registered in the same police station being Crime No.809 of 2000, Crime No.810 of 2000, Crime No.811 of 2000 and Crime No.817 of 2000. All these crimes were consolidated with crime No.268 of 2000 of Parippally police station and the information started trickling regarding the consumption of spurious liquor by poor persons and their admittance to the hospital from within Anchal and Pooyappally police station limits. Similar incidents had taken place within the limits of Mangalapuram police station and the crime was registered there also. Investigation machinery quickly responded to the happenings and a special investigation team (SIT) was constituted as per the directions of Director General of Police, Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram on 25.10.2000 which was to be headed by Shri Sibi Mathews, IPS who was the Inspector General of Police. He was to head the team of seven persons, six other persons being the police officers of the level of Inspectors and above. All these earlier mentioned crimes were taken over for investigation by SIT. They started investigation in all the concerned police stations where the crimes were reported. It was realized that as many as 31 persons had lost their lives, six persons had suffered total blindness in Kollam District whereas more than 500 persons suffered serious injuries on account of the drinking of the illicit liquor.6. Unfortunately, all this was going on in Gods own country, Kerala which was turned into hell by the liquor mafia. Eventually, investigation by the SIT was completed and the final report was filed before the Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Paravoor on 21.1.2001 against 47 persons. After the charge-sheet was filed, accused No.48 was also added by a supplementary charge- sheet. However, as many as four accused persons, they being accused Nos. 34, 36, 39 and 45 died on account of consumption of their own medicine, the spurious liquor. Accused No.3 had lost his eye sight completely. Few accused were absconding, their cases were split up. Rest of the accused were sent for trial before the Sessions Judge before whom a marathon trial took place wherein 271 witnesses were examined, as many as 1105 documents were proved and relied upon and over 291 material objects were produced. The defence also examined as many as 17 witnesses and relied on 110 documents being Exhibits D-1 to D-111.7. Prosecution alleged that methyl alcohol which is a poisonous substance used to be brought from Karnataka and mixed with Ethyl alcohol. At times, this concoction was mixed with toddy and other essences resulting in a drink called Kalapani. The methyl alcohol used to be mixed with ethyl alcohol which was also illegally and illicitly procured in order to add potency to the drink so that more and more people would purchase the same. These sales were made from the regularly licensed toddy shops and from other places. There was well-oiled machinery, huge in proportion, the main component of which was Chandran (accused No.7) who was a toddy contractor. His brothers, Manikantan (accused No.4) and Vinod Kumar (accused No.8) were deputies helping him. This group had servants like Balachandran (A-15), the Manager. Even their wives did not lag behind. There were laboratories, assistants and labourers. There were drivers and a fleet of vehicles which were used for importing methyl alcohol from Karnataka and then it used to be brought to the laboratories maintained by Chandran (A-7), Manikantan (A-4) and Vinod Kumar (A-8) where the mixing used to take place. Accused Nos.A-4 (Manikantan @ Kochani), A-7 (Chandran @ Manichan), A-8 (Vinod Kumar), A-15 (Balachandran), A-18 (Usha), A-19 (Sugathan), A-20 (Vijayan), A-21 (Rassuludeen), A-22 (Suresh @ Sankaran) and A-23 (Binu @ Monukuttan) were active in firstly procuring the methyl alcohol and then mixing the same in the laboratories and then distributing the same in the whole district, more particularly, to the various outlets for sale of toddy.Chandran (A-7) used to control these shops which were either in his name or some other names. It was alleged by the prosecution that all these accused persons hatched a criminal conspiracy in or about March, 2000 prior to the auction of toddy shops for the period between 2000-01 and well-oiled machinery was created for importing methyl alcohol from a place called Arihant Chemicals, Bangalore. Chandran (A-7) controlled toddy shop Nos.1 to 26 of Chirayinkil Panchayat so that there were easy outlets available for the sale of spurious liquor. Once methyl alcohol was imported, it used to be brought to the huge laboratories constructed for that purpose and carefully concealed which was located at Pandakasala. It was alleged by the prosecution that Gunasekharan (A-17) purchased two barrels of methyl alcohol as part of the criminal conspiracy from Arihant