State Vs Ravinder Singh

For the Appellant : Mr Ajit Sharma, Deputy Advocate General. /State For the Respondent : Mr Neel Kamal Sharma, Advocate, for respondents No. 2 and 3. Proceedings against respondent No.1 have abated vide order dated 20.06.2025.

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Rakesh Kainthla, Judge

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The present appeal is directed against the judgment

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dated 08.07.2011, passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge,

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1 Whether the reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the Judgment?Yes.

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Ghumarwin, District Bilaspur, H.P. (learned Appellate Court) vide which judgment of conviction dated 08.06.2010 and order of sentence dated 09.06.2010 passed by learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Court No.2, Ghumarwin, District Bilaspur, H.P. (learned Trial Court) were set aside and the respondents (accused before the learned Trial Court) were acquitted of the charged offences. (Parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they were arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience.)

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Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present appeal are that the police presented a challan against the accused before the learned Trial Court for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 353, 332, read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).It was asserted that the informant, Constable Naginder Singh (PW-1), and HHC Hem Singh (PW-2) had gone for patrolling on 06.01.2003 at about 6:00 p.m. towards Ghumarwin Bazar, Ghandi Chowk.They were present near Gandhi Chowk towards Ghumarwin at approximately 9:30 p.m., when they heard a commotion emanating from the Bus Stand. ConstableNaginder Singh (PW-1) and HHC Hem Singh (PW-2) went towards the Bus Stand, where they saw that 10-20 people were beating two

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people. The assailants boarded the vehicle bearing registration No.HP28-2305, HP28-7261 and HP03A-0230. The informant tried to stop the vehicle bearing registration No.HP28-2305. Pappi @ Rakesh, Pinki (who died during the pendency of the appeal and proceedings against him abated vide order dated 20.06.2025 ) and Jasbir got down the vehicle. Pappi caught hold of the informant’s neck, and Pinky inflicted a blow by means of an iron rod on the informant’s face. Pappi and Jasbir gave beating to the informant by kicks and fist blows. The uniform of the informant was torn in the incident. The assailants ran away from the spot. The matter was reported to the police, and F.I.R. (Ext.PW-1/A) was registered in the Police Station.Virender Singh (PW-6) investigated the matter.He visited the spot and prepared the site plan (Ext.PW-6/A).An application (Ext.PW-4/A) was filed for conducting a medical examinationof the injured. Dr R.K.Dhiman (PW-4) medically examined the injured. He found multiple injuries on the informant’s body. He advised an X-ray, but no fracture was detected. Hence, the nature of the injuries was described to be simple. MLC (Ext.PW-4/C) was issued. The appointment and posting orders(Ext. PA and Ext.PB) were taken into possession. The statements of the witnesses were recorded as per their versions,

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and after the completion of the investigation, the challan was prepared and presented before the learned Trial Court.

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Learned Trial Court found sufficient reasons to summon the accused. When the accused appeared, they were charged with the commission of offences punishable under Section 353and 332 read with Section 34 of the IPC, to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.

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The prosecution examined nine witnesses to prove its case. HHC Naginder Singh (PW-1) is the informant/victim.HHC Hem Singh (PW-2) is an eyewitness.HC Naresh Kumar (PW-3), Virender Singh (PW-6) and Constable Avtar Singh (PW-7) are the witnesses to the recovery.Dr R.K. Dhiman(PW-4) medically examined the victim. Daulat Ram (PW-5) proved the entry in the daily diary. ASI Narender Singh (PW-8) investigated the matter. Ravinder Singh (PW-9)did not support the prosecution's case.

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The accused, in their statements recorded under Section 313 of CrPC, denied the prosecution’s case in its entirety. They claimed that witnesses were interested and that they deposed falsely against the accused. The accused did not lead any defence in evidence.

