BIJENDER @ MANDARversusSTATE OF HARYANA

1138                      [2021]REPORTS
                SUPREME COURT   7 S.C.R. 1138                [2021] 7 S.C.R.


 A                          BIJENDER @ MANDAR
                                         v.
                             STATE OF HARYANA
                        (Criminal Appeal No. 2438 of 2010)
 B                            NOVEMBER 08, 2021
                 [N. V. RAMANA, CJI., SURYA KANT AND
                           HIMA KOHLI, JJ.]
              Penal Code, 1860: ss. 392 and 397 – Robbery using deadly
       weapons – Prosecution case that appellant and co-accused armed
 C
       with pistols robbed the complainant and his nephew – Conviction
       u/ss. 392 and 397 and sentenced accordingly, on basis of the
       disclosure statement and recovery made thereof – High Court upheld
       the conviction, however, reduced the sentence u/s. 397 – On appeal,
       held: Court can convict an accused exclusively on the basis of his
 D     disclosure statement and the resultant recovery of inculpatory
       material – However, in order to sustain the guilt of such accused,
       the recovery should be flawless and not be shrouded with elements
       of doubt – Where the prosecution fails to inspire confidence in the
       manner and/or contents of the recovery with regard to its nexus to
       the alleged offence, the court ought to give the benefit of doubt to
 E
       the accused – On facts, prosecution miserably failed to bring home
       the guilt of the appellant – Courts below were influenced by
       irrelevant considerations, such as rise in the incidents of dacoity –
       Courts below shifted the burden on the appellant to explain how he
       was in possession of the incriminating articles, without primarily
 F     scrutinizing the credibility and admissibility of the recovery as well
       as its linkage to the misconduct – Inference was drawn against the
       appellant, in spite of the prosecution’s failure to dispense with its
       burden of proof to depict culpability of the appellant – Evidence on
       record did not establish the guilt of the appellant beyond reasonable
       doubt – Thus, the orders passed by the courts below set aside.
 G
             Allowing the appeal, the Court
             HELD: 1.1. The Court can convict an accused exclusively
       on the basis of his disclosure statement and the resultant recovery
       of inculpatory material. However, in order to sustain the guilt of
 H
                                       1138
       BIJENDER @ MANDAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                           1139


such accused, the recovery should be unimpeachable and not be          A
shrouded with elements of doubt. [Para 16][1146-B-C]
      1.2 Where the prosecution fails to inspire confidence in
the manner and/or contents of the recovery with regard to its
nexus to the alleged offence, the court ought to stretch the benefit
of doubt to the accused. The cardinal principle of criminal            B
jurisprudence is that “it is better that ten guilty persons escape,
than that one innocent suffer”. The doctrine of extending benefit
of doubt to an accused, notwithstanding the proof of a strong
suspicion, holds its fort on the premise that “the acquittal of a
guilty person constitutes a miscarriage of justice just as much as
the conviction of the innocent”. [Para 17][1146-E-G]                   C

       2. It may not be wise or prudent to convict a person only
because there is rampant increase in heinous crimes and victims
are oftenly reluctant to speak truth due to fear or other extraneous
reasons. The burden to prove the guilt beyond doubt does not
shift on the suspect save where the law casts duty on the accused      D
to prove his/her innocence. It is the bounden duty of the
prosecution in cases where material witnesses are likely to be
slippery, either to get their statements recorded at the earliest
under Section 164 Cr.P.C. or collect such other cogent evidence
that its case does not entirely depend upon oral testimonies. [Para    E
18][1147-A-B]
      3. The prosecution miserably failed to bring home the guilt
of the appellant and courts below have been unwittingly swayed
by irrelevant considerations, such as rise in the incidents of
dacoity. The trial court and High Court have hastened to shift         F
the burden on the appellant to elucidate how he bechanced to be
in possession of the incriminating articles, without primarily
scrutinizing the credibility and admissibility of the recovery as
well as its linkage to the misconduct. The High Court and trial
court failed to take into consideration that the testimony of ASI
(PW-14) exhibited no substantial effort made by the police for         G
conducting the search of the residence of the appellant in the
presence of local witnesses. The only independent witness to
the recovery was PW-8 who was admittedly a companion of the

                                                                       H
1140            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                       [2021] 7 S.C.R.