Chemicals, Bangalore and the same was entrusted to Anil Kumar (A-16) for import to Kerala for the purpose of its mixing with the spirit ethyl alcohol and for sale by Manikantan @ Kochani (A-4), Chandran @ Manichan (A-7), Vinod Kumar (A-8), Balachandran (A-15), Usha (A-18), Sugathan (A-19), Vijayan (A-20), Rassuludeen (A-21), Suresh @ Sankaran (A-22), Binu @ Monkuttan (A-23). It was brought by Anil Kumar (A-16) in a Fiat car which had fake registration number. This Fiat car was fitted with a secret tank and thus the poisonous methyl alcohol was imported and was mixed with 56,200 litres of spirit which was also imported to Kerala by Mahesh (A-12), Salil Raj (A-13), Ashraf (A-14) and Sakthi (A-48). All the mixing was done at Pandakasala and then it was given for distribution to Manikantan (A-4) who transported it through Anil Kumar (A-5), Shibu (A-6), Santhosh @ Kochu Santhosh (A-9), Santhosh @ Valiya Santhosh (A-10), Mohammed Shaji @ Shabu (A-11), knowing it to be injurious to health, through various other vehicles.8. The said methyl alcohol which was mixed in the Pandakasala godown meant for toddy shop Nos.1 to 26 of Chirayinkil Panchayat and then got distributed by the above accused persons who all knew very well that it was injurious to health and was fatal. For this purpose, cars bearing registration No. PY01M-6582 and TN-1-R 9283 and a Van bearing registration No. KLOQ-2787 were used.9. It was further the case of the prosecution that from this poisonous spirit, 35 litres were taken in a car bearing registration No.TN-1-R 9283 on 20.10.2000 at about 3.30 p.m. with the assistance of Anil Kumar (A-5) and Shibu (A-6) and was given to Herunnesa (A-1), Rajan (A-2) and Raju @ Mathilakom Raju (A-3) in the house of A-1 and A-2 at Kalluvathukkal. It was alleged that accused Nos.1 and 2 and 3 diluted the spirit by adding water and sold it through their outlets because of which 18 persons died due to consumption of spurious liquor. It was pointed out that two persons lost their eyesight and number of others sustained grievous injuries. It was further alleged in the charge that Manikantan (A-4) with the help of Anil Kumar (A-5) and Santhosh (A-10) transported 10 Kannas full of spurious liquor having capacity of 35 litres in the car bearing fake registration No. KL 01M 7444 on 20.10.2000 night to Charuvila Puthen Veedu, Anthamon Muri and Kalyanpuram village at Kottarakkara and there the said liquor was sold by A-30 with the assistance of A-31 who earlier diluted the spurious liquor by adding water at the house of A-30 and packed liquor in polythene covers containing 100 ml each. The said pouches were also sealed with the help of sealing machine. Then the pouches were loaded in one Maruti car on the same day and the same was entrusted to A-39, Latha Kumari. Even these accused knew the spurious nature of the liquor and its lethal effects. Some liquor out of this was sold to one Soman Pillai and CWs 630 to 634 and on that account Latha Kumari and Soman Pillai died while others suffered serious injuries.10. It was further alleged by the prosecution that the remaining five Kannas full of spurious liquor were then transported in the car bearing fake registration No. KL 01M 7444 with the help of accused Nos. 5 and 10 on the same day near the shops of CWs 633 and 664 at Pallikkal in Mylom village at about 8.45 p.m. and entrusted the same to A-25 who with the help of some other accused like Sujith (A-24), Dileep (A-26), Shyjan (A-27), Anil Kumar @ Kittu (A-28), Rathy (A-29), Sashikumar (A-32), Shibu (A-33), Rajan (A-34), Sudhakaran (A-35), Pachan (A-36), Santhosh (A-37), Samuel (A-38), Sathyan (A-40), Soman (A-41) sold the spurious liquor at various places in Kottarakkara Taluk at Pallikkal, Kalyanpuram Puthoor and Mylom after diluting the same with water. Because of the consumption of this liquor, as many as 7 persons died and out of them Rajan (A-34) and Pachan (A-36) also died by consuming the same liquor. Some others lost their eye sight and still some others sustained grievous injuries.11. Another round of 35 litres of kannas was taken by A-4 with the help of all on 20.10.2000 in the evening to Attingal Avanavancherry and was sold to A-42 who along with A-47 took the spurious liquor in an auto rickshaw driven by A-47 near the CRPF camp in Thiruvananthpuram District and sold it to A-45 who further sold about 14 litres of spirit to A-44 and 7 litres of spirit to A-46 on 25.10.2000 in the evening. The said liquor was diluted by A-45 with the help of A-43 by mixing water and converted it into arrack and further sold it to a person called Bhaskaran Kutty Nair. It is alleged that because of the consumption of the same liquor, A-45 himself died while some others suffered grievous injuries.12. The prosecution also alleged that A-44 diluted the spirit by adding water and sold it on 26.10.2000 near Apollo colony to CWs 433 to 