Holding

The prosecution case was proved by the eye‑witnesses and the non‑examination of the investigating officer does not per se vitiate the trial, so the convictions stand.

Summary

The Supreme Court examined appeals by four accused convicted of murder, rioting and related offences under the IPC and Arms Act. The prosecution case rested on eye‑witness testimony of close relatives of the deceased, who were present at the scene when the accused allegedly assaulted the victim and, after being urged by one accused, a firearm was discharged killing the victim. The appellants argued that the witnesses were partisan, that no independent witnesses were examined, and that the investigating officer was not cross‑examined, contending that this prejudice vitiated the trial. The Court held that the eye‑witnesses were naturally present, their testimony was reliable, and the non‑examination of the investigating officer does not per se invalidate a criminal trial. It also ruled that the case diary could not be used as substantive evidence but its exclusion did not affect the conviction. Consequently, the appeals were dismissed and the life sentences upheld.

Issues considered

The effect of non‑examination of the investigating officer on the validity of a criminal trial
Whether reliance on close‑relatives as eye‑witnesses suffices to prove murder and common intention
Whether the presence of partisan witnesses renders the prosecution case unreliable
Whether the case diary can be admitted as evidence under the CrPC
Whether the accused formed an unlawful assembly with a common object to commit murder

Legislation cited

Arms Acts. 27
Code of Criminal Procedures. 161(3), s. 162, s. 172(1), s. 172(2)
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 147, s. 148, s. 149, s. 302, s. 323, s. 34

Subjects

murderunlawful assemblycommon intentioneye witness testimonyinvestigating officercase diaryevidentiary standardsCriminal ProcedureIndian Penal CodeArms Act

Judgment

,J

A BEHAR! PRASAD ETC. ETC.
v.
STATE OF BIHAR

JANUARY 9, 1996

B [G.N. RAY AND G.T. NANAVATI, JJ.]

flidian Penal Code :

Ss. 3021199, 302134, 148,323--Murder-Trial--Accused convicted and
sentenced to imprisonment .for l(fe--Conviction challenged as based on evi-
c dence of partisan witnesses and failure of prosecution to examine Investigating
O.fficer--Held, incident taking place near residential house and shop belong-
ing to deceased, presence n.f close relations of deceased at the place o.f occur-.
rence could not be said to be unususal--Non-examination of Investigating
O.fficer per se would not vitiate a criniinal trial-A case of prejudice likely to
D be su.{fered by accused must depend on .facts o.f each case.

The four accused-appellants, along with father· of accused 2 and 4
were charged for various offences punishable under ss. 302/I49, 302, 34,
I48, I47, 323 IPC and section 27 of the Arms Act. The prosecution case was
that there was a dispute between the father of complainant (PW-I) on the
E hand and accused 2 and 4, their father and their uncle, accused 3 on the
other, with regard to some ancestral property. Accused· I also had dispute
with the father of complainant (PW-I) with regard to tenancy of a shop.
The eviction suit filed against accused-I was decreed in terms of compro-'
mise in favour of the landlords, the father of PW.I, and accused I gave an
F undertaking before the court to vacate the premises on a particular date.
On the date of incident, when the court officials, along with a lawyer, came
to deliver possession of the shop to the landlord, a third party raised a false
plea of tenancy and the father of accused 2 and 3 prevailed upon the Naib
Nazir and the Court officials as well as the lawyer left the place without
delivering possession of the shop to the complainant party. Immediately
G thereafter, at the exhortation of accused. I, all the accused attacked the
complainant party. Accused I and the father of accused 2 and 4 assaulted
PW. 1 and PW.2 respectively with an iron rod and a hockey stick. Accused
3 and accused 4 caught hold of both the arms of the father of PW. I, and
accused 2 fired at him. The father of accused 2 gave a blow on the head of
H the victim with the iron-rod. The victim and the two injured, namely PW.
262
\.

BEHAR! PRASAD v. STATE 263
I and 2, were taken to the hospital where the victim succumbed to his A
injuries.

