[2015] 12 S.C.R. 867

NARENDER SINGH & ORS.

STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

(Criminal Appeal No. 2110 of2009 etc.)

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015.

[FAKKIR MOHAMED IBRAHIM KALIFULLA AND

UDAY UMESH LAUT, JJ.]

Penal Code, 1860 - ss. 302 rlw ss. 148 and 149 - c Prosecution under - Of 6 accused - Convicted by courts below and sentenced to life imprisonment - Appeal to this court by 5 of the accused - Held: Prosecution case is supported by the evidence of the two eye-witness which was fully corroborated bY. other witnesses- Other circumstances D of the case read along with .the version of the eye-witnesses also sufficiently establish that the occurrence took place as deposed by the eye-witn.esses - Involvement of the appellants-accused was fully established - Hence, conviction and sentence confirmed.

Dismissing the appeals, the Court

HELD: 1. It cannot be said tha1 registration of FIR could not have been made at 10:45 p.m. inasmuch as other consequential steps taken thereafter with F particular reference to Exhibit P7, P1 A to Band P10 which were all contemporaneous documents disclose that immediately after the registration of FIR at 10:45p.m., P.W. 15 reached the place of occurrence anc! proceeded with G further course of action. [Para 11] [875-D]

2. The injuries sustained by P.W. 3 could not be said to have been fake and his presence doubtful, inasmuch it is evident from the evidence of the doctor (P.W.1) who examined P.W.3 on the night of the date of the event itself. 1-1 867

A There was a broad reference to the nature of injuries sustained by P.W.3 in Exhibit P1A. Therefore, reading Exhibits P1 A and P1 B together with the oral evidence of P.W.1, it has come out in evidence that P.W.3 sustained the injuries, in the night on the date of the event.

B Therefore, it is not correct to say that P.W. 3 could not have been present at the place of occurrence. Evidence . of P. W.3 as an eye-witness was cogent in every respect.

His account was fully supported by the version of P.W.6, c and also fully corroborated by the evidence of P.Ws. 7 and 11. [Paras 12, 13] [875-E-F; 876-A-B, D-E]

3. There is no serious discrepancy or infirmities in the preparation of the statutory records as well as any serious lacuna in the oral version of the witnesses

D examined in support of the charges. Non-mention of

PW.3 in Column 6 of Crime Details Form (Exhibit P7) would not in any way vitiate the case of the prosecution .'by virtue of the other cHnching evidence which

E established the presence of P.W.3 at the place of occurrence. Therefore, it is not correct to say that.P.W.15 was not truthful in registering the FIR as well as launching the prosecution case against the appellants. [Paras 14 and 15] [876-F; 877-A-B; E-F]

4. Having regard to the features, namely, the registration of FIR at 10:45 p.m. on the date of the event, the inspection made by P.W.15at11 :10 p.m. on the same date; the sending of P.W. 3 for medical examination which was concluded by 1 :30 a.m. on next day of the (I incident; and the shifting of the body of the deceased from the place of occurrence to the hospital by 7:30 a.m. on the next date to the event read along with the version of P.Ws. 3, 6 and other supporting witnesses, it was sufficiently established that the occurrence took place H as spoken to by P.W. 3, 6 and others and the involvement

NARENDER SINGH & ORS. v. STATE OF MADHYA 869

PRADESH

of the appellants was, therefore, fully established. A Therefore, the case of the prosecution cannot be faulted. [Paras 17 and 18] [878-C-E; 879-A]

5. On a detailed reading of evidence of P.W. 10, it is found that his evidence fully supported the case of the B prosecution in regard to the nature of injuries inflicted upon the deceased on \1is hand by the appellants and it was also further supported by the weapons which were

recoverec! at the instance of the appellants. [Para 20]

[880-H; 881-A] c

6. So far as the delay in forwarding the Express Report to the lllaka Magistrate was concerned, even assuming the delay did really happen in forwarding the Express Report, such a delay has not caused any 0 serious prejudice to the appellants. [Para 18] [879-D]

Pala Singh v. State of Punjab (1972) 2 SCC 640: 1973 (1) SCR 964; State of Kamataka v. Main Patel (1996) 8 sec 167: 1996 (2) SCR 919; Bhajan Singh @ Harbhajan Singh & Ors. v. State E of Haryana (2011) 7 SCC 421: 2011 (7) SCR 1 - relied on.