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Learned Trial Court held that the testimony of the informant/victim was duly corroborated by the statement of HHC Hem Singh. These testimonies were duly corroborated by the medical evidence. There was nothing in the crossexamination of the witness to show that they were deposing falsely. The testimonies of police officials cannot be doubted because of their official position. The informant was discharging official duties, and the accused had obstructed him in the discharge of official duties. Therefore, the learned Trial Court convicted the accused for the commission of offences punishable under Section 353 and 332 read with Section 34 of the IPC and sentenced them as under:

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Section Sentence

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332 of IPC The accused were sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one and a half years each, pay a fine of ₹1000/each and, in default of payment of fine, to undergo further simple imprisonment for one month each.

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353 of IPC The accused were sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one year each, pay a fine of ₹1000/- each and, in default of payment of fine, to undergo further simple imprisonment for one month each.

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Both the sentences were ordered to concurrently.

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Being aggrieved by the judgment and order passed by the learned Trial Court, the accused filed an appeal, which was decided by the learned Appellate Court.Learned Appellate Court held that the testimony of the informant was not satisfactory. He had named Pinki @ Ravinder, Pappi and Jasbir as the assailants before the police; however, he changed this version in the Court. Ravinder Singh (PW-9) did not support the prosecution's case. The identity of the assailants was not proved. There was no evidence that the informant knew the accused before the incident. Therefore, the test identification parade was essential. The accused were not proved to be the assailants. The police had not recovered the iron rod, which was used during the incident. There was an interpolation in the entry, which adversely affected the prosecution's case.The prosecution's case was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt; hence, the judgment and order passed by the learned Trial Court were set aside and the accused were acquitted.

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Being aggrieved by the judgment of the learned Appellate Court, the State has filed the present appeal asserting that the learned Appellate Court erred in setting aside the wellreasoned judgment of the learned Trial Court. The testimonies of the official witnesses were discarded without any cogent

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reason. The prosecution's case could not have been doubted due to overwriting in the entry in the daily diary. Even if the time of departure was changed from 8 to 5, that would not make any difference because the incident occurred at 9:30 p.m. The accused had stopped the vehicle and given beatings to the informant; therefore, the informant had sufficient opportunity to look at the accused, and the prosecution's case could not have been doubted for want of identification. Ravinder Singh (PW-9) had turned hostile in connivance with the accused, and his testimony should not have been used to discard the prosecution's case. Non-recovery of the weapon of offence will not make the prosecution's case doubtful. The medical evidence corroborated the statements of witnesses. Therefore, it was prayed that the present appeal be allowed and the judgment passed by the learned Appellate Court be set aside.

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I have heard Mr Ajit Sharma, learned Deputy Advocate General, for the appellant/State and Mr Neel Kamal Sharma, learned counsel for respondents No. 2 and 3.

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Mr Ajit Sharma, learned Deputy Advocate General for the appellant/State, submitted that the learned Trial Court had convicted the accused by passing a well-reasoned

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judgment. Learned Appellate Court set aside the judgment of the learned Trial Court without any cogent reason. The accused were present on the spot for a considerable time, and the victim/injured had sufficient time to recognise them. There was no necessity to conduct a test identification parade, and the learned Appellate Court erred in acquitting the accused for want of a test identification parade. The overwriting at the time of departure of the informant was not material because the incident had taken place at 9:30 p.m., and the departure of the informant from the Police Station, even at 8:00 p.m., would not make the prosecution's case suspect.Therefore, he prayed that the present appeal be allowed and the judgment passed by the learned Appellate Court be set aside.

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Mr. Neel Kamal Sharma, learned counsel for respondents No.2 and 3, submitted that the learned Appellate Court had rightly held that the identity of the assailants was not established. There were variations in the names of the assailants. The test identification was necessary to show that the accused were the assailants. The learned Appellate Court

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was justified in doubting the identity of the accused in the absence of a Test Identification Parade. Learned Appellate Court had taken a reasonable view which could have been taken based

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upon the material placed before the learned Appellate Court, and this Court should not interfere with the reasonable view of the learned Appellate Court, even if another view is possible. He prayed, that the present appeal be dismissed.

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I have given considerable thought to the submissions made at the bar and have gone through the records carefully.

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The present appeal has been filed against a judgment of acquittal. It was laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Surendra Singh v. State of Uttarakhand, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 176: (2025) 5 SCC 433 that the Court can interfere with a judgment of acquittal if it is patently perverse, is based on misreading/omission to consider the material evidence and reached at a conclusion which no reasonable person could have reached. It was observed at page 440:

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“11. Recently, in the case of Babu Sahebagouda Rudragoudarv.State of Karnataka 2024 SCC OnLine SC 4035 , a Bench of this Court to which one of us was a Member (B.R. Gavai, J.) had an occasion to consider the legal position with regard to the scope of interference in an appeal against acquittal. It was observed thus:

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“ 38. First of all, we would like to reiterate the principles laid down by this Court governing the scope of interference by the High Court in an appeal filed by the State for challenging the

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acquittal of the accused recorded by the trial court.

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39. This Court in Rajesh Prasadv.State of Bihar[Rajesh Prasadv.State of Bihar,(2022) 3 SCC 471: (2022) 2 SCC (Cri) 31] encapsulated the legal position covering the field after considering various earlier judgments and held as below: (SCC pp. 482-83, para 29)

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“ 29. After referring to a catena of judgments, this Court culled out the following general principles regarding the powers of the appellate court while dealing with an appeal against an order of acquittal in the following words: ( Chandrappa case[Chandrappav.State of Karnataka,(2007) 4 SCC 415:(2007) 2 SCC (Cri) 325 ], SCC p. 432, para 42)

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‘ 42. From the above decisions, in our considered view, the following general principles regarding the powers of the appellate court while dealing with an appeal against an order of acquittal emerge:

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(1) An appellate court has full power to review, reappreciate and reconsider the evidence upon which the order of acquittal is founded.

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(2) The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, puts no limitation, restriction or condition on the exercise of such power and an appellate court, on the evidence before it, may reach its own conclusion, both on questions of fact and law.

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(3) Various expressions, such as “substantial and compelling reasons”, “good and sufficient grounds”, “very strong circumstances”, “distorted conclusions”, “glaring mistakes”, etc., are not intended to curtail the

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extensive powers of an appellate court in an appeal against acquittal. Such phraseologies are more in the nature of “flourishes of language” to emphasise the reluctance of an appellate court to interfere with an acquittal than to curtail the power of the court to review the evidence and to come to its own conclusion.

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(4) An appellate court, however, must bear in mind that in the case of acquittal, there is a double presumption in favour of the accused. Firstly , the presumption of innocence is available to him under the fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence that every person shall be presumed to be innocent unless he is proved guilty by a competent court of law. Secondly , the accused, having secured his acquittal, the presumption of his innocence is further reinforced, reaffirmed and strengthened by the trial court.

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(5) If two reasonable conclusions are possible on the basis of the evidence on record, the appellate court should not disturb the finding of acquittal recorded by the trial court.”

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40. Further, in H.D. Sundarav.State of Karnataka[H.D. Sundarav.State of Karnataka,(2023) 9 SCC 581: (2023) 3 SCC (Cri) 748], this Court summarised the principles governing the exercise of appellate jurisdiction while dealing with an appeal against acquittal under Section 378CrPC as follows: (SCC p. 584, para 8)

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8. … 8.1. The acquittal of the accused further strengthens the presumption of innocence.

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8.2. The appellate court, while hearing an appeal against acquittal, is entitled to reappreciate the oral and documentary evidence.

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8.3. The appellate court, while deciding an appeal against acquittal, after reappreciating the evidence, is required to consider whether the view taken by the trial court is a possible view which could have been taken on the basis of the evidence on record.

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8.4. If the view taken is a possible view, the appellate court cannot overturn the order of acquittal on the ground that another view was also possible; and

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8.5. The appellate court can interfere with the order of acquittal only if it comes to a finding that the only conclusion which can be recorded on the basis of the evidence on record was that the guilt of the accused was proved beyond a reasonable doubt and no other conclusion was possible.”

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41. Thus, it is beyond the pale of doubt that the scope of interference by an appellate court for reversing the judgment of acquittal recorded by the trial court in favour of the accused has to be exercised within the four corners of the following principles:

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41.1. That the judgment of acquittal suffers from patent perversity.