On the statement of PW. I, F.I.R. was drawn up and the police
commenced the investigation, which culminated in the trial of the five
accused. One of the accused, namely, the father of accused 2 and 4 died
during the pendency of the trial. B
The trial Court convicted the accused-appellants of the offences
charged and sentenced each of them to imprisonment for life. The accused-
appellants filed the appeal before the High Court, which affirmed the
conviction and sentences awarded to the accused-appellants and dismissed
their appeals, Aggrieved, the accused-appellants filed the present appeals. C
On behalf of the appellants, besides pointing out certain contradic·
tions in the prosecution case and the statements of the prosecution wit-
nesses, it was contended that P. Ws. I to 4, being close relatives of the
deceased, were highly interested wiinesses and they were actuated by a
strong desire to ensure that the accused were roped in for the offence of D
• murder; though the incident took place in broad day light, no independent
and reliable witness was examined; there was no occasio\1 for the accused
to indulge in criminal activities as alleged inasmuch as the prosecution case
itself was that accused had succeeded in influencing the Naib Nazir about
the tenancy of a third party and the court official had left the place without
E
delivering possession of the said shop to the complainant party; that the
prosecution failed to examine the investigation officer and it was a serious
infirmity in so far as it deprived the accused of an opportunity to contradict
the prosecution witnesses and other material on record.
Dismissing the appeals, this Court
F
HELD : 1. The prosecution case has been proved by the eye wit-
nesses. Over the shop room, a long drawn battle was fought by the deceased
upto this court. Ultimately, the delivery of possession of the shop through
court was fixed on the date of incident. It was, therefore, quite natural that
the said eye witnesses being close relations of the deceased were present at G
the.place at the time of the incident. In the facts of the case, the presence
of the 14 year old daughter of the deceased in the company of elderly
relations was also not unusual P. W. 1 and P. W. 2 are injured eye witnesses.
Their presence at the time of incident is, therefore, not to be donbted. They ·
were also examined by the doctor almost within an hour of the incident.
The 'Fardbayan' forming F.I.R. was lodged within about half an hour and H
J
264 SUPREME COURT REPORfS [1996] I S.C.R.
. '
A the names of the accused and their specific roles were also indicated in the
F.I.R. [275-B-C; 276-B-C]

2.1. Accused 2, 4, their father, and accused 3 though related to the
deceased, had been harbouring ill feeling and grudge against him. As a
matter of fact, a suit for eviction was also filed by the deceased against the
B father of accused 2 and 4. It was, therefore, quite likely that they took side
of accused.I in frustrating the execution of the eviction decree against him,
and although the accused managed it for the time being, they were fully
aware that the decree for eviction aflirmed upto this Court was staring on
their face. They were, therefore, quite agitated and it was not at aH unlikely
c that they become revengeful against the decree-holder deceased. (275-C·E]

2.2. Immediately after the court officials and the lawyer had left the
place of occurrence, at the behest of accus.ed I, the accused assaulted P.W.
I, P.W. 2 and the deceased. Accused no. 3 and 4, with an intention to
immobilise the deceased, caught both his arms. It is the positive case of the
D prosecution .that accused 3 exhorted. accused 2 to klll the deceased and
accused 2 then whipped out a firearm and shot at the deceased from a close
range which caused his death. In the facts of the case, no a_dverse inference_
against the prosecution case need be drawn for not giving the. detailed
account of the firing by indicating that the two accused holding arrils had
E left the deceased just at the time of .firing. It may be noted that F.I.R. was
lodged almost within half an hour of the incident on the basis of the
'Fardbayan' of the injured witness P.W. I who, apart from being in discom-
fort on account of injury sustained by him, was likely to be completely
upset at the unfortunate incident of killing of his close relation before his
eyes. There is clear evidence that just before the firing, accused 3 and 4 has
F left the deceased. In such circumstances, omission to mention this fact in
the F.I.R. is understandable. [275-F-G; 276-D-F]

3.1. From the evidence of the 1eye witnesses it is quite clear that the
accused were aware that one-of them, namely, accused 2, was carrying a
G fire arm. In order to facilitate the assault on the deceased both accused 3·
and 4 took active part by holding both the arms of the deceased to make
him immobile. Accused No. 2 then fired at the deceased. (275-G-H]

3.2. The fire arm used in the c1ime was described both as pistol 1md
gun. But the nature of the fire arm has been explained by the eye witnes..s.
H The fire arm was a country made weapon. It was not unlikely that barre.I of
\

BEHAR! PRASAD v. STATE 265
the fire arm not being of any standard size, there was a confusion in describ~ A
ing the fire arm very accurately. But in view of clear evidence that the de-
ceased was shot at by a countrymade fire arm by accused-2, there is no rea-
son to entertain any doubt that the eye witnesses had not seen accused 2 fir-
ing from a country made fire arm. The medical evidence has also corrobo-
rated the case of suffering pellet injuries by the deceased. [275-H; 276-A-B]
B
4.1. It will not be correct to say that if an Investigating Officer is not
examined in a case, the prosecution case should fail because the accused
were deprived of the opportunity to effectively cross examine the wUnesses
for the prosecution and to bring out contradictions in their statements
before the police. A case of prejudice likely to be suffered by an accused C
must depend on the facts of the case and no universal straight jacket
formula should be laid down that non examination of Investigating Officer
per se vitiates a criminal trial. (276-G-H; 277-A]

4.2. The prosecution case should not fail for non examination of
Investigating Officer, as the involvement of the accused in committing the D
., murder has been clearly established by the evidences of eye witnesses,
which is in conformity with the case made out in the F.I.R. and also with
the medical evidence. However, the trial court should not have allowed the
entire case diary to be exhibited. [276-F-G]

State of Kent/av. Ammina, AIR (1988) Kerala 1 = (1988) CRI. L.J. 107 E
and Hirianna Shetty v. The State of Mysore, (1972) I Mysore Law Journal
• SO, cited .