456. They consumed the same liquor and sustained grievous injuries and one of them lost his eyesight.13. The prosecution alleged that the conspiracy was hatched in March, 2000 amongst all the accused and because of the criminal act on the part of the accused of mixing poisonous methyl spirit, death of as many as 31 persons was caused, as many as 266 persons suffered grievous injuries while 5 persons lost their eye sight completely. All the accused persons were, therefore, charged with the offences under Sections 302, 307, 326, 328, 201,120B read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code as also under Section 55 (a) (g) (h) and (i), Section 57A and Section 58 of Abkari Act. On the basis of this charge, evidence was led of about 270 witnesses. The accused persons abjured their guilt and claimed to be tried.14. The sessions Judge categorized the accused persons in the following manner:1) those who were involved in the manufacture of the illicit liquor;2) those who were engaged in the distribution and transportation of the same;3) Those who were mainly engaged in the sale of illicit liquor.15. Accused Nos.13, 17, 31, 32, 37, 40, 43, 46, 27, 48 were found not guilty. They were straightaway acquitted. Some of the accused persons died during the trial. Those who were convicted by the Sessions Judge were awarded sentences depending upon the seriousness of the crime as per the classifications which have been shown above. Naturally, the persons in category (1) and category (2) were dealt with severely and most of them were awarded the maximum punishment of life imprisonment along with heavy fine. Those accused persons who were in category (3) were dealt with a little lightly in the sense that they were not given life imprisonment but imprisonment ranging from 3 years to 10 years was awarded to them. The convicted accused filed appeals before the High Court. The High Court also acquitted few of the accused persons and those whose appeals were dismissed have now come before us by way of separate appeals which we have indicated in the first paragraph of this judgment. The High Court has considered the appeals filed by various accused before it separately. We also propose to do the same thing. We have to consider mainly the appeals filed by accused Nos. A-7, A-4, A-30, A-8 and Suresh Kumar (A-25) who filed SLP (Crl) 842 of 2006. Before we take up this task, we would analyze the impugned judgment of the High Court.

Court's reasoning:
17. These appeals are against the concurrent findings of fact and, therefore, it is obvious that this Court does not enter the area of re-appreciation of evidence. That can be done only in case the appreciation is substantially defective and the inferences drawn by the Courts below could not have been drawn in law. This Court has, time and again, declared that even where the Courts have acted upon inadmissible evidence or have left out of the consideration some material piece of evidence, the defence would be entitled to address this Court on those issues, and the Court would proceed to re-appreciate the evidence and re-examine the factual findings on that basis alone. We must, at this juncture, record that at least prima facie such is not the case here. On the other hand, we find that the evidence has been meticulously appreciated by both the Trial and the appellate Court. We also found no instance of inadmissible evidence having been accepted or some material evidence having been ignored by the Courts below. The arguments mostly related to the interpretation of the provisions of Abkari Act as also the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The common feature of the arguments was that the Courts below have mis-interpreted the provisions of Abkari Act and, more particularly, of Section 57A (1) (i) and (ii) as also Section 57A (2) (ii). It has been again the common feature of arguments that the Courts below have erred in convicting the accused persons for offences under those Sections as the essential ingredients of those Sections were not proved by the prosecution as against the accused persons. It will be, therefore, proper to first examine the scope of Section 57A. However, such scope will have to be examined in the light of some other provisions of the Act as also the Statement of Objects and Reasons and the history of the Legislation. Suffice it to say, at this juncture, that the original nomenclature of the Act was Cochin Abkari Act, Act 1 of 1077 and Abkari Act (Travancore) 4 of 1073. These acts provided for the levy of fees for the licences for manufacture and sale of liquor and intoxicating drugs. Three acts were operating, they were Cochin Abkari Act, Travancore Abkari Act and Madras Abkari Act. Since that was causing difficulty, an Ordinance came to be promulgated on 01.05.1967. This was replaced by a Bill and that is how Abkari Act was