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41.2. That the same is based on a misreading/omission to consider material evidence on record; and

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41.3. That no two reasonable views are possible and only the view consistent with the guilt of the accused is possible from the evidence available on record.”

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12. It could thus be seen that it is a settled legal position that the interference with the finding of acquittal

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recorded by the learned trial judge would be warranted by the High Court only if the judgment of acquittal suffers from patent perversity; that the same is based on a misreading/omission to consider material evidence on record; and that no two reasonable views are possible and only the view consistent with the guilt of the accused is possible from the evidence available on record.”

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The present appeal has to be decided as per the parameters laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

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F.I.R. (Ext.PW-1/A) mentions that three persons, Pappi @ Rakesh, Pinkki and Jasbir got down from the vehicle. Pappi caught the informant by his neck, and Pinki inflicted a blow by means of an iron rod. Pappi and Jabir gave beatings to the informant. The police conducted the investigation and filed the charge-sheet against Ravinder Singh alias Pinki, Suresh Kumar alias Pappi and Satbir Singh alias Jasbir. No person had deposed that the accused Ravinder Singh was known as Pinki,Surkesh Kumar was known as Pappi and Satbir Singh was known as Jasbir.Further, the F.I.R. specifically mentioned that Pappi alias Rakesh had inflicted blows, and it was nowhere stated that Suresh Kumar alias Pappi had inflicted the injury on the informant.

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The informant stated on oath that Pappi, Pinki and Jasbir got out of the vehicle.Pinki was armed with an iron rod. The assailants gave him beatings, and he sustained injuries.He

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had not stated Pinkki was known as Ravinder, Pappi was known as Suresh Kumar and Satbir Singh was known as Jasbir. Therefore, his testimony does not establish the identity of the accused.

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HHC Hem Singh (PW-2) stated that the accused came out of the vehicle bearing registration No. HP28-2305 and gave beatings to Narinder Kumar (PW-1) with kicks and fists blow. One of the accused inflicted a blow by means of an iron rod. All the accused tore the shirt of the informant.

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Statement of this witness is also silent regarding the fact that Ravinder is known as Pinki,Suresh Kumar is known as Pappi,and Satbir Singh is known as Jasbir. Therefore, the learned Appellate Court had rightly held that a test identification parade was necessary to ascertain the power of observation of the informant and HHC Hem Singh (PW-2).

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It was submitted that the informant and HHC Hem Singh had identified the accused in the Court, and the previous test identification parade was not necessary.This submission will not help the prosecution. Professor Rupert Cross has stated in his celebrated treatise, Cross on Evidence , Fifth Edition,

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Butterworths, that identification of the accused for the first time in the dock is highly suspect. He observed:

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"It might be thought that in criminal cases there could not be better identification of an accused than that of a witness who goes into the box and swears that the man in the dock is the one he saw coming out of a house at a particular time, or the man who assaulted him. Nevertheless, such evidence is suspect where there has been no previous identification of the accused by the witness, and this is because its weight is reduced by the reflection that, if there is any degree of resemblance between the man in the dock and the person previously seen by him. The witness may very well think to himself that the police must have got hold of the right person, particularly if he has already described the latter to them, with the result that he will be inclined to swear positively to a fact of which he is by no means certain.

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People have mistakenly identified friends and relations well known to them with sufficient frequency to make them question the propriety of convicting an accused person on nothing more than the visual identification of a single witness who may only have had a fleeting glance of him in poor light."

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It has been stated in Halsbury's Laws of England 4^th

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Edition Volume 2 that the identification of the accused for the first time in the Court is improper and the witness should be asked to identify the accused in a prior test identification parade. It has been observed in para 363:

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“It is undesirable that a witness should be asked to identify the defendant for the first time in the dock at his trial; and as a general practice, it is preferable that he should have been placed previously in a parade with

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other persons, so that potential witnesses may be asked to pick him up.”

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It was laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in P.

