Heera Lal Yadav Vs State of Pb

Heera Lal Yadav assails judgment date d 09.01.2006 passed by lear n ed Sessions J u dge, Jalandhar, vide which t h e trial Court while holding h i m guilty of h a ving committed offence unde r Section 302 IPC, has senten c ed him to un d ergo imprisonment for life an d also to pay a fine amounting to Rs.5000/-.

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The matter arises out of FIR No.148 dat e d 20.10.2003 registered at Pol i ce Station Go r aya, under Section 302, 201 I PC (Ex.PD/2), at the instance of Gurdeep Si n gh. The translated gist of Gur d eep Singh’s statement (Ex.PD) on the basis o f which FIR was lodged reads as under:

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“I a m resident of Village Ghurka, Polic e Station Goraya and into cultivati o n. Toda y i.e. 20.10.2003, at about 8.00 A M , when I had gone out of my ho u se to th e fields to answer the call of nat u re, I saw blood spilled on the ro a d. Whe n I looked towards my paddy and s ugarcane fields, I saw dead body of

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an u n known person, aged about 20 / 25 years, who had been brut a lly murd e red with sharp edged weapon. H e was wearing a red coloured T-s h irt and b lack pant. He was a clean sh a ven wheatish complexioned per s on havi n g a slim and active body about 5’-5” in height. It appears that so m e unidentified person had murdered this u nknown person on account of so m e grud g e. I was proceeding to inform th e police after leaving Gurnam Sin g h, Ex-S a rpanch and Amarjit Singh at the spot, when you met me. I got m y state m ent recorded. Action be taken. S d /- Gurdeep Singh.”

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The afores a id statement (Ex.PD) was rec o rded by SI/SHO Satinder Kumar, when he al o ngwith other police officials w a s patrolling in the area of Vill a ge Goraya an d had met Gurdeep Singh. P u rsuant to recording of afores a id statement, a ruqa was sent to the police st a tion for lodging FIR. Thereafter, SI Satinde r Kumar alongwith other police officials proceeded to the s p ot where inquest proceedings were conducte d . The dead body was sent to t he hospital fo r post-mortem examination. Bl o od stained soil was lifted from t he place of o c currence and was prepared int o a parcel, which was duly sea l ed and taken i n to possession vide recovery m e mo Ex.PM. Two pairs of slipp e rs found lyin g at the place of occurrence we r e also taken into possession v i de recovery memo Ex.PN. Rough site plan o f the place of occurrence was a l so prepared. S tatements of the witnesses wer e recorded in terms of Section 161 Cr.P.C.

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It is the c a se of prosecution that on 22.10.2003, the police recorded t he statements of Tarun Kumar, who claim e d that he had seen the accu s ed carrying b l ood stained knife and of Vij a y Kumar, who claimed that t he accused ha d met him and confessed his g u ilt. The identification of the d e ad body was e stablished on 24.10.2003 whe n Sia Ram Yadav, brother of t he deceased, i d entified the photographs of th e dead body while stating that t he

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same were of his brother Sunder Yadav. I t is further the case of prosecution that on 25 . 10.2003, Vijay Kumar produc e d the accused Heera Lal Ya d av before SI S atinder Kumar and was arres t ed. Upon interrogation, accu s ed Heera Lal Y adav disclosed that he had kep t a knife concealed near the bri d ge of canal mi n or in the area of Village Ghur k a. Pursuant to the said disclos u re m statement ( E x.PQ), the accused is stated to have got the knife recovered fr o the disclos e d place, which was taken int o possession vide recovery me m o Ex.PQ/2.

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Upon conc l usion of investigation, challan w as presented against the accu s ed on 04.12.2 0 03 in the Court of learned S u b Divisional Judicial Magistr a te, Phillaur, w h o committed the case to the C ourt of Sessions vide order da t ed 16.12.2003 . Learned Sessions Judge, Jal a ndhar framed charges against t he accused on 13.01.2004 for offence punish a ble under Sections 302, 201 I P C, to which h e pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

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The prosec u tion in order to establish its c a se examined as many as 12 P W s. The gist of t heir testimonies is being briefl y referred to herein under:-

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PW-1 M H C Jaswinder Singh stated that on 20.10.2003, he was posted as M H C, P.S. Goraya and that on the said day, SI/SHO Satinder Ku m ar de p osited with him separate seale d parcels containing blood stai n ed soi l , clothes and slippers. He stat e d that on 25.10.2003, one par c el co n taining knife was also deposite d with him and that on 06.11.20 0 3, he s ent all the parcels to the Che m ical Examiner through Consta b le Balwinder Pal Singh and that as l o ng as the parcels remained in h is possession, the same were not tam p ered with.

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PW-2 HC Pargat Singh stated that on 2 0 .10.2003, he was associated w i th SI/ S HO Satinder Kumar for invest i gation of the present case and t h at he h ad taken the dead body to th e hospital for the purpose of post-

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mo r tem examination and that the doctor after conducting the postmo r tem examination had handed over to him the clothes of t he deceased, which he further handed o ver to the SHO Satinder Kuma r .

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PW-3 Gu r nam Singh, who had been associated by the police at the time of inq u est proceedings, stated with re g ard to the same and stated that h is sta t ement was also recorded by the police.

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PW-4 Gu r deep Singh (complainant) state d that on 20.10.2003 at about 7.30 A M , when he had gone to his fie l ds, he noticed blood lying on t he gro u nd and he followed the bloo d trail which led to the sugarc a ne fiel d s where an unidentified dea d body was found lying having inj u ries inflicted with some sharp edged weapon. He further sta t ed tha t he left Gurnam Singh at the spot and proceeded to the pol i ce sta t ion and while on the way, he m et the police and got his statem e nt Ex. P D recorded.

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PW-5 Su r inder Kumar, who had taken photographs of the dead bo d y, pro v ed the same as Ex.P1 to Ex.P8 and negatives thereof as Ex.P9 to Ex. P 16.

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PW-6 Sia Ram Yadav, brother of decea s ed Sunder Yadav, stated that on 19. 1 0.2003, Sunder Yadav (deceas e d) had come to his sweet shop at ab o ut 8-9 AM and was accompa n ied by Sham Kumar Yadav a nd aft e r meeting him, both of them had returned back to village Pa s la. He stated that later in the evenin g , Sham Yadav again came to h is shop, but was not accompanied b y his brother Sunder Yadav a nd wh e n he enquired about him, then S ham Yadav disclosed that Sun d er Ya d av had been stopped by Heer a Lal Yadav. PW-6 further sta t ed tha t on 24.10.2003, when he along w ith his cousin Parmod Yadav w as sea r ching for his brother Sunder Y a dav, they met Heera Lal and w h en the y enquired about his brother, H e era Lal got nervous. PW-6 sta t ed tha t Heera Lal told him that he h ad given an amount of Rs.5/to Su n der Yadav and that Sunder Yadav had boarded a train. He furt h er sta t ed that when he and Parmod Ya d av were returning back, then t h ey

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me t some police officials, who showed them 3/4 photographs, wh i ch he i dentified as that of his brother S under Yadav.

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PW-7 Sh a m Yadav stated that on 19.10. 2 003, he alongwith Sunder Ya d av (de c eased) had gone to the village Pasla in search of work and w h en the y were returning back to Gor a ya, then Heera Lal met them in Vil l age Sang Dhesian and stopped Sunder Yadav and that Heera L al tol d him (PW-7) to go and that he will send Sunder Yadav later o n. P W -7 stated that even Sunder Y adav told him to go and t h at acc o rdingly he went back to the s w eet shop where Sia Ram Ya d av wa s working. He further stated th a t Sunder Yadav, however, did n ot ret u rn back after the said day i.e. 1 9 .10.2003 and that on 24.10.20 0 3, the police had shown photograph s of a dead body, which he h ad ide n tified as that of Sunder Yadav.

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PW-8 Co n stable Balwinder Pal, who is a formal witness, tendered i n to evi d ence his affidavit Ex.PG, wher e in he deposed that on 05.11.20 0 3, M H C Jaswinder Singh had handed over to him three separate parc e ls co n taining clothes of dead body, b l ood stained soil and blood stai n ed kni f e for depositing the same in the office of FSL, Punj a b, Ch a ndigarh and that on the same day i.e. 05.11.2003, he deposi t ed the same in the said office and that as long as the parcels remained in his possession, the same were not t a mpered with.