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. I of
1989 Etc.
F
From the Judgment and Order dated 31.3.87 of the Patna High Court in
Crl. A. No. 390 of 1983.

Sushi! Kumar, U.R. Lalit, Pramod Swarup, Praveen Swarup and R.P.
Wadhwani for the Appellants.
G
S.N. Jha and Anil Kumar Jha for the Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

G.N. Ray, J. All these appeals arise out of a common judgment dated
March 31, 1967 passed by the Patna High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 390 H
I
•'
266 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1996] 1 S.C.R.
A of 1983 (Uday Prasad alld two others v. State of Bihar) and Criminal Appeal
No. 382 of 1983 (Sheoji Prasad v. State of Bihar) arising out of the judgment
dated July 18, 1983 passed by the learned 4th Additional Sessions Judge. Arrah
in Sessions Trial No. 314 of 1981. By the impugned judgment, the High Court
has dismissed both the appeals and convictions and consequential sentence
B passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge against the convicted appel-
lants were affirmed by the High Court.

The four accused. namely Sheoji Prasad (All), Udai Prasad (A/2),
Pararueswar Prasad (A/3) and Behari Prasad (A/4) stood charged under Section
302 read with section 149 and 34 I.P.C. for being members of an unlawful
C assembly with the conunon object and common intention to commit murder of
one Lal Babu on April 5. 1980 at about 1.00 P.M. at Arrah town. The accused
No. 2 Udai Prasad was further charged under Section 302, 148 l.P.C. and
Section 27 Arms Act. The accused Nos. 3 and 4 namely Pararueswar Prasad and
Behari Prasad were also charged under Section 143 and 302/149 I.P.C. Accused
D No. I Sheoji Prasad was also charged under Section 323 and 147 I.P.C. for
causing voluntary hurt to Nandji (P.W.l) with a hockey stick and for commit-
ting the offence of rioting. There was another accused Rameswar Prasad, the
father of the accused No. 2 Udai Prasad and accused No. 3 Behari Prasad but
-
he· had died before the trial was completed. Excepting the accused Sheoji
Prasad, the other three accused are close relations. The accused Nos. 2 and 4
E are real brothers and accused No. 3. Prameswar Prasad is the uncle (fathers
brother) of the accused Nos. 2 and 4. The deceased Lal Babu was nephew
(brother's sons) of Rarueswar (deceased) and accused No. 3 Prameswar Prasad.
The common ancestor of the deceased and the accused Nos. 2 to 4, namely,
Baijnath Prasad had self acquired proprieties. In the ancestral house at mohalla
F Mahadeva at Arrah town, all the sons of Baijnath Prasad excepting the deceased
accused Rarueswar Prasad used to reside. The said Rameswar used to stay with
the member of his family ·including his two sons namely accused No. 2 Udai
Prasad and accused No. 4 Behari Prasad in a separate house near Lalji Kothi
close to Shismahal chowk in the town of Arrah which is within the market area.
The members of the family of Rameswar used to stay on the upper floor of the
G said house and in the ground floor there were two shops. The incident of
murder had happened close to the said shops. The northern shop of the said
house was given by Baijanath to the father of the deceased Lal Babu since •
deceased. The remaining portion was given by Baijanath to his other two sons
Gajadhar Prasad (P. W. 4) and Berri Prasad, the deceased fatherof P. W. I Nandji
H Prasad, such disposition of his properties by Baijanath was not liked by his two
\
BEHAR! PRASAD v. STATE [G.N. RAY, L) 267
other sons namely Rameswar (deceased accused) and Parameswar (A/3), it A
... I appears that a probate proceeding was pending between the five sons of
Baijnath and their successors-in-interest. The interest of deceased Berri Prasad
and deceased Badri Prasad were represented by their sons-Nandji Prasad (PW!)
and the deceased Lal babu.

The residential portion of the house where accused Rameswar used to B

- ~
live with his family members fell in the share of Lal Babu and suit for eviction
of Rameswar was filed by Ram Babu. The shop room in the. ground floor or the
said house which was given to the father of Ram Babu by Baijnath was tenanted
and accused No. I Sheoji Prasad was the tenant of the said shop room. A suit
for eviction of Sheoji was filed and such suit was fought upto this Court. The c
tenant Sheoji Prasad compromised with the deceased Lal Babu by giving an
undertaking that by a particular date, he would deliver vacant possession of the
same to the deceased Ram Babu. Since vacant possession was not delivered, an
execution case was instituted in the court of the learned Munsif at Arrah. The
executing court passed an order directing delivery of possession by the officer
D
• of the Court .

On the date of the incident of murder, Rajib Ranjan the Naib Nazir of the
Court (DW. I) was deputed to deliver possession of the shop room tenanted to
Sheoji Prasad to Ram Babu deceased. The said Naib Nazir in the company of
four court peons and a lawyer reached the said shop at about 1.00 P.M. on April
E
6, 1980. It appears from the depositioin of Rajib (DW I) and his report Ext. B
that since one Dariachhan Sao claimed tenancy right in respect of the said shop
room on the ground of being inducted as a tenant by the deceased accused
Rameswar, the said Naib Nazir did not deliver possession of the said shop room
to the deceased Ram Babu and left the place.
F
The prosecution case in short is that on a false plea of tenancy raised by
Dariachhan, the Naib Nazir being prevailed upon by the deceased Rameswar,
accepted the case of tenancy and did not deliver possession to Ram Babu
without ascertaining real state of affair. As soon as the said Naib Nazir, the court
peons and the lawyer left the place, at the exhortation of accused No. I Sheoji
G
-. Prasad, to the accused persons present at the spot, the deceased accused
Rameswar Prasad and accused No. I Sheoji Prasad assaulted the informant
Nandji Prasad (P.W. l) and P.W. 2 Badri Prasad respectively with an iron rod for
measuring cloth and a hockey stick. Accused No. 3 Prameswar Prasad and
accused No. 4 Behari Prasad then caught hold of both the arms of the deceased
Ram Babu and on being exhorted by accused No. 3 Parameswar, accused No. H
268 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1996) I S.C.R.
'
A 2 Udai Prasad fired on the deceased Lal Babu with a countrymade pistol. The
deceased accused Rameswar gave a blow on the head of the deceased Ram k,.
Babu with the said iron rod. Ram Babu and the two other injured namely Nandij
Prasad (P.W. 1) and P.W. 2 Badri Prasad were taken to the hospital at Arrah.
Ram Babu, however, succumbed to the injuries shortly after the incident. At
about 14.05 hours i.e. within half an hour of the incident, the fardbayan of
B
Nandji Prasad (P.W.1) was recorded and within a few minutes formal F.I.R. was
drawn up. Investigation of the case was inunediately taken up and at about
14.15 hours, inquest of the dead body of Ram Babu was made. The investigat-
ing Officer visited the place of occurrence and blood stained earth was seized
and a seizure list (Ex. 6) was prepared. Both the injured P.W.l Nandji and P.W.
-
c 2 Badri Prasad were examined by the doctor at Arrah hosiptal at about 14.10
hours. The Investigating Officer Astaque Hussain, however, did not appear in
court to depose. His investigation report was identified by P. W. 8 the clerk of
the public prosecutor and was marked as Ext. 4.

The. prosecution case has been sought to be proved by examining several
D
eye witnesses. P.W. I Nandji and P.W. 2 Badri are injured eye witnesses. P.W.
l Nandji is the informant of the said incident of murder and rioting. P.W.2 Badri
Prasad is the father-in-law of the deceased. PW 3 Kumkum is the daughter of
the deceased. She is a school going girl aged about 14 years. According to her
evidence, she had gone to the place of incident for witnessing delivery of
E possession of the shop through Court. P. W. 4 is Gajadher Prasad who is an uncle
of the deceased. P. W. 5 has not deposed for the prosecution but he was tendered
for cross examination.
'
The learned Additional Sessions Judge after consideration of the evi-
dences adduced in the case and the materials on record inter alia came to the
F
finding that the accused were bent upon not giving possession of the shop room
and was also bent upon harassing the decree holder deceased and being an-
noyed with the deceased for taking steps to get delivery of the possession of the
said shop room through court, the accused took extreme step in eliminating the
decree holder by killing him and also assaulting the uncle and the father-in-law
G of the deceased who were present at the spot in order to help the deceased in
taking possession. The learned Additional Sessions Judge held that all the four
accused along with deceased accused Rameswar had formed an unlawful
assembly for the purpose of killing Ram Babu and assaulting his helpers on
April 5, 1980 at about 1.00 P.M. on the road in front of Lallanji Kothi and in
H furtherance of common object and common intention of the accused, accused
\
BEHAR! PRASAD v. STATE [G.N. RAY, J.] 269
No. 2 Udai Prasad committed murder of Ram Babu by country made gun and A
other two accused namely accused No. 3 Parameswar and accused No. 4 Behari
Prasad in furtherance of the said common object and common intention held
both the arms of deceased Ram Babu and Parameswar also exhorted Udai to kill
Ram Babu. The learned Additional Sessions Judge also held that deceased
Rames war and accused No. 1 Sheoji Prasad assaulted P. W. I and P. W. 2 and
B
Rameswar also assaulted the deceased.

The learned Additional Sessions Judge, therefore, held accused No. 2
• Udai Prasad guilty for the o.ffence under Section 302 and 148 I.P.C. and also
under section 27 of the Arms Act for possessing unauthorised arm and also
found him guilty under Section 302 read with 149 and 302/34 l.P.C. The said C
accused No. 2 Udai Prasad was sentenced to imprisonment for life for offence
under Section 302 but no separate sentence was passed for the offence under
Section 148, 302/149, 303/34 I.PC. and Section 27 of the Arms Act. Accused
No. 3 Parameswar and accused No. 4 Behari Prasad were sentenced to impris-
onment for life for offence under Section 302/149. They were also found guilty
for offence under Section 302/34, 302/109 but no separate sentence was passed
D
for such offence. Accused No. 1 Sheoji Prasad was sentenced to imprisonment
for life for the offence under Section 302/149 I.P.C. but no separate sentence
was passed for the offence under Section 302/34 and 147 I.P.C. although he was
found guilty for such offence.
E
Against the said conviction and sentence of the learned Additional Ses-
sions judge. Udai Prasad, Behari Prasad and Parmeswar Prasad preferred
Criminal Appeal No 390 of 1983 before the Patna High Court. Sheoji Prasad
preferred Criminal Appeal No. 382 of 1983 before the Patna High Court against
his conviction and sentence. Both the appeals were heard analogously by the
Division Bench of the High Court and by a commonjudgmentdated March 31, F
1987, the High Court dismissed both the appeals by affirming the conviction
and sentence passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge.

Mr. Sushi! Kumar, the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appelant
Behari Prasad in Criminal Appeal No. 1 of 1989 has submitted that in this case
G
it is an admitted position that the deceased and the alleged eye witnesses for
prosecution belong to one camp. The close relations of the deceased namely
P.W. l, 2, 3 and 4 are highly interested witnesses and they were actuated by a
strong desire to ensure that deceased accused Rameswar and their two sons
namely Udai Pasad (A/2) and Behari Prasad (A.4) and their uncle Parameswar
Prasad (A/3) were roped in for the offence of murder of Ram Babu. Admittedly, H
I

270 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] l S.C.R.
A the incident had taken place in broad day light in the market area of Arrah Town
where number of independent persons were present. But the prosecution chose
to examine only the close relations of the deceased to prove the case and no
independent and reliable witness has been examined.

Mr. Sushil Kumar has submitted that according to the prosecution case
B the Naib Nazir had already been influenced by the accused and the Judgment
debtor Sheoji Prasad and the said Naib Nazir on the protest by on Dariachhan
claiming tenancy right in the disputed shop room, did not deliver possession of
the said shop and had left the place. Therefore, there was no occasion to indulge
in criminal activities including commission of a grave offence of murder in the
broad day light in a market place of a town. The prosecution story on the face
c of it is highly improbable. Mr. Sushil Kumar has submitted that alleged eye
witnesses have deposed that the tenant of the shop Sheoji Prasad (A/I) had only
a hockey stick in his hand. The others were empty handed. The deceased
accused Rameswar had also no weapon in his hand but he picked up a small iron
rod (for measuring cloth) in the shop itself. The deceased was admittedly
D accompanied by his relations. If there was any common object or common
intention to kill the deceased Ram Babu, it was reasonably expected that the
accused would have come variously armed so that despite expected resistance
from the deceased and his relations and companions, they could over power the
deceased and his companions with the help of weapons to be carried by them.
The very fact that the accused were practically unarmed, amply indicates that
E there was no common object or common intention to commit murder of Ram
Babu. Admittedly, Sheoji is a tenant of the shop in question. Deceased ..
Rameswar and his two sons Udai and Behari admittedly stayed in the upper
floor of the same building. Parameswar was very close relation of the said three
accused being brother of Rameswar and uncle of Udai and Behari. Hence, the
F presence of the said accused in the shop or near the shop, even if accepted, will
not constitute .formation of unlawful assembly. According to the prosecution
case, after the Naib Nazir of the court had left the shop, Sheoji Prasad (A/I)
exhorted to the other accused to assault the deceased. On such exhortation.
Nandji Prasad (P.W. I) and Badri Prasad (P.W.2) were assaulted by Rameswar
and Sheoji Prasad respectively with iron rod (for measuring cloth) and hockey
G stick. The prosecution witnesses have not alleged that other accused on such
,I
exhortation assaulted the said witnesses or even Ram Babu. The only allegation
is that Parameswar (A/3) and Badri (A/4) had caught both the arms of the
deceased. According to prosecution cose, it was only at this stage that Parameswar
exhorted Udai to kill Ram Babu whereupon Udai (A/2) whipped out a
H countrymade pistol and fired at Ram Babu. Mr. Sushi! Kumar has submitted
\
BEHAR! PRASAD v. STATE [G.N. RAY, J.] 271
that there is enough doubt as to which weapon was u.sed by Udai. The weapon A
was described both as a gun and as a pistol, Such value description of the
weapon by the eye witnesses who claimed to have seen the occurrences from
a close range, also suggests that they had not seen any weapon in the hand of
Udai and noticing that an injury by a fire arm was caused to the deceased a false
allegation of using a pistol or a gun by Udai was made.
B
Mr. Sushi! Kumar has submitted that the prosecution story cannot be
accepted because the manner in which the deceased was injured by a gunshot
is highly improbable, Mr. Sushi! Kumar has submitted that if accused No. 3 and
accused No. 4 had held both the arms of the deceased and accused No. 2 Udai
had shot the deceased from a close range by using pellets, both accused No. 3 C
and accused No. 4 would have sustained injuries at least by few pellets because
such pellets would have diverged after coming out of the barrel of the gun. But
no such injury was caused to the said witnesses. Appreciating the improbability
of the prosecution case, the eye witness tried to embellish at the time of
deposition. Although it was not stated in the fardbayan constituting F.J.R. that
the said two accused had released the hands at the time of firing, such case was D
later on sought to be introduced in the deposition. Such material contradiction
in the case made out in deposition and as alleged in F.l.R. coming from a close
relation and interested witness should not be accepted particularly in the
absence of any corroboration from reliable, independent and disinterested
witnesses. Mr. Sushi! Kumar has submitted that no reliance should be made on E
the deposition of the daughter of the deceased (Kumkum). She was admittedly
a school girl and normally she would have been in the school at the time of
commission of offence. But she has deposed that she did not go to school but
came to the market place to witness the delivery of possession of the shop room.
' Such case is highly unusual and improbable and no credence should the given
to be deposition of such chance witness who was normally not expected to be F
present.

Mr. Sushi! Kumar has submitted that in this case Investigating Officer has
not been examined. But the entire case diary was allowed to be exhibited. The
prosecution and the Judge have relied on the notings in the case diary although
the maker of the case diary did not prove the correctness of such notings and G
the correctness of the recordings in the diary had not been tested by cross
examining the Investigation Officer. Mr. Sushi! Kumar has submitted that by
J
looking to the case diary and relying on the same in support of prosecution case
serious prejudice to the accused has been caused and such action has occa-
sioned a grave miscarriage of justice. H
I
272 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] l S.C.R.
A In this connection, Mr. Sushi! Kumar has referred to the decision in State
of Kera/a v. Ammina, AIR (1988) Kerala 1=(1988) Cr!. L.J. 107. A Division
Bench of the Kerala High Court has held in the said decision that the diary
mentioned in Section 172 (!)and statements recorded under Section 161 (3) of
the Code of Criminal procedure are covered by the sweep of inhibition con-
tained in Section 162 of the Code. The prohibition imposed in Section 162
B
cannot be circumvented by resort to Section 172(2) of the Code. The two are
different records, though the diary envisaged under Section 172(1) and state-
ments recorded under Section 161(3) may together be incorporated in the same
file which the police call for the sake of convenience case diary file. That apart, '
Section 172 (2) of the Code embodies an inhibition that the diary envisaged in
c that section is not to be used as evidence in the case. Mr. Sushi! Kumar has also
relied on a decision of the Mysore High Court in Hirianna Shetty v. The State
of Mysore, (1972) I Mysore Law Journal 50. It has been held in the said
decision that the examination of the Investigating Officer is necessary in order
to bring on record the contradictions in the statements of witnesses and such a
D right is a valuable right of the accused. Non examination of the Investigating
Officer is a serious infirmity in so far as it deprives the accused of an oppor-
tunity to show that witnesses were not reliable by proving contradictions in the
earlier statements. Mr. Sushi! Kumar has submitted that the accused in this case,
particularly when the witnesses were only partisan witnesses, have suffered
serious prejudice on account of being deprived of the opportunity to point out
E material contradictions in the earlier statements of the witnesses for not exam-
ining the Investigating Officer.

Mr. Sushi! Kumar has submitted that in the aforesaid facts, the prosecu- •
tion case must be held to have not been proved beyond reasonable doubt and
F all the accused should be acquitted. Mr. Sushi! Kumar has also submitted that
in any event accused No. 4 Behari Prasad deserves to be acquitted. Admittedly,
he was staying on the upper floor of the building in which the said shop room
appertained. It is quite probable that out of curiosity he had come to see the
action by Naib Nazir in execution of a court case. He was admittedly empty
handed. The only allegation against him was that he caught hold of one of the
G arms of the deceased. When suddenly Parameswar exhorted to Udai to kill the
deceased. Udai whipped out a fire arm and shot at the deceased, It cannot be
reasonably held that he had any corrunon intention or common object of killing \ ·
Ram Babu. It is not unlikely that although he along with others might have
intended to give some thrashing to the deceased, the events suddenly changed
H on the exhortation of Parameswer to kill the deceased. It is also not unlikely
\'
BEHARI PRASAD v. STATE [G.N. RAY, J.] 273
that Behari was not aware that Udai had concealed a fire arm which he had used A
on sudden provocation by Parameswar. Hence, no conviction under Section
-· 302/149 or 302/34 I.P.C. can be given to Behari even if the prosecution case that
he caught one of the arms of the deceased is accepted on its face value. The
appellant Behari, therefore, should be acquitted by allowing his appeal.