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Sasikumar v. State of T.N., (2024) 8 SCC 600: (2024) 3 SCC (Cri)

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791: 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1652 that when the accused were not

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known to the witnesses on the date of the incident, their identification in the dock is not acceptable. It was observed at page 605:

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“17. The admitted position in this case is that the test identification parade (hereinafter referred to as “TIP”) was not conducted. All the prosecution witnesses who identified the accused in the Court, such as PW 1 and PW 5, were not known to the present appellant, i.e. Accused 2. They had not seen the present appellant before the said incident. He was a stranger to both of them. More importantly, both of them have seen the appellant/Accused 2 on the date of the crime while he was wearing a “green-coloured monkey cap”!

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21. It is well settled that TIP is only a part of the police investigation. The identification in TIP of an accused is not a substantive piece of evidence. The substantive piece of evidence, or what can be called evidence, is only dock identification, that is, identification made by a witness in court during the trial. This identification has been made in court by PW 1 and PW 5. The High Court rightly dismisses the identification made by PW 1 for the reason that the appellant i.e. Accused 2 was a stranger to PW 1 and PW 1 had seen the appellant for the first time when he was wearing a monkey cap, and in the absence of TIP to admit the identification by PW 1 made for the first time in the court was not proper.

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23. We are afraid the High Court has gone completely wrong in believing the testimony of PW 5 as to the identification of the appellant. In cases where the accused is a stranger to a witness and there has been no TIP, the trial court should be very cautious while accepting the dock identification by such a witness (see: Kunjumon v. State of Kerala , ( 2012) 13 SCC 750: (2012) 4 SCC (Cri) 406] ).

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27. In the facts of the present case, the identification of the accused before the court ought to have been corroborated by the previous TIP, which has not been done. The emphasis of TIP in a given case is of vital importance as has been shown by this Court in recent two cases of Jayanv.State of Kerala[Jayanv.State of Kerala, (2021) 20 SCC 38] and Amrik Singhv.State of Punjab[Amrik Singh v. State of Punjab, (2022) 9 SCC 402: (2023) 2 SCC (Cri) 404] .

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28. In Jayan[Jayan v. State of Kerala, (2021) 20 SCC 38] , this Court disbelieved the dock identification of the accused therein by a witness, and while doing so, this Court discussed the aspect of TIP in the following words: ( Jayan case[Jayanv.State of Kerala, (2021) 20 SCC 38] , SCC p. 44, para 18)

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“ 18 . It is well settled that the TI parade is a part of the investigation, and it is not substantive evidence. The question of holding a TI parade arises when the accused is not known to the witness beforehand. The identification by a witness of the accused in the Court who has, for the first time, seen the accused in the incident of the offence is a weak piece of evidence, especially when there is a large time gap between the date of the incident and the date of recording of his evidence. In such a case, the TI parade may make the identification of the accused by the witness before the Court trustworthy.”

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In the present case, the Test Identification Parade was not conducted, and the identification of the accused in the Court could not have been used to fix their identity.

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Varinder Singh (PW-6) investigated the matter. He did not say how he came to know that Ravinder was known as Pinkki, Suresh was known as Pappi and Satbir was known as Jasbir. He did not explain how Pappi, alias Rakesh mentioned in the F.I.R., was changed to Suresh alias Pappi. It was laid by Hon’ble Supreme Court in Subhash Chand v. State of Rajasthan, (2002) 1 SCC 702: 2002 SCC (Cri) 256: 2001 SCC OnLine SC 1243 that when the identity of the accused is not disclosed, the Investigating Officers should explain the steps leading to the detection of the offender to exclude the likelihood of an innocent person branded as a culprit. It was observed at 713:

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“26. Before parting with the case, we would like to place on record an observation of ours, touching on an aspect of the case. There are clueless crimes committed. The factum of a cognizable crime having been committed is known, but neither the identity of the accused is disclosed nor is there any indication available of the witnesses who would be able to furnish useful and relevant evidence. Such offences put to the test the wits of an investigating officer. A vigilant investigating officer, well-versed with the techniques of the job, is in a position to collect the threads of evidence, finding out the path which leads to the culprit. The ends, which the administration of criminal justice serves, are not achieved merely by catching hold of the culprit. The

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accusation has to be proved to the hilt in a court of law. The evidence of the investigating officer given in the court should have a rhythm explaining step by step how the investigation proceeded, leading to the detection of the offender and the collection of evidence against him. This is necessary to exclude the likelihood of any innocent person having been picked up and branded as a culprit, and then the gravity of the offence arousing human sympathy persuading the mind to be carried away by doubtful or dubious circumstances, treating them as of “beyond doubt” evidentiary value.”