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PW-9 Ta r un Kumar stated that on the night intervening 19/20.10.20 0 3, wh e n he was going on a scooter fr o m village Ghurka to Surjan Pi n d, the n he saw a person running towa r ds him and he stopped his scoo t er an d the said person was carrying a blood stained Karad (knife) in h is ha n d. He knew the said person to be Heera Lal and when he m a de so m e enquiries from Heera Lal, he fled away towards village Ghu r ka an d that on the next day, he cam e to know that a person had b e en mu r dered near that place. He sus p ected that it was Heera Lal, who ha d committed that murder.

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PW-10 Dr. Hari Singh, Medical Officer, G overnment Rural Hospital, M au Sa h ib, who had conducted post- m ortem examination on the d e ad

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bo d y of Sunder Yadav on 20.10.20 0 3, proved the post-mortem rep o rt as E x.PH. He stated that as per his opinion the cause of death w as du e to multiple injuries leading to m assive hemorrhage and shock a nd car d io-pulmonary arrest, which w ere sufficient to cause death in ord i nary course of nature.

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PW-11 Na n ju Ram, Patwari, who had pre p ared the scaled site plan, pro v ed the same as Ex.PL.

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PW-12 SI S atinder Kumar, who is the In v estigating Officer of the pres e nt cas e , stated in detail in respect of the entire investigation conduc t ed by h im right from lodging of FIR u pto the filing of challan. He a l so pro v ed various documents/memo s prepared during the course of inv e stigation.

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Upon clos u re of the prosecution eviden c e, statement of the accused w as recorded in terms of Section 313 Cr.P.C., w herein he denied the entire case of prosecutio n and pleaded false implication . The accused, however, did n ot lead any ev i dence in his defence.

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The learne d trial Court, upon appraisal of evidence brought on record, h e ld that the e v idence led by the prosecutio n established the charges fra m ed against the accused and consequently, hel d him guilty for having commit t ed offence un d er Section 302 IPC and senten c ed him to undergo imprisonm e nt for life vid e impugned judgment.

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Learned counsel for the appellant, while a ssailing the impugned judgme n t, submitted t hat it is a case of blind murd e r based totally on circumstan t ial evidence a n d that the evidence collected b y the police is grossly insuffici e nt to establis h the charges framed against th e accused. It has been submit t ed that the pr o secution mainly relies upon the testimony of PW-9 Tarun Kumar, who had allegedly seen the accused runni n g away while carrying a knife in

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his hand a n d that apart from the said e v idence, there is nothing else to connect the accused with the alleged murder. Learned counsel, th u s, submitted t h at the impugned judgment cou l d not sustain and is liable to be s et aside.

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Opposing t h e appeal, learned State counse l submitted that it is a case wh e re the accuse d was seen carrying a blood stai n ed knife from near that very pl a ce from wher e the dead body came to be r e covered shortly thereafter It h as further bee n submitted that the factum of r ecovery of blood stained knife at the instanc e of accused which as per th e report of FSL was found to be stained wit h human blood, there is no man n er of doubt that it is the accus e d, who had m urdered the deceased with t h e help of knife, which was g ot recovered b y him.

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We have c o nsidered rival submissions ad d ressed before this Court and with the assistance of learned counsel have also p erused the record of the case.

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It is appo s ite to first of all refer to t h e medical evidence led by t he prosecutio n with regard to the alleged h o micidal death of Sunder Yad a v. PW-10 Dr. Hari Singh, who had conducte d post-mortem examination on t he dead body of Sunder Yadav, has describ e d the injuries found on the d e ad body as un d er:

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“1. Incis e d wound 3.5 cm x 1.5 cm pres e nt in the occipital region of sk u ll. Unde r lying bone was fractured.

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1. Incis e d wound 7 cm x 3 cm present ov e r the left side of neck at the level of angle of the mouth. Underlying muscle s , nerves and vessels were cut.

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1. Incis e d wound 7 cm x 3.5 cm deep was present over the left side of neck j u st belo w the injury no.2. All the muscles, nerves and great vessels were cu t in the s a me line.

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Incis e d wound 4.5 cm x 3 cm present on the left cheek at the angle of t he mout h . Underlying muscles, vessels an d jaw bone were cut (fractured).

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Incis e d wound 1.5 cm x 1 cm at the rig h t pinna of ear.

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Incis e d wound 4 cm x 2 cm in the m i ddle of dorsem of left hand. Pla c ed horiz o ntally. All the muscles, vessels a nd underline bones were cut in t he same line.