born.In this locus classicus this Court has described complete scope of section 57A as a whole with special reference to Section 57A (5). It is in this backdrop of this exposition of law that the Courts below were expected to decide upon the criminality of the accused involved. It will now, therefore, be our task to see whether the parameters fixed by this Court in the aforementioned judgment have been scrupulously followed by the Courts below. Our answer to this vexed question is in the affirmative.We have seen the whole evidence very carefully. Though he was subjected to lengthy cross-examination, the main story about the mixing has not suffered any dent. On the other hand, the operation of mixing was explained again in the cross-examination. He owned up that he himself carried Kalapani on number of occasions to the various shops of A-7. The evidence given by this witness sounds truthful because he has not tried to justify himself nor has he made any efforts to save himself. Most of the cross-examination was stereotyped, limiting to the minor omissions in his statement under Section 161 and 164 Cr.P.C. Even at the instance of the other accused persons, nothing much has come about in his cross-examination. In his cross-examination by A-4, he again explained the role of Anil Kumar who brought methanol and asserted the role played by A-4. In the cross-examination by A-5, A-6, and A-1 also merely some omissions were brought which were insignificant. However, considering the whole evidence, this witness is creditworthy.37. Shri Radhakrishnan, however, pointed out that the evidence of this witness is in the nature of evidence of an accomplice and has to be red in the light of Section 133 and Section 114B of the Indian Evidence Act and that he also reiterated the settled principles that an accomplice must be tested with respect to his reliability and if he is unreliable his evidence cannot be the basis of the prosecution case. Learned counsel further argued that if the witness is found reliable then his evidence must be corroborated in material particulars. Learned senior counsel relied on Shankar @ Gauri Shankar v. State of Tamil Nadu [1994 (4) SCC 478 ] as also Rampal Pithwa Rahidas v.State of Maharashtra (1994) Suppl. (2) SCC 73, more particularly, in paragraphs 14 and 15 in the previous case and paragraph 9 in the latter case.38. Shri Radhakrishnan further argued that the witness had stated that he was in good terms with A-7 and that he did not quarrel with A-7. This was suggested as a strange conduct. He also pointed out that the witness had stated that he had acted under the instructions of his boss. It is seen from the evidence that he was a minion of his boss i.e. A-7 and he answered that he gave all the answers to the police as per the instructions given to him by A-7 there is nothing unnatural in it. He was a very small fry as compared to a mighty businessman like A-7 and it was suggested by Shri Radhakrishnan that his evidence did suggest that his behaviour was strange. Shri Radhakrishnan insisted that this witness was insisting that he had good relations with A-7 and yet he deposed against A-7 and this, amounted to strange behaviour. Under the peculiar circumstances of this case considering the position of this witness vis-`-vis A-7, we do not think that this amounts to a very strange behaviour on account of which this witness should be stamped with as an unreliable witness. Shri Radhakrishnan pointed out that PW-53 was under the tutelage of the police from 20th November and was tutored by the police. His Section 164 statement seems to have been recorded on 15th January and Section 161 statement was prior to that. Shri Radhakrishnan pointed out that both his statements were clubbed together and there he himself admitted having committed the offence under the Abkari Act. Shri Radhakrishanam, therefore, argued that the police should have arrested him but the police neither arrested him nor included him in the array of accused. Instead the prosecution planted him as a prosecution witness. In that the learned counsel further argued that the prosecution did not also resort to the procedure under section 306 for claiming pardon for the witness nor did not prosecution join him later on as an accused under section 319 of the Cr.P.C. The learned counsel further argued that the police were very soft towards PW-53 who was an accused in two Abkari cases. He was also immediately granted bail in those cases and, therefore, the prosecution had acted it in an unfair manner. Learned senior counsel also suggested that PW-53 was on inimical terms towards A-7 and, therefore, his evidence would have to be evaluated with caution. Shri Radhakrishnan also urged that there were number of prevarications, inconsistencies, discrepancies, improvements and omissions in the testimony of PW-53 which were highlighted by the learned counsel. Ultimately it was argued that his evidence was even not materially corroborated.39. Learned counsel also argued that the evidence of PW-53 could not materially prove ingredients of offence, namely, mixes or permits to be mixes, under section 57A (1) (i) at Pandaksala godown. Sudheer, PW-60 was described as a planted witness while Dennis A.