Case Law Reference

1973 (1) SCR 964

1996 (2) SCR 919

2011 (7) SCR 1

relied on.

relied on.

relied on.

Para 18

Para 18

Para 18

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal G No. 2110 of2009.

From the Judgment and Order dated 07.09.2006 of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur in Criminal Appeal No. 666 <!>f 2000.

WITH

Crl.A. No. 2111 of2009.

Tripurari Ray, Dhirendra Singh Parmar, Suresh Kumar Sharma, Rajinder Singh, Susheel Tomar, Ms. Abha R. Sharma, B Advs., fortheAppellants.

Arjun Garg, Manish Yadav, Mishra Saurabh, Advs., for the Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by.

FAKKIR MOHAMED IBRAHIM KALIFULLA, J. 1. Out of 7 accused, A2 toA6 are the appellants before us in these two appeals.

2. These appeals are directed against the common

D judgment and order dated 7th September, 2006 of the Division Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur in CrimihalAppeal No. 666of2000. Altogether there were seven accused. One accused by name Ravi was a juvenile and, therefore, his case was separated and dealt with separately.

E As A 1 has not preferred any appeal, we are not concerned with his case.

3. Shorn of unnecessary details, the case of the prosecution is that on 27th June, 1997at10:00p.m. P.W.3, 6 F and the deceased were sitting and conversing with each other along with one Rangnath Sharma behind the Hotel of Jaggi Chourasia of village Katra. The deceased was the Sarpanch of the village near Katra which is part of Nayagaon. According to P.W. 3, there was sufficient light since the street lights were G on apart from a chimney burning near the hotel. It was stated that the accused arrived at the spot, among whom A5 was holding a sword, A6 was holding a Farsa, A2 was having an axe while A 1, A3 and A4 were having lathis. On arrival at that spot, it was alleged thatA5 while abusing the deceased and 11 making a pronouncement that he cannot escape that day, dealt

with a sword blow on the head of the deceased pursuant to A which blood flush out and that thereafter A6 dealt a farsa blow which also landed on the head of the deceased. Closely followed by thatA2 caused an injury with an axe again on the head of the deceased, after which the deceased fell down.

The other accused A 1, A3 and A4 stated to have caused further 8

injuries with lathis. P.W. 3, P.W. 6 and others pleaded with the accused to spare the deceased upon which A5 with a warning to the deceased that he should not contest against him in future

left the place of occurrence along with other accused. P.W.3, c thereafter stated to have reached the Police Station Saleha which was hardly within one kilometer from the place of occurrence where the FIR Exhibit P3 came to be registered at 10:45p.m.

4. P.W. 15, the Investigating Officer after registration of D the FIR stated to have rushed to the place of occurrence between 11 :00 and 11 :15p.m. whereafter he prepared Exhibits P7 P/1A, P/18 and subsequently ended with P10 which are the crime details form [Form No.2], application for examination of injured P.W. 3 and the application for post E mortem. P.W. 3 was examined by P.W.1 who issued Exhibit P1, M.L.C. Report. Pursuant to the requisition Exhibit P10 made by P.W.15, the post mortem was conducted on the body of the deceased by P.W.10 and as many as 8 injuries were F noted on the body of the deceased. Out of the 8 injuries, injury Nos. 4,5, 6 and7 were noted as grievous injuries while the other injuries were contusions.

5. Based on the above details gathered, prosecution laid the charge sheet as against the accused for offences under G Sections 147, 148, 149, 302 and 294 of the Indian Penal Code.