Mr. U.R. Lalit, learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant B
Parmeswar in Criminal Appeal No. 437 of 1988 has also endorsed the argu-
ments made by Mr. Sushi! Kumar that the prosecution case was not believable
• and had not been established beyond reasonable doubt. He has also endorsed
the submission that the case diary not having been proved, such case diary
could not be looked into and the accused had suffered serious prejudice for not c
examining the Investigating Officer. He has submitted that such non examina-
tion of the Investigating Officer and consequential prejudice in not getting the
opportunity to effectively cross examine the eye witnesses by indicating con-
tradictions in the earlier statements before the police, have vitiated the trial.

Mr. Lalit has submitted that Pararneswar is the real brother of Rameswar D
and uncle of Udai and Behari. His presence in or nea!i the residential house of
'
Rarneswar was neither unusual nor per se illegal. He was admittedly without
any arm. The allegation against him is that he caught hold of one of the arms
of the deceased Ram Babu and exhorted Udai to kill Ram Babu and Udai
thereafter shot the deceased. Such case is highly improbable. He has also E
submitted that no man holding an arm of the victim will ask the assailant to fire
pellet shots on the victim from a close range because in that event, the person
giving exhortation was also likely to be injured. Mr. Lalit has submitted that the
• prosecution case was wholly unreliable and the appellant should be acquitted .
•
Mr. Promod Swarup learned counsel appearing for the appellant Sheoji F
Prasad in Criminal Appeal No. 195 of 1989 has also endorsed the submissions
of Mr. Sushi! Kumar and has submitted that the prosecution had not only failed
to establish the prosecution case beyond reasonable doubt but such case on the
face of it was highly improbable. Mr. Swarup has submitted that Sheoji Prasad
is not related to the other accused or the deceased and their relations. He is
admittedly a member of a different caste. Sheoji Prasad was tenant of the shop
G
in respect of which decree for eviction was passed. Sheoji Prasad had under-
taken to vacate the shop room before this Court. It is, therefore, unlikely that
on his own initiative he would flout the undertaking and forcibly resist execu-
tion of the decree. Even if it is assumed that he was keen in frustrating the
execution of the d_ecree, admittedly such purpose was secured when the Naib H
274 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] l S.C.R.
A Nazir without executing the decree left the place. After such event, there was
hardly any occasion for Sheoji Prasad to wreck any vengeance on the decree
holder by inciting other accused. Presence of Sheoji Prasad in his own shop is
wholly legal and he cannot be held to be a member of unlawful assembly. The
allegation is that after the Naib Nazir and court peons and the lawyer had left
the shop, he exhorted other accused to assault the deceased and his companions. ·
B
It is alleged that Sheoji had only a hockey stick with which he assaulted Badri
Prasad. There is no allegation against him that he assaulted the deceased or
exhorted for killing the deceased. Mr. Swarup has submitted that even if the.
prosecution case is accepted, Sheoji Prasad is not liable to be punished for
•
offences under Section 302/34, 302/149 and Section 147 I.P.C. Hence, convic-
c tion of Sheoji Prasad for the aforesaid offences is wholly illegal and should be
set aside.