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Mult i ple small incised wounds were present on the right upper arm.”

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PW-10 Dr. Hari Singh opined that the c a use of death was on account of multiple i n juries, which led to massive hemorrhage, shock and card i o- pulmonary arrest. A perusal of the desc r iption of injuries shows that t he same are i n the nature of incised wounds o n various parts of body including head, neck , face and ear, which could h a ve been possibly inflicted wit h a sharp edge d knife, as was recovered in the present case at the instance of t he accused. A s such, this Court has no hesit a tion in holding that it is a case of homicidal d eath, wherein the deceased h ad been inflicted injuries wit h a sharp edge d weapon.

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Admittedly, it is a case wherein there is no eye-witness to the occurrence a nd the prosec u tion banks upon the circumst a ntial evidence. It goes with o ut saying that even in case there is no eye- w itness, charges in respect of an offence ca n well be established on the b asis of circumstantial eviden c e. However, i n such an eventuality, the prose c ution is expected to establish e a ch and every link in the chain of circumstanti a l evidence by leading cogent a nd convincing evidence. In this context, r e ference may be made to a c a se reported as Hanumant v. State of Madhya P radesh, AIR 1952 Supreme Co u rt 343, where i n it was held as follows:

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"10. It is well to remember that in cases w here the evidence is of a circumstan t ial n a ture, the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be dra w n

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s h ould in the first instance be fully est a blished, and all the facts so establis h ed s h ould be consistent only with the h ypothesis of the guilt of the accused. A gain, the circumstances should be o f a conclusive nature and tendency a nd t h ey should be such as to exclude eve r y hypothesis but the one proposed to be p r oved. In other words, there must be a chain of evidence so far complete as n o t to leave any reasonable ground for a conclusion consistent with t he i n nocence of the accused and it must b e such as to show that within all hu m an p r obability the act must have been don e by the accused."

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The aforesa i d principles have consistentl y been followed and have b e en affirmed in c atena of authorities. Recently, a three Judges Bench of Hon' b le Apex Court r eiterated the aforesaid position of law in 2025(1) RCR(Crimin a l) 12, Vishwaje e t Kerba Masalkar v. State of M a harashtra , while stating as und e r:

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“20. T h e law with regard to conviction on t he basis of circumstantial evidence h as v e ry well been crystalised in the judg m ent of this Court in the case of Sha r ad Birdhichand Sharda v. State of Maha r ashtra (1984) 4 SCC 116 : 1984 I N SC 1 2 1 , wherein this Court held thus:

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"152. Before discussing the cases relie d upon by the High Court we would l i ke to cite a few decisions on th e nature, character and essential pr o of required in a criminal case whic h rests on circumstantial evidence alo n e. The most fundamental and basi c decision of this Court is Hanumant v. State of Madhya Pradesh [(1952) 2 SCC 71 : AIR 1952 SC 343 : 1952 SCR 1091 : 1953 Cri LJ 129] . This case has been uniformly follo w ed and applied by this Court in a la r ge number of later decisions up-to-d a te, for instance, the cases of Tufail (Alias) Simmi v. State of Uttar Pradesh [(1969) 3 SCC 198 : 1970 SCC (Cri) 55] and Ramgopal v. State of Maharashtra [(1972) 4 SCC 625 : AIR 1972 SC 656] . It may be us e ful to extract what Mahajan, J. has laid down in Hanumant case [(1952) 2 SCC 71 : AIR 1952 SC 343 : 19 5 2 SCR 1091 : 1953 Cri LJ 129] :

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"It is well to remember tha t in cases where the evidence is o f a circumstantial nature, the circ u mstances from which the conclusio n of guilt is to be drawn should i n the first instance be fully established, and all the facts so establis h ed should be consistent only with t he hypothesis of the guilt of th e accused. Again, the circumstan c es should be of a conclusive n a ture and tendency and they should be such as to exclude every h y pothesis but the one proposed to be

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proved. In other words, the r e must be a chain of evidence so far complete as not to leave a n y reasonable ground for a conclus i on consistent with the innocence of the accused and it must be such a s to show that within all human p robability the act must have been d o ne by the accused."

