BALDEV RAJversusSTATE OF HARYANA

                               BALDEV RAJ
A
                                   v.
                           STATE OF HARYANA

                            SEPTEMBER 17, 1990

B            [M.H. KANIA AND M. FATHIMA BEEVI, JJ.

        Criminal Trial-Extra-judicial confession-Evidentiary value
    of-Whether can be relied upon by Court fof co;iviction.

           The appellant was convicted nnder s. 302 IPC for murdering his
    wife. The prosecution case was that on the fateful day the deceased had
C   taken meals to the appellant while he was working in the fil :d near his
    tuhewell. Her dead-body was re~vered two days later in a nearby
    drain. He made an extra-judicial confession the same day at the
    panchayat in the presence of PWs 3, 4 and S to the effect that he had
    killed his wife in the wheat field and threw the dead-body in the drain at
O   night after removing her ornaments. The FIR was lodged thereafter in
    the presence of the appellant and the fact of his statement was recorded
    therein. The weapon of offence, the kassi, and the ornaments were
    recovered from the hut near the tubewell at his instance. PW 3 narrated
    the events that preceded the occurrence. PWs 4 and S fully cor-
    roborated the evidence of PW 3 in that the appellant had confessed his
E   guilt in their presence. The evidence was accepted by the trial court.

         The High Court sustained the conviction on the view that various
    circumstances conclusively proved the guilt of the appellant beyond
    reasonable doubt.

F         In the appeal it was contended for the appellant that the extra-
    judicial confession even if true, was not voluntary but induced on the
    promise that he would be pardoned and the same having been retracted
    could not form the basis for a conviction in the· absence of any material
    corroboration.                                       '

G         Dismissing the appeal,

         HELD: I. The High Court was right in its conclusion and there
    was no ground for interference.

         2.1 An extra-judicial confession, if voluntary can be relied upon
H   by the court alongwith other evidence in convicting the accused. The

                                       492
                   BALDEV RAJ v. STATE OF HARYANA                       493

 value of the evidence as tO the confes~ion depends upon the veracity of
 the witnesses to.whom it is made. Though the court requires the witness       A
 to give the actual words used hy the accused as nearly as possible but it
 is not an invariable rule that the court should not accept the evidence, if
 not the actual words but the substance were given. It is for the court
 having regard to the credibility of the witness to accept the evidence or
 not. When the court believes the witness before whom the confession is        B
 made and it is satisfied that -th~ confession w~~ voluntary, conviction
 can be founded on such evidence.

       2.2 In theinstant case, the fact that the appellant made the con-
 fession is proved by cogent evidence. He and his father were brought
 before the panchayat held in the presence of PWs 3, 4 and 5. H~ was
 questioned and was asked to speak the truth. This prompting by the            c
 panchayat does not amount to inducement or threat. The testimony of
 PW 4, a lambardar, and PW 5, the Sarpanch being responsible persons
 could not be doubted in the absence of any material to show that they
 had been motivated to falsely implicate the appellant. The circum-
 stances under which the statement was made leaves no room for doubt           D
 that the confession was voluntary.

         2.3. The discovery of the dead body from 'the drain through the
  wheat field, presence of blood in the field, recovery of gold ornaments
  from the roof of the hut and blood stained kassi from the hut near the
  tubewell were material circumstances providing connecting links in the       E
  chain of circumstantial evidence. The appellant when examined did not
  offer any explanation except to deny his involvement. PW 3 had
  testified to the fact that the deceased had complained about the ill-
  treatment by her husband. In the light of such evidence, it is preposter-
  ous to maintain that she may have been assaulted by some unidentified
  assailant somewhere in the fie_lds and the appellant had been falsely        F
· implicated in the offence.

       3. The circumstances thus proved were conclusive of the guilt of
 the appellant and incapable of being explained on any other reasonable
 hypothe_sis. Conviction has, therefore, to be maintained.             .
                                                                               G
      CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
 No. 206 of 1979.

      From the Judgment and Order dated 27.9.1978 of the Punjab
 and Haryana High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 1713of1975.
                                                                               .H
    494         SUPREME COURT REPORTS               [ 1990] Supp. 1 S.C.R.

          A.S. Sohal and S.K. Jain for the Appellant.
A
          Mahabir Singh and A.G. Prasad for the Respondent.

          The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

B         FATHIMA BEEVI, .J. Raj Kumari (20), the daughter of Ishar
    Dass, was married to the appellant Baldev Raj a year before her tragic
    death in February, 1975. It appears that all was not well with the
    couple. Raj Kumari left for her parents house in village Raison 75
    Kms. away from her matrimonial home in village Urlana Khurd. She
    stayed with her parents for some days complaining ill-teatment by the
    husband. On the assurance of the father-in-law, she was sent back with
c   her husband hardly a couple of months before the incident on
    14.2.1975. On that fateful day, it is said that Raj Kumari took meals to
    the appellant who was working in the wheat field near his tubewell.
    Raj Kumari did not return home. Her dead-body was discovered in the
    drain on 16.2.1975. Multiple injuries were seen on her person. Comp-
D   laint was lodged at the police station on February 16, 1975 at about
    5.30 P.M. against the appellant who was finally chargesheeted for the
    offence under section 302 and 201, I.P.C. The learned Sessions Judge
    convicted the appellant under section 302, I.P.C., and sentenced him
    ~o undergo imprisonment for life, The High Court dismissed the
    appeal against the conviction and sentence. This appeal by special
E   leave is directed against the judgment of the High Court.

          The conviction of the appellant is based on circumstantial evi-
    dence only. The main item of the evidence consists of the extra-
    judicial confession stated to have been made by the appellant in the
    presence of Ishar Dass (PW-3), Ramji Dass (PW-4) and Satnam Dass
F   (PW-5) at the panchayat on 16.2.1975, besides the recovery of incri-
    minating articles at the instance of ..the appellant and the motive as -
    spoken to by Ishar Dass. According fo the prosecution, on 15.2.1975
    the appellant's father Hakam Chand contracted Ishar Dass when Raj
    Kumari was found missing from 14.2.1975. Ishar Dass arrived at vil-
    lage Urlana Khurd accompanied by Satnam Dass, Sarpanch of his
G   village, and others. At the panchayat held in the presence of Ramji
    Dass, Nand Lal, Satnam Dass and others, the appellant stated that he
    killed his wife in the wheat field and threw the dead-body in the drain
    at night after removing her ornaments. PWs 3, 4 and 5 testified the fact
    but Nand Lal (DW-1) did not support the prosecution version. It is
    also the prosecution case that the appellant was handed over to and
H   arrested by the police at the time the complaint was lodged after the
      BAlDEV RAJ v. STATE OF HARYANA [FATHIMA llEEVI, J.J            495

discovery of the dead-body and that the appellant had produced the
kassi and the gold ornaments concealed in the hut near the tubewell.         A
PW- iO. the Sub-lnspecior of Police, deposed to having interrogated
the appeifant and effected the recovery on the basis of the statements
made by the appellant. lshar Dass (PW-3) narrated the events that
preceded the occurrence and also proved the letter he had received
from the appellant's father when Raj Kumari was staying with him. He         B
also stated the circumstances under which he happened to be at the
panchayat oh 16.2. 1975 along with the others after being informed by
i-lakam Chand. PWs 4 and 5 fully corroborated the evidence of PW-3
in that the appellant had confessed his guilt in their presence. The
evidence was accepted by the trial court and the High Court to sustain
the conviction against the appellant.
                                                                             c
       The argument on behalf of the appellant that the medical evi-
 dence is conflicting with the prosecution case was rejected by the High
 Court finding that the ante•mortem injuries found on the body of Raj
 Kumari could have been caused with the weapon recovered even on
 the statement made by the Doctor (PW-I). The recovery of the blood-         D
·stained earthc from the wheat field near the tubewell, recovery of
 blood-stained kassi and ttie ornaments worn by Raj Kumari by PW- IO
 in the opinion of the High Court lent assurance to the statemel)t made
 by the appellant before the panchayat. The High Court was of the view
 that the various circumstances conclusively proved the guilt of the
 appellant beyond reasonable doubt.                                          E

       The main contention advanced on behlf of the appellant before
us is that the High Court failed to appreciate the inherent infirmities in
the prosecution evidence and that there is no legal evidence to support
the findings. It was maintained that the testimony of PWs 3, 4 and 5
relating to the extra-judicial confession is discrepant and incredible,      F
that the confession even if true, was not voluntary but induced and the
same having been retraced cannot form the basis for a conviction in the
absence of any material corroboration.

      The learned counsel for the appellant contended that the High
Court had refused to give benefit of ·doubt io the accused despite facts     G
apparent on the face of the record any interference is called for. The
extra-judicial confession, according to the learned counsel, being a
very weak piece of evidence, could not have been accepted as true or
voluntary in view of the admission made by the prosecution witnesses
and improvement in the story given by Jshar Dass. He pointed out that
at the pancha)'at the appellant was induced to make a statement on the       H
         496         SUPREME COURT REPORTS               [1990) Supp. l S.C.R.

         promise that he would be pardoned and therefore the confession is
     A
         unacceptable.

               Normally this Court does not interfere with the concurrent find-
         ings of the facts of the courts below in the absence of very special
         circumstances or gross errors of law committed by the High Court and
     B   violation of the well established principles of the appreciation of
         circumstantial evidence, which results in serious and substantial mis-
         carriage of justice to the accused. We heard the learned counsel at
         length. We find that the High Court was right in its conclusion and
         there is no good ground for interference.              ·

                The first information was lodged by Ishar Dass at the police
     c   station where the appellant was also present. In the first information
         report itself Ishar Dass has narrated the story of the panchayat having
         been held in the presence of PWs 4 and 5 and the appellant having
         made the confession. PW-5 accompanied lshar Dass from village
         Raison. It is difficult to hold that these persons hailing from another
     D   village would have been in a position to influence the local people
         against the appellant and foist a case against him. PW-4, Lambardar
         (Ramji Dass) substantially supported the prosecution case. The courts
         below have carefully analysed the evidence and accepted the same. As
         rightly pointed out by the High Court, we find no merit in the submis-
         sion that the medical evidence is not in consonance with the prosecu-
     E   tion case. The facts that the autopsy was held nearly 72 hours after the
         injuries were caused and. the witnesses were examined long after the
         weapon was recovered are relevant in appreciating the evidence of t)le
         medical witness. The evidence of this witness read as a whole is only
         consistent with the case that the injuries could have been caused with
         the weapon. The fact that the appellant made the confession is proved
     F   by cogent .evidence. The circumstances that his father was present
         throughout and the appellant himself did not protest when he was
         present at the police station negatives the suggestion of inducement or
         threat. The discovery of the dead-body from the drain through the
         wheat field, presence of blood in the field, recovery of gold ornaments
         from, the roof of the hut and blood stained kassi from its premises near
     G   the. tubewell are material circumstances providing connecting links in
         the chain of circumstantial evidence. The appellant when examined
~l
         did not offer any explanation except to deny his involvement. Ishar
         Dass testified to the fact that Raj Kumari had complained about the
•e       ill-treatment by her husband, In the light of such evidence, it is pre-
         posterous to maintain that the deceased may have been assaulted by
     H   some unidentified assailant somewhere in the fields and the appellant



 "
    ~·         BALDEV RAJ v. STATE OF HARYANA [FATHIMA BEEVI, J.[              497

          had been falsely implicated in the offence.
                                                                                       A
               The confessional statement is not a king narration. The sub-
         stance of the statement is that the appellant killed his wife and threw
         the dead-body in the drain. PW-4 is the Lambardar of village Urlana
         Khurd and PW-5 the Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat of village Raison.
         The fact that a panchayat was held at village Urlana Khurd is admitted        B
         even by the hostile witness Nand Lal (DW-1). Ishar Dass when
         informed by Hakam Chand at his village that Raj Kumari was found
         missing entertained suspicion. He met his villagers and proceeded to
         the appellant's village the next day, along with the Sarpanch and other
         persons. The panchayat was held there on 16.2.1975. The appellant
         and his father were brought before the panchayat. The appellant was
         questioned and was asked to speak the truth and then the appellant            c
         with folded hands said that he murdered his wife in the wheat field
         when she came there with meals and later threw the dead-body in the
         drain. The prompting by the panchayat does not amount to induce-
         ment or threat and the circumstances under which the statement was
         made leave no room for doubt that the confession was voluntary.               D

                An extra-judicial confession, if voluntary, can be relied upon by
          the court along with other evidence in convicting the accused. The
          value of the evidence as to the confession depends upon the veracity of
          the witnesses to whom it is made. It is true that the court requires the
          witness to give the actual words used by the acccused as nearly as           E
          possible but it is not an invariable rule that the court should not accept
          the evidence, if not the actual words but the substance were given. It is
         ·for the.court having regard to the credibility of the witness to accept
          the evidence or not. When the court believes the witness before whom
          the confession is made and it is satisfied that the confession was volun-
          tary, conviction can be founded on such evidence. Keeping these              F
          principles in mind, we find that the confession has been properly
          accepted and .acted upon by the courts below and there is no scope for
          any doubt regarding the complicity of the appellant in the crime. The
         ·confession of the appellant was voluntary. The testimony of PW-4 and
          PW-5 being responsible persons could not be doubted in the absence
          of any material to show that they had been motivated to falsely impli-       G
          cate the appellant. The very presence of the appellant and his father
          with the party of lshar Dass throughout the operation upto lodging of
          complaint at the police station dispel any suspicion againsi the prosecu-
          tion case and clearly point to the truthfulness of the same. we are,
          therefore, unable to find any infirmity in the confession which has
          been accepted and relied upon by the courts below.                           H


J
I
    498        SUPREME COURT REPORTS              [1990] Supp. I S.C.R.

A        The circumstances proved are conclusive of the guilt of the
    appellant and incapable of being explained on any other reasonable,
    hypothesis. Conviction has therefore to be maintained. The appeal is
    accordingly dismissed. The appellant who is on bail shall surrender to
    custody to undergo the sentence of imprisonment.

    P.S.S.                                              Appeal dismissed.




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