The trial Court, having considered the oral as well as documentary evidence namely, P.Ws. 1to16 and Exhibits P1 to P31 convicted the appellants accused for the offence under

Section 302 read with Sections 148 and 149 IPC. The H

A appellants were imposed with the punishment of life

imprisonment. As against the above conviction and sentence imposed, the appellants along with other accused namely, A 1 preferred the appeal before the High Court. The Division Bench having confirmed the conviction and sentence imposed on the 8 appellants, they are before us.

6. We heard Mr. Tripurari Ray, learned counsel for the appellants and Mr. Arjun Garg, learned counsel for the State.

7. The main plank of attack on the judgment impugned in c these appeals are two-fold namely, that the FIR was ante-dated and that the appellants were falsely implicated. In support of the above submissions, Mr. Ray while making reference to the version of P.Ws. 1,3, 10 and 15 and Exhibits P/1 A, P/1 B,

0 Pl and P10, contended that there were very many inconsistent circumstances which would show that the case was not as projected by the prosecution for implicating the appellants and, therefore, the conviction and sentence imposed are liable to be set aside. The learned counsel, by referring to the evidence E of P. W. 3 as compared to the evidence of P. W. 15 contended that there were serious doubts as to whether the said FIR was registered at 10:45p.m. on 271h June, 1997 as claimed; whether P.W.3 was injured at all as claimed by him and as stated by P.W.1, that non-mentioning of the various details relating to F the FIR, the names of accused in Exhibits P1A, P7 and P10

would also belie the case of the prosecution and would support the stand of the appellants that the FIR was ante-dated. The learned counsel submitted that it was further strengthened by the fact that it was claimed by P.Ws. 3 and 6 that one Ranganath G Sharma was also present at the pla<?e of occurrence and that for no reason he was not examined by the prosecution. It was further contended that while the registration of the FIR was claimed to be 10:45p.m.on 271h June, 1997, there was no valid H explanation as to why the Express Report under Section 157 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was not forwarded to the

Judicial /I/aka Magistrate forthwith which in the case on hand A admittedly reached the learned Magistrate only at 1 :20p.m. on 30theJune, 1997.

8. While elaborating his submission, learned counsel pointed out that Exhibit P7 is the statutory form namely, Form R No.2 called 'Crime Details Form', wherein there is a specific column, namely, Column No.6 to note the description of the

injured persons, that the name of deceased Ram Bhuvan, son of Sunder Lal Sharma alone was noted and without any valid explanation the name of P.W.3 who was stated to have been c injured in the same transaction was not mentioned. Learned counsel then pointed out that in' Exhibit P1A, which is the application for examination of injured P.W. 3, either the Crime Number or the FIR Number was not noted apart from the fact of non-mentioning of the time at which the said application D was senttothe Doctor on 28111 June, 1997. The learned counsel while making reference to the applicationtor post mortem Exhibit P10 also dated 28th June, 1997, pointed out that while the said application was presented to the Doctor at 7:30~.m. E on 28111 June, 1997, for conducting the post mortem, there was no reference to any of the names of the accused whose names were already disclosed to the police at 10:45p.m. as per FIR registered at 10:45p.m.on 27111 June, 1997.

9. The learned counsel also brought to our notice Exhibit F 08 to show that the Express Report was received by the II/aka Magistrate only at 1 :20p.m.on 30th June, 1997. The learned counsel also while making reference to the evidence of P.W.1 contended that there was a specific suggestion put to P. W. 1 that the injuries alleged to have been sustained by P.W.3 was G a fake one and thatthe examination of P.W.10, the Doctor who conducted post mortem also revealed that the injuries which were noted on the body of the deceased were not specifically attributed to the alleged seized weapons from the accused H and thereby creating serious doubts as to whether or not such

A weapons were used and were the cause for the death of the deceased. The learned counsel also drew our attention to various other minor infirmities in the evidence of the prosecution and contended that the prosecution failed to establish the charges levelled against the appellants and B consequently the impugned judgment deserves to be set aside.

10. As against the above submissions, Mr. Arjun Garg, learned counsel for the State by drawing our attention to the arrest of the appellants effected on 28th June, 1997 and the c subsequent seizure made on 29th June, 1997 supported by Exhibits P22 to 24, as well as, Section 27 Statement under Exhibits P18 to P21, contended thatthe arrest of the accused and the seizure made by the panch witnesses duly established that the appellants were involved in the killing of the deceased

D as well as causing of the injuries on P.W.3. The learned counsel for the State submitted that even though there was a delay in forwarding the Express Report to the II/aka Magistrate the same did not cause any prejudice to the appellants and that E the charges were found proved against the appellants. The learned counsel, further, contended that P.W.15 after registering the FIR forwarded the Express Report through the Police Constable Narendra Chauhan on 27th June, 1997 itself by noting it down in the Despatch Register and that though F under Exhibit 08 the receipt of the same by the II/aka Magistrate is noted as 1 :20p.m.on 3Qth June, 1997, he was unaware as to the reason which caused the delay. The learned counsel would contend that the II/aka Magistrate was at Panna wh.ich was 60KMS away from the place of occurrence and G that though there was some delay in forwarding the receipt of the Express Report, since there was every clinching evidence in the form of eye witness account as well as other material evidence supported by medical evidence as well, as no prejudice was caused to the appellants on account of such

H delay, no infirmity can be found in the judgment impugned in

these appeals.

11. Having heard respective counsel for the appellants as well as the State, we are also convinced that the judgment impugned does not call for interference. When we considered the submission of learned counsel for the appellants with 8 particular reference to the evidence of P.W. 3 who was an injured eye witness, it was contended that the FIR itself could not have been registered at 10:45p.m. inasmuch as even according to P.W. 3 his signature was obtained at a later point of time. At the very outset, it must be stated that by referring to c this part of the evi<:lence, we are not able to state that registration of FIR could not have been made at 10:45p.m. inasmuch as other consequential steps taken thereafter with particular reference to Exhibit P7, P1A to Band P10 which were all. contemporaneous documents which disclose that D

immediately after the registration of FIR at 10:45p.m., P.W. 15 reached the place of occurrence and proceeded with further course of action. Therefore, the said contention stands rejected.

12. As far as the contention that the injuries sustained by P.W. 3 could have been a fake one and consequently his presence itself was not true, the said contention is also liable

to be rejected, inasmuch as we do find from the evidence of

P.W. 1 who examined P.W.3 on the night of 27th/28th June, 1997 F itself noted the various injuries sustained by him in Exhibit P1 B based on the application made under Exhibit P1A dated 28th June, 1997 Exhibit P1 B discloses the time as 1 :30a.m. in the night on 28th June, 1997. In the evidence of P.W. 1 at the end of the examination there was a specific question put to P.W. 1 G as to the examination of P.W.3, wherein he made it explicit to the effect that P.W. 3 was examined iri the night intervening 2Th and 28th June, 1997 and the injuries noted by him in Exhibit P1 B was also confirmed by him in his oral evidence. In fact, H there was a broad reference to the nature of injuries sustained

A by P.W.3 in Exhibit P1A. Therefore, reading Exhibits P1Aand

P 1 B together with the oral evidence of P. W.1, it has come out in evidence that P.W.3 sustained the injuries on the night of 271h June, 1997. Therefore.the submission that P.W. 3 could not have been present at the place of occurrence cannot be 8 accepted.

13. We come to the rest of the contentions. It must be stated that evidence of P.W.3 as an eye witness was cogent in every respect, as he narrated the manner in which the c occurrence took place on the night of 271h June, 1997, the role

played by each of the accused and the subsequent events that occurred thereafter such as the complaint which he preferred in the Saleha Police Station, the registration of the FIR at 10:45p.m., the subsequent visit of P.W. 15 to the place of D occurrence and the shifting of the body of the deceased to the

hospital for carrying out the post mortem by P. W.10. The said part of the evidence of P. W. 3, as an eye witness account was fully supported by the version of P.W.6, and also fully corroborated by the evidence of P.Ws. 7 and 11 who reached E the place of occurrence on hearing the shouts of P.Ws. 3 and 6.

