Rajesh Yadav Vs State of U.P. (Supreme Court of India)
Facts- Two persons were done to death on 17.09.2004 at about 08.15 a.m. The death was caused by multiple bullet injuries. An FIR was lodged within an hour’s time by PW-1, who is none other than the nephew of one of the deceased.
The motive for the occurrence appears to be a prolonged election dispute between two groups. On the fateful day, two of the eye-witnesses were having tea. The deceased, passing the road on a two-wheeler were waylaid by the accused also travelling in two two-wheelers. Both the deceased died on the spot. The postmortem was done by PW-4 on the very same date. The First Information Report (FIR) was registered by PW-7. PW-13, 8 and 14 were the Investigating Officers. PW-13 did the substantial part of the investigation and on his transfer, the final report was filed by PW-8. Pertaining to the charge under Section 25 of the Arms Act, it was PW-14 who filed the subsequent final report.
Conclusion- There are three eye-witnesses examined by the prosecution. We find PWs-1 & 2 have not contradicted between themselves being the eye-witnesses. Merely because they are related witnesses, in the absence of any material to hold that they are interested, their testimonies cannot be rejected. There is also no delay in the registration of the FIR. PW-3 though turned hostile, spoke about the incident in his chief examination. Strangely, in the cross examination he turned turtle, while disputing the very factum of his chief examination made before the court. The view of the courts on this witness also deserves to be accepted.
There are three investigating officers. The other two investigating officers have been examined including for the charge under the Arms Act. PW-13, the first investigating officer, has been examined in extenso during cross examination. It is only for the further examination he turned turtle. That per se would not make the entire case of the prosecution bad is law particularly when the final report itself cannot be termed as a substantive piece of evidence being nothing but a collective opinion of the investigating officer.
FULL TEXT OF THE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT/ORDER
1. These two appeals arise out of the judgment rendered by the High Court convicting the appellants for life, while acquitting all of them for the offence charged under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), with the confirmation of conviction and sentence under Section 25 of the Arms Act except one. Of the five accused, the High Court thought it fit to remit the matter on the adequacy of charge for one. This accused was once again convicted and resultantly his appeal is pending under consideration before the High Court.
BRIEF FACTS:
2. Two persons were done to death on 17.09.2004 at about 08.15 a.m. The death was caused by multiple bullet injuries. An FIR was lodged within an hour’s time by PW-1, who is none other than the nephew of one of the deceased.
3. The motive for the occurrence appears to be a prolonged election dispute between two groups. On the fateful day, two of the eye-witnesses were having tea. The deceased, passing the road on a two-wheeler were waylaid by the accused also travelling in two two-wheelers. Both the deceased died on the spot. The postmortem was done by PW-4 on the very same date. The First Information Report (FIR) was registered by PW-7. PW-13, 8 and 14 were the Investigating Officers. PW-13 did the substantial part of the investigation and on his transfer, the final report was filed by PW-8. Pertaining to the charge under Section 25 of the Arms Act, it was PW-14 who filed the subsequent final report.
4. Recoveries have been made from all the accused before us. In so far as Accused No.3 is concerned, on his statement the recovery was made from the custody of his wife from his house.
5. The seized articles were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and a report was received. PW-10, the police constable was the one who took the arms to the laboratory.
6. On behalf of the prosecution, 14 witness have been examined while marking 47 documents including the FSL report. The accused persons let in only one witness and that too to support Accused No. 5 who is not before us.
7. PW-1 is the de facto He along with PWs-2 & 3 form the eyewitnesses to the case. PW-2 is the brother of one of the deceased. PW-3, who is an independent witness, turned hostile after his deposition in chief in favour of the prosecution. PW-4 is the doctor who conducted the postmortem and gave his opinion. The other witnesses are the official witnesses including the three investigating officers. Of these witnesses, PW-13 who was the one to undertake the investigation. After elaborate chief examination followed by another detailed cross-examination, despite efforts made by the courts including the issuance of non-bailable warrant, he did not turn up to depose further. One witness, by name Om Prakash, stated to be an injured witness, has not been examined by the prosecution on the premise that he could not be secured. Taking note of the above, the High Court rightly acquitted the appellants for the offence punishable under Section 307 IPC.
8. During the questioning by the Court under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), all the accused made a simple denial, though incrementing materials- both oral and documentary, were brought to their notice. The conviction and sentence rendered by the trial court was modified by the High Court as aforesaid resulting in imposition of life sentence. The High Court went into all the aspects and rendered a well-considered decision which is sought to be impugned before us.
SUBMISSIONS:
Submissions of the Appellants:
9. The learned counsel appearing for the appellants submitted that for inexplicable reasons the independent injured eye-witness, Om Prakash was screened by the prosecution. The other two eye-witnesses being related and chance witnesses are obviously interested in getting convection. The evidence of PW-13 ought not to have been accepted as he was not put to cross examination fully. If the deceased were running and the injuries were caused by chasing them, the cartridges could not have been found at a particular place near their bodies instead of spreading them over. There is a considerable delay in receiving the FSL report. There is an unrelated cartridge recovered which creates serious suspicion on the version of the prosecution. Reliance has been made on the following decisions in support of the aforesaid contentions:
