Holding

The approver's testimony was not sufficiently corroborated on material particulars, rendering the conviction of Balwant Kaur unsafe and leading to its reversal.

Summary

Balwant Kaur was convicted for the murder of her husband, Pritam Singh, based primarily on the testimony of co‑accused Ram Sarup, who turned approver. The prosecution alleged that Kaur conspired with Nand Singh and Sarup to murder her husband and that she had urged them to do so. The Supreme Court examined whether the approver's testimony was sufficiently corroborated on material particulars, as required by Section 114(b) and Section 133 of the Indian Evidence Act, and whether the trial complied with Section 313 of the CrPC. The Court held that the approver's evidence lacked independent corroboration linking Kaur to the conspiracy and that she was not put to cross‑examination on crucial incriminating statements. Consequently, Kaur was entitled to the benefit of doubt and her conviction and life sentence were set aside, while the convictions of the other accused were left untouched. The Court also noted that, as Kaur was a child under the East Punjab Children Act, 1949, the procedural issues under that Act need not be revisited.

Issues considered

The extent and nature of corroboration required for an accomplice's (approver's) testimony under the Indian Evidence Act.
Whether the trial complied with the requirement of Section 313 CrPC to put incriminating statements to the accused.
Procedural propriety of trying a child offender under the East Punjab Children Act, 1949.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 313
East Punjab Children Act, 1949s. 27
Indian Evidence Act, 1872s. 114(b), s. 133

Subjects

accomplice evidencecorroborationIndian Evidence ActSection 313 CrPCbenefit of doubtchild offenderEast Punjab Children Actconviction set aside

Judgment

---r·· BALWANT KAUR A
v.
UNION TERRITORY OF CHANDIGARH

NOVEMBER 3, 1987

[A.P. SEN AND M.N. VENKATACHALIAH, JJ.) B

Indian Evidence Act, 1872: Section 114 Ill. (b) and 133-
Accomplice's evidence-Credibility of-Nature and extent of corro-
boration-Necessity for-Accused's conviction-On uncorroborated
evidence-Effect of.

1. Criminal Procedure Code, 1973: Section 313-Approver's tes- C
timony-To be put to accused in examination-Necessity for.

The prosecution alleged that the married life of the appellant, who
·was said to be 151/z years of age, was in a serious dis~rray, that she and
the non-appealing accused were on terms of illicit intimacy, that she D
also submitted herself to PW 2 in an extra-marital relation, that on
13.11.73 she implored the non-appealing accused and PW 2 to free her
from a cruel husband by doing away with him, that she agreed that she
would, thereafter live with the non-appealing accused as his wife, that
the three designed and conspired to do away with the deceased, in
pursuance of which the appellant persuaded her husband to go to the E
bus stand at Chandigarh at 9.30 a.m. on 14th November, 1973, where the

- non-appealing accused and PW 2 were waiting for him as pre-arranged,
and took him to Pinjore by bus, where they consumed liquor together
and the non-appealing accused purchased Ghotna, that while all the
three were walking back to Chandigarh and climbed the way side hill
the non-appealing accused gave blows on the head of the unsuspecting F
deceased with the Ghotna, while PW 2 pinned him down, that they
concealed the clothes and body of the deceased in the nearby bushes,
that both of them returned to Chandigarh by night fall, and the non-
appealing accused informed PW 2 that he, in turn, had informed the
appellant oftbe death of her husband, that the mother of the deceased,
PW 19, lodged a complaint on 13.12.73 about her missing son in writing G
with the Senior Superintendent of Police, Chandigarh, alleging that she
• person of the village Labor Khoda with his two
had learnt that a certain
sons and the Sarpanch with his two othe~ relatives had killed her son,
the motive being that her son had developed illicit relations with the
daughter of the person, that after coming to know of her husband's
death the appellant misled her mother-in-law PW 19, into making a H
7'15
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1988] I S.C.R.

report to the police containing false and misleading information in an
A
attempt to draw a red-herring across the trial.

The non-appealing accused was arrested on 3.4. 75. On his infor-
mation Ex. P8, a pair of shoes, purse, 25 pieces of bones including an
incomplete hnman skull were recoverett. The appellant and PW 2 were
B arrested on 8.5. 75.

After completing the investigation, charges were brought against
the appellants and the two accused for conspiracy and murder. PW 2,
who wa• one of the co-accused, turned approver.

The trial court on the basis of the approver's testimony as I
c corroborated by other evidence held the non-appealing accused and the
appellant guilty of the offences under sections 302 and 120-B of the
.A
I.P.C. and sentenced thent to imprisonment for life. The High Court
dismissed their appeals and confirmed the convictions and sentence.

D In the appeal to this Court, it was urged that the evidence of the
approver Insofar as the compicity of the appellant was concerned,
lacked corroboration on material particulars and that no conviction
could be sustained on such uncorroborated accomplice's testimony.

On the question as to: (1) the nature and extent of corroboration ,._
E of an accomplice's evidence; and (2) the procedure for the trial of
offences by a 'child' under the East Punjab Children's Act, 1949,

HELD: I.I An accomplice, by long legal tradition, is a notori- ._
ously infamous witness, one who being partipes-criminis, purchases his
immunity by accepting to. accuse others. Section 114, illustration (b) of
F the Evidence Act envisages the presumptive uncreditworthiness of an )
accomplice. But, then section 133 provides that a conviction is not _.
illegal merely because it rests upon an accomplice's uncorroborated
testimony. (753C-D]

I.2 In indictments, particularly of serious crimes, counsel of cau-
G tion and the rule of prudence enjoin that it is unsafe to rest a conviction
on the evidence of a guilty partner in a crime without independent
corroboration on the material particulars. Judicial experience was,
thus, elevated to a rule of law. It is a practice which deserves all the .~ -
reverence oflaw. (753D-E]

H I.3 The nature and extent of the corroboration must nec~rily
BALWANT KAUR v. U.T. CHANDIGARH 747

vary with the nature and circumstances of each case. Enunciation of
any general rule, valid for all occasions is, at once, unwise and A
unpractical. [753F]

1.4 The corroboration has to be of two kinds; first belonging to
the area of reassurance of the credit of the approver himself as a
trustworthy witness; and the second-which arises for conclusion after B
the court is satisfied about the creditibility of the approver-as to the
. corroboration in material particulars not only of the commission of the
crime but also of the complicity of other accused-person in the crime. If
c on the first area the court is not satisfied, the second does not arise.
However, the two areas of corroboration are not two separate, water-
tight compartments. The evidence as a whole will have to be examined
to reach conclusions on both aspects. [757G-H; 758C] c

Sharvana Bhavan v. State of Madras, AIR 1966 SC 1273 referred
to.

1.5 The controversy _in the present case in the ultimate analysis, D
belongs to the second area, whether the approver's testimony as
to appellant's complicity in the conspiracy could safely be held to
have been corroborated by independent evidence on the material
particulars. [758F-G]
-'-'(
\
There was a considerable lapse of time between the death of E
decease and the arrest of the appellant and the non-appealing accused.
There is no evidence to show that, in the interregnum, there was any
liasion between the two. The incriminating circumstances in the
evidence of the approver appearing against the appellant that on
13.11.1973 appellant wept and implored the non-appealing accused and
PW 2 to do away with the deceased and that appellant also agreed that F
she would, thereafter, live with the non-appealing accused had had to be
put to the appellant in the course of her examination under section 313 Cr.
P.C. hut this has not been done. Appellant was not afforded an op-
portunity to submit an explanation to it. That part of the evidence must
for that reason, be excluded from consideration. [759C-El
G
Harijan Magha Jesha v. State of Gujarat, [1979] 3 SCC 474, refer-
red to.

On a consideration of the entire matter, the approver's evidence
in regard to the complicity of the appellant in the conspiracy lacks
corroboration on certain material particulars necessary to connect the H
748 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1988] I S.C.R.

A appellant. A little more reassurance than is afforded by the state of y
evidence in the case is perhaps necessary to convict appellant. The
appellant in the circumstances would be entitled to the benefit of doubt.
[759F]
At the time of the commission of the offence, the appellant, even
B on the basis of the observations .made by the sessions c:ourt, was about
15'h years of age and was a 'child' within the meaning of East Punjab
Children's Act, 1949. The sessions court invoked the proviso to section
27 of the Act and held that the appellant was so depr111ved a character
that none of the other methods mentioned in the section in which the
case could legally-be dealt with was suitable in her case. [759G; 760C]
C In view of the fmding that the appellant is entitled to the benefit of
doubt, any examination of the legality or propriety of the procedure A
adopted in the case in the matter of trial of a 'child' under the East -
Punjab Children's Act, 1949 and the correctness of the view of the
sessions court in appealing to the proviso to section 27, and sentencing
appellant to imprisonment for life is not necessary. [760 C·Dl
D
Appeal allowed. Conviction and sentence of the a11pellant set aside
and appellant directed to be set at liberty. However, conviction and
sentence of the other non-appearing accused left undisturbed. [760E]