(PW-61) was said to be a chance witness. It was also argued that at the most A-7 could have been convicted under section 55 (a) (g) (h) (i) and 58 of the Abkari Act as it was not proved that he had mixed or permitted to mix methanol with ethyl alcohol for selling the same in the market. Shri Radhakrishnan also argued that though the burden of proof under Section 57A (5) was on the accused, the prosecution has miserably failed to project the case of Section57A (1) (i) and (ii) and the accused has discharged his burden under Section 55 by adverting to the evidence in the case in hand.40. Lastly, it was pointed that there was no question of any conspiracy and even if there was any conspiracy all the links in the conspiracy were snapped by A-13, 14 and 48. It was pointed out that in fact it was A-17 who had placed the order for methanol with the chemical company and entrusted the two barrels of methanol to A- 16 to import the same to Kerala. However, A-17 stood acquitted. So also A-12, 13, 143 and 48 who were alleged to have brought ethyl alcohol for mixing were also acquitted. Therefore, it was suggested that no ethyl alcohol was brought at all and the methanol was also not mixed much less at the instance of A-7.This is apart from the fact that there is another piece of evidence which corroborates the evidence of PW- 53 which is to be found in the evidence of K. K. Joshua, PW-270. The description given by the Investigating Officer, K.K. Joshua on his searches of the places and, more particularly, of the places as described by PW-53 completely tallies. These are also material particulars which would lend support to the testimony of PW-53. Shri Joshua has given the graphic description of all the places where the activity of mixing used to go on. He has also spoken about all the six vehicles found on the spot and some of which were with fake registration number. He has spoken about the search at Tabuk Industries where a black can having capacity of 10 litres was found and on eastern side of that building there was a platform build and near it pump sets and hoses were also kept. He has referred to the liquid which was collected. He has also spoken about the synthetic tank having capacity of five thousand litres which was kept on the platform. He has also referred to the synthetic tank with spirit found there. He had taken samples D-1 to D-18 which were ultimately found with ethyl alcohol. He had also searched the toddy godown in Ushus building which was on the southern side of Ushus building at Pandaksala. He has also spoken about the Pattarumadom house of A-7 at Kunthalloor where also two underground cellars were found wherefrom also he collected samples. He has also referred to Chirayinkil where cans were recovered. On the whole there are number of other corroborations to the evidence of PW-53. The Trial Court and the appellate Court have referred to the said corroborations and have given a finding that his evidence was materially corroborated in material particulars. In that view we need not take on ourselves the task of referring to all the corroborations. In paragraph 69 of the judgment of the appellate Court, the discussion has come about the evidence of this witness and we are satisfied by that. The appellate Court has also discussed about the ill- effects of methanol and has recorded a finding that the samples taken from the place belonging to A-7, more particularly, the syntax tanks, cans and other equipments, it was found that there was ethyl alcohol and methanol. We are satisfied with the findings given by the appellate court and the Trial Court and, therefore, we accept the evidence of this witness.We shall now consider all these contentions in the light of the findings by the Trial Court and the appellate Court. We have already considered the nature of burden of proof on the prosecution as also on the defence in the earlier part of the judgment while considering the case of A-7. The question of said burden has been discussed thoroughly in Krishna Lals case (cited supra). There can be no dispute that the prosecution has the initial burden to suggest that the accused person was involved in the business of illicit liquor and that he knew the nature thereof. It is only then that the burden would shift to the accused to prove that he had no means to know about the nature of the business or the fact that the liquor was being mixed with noxious substance like methanol. Now here in the present case, the accused is the real brother of A-7 