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In the present case, the Investigating Officer has not

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given any explanation for fixing the identity of the accused. He did not get the test identification parade conducted. Therefore, his testimony is not sufficient to fix the identity of the accused.

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Informant HHC Naginder Singh (PW-1) and HHC Hem Singh (PW-2)stated in their cross-examination that they had left the Police Station at about 5:00 p.m., and an entry regarding the departure was recorded.The entry (Ext.PW5/A) mentions the time of departure as 8:00 p.m., which was overwritten to read as 6:00 p.m.There is no entry regarding the departure at 5:00 p.m., and the testimonies of informant HHC Naginder Singh (PW-1) and HHC Hem Singh (PW-2)are not corroborated by documentary evidence regarding their departure; rather, the same is made doubtful by an entry (Ext.PW-5/A) containing interpolations.

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It was submitted that the discrepancy in the time is

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not material because the incident occurred at 9:30 p.m., and the departure at 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. would not make any difference.This submission will not help the prosecution. The entry (Ext.PW-5/A) shows that statements of HHC Naginder Singh (PW-1) and HHC Hem Singh (PW-2) cannot be trusted regarding the time, and when there is a discrepancy in their departure, the whole of the prosecution case that they had left for patrolling and an incident had occurred when they were discharging their official duty becomes doubtful.

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It was specifically asserted in theF.I.R. and the statement made by the informant that Pinki inflicted a blow by means of an iron rod; however, the iron rod was not recovered and there is no explanation for its non-recovery. The learned Appellate Court was justified in these circumstances to doubt the prosecution's case because of the non-recovery of the weapon of offence.

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Ravinder Singh (PW-9) did not support the prosecution's case. He stated in his examination-in-chief that he did not remember that three people were travelling in the vehicle bearing registration No. HP03-4019.He admitted that

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10-12 people came to the spot and attacked him. He admitted that he and Dhian Singh sustained injuries in the incident. He was not aware that the police came to the spot after hearing the noise.He was not aware that the accused came out of the vehicle bearing registration No. HP28-2305. He did not know that the accused had given beatings to the informant, and Pinkki inflicted a blow by means of an iron rod. He denied that the accused had obstructed HHC Naginder Singh (PW-1) from discharging his official duty.

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This witness has not supported the prosecution's case,and no advantage can be derived from his testimony.

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The prosecution did not examine Dhian Singh, and there is no corroboration of the informant’s testimony from independent sources.

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Dr R.K.Dhiman (PW-4) stated that the injuries noticed by him could be caused by fist blows, kicks and an iron rod to him.He admitted that injury could also be caused by way of a fall, and no rod was shown to him.The testimony of this witness that injury could have been caused by means of an iron rod is only a hypothetical possibility without the production of the iron rod. The cross-examination of this witness also points

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towards the alternate hypothesis that the injury could have been caused by way of fall. Thus, his testimony does not provide unequivocal corroboration of the informant’s testimony.

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Learned Trial Court did not advert to the question of identity, which was highly material. It failed to notice the discrepancy in the informant’s statement, and departure report and its significance. Learned Appellate Court had rightly reversed the judgment of the learned Trial Court in these circumstances. Learned Appelalte Court had taken a reasonable view which could have been taken based on the material placed before it, and no interference is required with it, even if another view is possible.

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No other point was urged

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In view of the above, the present appeal fails and it is dismissed.Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed of.

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In view of the provisions of Section 437-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Section 481 of Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023) the respondents are directed to furnish bail bonds in the sum of ₹50,000/- each with one surety each of the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court

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which shall be effective for six months with a stipulation that in

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an event of a Special Leave Petition being filed against this

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judgment or on grant of the leave, the respondents on receipt of notice thereof shall appear before the Hon'ble Supreme Court.

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