The learned counsel appearing for Udai Prasad (A/2) in Criminal Appeal
No. 789 of 1989 has endorsed the submissions of the learned counsel appearing
for other appellants by contending-that the prosecution case was improbable
D
and the same had not been established beyond reasonable doubt. Hence, the
said accused should also be acquitted by giving him benefit of doubt. As there
was direct evidence about the comlnission of murder by this appellant, the
learned counsel has not advanced any submission regarding absence of com-
mon Object or common intention in murdering Ram Babu.
E
The learned counsel for the State appearing in all these appeals has,
however, refuted the contentions made by the learned counsel for the appel-
lants. It has been contended by the learned counsel for the State that the •
prosecution case has been clearly established by reliable evidences of the eye
•
witnesses. Such eye witnesses being close relations were expected to be present
F
at the place of occurrence. Simply because they are relations, it cannot be held
that they were partisan and deposing falsely. The learned counsel has submitted
that the said witnesses were also close relations of the accused excepting
Sheoji Prasad. After a long drawn. battle upto the Apex Court, the deceased
was going to get possession. The daughter of the deceased aged 14 years
G became curious to notice execution through court and came with elderly
relations. There is nothing unusal in her presence at the time of occurrence. P.W.
1 and 3 were injured witnesses. Shortly after the incident, they were examined }..
by doctors. F.l.R. was also lodged immediately after the incident
and the accused were named. Hence, no interference is called for in these
H appeals.
\
BEHAR! PRASAD v. STATE [G.N. RAY, J.] 275
After considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the judg- A
ments of the learned Additional Sessions Judge and of the High Court and the
evidences adduced in the case through which we have been taken by the learned
counsel for the parties and considering the submissions made by the learned
counsel for the parties, it appears to us that the prosecution case has been
proved by the eye witnesses in this case. Over the shop room, a long drawn B
battle was fought by the deceased upto this court. Ultimately, the delivery of
possession of the shop through court was fixed on the date of incident. It was,
therefore, quite natural that the said eye witnesses being close relations of the
• deceased were present at the place and at the time of the incident. In our view,
the learned counsel for the State is also justified that in the facts of the case the
presence of the daughter of the accused aged 14 years in the company of elderly C
relations was also not unusual. The accused Nos. 2 to 4 and deceased accused
Rameswar though related to the deceased had been harbouring ill feeling and
grudge against the deceased. As a matter of fact, suit for eviction was also filed
by the deceased against Rameswar. It was, therefore, quite likely that they took
side of Sheoji Prasad in frustrating the execution of the eviction decree against D
Sheoji Prasad. Although, the accused managed for the time being to frustrate
• execution of decree through court by influencing Naib Nazir to accept the case
of independent tenancy in favour of a third party on the face value of the
statement of such tenant without ascertaining relevant facts and thereby sending
him back without executing the decree, the accused were fully aware that the
decree for eviction affirmed upto this court was staring on their face. They E
were, therefore, quite agitated and it is not at all unlikely that they became
revengeful against the decree holder deceased Ram Babu .
• Immediately after the Naib Nazir, Court peons and the lawyer had left the
place of occurrence, at the behest of accused No. 1 Sheoji Prasad the accused
No. 1 and deceased accused Rameswar assaulted P.W. 1 and P.W. 2. The
F
accused No. 3 and 4 with an intention to immobilise the deceased caught both
of his arms. It is the positive case of the prosecution that accused No. 3
Parameswar exhorted accused No. 2 Udai to kill the deceased and accused No.
2 then whipped out a fire arm and shot at the deceased from a close range which
caused his death. From the evidences of the eye witnesses it is quite evident that G
the accused were aware that one of them namely Udai (A/2) was carrying a fire
_, arm for assaulting the deceased. In order to facilitate such assault on the
deceased both accused No. 3 and 4 took active part by holding both the arms
of the deceased to make him immobile. Accused No. 2 Udai then fired at the
deceased. The fire arm was described both as pistol and gun. But the nature of H
I
276 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] i S.C.R.
A the fire arm has been explained by the eye witnesses. The fire arm was a
countrymade weapon. It was not unlikely that barrel of the fire arm not being
of any standard size, there was confusion in describing the fire arm very
accurately. But in view of clear evidence that the deceased was shot at by a
countrymade fire arm by Udai Prasad (A/2), we do not find any reason to
entertain any doubt that the eye witnesses had not seen Udai firing from a
B
country made fire arm. The medical evidence has also corroborated the case of
suffering pellet injuries by the deceased. In this case, P.W. I and P..W. 2 are
injured eye witnesses. Their presence at the time of incident is, therefore, not
to be doubted. They were also examined almost within an hour by this doctor. •
The Fardbayan fonning F.I.R. was lodged within about half an hour and the
c names of the accused and their specific roles were also indicated in F.I.R. It has
been contended by the learned counsel that if the deceased had been shot at
from a close range when the two accused had been holding the arms of the
deceased, they also would have suffered pellet injuries and the fact that they had
not suffered such injury only indicates that the deposition of the eye witnesses
D are false. Such submissions, however, should not be accepted. There is clear
evidence that just before the firing the said accused left the deceased. In the
facts of the case, no adverse inference against the prosecution case need be
drawn for not giving the detailed account of the firing by indicating that the two
accused holding arms had left the deceased just at the time of firing. It may be
noted that F.I.R. was lodged almost within half an hour of the incident by the
E injured witness who apart from discomfort on account
of injury sustained by him, was likely to be completely upset at the
unfortunate incident of killing of his close relation before his eyes. In such
circumstances, omission to mention of the fact of leaving the arms of the •
deceased by the accused Prarneswar and Behari just at the time of firing is
F understandable.

It, however, appears to us that the entire case diary should not have been
allowed to be exhibited by the learned Additional Sessions Judge. In the facts
of the case, it appears to us that the involvement of the accused in committing
the murder has been clearly established by the evidences of the eye witnesses.
G Such evidences are in conformity with the case made out in F.l.R. and also
with the medical evidence. Hence, for non examination of investigating
Officer, the prosecution case should not fail. We may also indicate here that \.
it will not be correct to contend that if an Investigating Officer is not examined
in a case, such case should fail on the ground that the accused were deprived
H of the opportunity to effectively cross examine the witnesses for the prosecution
\
BEHAR! PRASAD v. STATE [G.N. RAY, J.] 277
and to bring out contradistions in their statements before the police. A case A
of prejudice likely to be suffered by an accused must depend on the facts of
the case and no universal straight jacket formula should be laid down that non
examination of investigating Officer per se vitiates a criminal trial. These
appeals, therefore, fail and are dismissed. The appellants who
have been released on bail should be taken into custody to serve out the
B
sentence.

R.P. Appeals dismissed .

•

j

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