and there are number of other circumstances to suggest that he was actively engaged in the business. The High Court as also the Trial Court thoroughly discussed and considered the evidence and all the circumstances therein. In fact in the light of these concurrent findings, we need not discuss the whole evidence.However, it is clear from the evidence of discovery regarding the fake number plates that accused No.8 was neck deep into the business of spurious liquor. He was an active member in carrying the said spurious liquor and the fact that a vehicle under his possession found from his premises had the trace of methanol is sufficient to hold that he had the necessary knowledge that methanol played a major part in the business which was headed by his real brother A-7 and in which he was an active partner. The contentions raised by Shri Giri that he may at the most be booked for transporting the spurious liquor is also not correct because if that is established then his active participation in the business also comes to the forefront. Thereby his knowledge that the liquor was being mixed with methanol has also to be presumed. There was no necessity for keeping the fake unattached number plates in his premises and the whole objective is clear of shielding the cars by attaching fake number plates to them. In paragraph 80, the High Court thoroughly discussed about vehicle PYO1 M 2464 which was sold by PW-68, S. Vasudevan and was found in the possession of this accused. The High Court has also discussed about the transaction of his house, namely, Roshini which was in front of the half built house where obnoxious liquor trade was going on. He had also taken a good care to un-authorizedly obtain the telephone number 620069 from Shyamala Kumari, PW-73. It has referred to the evidence of PW-260, Pramod Kumar who had proved the recovery mahazar Exhibit P-191. The evidence of PW-68, S. Vasudevan was also referred to by him. He also urged that the house did not belong to A-8. We have already referred to the circumstance that A-8 had taken a house right in front of the aforementioned half built house and it was at his instance that the real number plates of the car which had the traces of methanol were found. We, therefore, find no reason to discard the evidence of thisour view, in this case the prosecution has discharged its primary burden. The accused persons, more particularly, these three brothers have not offered any evidence so as to discharge the burden put against them under section 57A (1) (v). In this case the prosecution has clearly proved that there was a noxious substance which was likely to endanger the human life. Secondly, they have proved that substance was mixed, permitted to be mixed and was being regularly mixed with liquor. They have thirdly proved that the persons mixing had the knowledge that methanol was a dangerous substance that aspect would be clear from the fact that after the tragedy A-7 went and punished his servants and remonstrated them for `not properly mixing methanol with ethyl alcohol. Lastly, it is proved that as a result of mixing of methanol with the liquor and as a result of consuming such liquor as many as 31 persons lost their lives and number of others suffered grievous injuries. We reject the argument of Shri Dave that the initial burden was not proved by the prosecution which we confirm the finding of conviction and sentence as imposed against A-4. We accordingly dismiss the appeal filed by A-4.56. This takes us to the SLP (Crl.) 842 of 2006 of A-25 represented by senior Counsel Shri Shekhar in which we have granted leave to appeal. The argument of learned senior counsel was almost on the same lines with that of Shri Dave and Shri Giri insofar as the contentions regarding the burden of proof and the interpretation of Section 57 A (1) were concerned. It is well proved by the prosecution that this A-25 was a major link used to purchase liquor from A-4 and he was the one to used to distribute the same. Learned counsel argued that this accused had no control over this business and he was merely transporting the spurious liquor and, therefore, he should have been booked under section 57 A (1) (iii). A-25 was selling liquor in retail through A-32, A-35 etc. A-25 and A-10 were the employees of A-4 who were supplying the liquor to A-21. Thus, he was getting the readymade liquor. As per the evidence of P. Thulaseedharan (PW-131), because of the liquor sold to his father on 21.10.2000 at 11 pm that his father was admitted in the hospital. Name of the father is Pachan. In fact, as per the evidence of PW-131, he was told by his father that he had consumed little from the liquor entrusted to him by A-24 for sale. Thereafter, he felt headache and abdominal pain. The prosecution suggests that later on he died. As per the evidence of P. Ramu (PW-163), his father used to drink the liquor supplied by A-25 and he had also seen on the fateful day, his father consuming alcohol supplied by A-25. Thus, his father who died was himself a further supplier of the drink, which was used to be supplied by A-25. The liquor sold on that day tasted differently, which was the evidence of M. Ponappan (PW-133). He had, however, purchased the liquor from A-32. When he enquired about the reason, he was told that it was liquor of A-7 brought through A-25. Evidence of T. Chandrasekhara Babu (PW-146) is also to the same tune. PW-173 is another witness who is an accomplice. He claimed to have known A-25. He was used to be given a canister whenever he became indebted. He used to sell 35 litres of liquor in that canister. Thus, it is established that A-25 used to take the liquor manufactured by A-7 and the same used to be supplied to him by A-4 and the same was distributed by him further. Obviously, this witness used to sell the liquor supplied by A-25 at a higher price of Rs.20/- per litre and he purchased the liquor from A-25 twice or thrice in a week. It was for the last time that he purchased the liquor from A-25 on 20.10.2000 as he told that he waited near Pallikkal temple near milma booth and after 10 or 15 minutes, A-5 and A-25 came there in a blue Maruti Car and five canisters of liquor were unloaded there. It was distributed amongst A-24, A-6, A-29 and A-28. It was A- 25 who asked A-32 to destroy the balance of liquor after the tragedy. The prosecution alleged, as the High Court has noted, that he absconded and he was arrested from K.S.R.T.C. Bus stand on 11.12.2000. The Trial Court thoroughly discussed his evidence. It was contended before the Trial Court that evidence of PW-173 could not be accepted as he was given pardon only towards the fag end of the case. The Trial Court and the High Court have found nothing wrong with the grant of pardon under Sections 306 and 307 of the Cr.P.C. The Trial Court has correctly appreciated the legal position that evidence of PW-173 could not be accepted unless it is corroborated by other witnesses. A finding is recorded that the evidence of PW-173 was corroborated by PWs-131, 133 and 163 insofar as the role played by A-25 is concerned. Thus, the sale on the part of A-25 and his active participation in the business run by A-4 and A-7 was clearly brought out. He was convicted for the offence under Sections 57A(2)(i) and was heavily fined for Rs.50,000/-, Rs.25,000/- and Rs.2 lakhs on different counts including Section 55(a)(i) as also under Section 58 of the Abkari Act. He was, thus, in a position for distributors and it has come out in the evidence that the liquor sold by sub-distributors killed number of persons. The sub-distributors were none, but A-37, A-35 and A-41. It was the chain of distribution of liquor mixed with methyl alcohol. It is obvious that he was in possession of the poisoned liquor and does not seem to have taken care that it was not mixed with methyl alcohol. It was urged by the learned counsel appearing that there was no evidence on record to suggest that A- 25 had anything to do with the mixing of the methylene with the liquor. It was suggested that he had no control over the operation and he was a mere distributor and sold the liquor as he received from A-4. There is no doubt that this accused was acquitted of the offence under Section 120B, IPC by the Trial Court and there is no appeal against it. The conviction of this accused is for offence punishable under Section 57A(2) and on that account, he has been awarded life imprisonment. Shri V.Shekhar, learned senior counsel contended that since this witness was not a conspirator and had nothing to do with the business of A-7 and was merely a distributor, the sentence of life imprisonment is excessive. As against this, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the State contended that this accused cannot escape the conviction under Section 57A(2). The learned senior counsel urged that if this accused was selling the liquor, then it was for him to take the reasonable precaution to see that the liquor that he sells is not mixed with toxic substance. There can be no dispute that this witness had no control over the business run by A-7 and, therefore, he was rightly acquitted for the offence under Section 120B, IPC i.e. conspiracy. However, it cannot be said that his conviction under Section 57A(2) is incorrect on that count. We also find from the evidence of P.S. John (PW-252) that there was a search in the house of this accused on 23.10.2010 vide Exhibit P-803 and a bottle was seized which was mixed with ethyl and methyl. This was substantiated by Chemical Analysis Report (Exhibit P-784). He was also in possession of pure methyl alcohol, which is substantiated by Exhibit P-417, a disclosure made by him to M.G. Manilal (PW-269) as per Exhibit P-1019. Even this was found to be methyl alcohol. Once this fact regarding the possession of methyl alcohol is proved, A- 25 cannot argue that the possession of methyl alcohol was only incidental. There is no reason for keeping methyl alcohol with him. After all, he was not going to use it as a deodorant or perfume. This may suggest that he had a hand in mixing the alcohol with methyl alcohol, but there is no evidence for that and he has not been convicted for the offence under Section 57A(1). The words "omits to take reasonable precaution" would cast a duty on him to see that the liquor that he sells is not mixed with poisonous substance. Again, under sub- Section (5) of Section 57A, he was bound to prove that he had taken reasonable precaution, as contemplated in sub-Section (2). There is no evidence to the contrary nor has the accused discharged his burden in any manner. In our opinion, therefore, his conviction for offence punishable under Section 57A(2) is justified. However, we agree with Shri V. Shekhar, learned senior counsel, who suggests that he should not be punished with life imprisonment. We find that this accused is convicted for offence punishable under Section 55 as also under Section 58, the maximum punishment for which Section is 10 years and that he has already undergone more than 10 years of imprisonment. The statement made by the learned senior counsel that the accused had undergone more than 10 years of imprisonment was not seriously controverted. In our view, therefore, this accused should have been dealt with not at par with A-7, A-4 and A-8 at least insofar as the punishment is concerned. We, therefore, deem it fit while confirming his conviction for the other offences and the sentences therefore to bring down the sentence from life imprisonment to what is undergone by him (relying on the statement made by the learned senior counsel that the accused has undergone more than 10 years of imprisonment). Insofar as the punishment of fine is concerned, we do not interfere and confirm the sentence of fines.Before we part with this case, we must note some very disturbing facts which have been revealed from the voluminous evidence by the prosecution. Here was a person who was unabashedly running his empire of spurious liquor trade and for that purpose had purchased politicians including the public representatives, police officers and other officers belonging to the Excise Department. The trade was going unabated. Unfortunately, it is the elite of the society or the "haves" of the society who never purchase this kind of spurious liquor for the obvious reasons. It is only the poor section of the society which becomes the prey of such obnoxious trade and ultimately suffers. As many as 31 persons have lost their lives, about 5 or more persons have lost their eye-site forever and several others have suffered in their health on account of the injuries caused to them. It is only by an accident that the mixing was not done properly on the fateful day in the sense that the liquor mixed did prove to be fatal or injurious. But that does not mean when it was mixed on other day for months together that it was not injurious. The use of methanol was a dangerous proposition. It only shows that the human avarice could create hell in Gods own country Kerala. We are not only perturbed by the enormousness of the tragedy but the enormousness of the liquor trade run by A-7 and that was under the so- called vigilant eyes of those who had duty to stop it. The avarice is not only on the part of the accused persons, but also on the part of those who benefit from this horrible business. Though 10 years have passed, the reverberations of this grin tragedy have not become silent. We hope and expect that the Kerala Government takes up this issue and takes definite steps for overhauling the system. We are worried about the rotten system that allowed such trade not only to continue, but to thrive. It will be, therefore, for the administrators and the Government to take positive steps, firstly, to overhaul the system by weeding out the corrupts by punishing those who are responsible for the whole system looking sideways. We do not know as to whether such an exercise is taken up, but if it has not been taken up the government is directed to take such steps. We do not think that the things would come under control unless such exercise is taken, so as to save the poor man from such ghastly disaster.60. Again before parting, we appreciate the assistance that we have had from all the defence counsel as also from Shri A. Sharan and Shri J.C. Gupta, learned Senior Counsel, who appeared for the prosecution. We must make a special reference to the assistance that the Court got from Shri Mohan Raj, Assistant to the Special Public Prosecutor before the trial Court, who, at our request, spared his substantial time and labour for assisting this Court.