Wigmore on Evidence: 3rd Editition Vol. VII para 2054, Rex v. \-- •
E Bhaskerville, [1916] 2 KB 658, Rameshwar Kalyan Singh v. State of
Rajasthan AIR 1952 SC 54, Director of Public Prosecutions v. Kill-
bourne, [1973] Appeal A.c. 729/All England law reports 1982(1) page
815(g), R. v. Beck, [1982] 1 All ER 807(CA), R. v. Spencer, [1986] 2
All ER 928, R. v. Donat, [1986] 2 Cr. App. R. 1973, Attorney General
of Hongkong v. Wong Muko Ping [1987] 2 W.L.R. 1033 and Hals-
F bury's Laws of England IV Ed. Vol. II p. 268, para 4S4 referred to. )

ORIGINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
No. 742 of 1979.

From the Judgment and Order dated 16.1.1979 of the Punjab
G and Haryana High Court in Cr!. A.No. 656 of 1976.

A.S. Sohal and P.N. Puri for the Appellant.

Kiran Choudhri and T. Sridharan for the Respondent.
'·
H The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
BALWANTKAUR v. IJ.T. CHANDIGARH [VENKATACHALIAH, J.] 749

VENKATACHALIAH J. This appeal, by Special Leave, prefer-
red against the Judgment dated April 26, 1976 of the High Court of A
Punjab & Haryana affirming the judgment dated 26 J 1976 of the
Sessions Judge in S.C. No. 5 of 1976 convicting appellant for offences
under Sections 302 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and sentencing
her to imprisonment for life, raises certain questions as to the nature
and extent of corroboration of an accomplice's evidence; and as to the B
procedure for the trial of offences by a "child" under the East Pun jab
Children's Act 1949.

Appellant-Balwant Kaur was said to be 151/i years of age at the
time of the commission of the offence alleged against her.

2. From 14.11. 1973 the whereabouts of appellant's husband C
Pritam Singh, a police-constable, were not known. His mother Mukht-
iar Kaur (P.W. 19) reported this fact and expressed her apprehensions
in the matter in her complaint to the Superintendent of Police. Appel-
lant was arrested on 8.5.1975. Nand Singh and Ram Sarup were also
arrested on 8.5.1975. Ram Sarup became an approver. Appellant's D
defence was one of total denial.

3. The judgment of the High Court under appeal is common to
Criminal Appeal No. 676 of 1976 preferred by Nand Singh who was
/
. .,,; convicted under Sections 302, 364, 201 and 120-B of I.P .C. and also
' sentenced to imprisonment for life. E

4. Appellant's husband, Pritam Singh for whose murder appel-
..,. !ant and the said Nand Singh had been arraigned, was, at the relevant
time, a police-constable at the Police Station West, Sector-11
Chandigarh. N and Singh was another constable at the same Police
Station. Nand Singh's brother Bhag Singh and Pritam Singh were F
\ neighbours, residing in adjacent Government-quarters in Sector 20-A,
- Chandigarh. Ram Sarup, who later turned approver, was another
police-constable on Guard duty at the Punjab Raj Bhavan, Chandi-
garh.

5. The married life of Appellant and Pritam Singh, according to G
the prosecution, lacked connubial felicity and was marked by constant
bickerings and quarrels, the cause for this discord being the addiction
of Pritam Singh to liquor. It is the prosecution case that Pritam Singh
was a dipsomaniac and was constantly subjecting appellant to corpo-
real intransigence. It was further alleged that appellant had developed
illicit intimacy with Nand Singh. Ram Sarup, in the course of his visits H

..
750 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] 1 S.C.R.

A to Bhag Singh 's house met, and became friendly with Nand Singh and 'y·
the two become accustomed to take liquor together. Ram Sarup also
knew deceased Pritam Singh. It is alleged that on occasions Nand
Singh, when he lost self-control under the influence of liquor, used to
confide in Ram Sarup of his illicit sexual exploits with appellant. This
appears to have tempted Ram Sarup to ask Nand Singh· to introduce
B Ram Sarup also to appellant for a similar intrigue.

6. On November 13, 1973, in the afternoon when Ram Sarup was
off-dnty, Nand Singh took Ram Sarup to his own quarters in Sector
20 A-said to be at a short distance from the appellant's residence-and
the two had liquor together. Thereafter, Nand Singh is stated to have
taken Ram Sarup to the residence of, and introduced him to the appel- '
C !ant and persuaded her to gratify the desire of Ram Sarup also. Appel- __ _A.
!ant and Ram Sarup are stated to have indulged in acts of illegal
intimacy.

Later, the same afternoon, the three met again at appellant's
D home when, it would appear, appellant while narrating the privations
and hardships endured by her at the hands of her husband broke-down and
implored Nand Singh and Ram Sarup to do away with Pritam Singh. She
appears to have also offered that after Pritam Singh 's death she would
marry and live with Nand Singh, who was then unmarried. According
to the prosecution, it was agreed amongst the three that the appellant
E should peFsuade her husband to reach Chandigarh bus-stand the

-
following day i.e. November 14, 1973 and that Nand Singh and llam
Sarup, who would be present three, would entice him away to Pinjore
with the inducement of liquor and, do away with him there.

7. Pursuant to this design and conspiracy, appellant is stated to
F have persuaded her husband to go to the bus-stand at Chandigarh at
9.30 a.m. on 14.11.1973 where Nand Singh and Ram Sarup who were )
waiting for him as pre-arranged took him to Pinjore by bus. There, all
the three cumsumed liquor together. Nand Singh is also stated to have
purchased "Ghotna" on the pretext that his sister-in-law had asked for
the purchase of one. Thereafter, all the three agreed to go back
G Chandigarh on foot which took them along a 'dandi' passing by the
side of the Pinjore gardens. They reached the railway line near Sura-
jpur Cement Factory and took the foot-path towards Chandigarh.
When the three reached a distance of almost 2 miles from Surajpur,
Nand Singh suggested that they should climb up a hill on the way side
to enjoy a panoramic view of Chandigarh. Accordingly, all the three
H started climbing. Ram Sarup (P.W. 2) was ahead; Pritam Singh was in
BALWANTKAURv. U.T. CHANDIGARH [VENKATACHALIAH,l.] 751

the middle with Nand Singh following behind him. Nand Singh is
'-( A
stated to have suddenly administered 2-3 Ghotna blows on the head of
the unsuspecting Pritam Singh and told Ram Sarup (P.W. 2) to pin the
tottering Pritam Singh down. Ram Sarup pulled Pritam Singh down
whereupon Nand Singh gave 8 to 10 more blows with the Ghotna on
the person of Pritam Singh. Then Nand Singh threw away the Ghotna
and the two, namely, i.e. Nand Singh and Ram Sarup, hastened B
towards Chandigarh. However, after the two had gone 2 furlongs or
~ so, Nand Singh urged Ram Sarup (P.W. 2) that they both go back to
find out whether Pritam Singh was really dead or not. They, accord-
ingly, returned and ensured that Pritam Singh had died. They removed
the pants and Bush-shirt of the deceased and concealed them in a
bush. Then, the body of Pritam Singh was also concealed in the nearby
c
J bushes. The turban of the Pritam Singh had fallen down at the spot.

Thereafter, the two returned to Chandigarh by night-fall. Next
day, i.e. on 15.11.1973, Nand Singh came to Raj Bhavan where Ram
Sarup was on duty and told the latter that he had, in tum, informed
Balwant Kaur of the death of Pritam Singh. This, in substance is the D
prosecution case as unfolded in the evidence of the Ram Sarup (P. W.
2) who turned approver.

8. On 13.12.1973, Mukhtiar Kaur (P.W. 19), the mother of
deceased-Pritam lodged a complaint about her missing son in writing
_,, '
with the Senior Superintendent of Police, Chandigarh. In that, it was E
stated that she had learnt from Pandit Sita Ram that a certain Naik
Singh and his two sons of the village Labor Khuda and Dev Singh, the
Sarpanch of that village alongwith two other relatives of the Sarpanch
had killed Pritam Singh, the alleged motive was that deceased Pritam
Singh, when he was earlier serving in Lahorkhuda had developed illicit
relations with Naik Singh's daughter, Prito. At the trial Mukhtiar Kaur F
was examined to establish that this complaint was engineered by the
\ appellant and Nand Singh to put the investigation on a wrong scent.

Apparently, nothing was heard of the matter for a· long time till
3.4.1975, when Nand Singh was arrested by ASI Gulzara Singh (P.W.
24). On his information Exg. P. 8, a pair of shoes, a purse, 25 pieces of G
bones including an incomplete human skull were recovered. Dr.
Inderjit Dewan (P. W. 1) examined the bones and was of the opinion
_ _) that they were the remains of a well-built adult, but not old, male of a
height of about 5:9: According to P. W. 1, the person had died more
than 4 months previously. The death was ascribed in all probability to
the injuries to the skull administered by a blunt weapon. P.W. 1 could H
752 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] I S.C.R.

not, however confirm whether the in juries were ante-mortem or not.
A
Appellant was arrested by ASI Subhash Chander (P.W. 23) on
8.5.1975 and Ram Sarup was also arrested the same day. After the
completion of t~e investigation charges were brought against them for
conspiracy and murder. The trial court on the basis of the approver's
B testimony as corroborated by other evidence, held both Nand Singh
and the appellant guilty of the offences they were charged with and
sentenced them to imprisonment for life. The High Court has dismis-
sed their appeals and has confirmed the convictions and the sentences.

9. Shri A.S. Sohai, Learned counsel appearing in support of the
appeal urged that the evidence of the Approver in so far as the compl-
C icity of appellant is concerned, lacked corroboration on materials
· particulars and that no conviction could be sustained on such uncor-
roborated accomplice's testimony.

10. The development of the law touching the competency and
D credit of an accomplice as witness against others is not without its
interesting antecedents.

Historically, in the background of the political trials since the
time of Henry VIII where 'King's Evidence' was the main dependence
of the crown in its prosecutions, the question of the very admissibility ")'-.
E of the evidence of the accomplice loomed large. In the 17th and the
18th centuries, it was ruled repeatedly by the English courts that an
accomplice was a competent witness. His 'credit' or the sufficiency of
his evidence as a quantitative conception, however, ramained in the
background. Those were days when 'form' pre-dominated over the
'substance' and.the oath had a dead-weight of its own. It was for this
F reason that struggle was made to keep-out this evidence even at the ).
threshold. On the further development in the law which slowly began
to recognise the distinction between 'competency' and 'credit',
Wigmore says: Wigmore on Evidence: 3rd Edition Vol. VII para 2054.

"As time went on, and the modem conception of testimony
G developed, the possibility of admitting a witness and yet
discriminating as to the qualitative sufficiency of his
testimony became more apparent; and the way was open
for the consideration of this question. In a few instances, as
the 1700s wore on, and even before then, judicial sugges·
, tions are found as to feasibility of such a discrimination.
H But not until the end of that century does any Court seem
BALWANTKAURv. U.T.CHANDIGARH[VENKATACHALIAH,J.] 753

to have acted upon such a suggestion in its directions to the A
jury. About that time theri comes into acceptance a
general practice to discourage a conviction founded solely
upon the testimony of an accomplice uncorroborated.

But was this practice founded on a rule of law?
Never, in England,-until modern times. It was recognised B
constantly that the judge's instruction upon this point was a
mere exercise of his common-law function of advising the
jury upon the weight of the evidence, and was not a sta\e-
ment of a rule of law binding·upon the jury".

11. An accomplice, by long legal tradition, is a notoriously
infamous witness, one who being partipes-criminis, purchases his C
immunity by accepting to accuse others. Section 114 Illus: (b) of the
Evidence Act envisages the presumptive uncredit-worthiness of an
accomplice. But then, Section 133 provides that a conviction is not
illegal merely because it rests upon an accomplice's uncorroborated
testimony. D

In indictments, particularly of serious crimes, the counsel of cau-
tion and the rule of prudence en join that it is unsafe to rest a convic-
tion on the evidence of a guilty partner in a crime without independent
corroboration on the material particulars. Judicial experience was,
thus, elevated to a rule of law. "It is a practice" it is said "which E
deserves all the reverence of law."

The nature and extent of the corroboration must necessarily vary
with the nature and circumstances of each case. Enunciation of any
general rule, valid for all occasions is, at once, unwise and unpractical.
The aspect as to the extent and content of independent corroboration is, F
again, an interesting area of study. One view was that independent
\ evidence tending to verify any part of the testimony of the accomplice
should suffice. The other view required that the corroborative evi-
dence should not only show that part of the accomplice testimony is
true; but should go further and also implicate the other accused. In R.
v. Bhaskerville, the Court of Criminal appeal in England favoured and G
adopted the second view.

Thirtyfive years ago, Bose J referring with approval to the princi-
ples in Bhaskerville said that this branch of the law in India is the same
as in England and that the lucid exposition of it given by Lord Read-
ing, cannot be bettered. H

,
..
754 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1988) 1 S.C.R.

A The felicitous formulation of the law on the matter by that great
master of phrase, Bose J, which has now become classical, may be Y
re-called:

" ....... But to this extent the rules are clear:

B (21) First, it is not necessary that there should be independent
confirmation of every material circumstance in the sense
that the independent evidence in the case, apart from the
testimony of the complainant of the accomplice, should in
itself be sufficient to sustain conviction.

(22) Secondly, the independent evidence must not only make it
c safe to believe that the crime was committed but must in
\

some way reasonably connect or tend to connect the
accused with it by confirming in some material particular
the testimony of the accomplice or complainant that the
accused committed the crime. This does not mean that the
D corroboration as to identity must extend to all the circumst-
ances necessary to identify the accused with the offence.

(23) Thirdly, the corroboration must come from independent
source and thus ordinarily the testimony of one accomplice
would not be sufficient to corroborate that of another
E "

(24) Fourthly, the corroboration need not be direct evidence
that the accused committed the crime. It is sufficient if it is
merely circumstantial evidence of his connection with the
crime ......... "
F •,
(See Rameshwar Kalyan Singh v. State of Rajas than, AIR 1952 SC 54).
J
In Rex v. Bhaskerville, [1916] 2 KB 658 Lord Reading, CJ
noticed the different views as to the extent and scope of reasonable
corroboration:
G
" .... The difference of opinion has arisen in the main in
reference to the question whether the corroborative evi-
dence must connect the accused with the crime. The rule of
practice as to corroborative evidence has arisen in consequ-
"ence of the danger of convicting a person upon the uncon-
H firmed testimony of one who is admittedly a criminal .... "
BALWANTKAUR v. U.T.CHANDIGARH (VENKATACHALIAH,J.I 755

Resolving the difference of opinion it was held:
A
"We hold that evidence in corroboration must be indepen-
dent testimony which affects the accused by connecting or
tending to connect him with the crime. In other words, it
must be evidence which implicates him, that is, which con-
firms is some material particular not only the evidence that B
the crime has been committed, but also that the prisoner
committed it. The test applicable to determine the nature
and extent of the corroboration is thus the same whether
the case falls within the rule of practice at common Jaw or
within that class of offences for which corroboration is re-
quired. by statute".
c
In Halsbury's (IV Edition Vol. II para 454) the following passage
obtains:

"Corroboration of a witness's testimony must be afforded
by independent evidence which affects the defendant by D
connecting or tending to connect him with the offence
charged. It must be evidence which implicates him, that is
which tends to confirm in some material particular not only
that the offence was committed, but also that the defendant
committed it".
E

12. As to independent nature of the corroboration learned Chief
Justice observed in Bhaskerville case:

" ..... Again, the corroboration must be by some evidence
other than that of an accomplice, and therefore one accom- F
plice's evidence is not corroboration of the testimony of
another accomplice: Rexv. Noakes ...... "

As to the extent of the requisite reassurance by way of corrob-
oration, learned Chief Justice said:
G
" ...... It is sufficient if there is confirmation as to a
material circumstance of the crime and of the identity of
the accused in relation to the crime. Parke B gave this
opinion as a result of twenty-five years' practice; it was
accepted by the other judges; and has been much rebed
H
upon in later cases .. · · · · ·"
756 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] 1 S.C.R.

" ....... Indeed, if it were required that the accomplice
A should be confirmed in every detail of the crime, his evi-
dence would not be essential to the case, it would be merely
confirmatory of other and independent testimony "
(page 664 in Rex v. Bhaskerville)

B In Halsbury's Laws of England-IV Edn.-Vol. II-page 26~- .!/<"
this proposition is stated thus: \···

>-
"The word 'corroboration' is not a technical term of art; it
means by itself no more than evidence tending to confirm, ._
support or strengthen, other evidence ...... "

c " ...... The corroboration need not consist of direct evi-
\
_),
deuce that the defendant committed the offence nor need it
amount to confirmation of the whole account given by the
witness, provided that it corroborates the evidence in some
respects material to the charge under consideration. It is
D sufficient if it is circumstantial evidence of the defendant's
connection with the offence, but it must be in&pendent
evidence, and must not be vague ..... "

However there were some observations in Director of Public
Prosecutions v. Killbourne (1973) Appeal A.C. 729 which tended
E towards a departure from the rule in Rex v. tJhaskerville. In Killboume "!
case Lord Hailsham said-and this is also the statement of the law in
Halsbury-IV Edition

"Evidence which is admissible, relevant to the evidence
requiring corroboration and (if believed) conformatoryof
..
F that evidence in a material particular, is capable of being
corroborative and, when believed, is corroboration". )
The above passage was not wholly in consonance with what Lord
Reading had earlier said:

G " ..... For example, confirmation does not mean that
there should be independent evidence of that which the
accomplice relates, or his testimony would be unnecessary
Regv. Mullins (l)perMauleJ .... "

But, in R. v. Beck., [ 1982] 1 All ER 807 (CA), it was reiterated
H by way of clarification that corroborating evidence need not relate to
BALWANTKAURv. U.T.CHANDIGARH (VENKATACHALIAH.J.J 757

the particular evidence spoken to by a suspect-witness, and that it was
""'I' merely independent testimony which confirmed in some material A
particular not only the evidence that a crime had been committed but
also that the accused-person had committed it. Referring to the state-
ment of Lord Hailsham in Killbourne case, All England law reports
1982( 1) page 815(g) it was observed:
B

... jThe learned editors of Archbold para 1416, after, in our
judgment correctly, stating that the corroborative evidence

-
I
need not relate to the particular incident or incidents
spoken to by the "suspect witness", express the view that
'Lord Hailsham's dictum that the corroborative evidence
must be "relevant to the evidence requiring corroboration"
c
{ may be misleading'. We agree. We do not think that Lord
Hailsham LC was expressing any support for the proposi-
tion of counsel for the appellant."

The position of law in Rex v. Bhaskerville was, thus restored.
D
13. However, a marked tendency in "England towards arresting
the formalism in regard to the specific words to be used to caution the
jury against the danger of accepting the testimony of the uncorro-
borated accomplice is now discernible. In R. v. Spencer [19862 All ER
928] the grievance of the convicted person was that the trial judge, in
./
cautioning the jury, failed to use the word 'dangerous' in describing E
the risks of injustice involved in convicting a person on the testimony of

-
an uncorroborated accomplice. Jhe Court of appeal and the House of
Lords declined to set aside·the verdict and said that the summing up
did not involve some legalistic ritual to be incanted in the summing-up.

However, in regard to the quality and extent of corroboration, in F
\ R. v. Donat, [1986] 2 Cr. App. R. 1973, it was reiterated that to count
-as corroboration, it is not enough that a piece of evidence merely
supports the accomplice's credjbility, however, convincingly and inde-
pendently; but it must go a little further and implicate the accused.
(See All England Reports: Annual Review 1986 page 158).
G
14. In Sharvana Bhavan v. State of Madras, (AIR 1966 SC 1273
the corroboration was held to be of two kinds: the first belonging to
. ....:._ the area of reassurance of the credit of the approver himself as a
trustworthy witness; and the second-which arises for conclusion after
the court is satisfied about the credibility of the approver-as to the
corroboration in material particulars not only of the commission of the H
758 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] 1 S.C.R.

A crime but also of the complicity of other accused-persons in the crime.
If on the first area the court is not satisfied the second stage does not . -~
arise. The position is attractively presented in Halsbury:- {IV Edition
Vol. II) page 268.

"Corroboration is required or afforded only if the
B witness requiring' or giving it is, otherwise, credible; if testi-
mony falls of its own inanition, the question of his need-
ing or being capable of giving, corroboration does not )I.

-
arise."

However, the two areas of corroboration are not two separate,
c water-tight compartments. The evidence as a whole will have to be
examined to reach conclusions on both aspects.

In Attorney Genera/of Hongkong v. Wong Muko Ping, [1987] 2
W. L. R. 1033. Lord Bridge of Harwich speaking for the Judicial Com-
mittee of the Privy-council said:
D
" ..... It is said that this two stage approach is implicitly
indicated by passages from speeches in the House <>f Lords
in two of the leading authorities".

" ...... The presence or absence of corroborated evidence \,_
may assist a jury to resolve, one way or the other, their
doubts as to whether or not to believe the evidence of a
suspect witness, it must, in their Lordship's Judgment, be
wrong to direct them to approach the question of credibil-
ity in two stages as suggested in the submission made on
behalf of the defendant."
F
15. The controversy in the present case in the ultimate analysis, )_
belongs to the second area, whether the approver's testimony as to,,
appellant's complicity in the conspiracy could safely be held to have
been corroborated by independent evidence on the material parti-
culars.
G
The facts that require sequentially to be established are that
appellant's married life was in a serious disarray: that she and Nand
Singh were on terms of illicit intimacy; that she also submitted herself '
. to Ram Sarup (P.W. 2) in an ex-marital relation; that on 13.11.1973
she implored Nand Singh and Ram Sarup to free her from a cruel
H husband by doing away with him; that she agreed that she would,
BAL WANT KAUR v. U.T. CHANDIGARH [VENKATACHALIAll, J.] 759

thereafter, live with Nand Singh as his wife and that after coming to
know of Pritam Singh's death she deliberately misled her mother-in-: A·
law, Mukhtiar Kaur (P,W. 19) into.making a report to the police
containing false and misleading information in an attempt to draw a
red-herring across the trial.
'
The evidence of P. Ws. 17 & 18 on the first two points has been· B •
discarded by the sessions court. It is not also suggested that after the
murder of Pritam Singh, appellant began to live with Nand Singh.
There was a considerable lapse of time between the death of Pritam
Singh and their arrest. There is no evidence to show that, in the inter-
regnum, there was any liasion between the two.

I : 16 ..There is yet another impediment in accepting the evidence C
on an .important area. of the alleged· conspiracy. The incriminating
circumstances in the evidence of the approver appearing against the
appellant had had to be put to the appellant in her examination under ·
· Section 313 Cr. P .C. The incriminating testimony ofthe approver per•
taining to the· case that on 13.11.1973 appellant wept and implored D
Nand Singh and Ram Sarup to do away with Pritam Singh and that
appellant also agreed that she would, thereafter, live with Nand Singh
has not been put to the appellant in the course of her examination
, under Section 313 Cr. P.C. Appellant was not afforded an opportunity
,...ol _ to submit an explanation to it. That part of the evidence must for that
reason, be excluded from consideration (See Harizan Mogha: 1979 3 · E
SCR474). .

17.· On a consideration of the entire matter, it appears to us that
the approver's evidence in regard to the complicity of the appellant in .
. the conspiracy lacks corroboration on certain material particulars
. necessary to connect the appellant. A little more reassurance than is F
-Y-afforded by the State of evidence in the case is perhaps, necessary· to
f convict appellant. Appellant, in the circumstances would be entitled to
the benefit of doubt. · · ' ·

18. At the time of the commission of the offence, the appellant,
even on the basis of the observations, made by the session court, was G
about. 151/i _years of age and was a "child" within the meaning of East
Punjab Children's Act 1949.. The relevant date is the date of the com-
' mission of the offence. Sect.ion 27 of the Act provides:

"27. Sentences that may not be passed on child-Not-
withstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law, H
760 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1988] 1 S. C.R.

A no person who as a child at the date of the commission of y
the offence shall be sentenced to death or transported or
committed to prison for any offence or in default of pay-
ment of fine, damages or costs:

Provided that a child who is fourteen years of age or
B upwards may be committed to prison where the court
certifies that he is of so unruly or of so depraved a character
that he is not fit person to be sent to a certified school and
that none of the other methods in which the case may leg-
ally be dealt with is suitable".

C The sessions court has invoked the proviso and has held that
appellant was so depraved a character that none of the other methodsA,
in which the case could legally be dealt with is suitable in her case. An
examination of the legality or propriety of the procedure adopted in
the case in the matter of the trial of a 'child' under the East Punjab
Children's Act 1949 and as to the correctness of the view of the sessions
D court in appealing to the proviso to Section 27 and in sentencing appel-
lant to imprisonment for life may not be necessary in this case, in view
of our finding that appellant is entitled to the benefit of doubt.

19. In the result, this appeal is allowed and while the conviction
and sentence of the other non-appealing accused is left undisturbed,'>-
E the conviction and sentence of the appellant is set aside and appellant
is directed to be set at liberty forthwith.

N.P.V. Appeal allowed.

•