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1 5 3. A close analysis of this deci s ion would show that the follow i ng conditions must be fulfilled befo r e a case against an accused can be said to be fully established:

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(1) the circumstances from whic h the conclusion of guilt is to be dra w n should be fully established. It may be noted here that this C o urt indicated that the circumstan c es concerned "must or should" and n ot "may be" established. There is not only a grammatical but a legal distinction between "may b e proved" and "must be or should be proved" as was held by this Court in Shivaji Sahabrao Bobade v. State of Maharashtra [(1973) 2 SCC 793 : 1973 SCC (Cri) 1033 : 1973 Crl LJ 1783] where the observations were made: [SCC para 19, p. 807: SCC (Cri) p. 1047]

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"Certainly, it is a pri m ary principle that the accused must be and not merely may be guilty before a court can convict and t he mental distance betwe e n may be' and must be' is long a nd divides vague conjectu r es from sure conclusions."

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(2) the facts so established shoul d be consistent only with the hypoth e sis of the guilt of the accuse d , that is to say, they should not be explainable on any other hypothesis except that the accused is guilt y ,

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(3) the circumstances should be o f a conclusive nature and tendency,

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(4) they should exclude every p o ssible hypothesis except the one to be proved, and

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(5) there must be a chain of evi d ence so complete as not to leave a ny reasonable ground for the conclusion consistent with the innocenc e of the accused and must show t h at in all human probability the act must have been done by the accuse d .

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1 5 4. These five golden principles, if w e may say so, constitute the panchsheel of the proof of a case based on ci r cumstantial evidence."

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It can thus clearly be seen that it is necessary for the prosecution that t he c i rcumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn should be f u lly established. The Court held that i t is a primary principle that the accu s ed **m** ust be' and not merelymay be' pro v ed guilty before a court can convict t he a c cused. It has been held that there is not only a grammatical but a le g al d i stinction between may be proved' a **n** d must be or should be proved'. It h as b e en held that the facts so established should be consistent only with the g u ilt o f the accused, that is to say, they s h ould not be explainable on any ot h er h y pothesis except the one where the a c cused is guilty. It has further been h e ld t h at the circumstances should be s u ch that they exclude every possi b le h y pothesis except the one to be prove d . It has been held that there must b e a c h ain of evidence so complete as not to leave any reasonable ground for t he c o nclusion consistent with the innoce n ce of the accused and must show tha t in a l l human probabilities, the act must h a ve been done by the accused.”

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In the pres e nt case, the prosecution mainly b anks upon the statement of P W -9 Tarun Ku m ar, who had allegedly seen t he accused running away w h ile carrying a b lood stained knife and it was subsequently that a dead body w as found near t hat place. Such like evidence a t best could be termed as evide n ce in the sha p e of ‘res gestae’ inasmuch as the accused was not seen in t he company of the deceased or immediately near the deceased just before h is death.

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The secon d piece of evidence on which t he prosecution relies upon is t he factum of r ecovery of blood stained knife at the instance of accused hims e lf which upo n chemical examination was fou n d to be stained with human blo o d. Said fact c e rtainly can be taken into accou n t, but the effect of such recov e ry has to be m easured in context of other ev i dence which the prosecution m ay have collec t ed. In the present case, the fac t um of PW-9 Tarun Kumar having seen the ac c used running away is not suffi c ient enough to establish his gu i lt. Although t h e police also claimed that th e accused had confessed his g u ilt before one V ijay Kumar, but for the reason s best known to the prosecution he

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has not be e n examined and has been giv e n up by the prosecution. In t he absence of examination of said Vijay Kumar, even the factum of recovery of knife is re n dered somewhat doubtful inas m uch as said Vijay Kumar was t he independe n t witness to the factum of rec o very of knife and had signed on recovery memo Ex.PQ/2. There is no oth e r evidence to connect the accu s ed with the a lleged occurrence. Under t h ese circumstances, the evide n ce collected b y the prosecution falls gros s ly short to meet the stand a rd prescribed f or holding a person guilty on th e basis of circumstantial eviden c e.

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Consequen t ly, we find that the findings of g uilt as recorded by the trial Co u rt cannot sus t ain and are liable to be set as i de. The instant appeal, as su c h, merits acc e ptance and is hereby accepted . The impugned judgment is s et aside and t h e appellant is acquitted of all th e charges framed against him. H is bail bonds/ s urety bonds shall stand dischar g ed.