14. The contention raised on behalf of the appellants was that P.W. 15 was not truthful in registering the FIR as well as F launching the prosecution case against the appellants inasmuch as according to P.W. 5, the Constable who shifted the body of the deceased to the hospital in his evidence i:; tated that there was a short post mortem report issued by the Doctor which he delivered at the Police Station and that thereafter in G consultation with the so-called eye witness Ranganath Sharma who was not examined for no good reasons and who had a grudge against the appellants who all belonged to same community, the appellants were implicated in the offence.

Though in the first blush, such a contention raised on behalf of H the appellants appeared to be appealing, when we refer to

the various other contentions raised in support of the said A submission, we find no substance in the said contention. First of all, we do not find any serious discrepancy or infirmities in the preparation of the statutory records as well as any serious lacuna in the oral version of the witnesses examined in support of the charges.

15. It was contended that in the Crime Details Form, Exhibit P7, which is a statutory form wherein there was no mention as to the nature of weapons used as well as the name of the socalled injured eye witness P.W.3 and also the names of the c accused though their names were very much known to the prosecution as early as at 10:45p.m. on 271h June, 1997. Wh.en we consider the said submissiof!, we firid that Form No. 2 is an enclosed Report prepared by P.W. 15 in which in Column No .. 5 it is specifically mentioned while referring to motive of D the crime either due to old enmity, it is mentioned "due to old enmity, attacked with sharp weapon with intention to kill".

Similarly, in Column No. 6, under the heading" description of injured persons", the name of deceased alone has been mentioned and there is no reference to the injured eye witness E P.W.3. Insofar as the non-mention of P.W. 3 in the said column is concerned, we have also referred in detail as to how and why such a non-mention would not in any way vitiate the case of the prosecution by virtue of the other clinching evidence which F established the presence of P.W. 3 at the place of occurrence and the same reason will hold good here as well.

16. Insofar as Column No. 5 is concerned, it has been duly noted as to the use of sharp weapon. When we looked into Column No. 10 the place of incident, the description of the G place, the facility of chimney which was available and all other minute details have been noted. It must also be stated that the said Form was prepared on the basis of the visit made by P.W. 15, Investigating Officer at23:10 hours i.e. 11 ;1 OP.M. on H 27TH June, 1997. In fact, when we later made a further

A reference to Exhibit P10 which is an application for carrying out the post mortem on the dead body of the deceased, it contains separate statements about the details of the dead body of the deceased. The same was despatched at 7:00a.m. on 28th June, 1997 and was received at the mortuary by 8 7:30a.m. on the same day. We have also noted the time of the existence of P1A and P18 which when read along with the evidence of P. W.1 it is quite clear that the same came into existence by 1 :30a.m. on the intervening night of 27th and 28th c June, 1997.

17. Having regard to the above features, namely, the registration of FIR t 10:45p.m. on 27th June, 1997; the inspection made by P.W.15.at 11 :10p.m. on the same date; the sending of P.W. 3 for medical examination which was D concluded by 1 :30a.m. on 28th June, 1997; and the shifting of the body of the deceased from the place of occurrence to the

hospital by 7:30a.m. on 28th June, 1997 read along with the version of P.Ws. 3, 6 and other supporting witnesses it was sufficiently established that the occurrence took place as E spoken to by P. W. 3, 6 and others and the involvement of the

appellants was, therefore, fully established.

18. With that we come to the submission relating to the delay in forwarding of the Express Report to state that the F implication of the appellants was false. As has been rightly

contended by the learned counsel for the State, even though the delay was quite apparent by virtue of Exhibit 08, in the first place, it must be stated that when there was overwhelming and incriminating evidence both oral as well as documentary G to support the case of the prosecution, as regards registration of the FIR and the subsequent investigation carried on coupled with the arrest of the accused on 281h June, 1997 supported by reference made in Exhibits P22 to P24 as well as Section H 27 Reports under Exhibits P18 to 21, it must be held that in spite of such minor discrepancies pointed out on behalf of the

appellants, the case of the prosecution cannot be faulted.

A Therefore, the delay in forwarding the Express Report to the II/aka Magistrate was concerned, 'it must also be noted that in the evidence of P. W. 15 he stated that in the Despatch Register on 271h June, 1997, itself a mention was made to the effect that he handed it over to the Head Constable Narendra B Chuahan for delivering it to the Magistrate which cannot be doubted, inasmuch as, we do not find any suggestion having been put to him that as to what transpired after he directed the said Head Constable to deliver it to the lllaka Magistrate. c Further, the II/aka Magistrate was in Panna, which is 60 kms. away from the place of occurrence. In any event, even assuming the delay did really happen in forwarding the Express Report, we find that such a delay has not caused any serious prejudice to the appellants. In this context, reliance was placed D on the decisions of this Court reported in Pala Singh v. State of Punjab (1972) 2 SCC 640, para 8 State of Karnataka v.

Main Patel (1996) 8 SCC 167 Paras 15 and 16, Bhajan Singh

@ Harbhaian Singh & Ors. v. State of Haryana (2011) 7 SCC 421 Paras 29 and 36, which decisions fully support the stand E of the respondents. We only refer to the last of the said decisions wherein in paras 29 an 36 it has been held as under:~

"29. It is not that as if every delay in sending the report to the Magistrate would necessarily lead to the inference F that the FIR has not been lodged at the time stated or has been ante-timed or ante-dated or investigation is not fair and forthright. Every such delay is not fatal unless prejudice to the accused is shown.

The expression "forthwith" mentioned there in does not G mean that the prosecution is required to explain delay of every hour in sending the FIR to the Magistrate. In a given case, if number of dead and injured persons is very high, delay in dispatching the report is natural. Of course, the same is to be sent within reasonable time H

A in the prevalent circumstances ..

36. The evidence of the stamped witness must be given due weightage as his presence on the place of occurrence cannot be doubted. His statement is generally considered to be vel}' reliable and it is unlikely that he has spared the actual assailant in order to falsely implicate someone else. The testimony of an injured witness has its own relevancy and efficacy as he has sustained injuries at the time and place of occurrence and this lends support to his testimony that he was present at the time of occurrence. Thus, the testimony of an injured witness is accorded a special status in law. Such a witness comes with a built-in guarantee of his presence at the scene of the crime and is unlikely to spare his actual assailant(s) in order to falsely implicate someone. "Convincing evidence is required to discredit an injured witness." Thus, the evidence of an injured witness should be relied upon unless there are grounds for the rejection of his evidence on the basis of major contradictions and discrepancies therein. (Vide Abdul Sayeed v. State of M.P. (2010) 10 SCC 259; Kai/as v. State of Maharashtra (2011) 1SCC793; Durbal

V. State of U.P. (2011) 2 sec 676 and State of U.P. v.

Naresh (2011) 4 SCC 324.)"

19. As far as minor discrepancies noted and pointed out by learned counsel for the appellants are concerned, here again we find that such discrepancies does not in any way seriously impinge on the judgment impugned in these appeals.

20. As far as the submissions made based on the injuries, we do not find any scope to interfere with the decision in the impugned judgment on that score inasmuch as on a detailed reading of evidence of P.W. 10, we find that his evidence fully supported the case of the prosecution in regard to the nature

of injuries inflicted upon the deceased on his hand by the A appellants and it was also further supported by the weapons which were recovered at the instance of the appellants. For all the above reasons, we do not find any merit in these appeals

and the same are dismissed.

Kalpana K Tripathy Appeals dismissed.