 A     complainant. The complainant (PW-4) as well as PW-8, have
       unambiguously refuted that neither the passbook, nor the ‘red
       cloth’ was recovered from the possession of the appellant, as
       claimed in his disclosure statement. While, PW-4 negated his
       signatures on the recovery memo, on the other hand, PW-8 also
       neither enumerated the recovery memo in the catalogue of
 B
       exhibited documents, nor did that he affirm to having his
       endorsement. The recovered articles are common place object
       like money and the ‘red cloth’ with ‘Kamla’ embossed on it, as
       has been acceded by PW-14, can also be easily available in market.
       The recovery took place nearly a month after the commission of
 C     the alleged offence. It is incredulous that the appellant during
       the entire time period kept both red cloth and the passbook along
       with the money he robbed off the complainant. Furthermore, there
       is no other evidence on record which even remotely points
       towards the iniquity of the appellant. [Para 19][1147-C-H; 1148-
       A-C]
 D
             4. The trial court and the High Court have erroneously
       drawn inference against the appellant, in spite of the prosecution
       having lamentably failed to adequately dispense with its burden
       of proof to depict culpability of the appellant. As far as the view of
       the trial court and the High Court qua the alleged threat is
 E     concerned, it is hard-pressed to give credence to such allegations
       in the absence of any compelling evidence to substantiate the
       same. Although, the prosecution has attempted to place reliance
       on the affidavit presented by the complainant during the T.I.P.
       offered by the co-accused, the said affidavit does not name the
 F     appellant. [Para 20][1148-C-E]
             5. The evidence on record does not establish the guilt of
       the appellant beyond reasonable doubt and the courts below have
       arrived at recording the guilt of the appellant in absence of any
       cogent rationale, justifying his conviction. Thus, the judgments
 G     and orders passed by the trial court and High Court are set aside
       and the appellant is acquitted of all charges. [Para 21, 22][1148-
       E-F]
             Vijay Thakur v. State of Himachal Pradesh, (2014) 14
             SCC 609; Tulsiram Kanu v. The State; AIR 1954 SC 1;
 H           Pancho v. State of Haryana (2011) 10 SCC 165 : [2011]
        BIJENDER @ MANDAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                                  1141


      12 SCR 1173; State of Rajasthan v. Talevar & Anr.                        A
      (2011) 11 SCC 666 : [2011] 6 SCR 1050; Bharama
      Parasram Kudhachkar v. State of Karnataka (2014)
      14 SCC 431 – referred to.
                         Case Law Reference
(2014) 14 SCC 609               referred to          Para 16                   B

AIR 1954 SC 1                   referred to          Para 16
[2011] 12 SCR 1173              referred to          Para 16
[2011] 6 SCR 1050               referred to          Para 16
                                                                               C
(2014) 14 SCC 431               referred to          Para 16
      CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No.
2438 of 2010.
     From the Judgment and Order dated 07.09.2009 of the High Court
of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh in Criminal Appeal No.851                    D
SB/2002.
      Surender Singh, Mukul Kumar, Advs. for the Appellant.
     Ms. Alka Agarwal, AAG, Dr. Monika Gusain, Advs. for the
Respondent.
                                                                               E
      The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
      SURYA KANT, J.
       1. The instant Criminal Appeal emanates from the judgment and
order dated 7th September 2009 of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana
at Chandigarh, whereby the order dated 20th March 2002 passed by the           F
Additional Sessions Judge, Sonipat, convicting the Appellant-Bijender
@ Mandar under Sections 392 and 397 IPC was affirmed. The High
Court upheld the rigorous imprisonment of 5 years along with fine of
Rs.5000/- for the offence punishable under Section 392 IPC. However,
it reduced the sentence from 10 to 7 years rigorous imprisonment with a
                                                                               G
fine of Rs.10,000/- for the offence punishable under Section 397 IPC.
Both the sentences were directed to run concurrently.
      F ACTS:
      2. Briefly put, the Prosecution version is that on 14th April 1999, at
around 11:00 AM, Bal Kishan (Complainant) was on his way to Delhi on           H
1142             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2021] 7 S.C.R.


 A     his motorcycle along with his nephew, Sanjay, to purchase a plot of land
       and was carrying a sum of Rs. 46,000/- for the said purpose. When the
       Complainant reached near the farm house of one Virender Bansal, on
       Jatheri Road, he was intercepted by a vehicle. The Appellant and one
       Manjeet (co-accused) stepped out of the said vehicle, armed with country
       made pistols and asked the Complainant to hand over the amount. The
 B
       Complainant then handed over the key of the bike. The Accused took
       out the bag containing the money from the boot of the motorcycle and
       fled from the spot. Whereafter, the Complainant rushed towards the
       nearest Police Station on foot, leaving his nephew and the motorcycle
       behind, at the place of the incidence. To the good fortune of the
 C     Complainant, on his way to the Police Station, he met with ASI Rajinder
       Kumar (PW-14) and reported the occurrence to him. Consequently, an
       FIR was lodged and the investigation was set in motion.
             3. Four accused persons, including the Appellant were arrested
       on the basis of secret information received by the police and they were
 D     charged under Sections 392, 397 and 120-B IPC and Section 25 of the
       Arms Act. Whilst the 5th co-accused (Vinod) could not be arrested and
       was declared a proclaimed offender under Section 82 Cr.P.C., the other
       Accused including the Appellant abjured their guilt and pleaded ‘not
       guilty’. In the eventual trial, 14 witnesses were examined by the
       Prosecution. No evidence was led by the Defence. The Prosecution
 E     presented its narrative before the Trial Court that the Accused persons,
       along with Vinod, conspired together to loot the Complainant, who, they
       were aware was carrying money for the purchase of a plot in Delhi.
       Whereas co-accused Mukesh and Subhash had provided the information,
       the Appellant, Manjeet and Vinod actually carried out the robbery.
 F            4. The case of the Prosecution banked heavily on the disclosure
       statements made by the Accused persons and the pre-trial recoveries
       made pursuant thereto. The Appellant in his revelation (Ex. PD) affirmed
       the chronicle presented by the Prosecution. He further stated that Rs.
       10,000/- fell in his kitty as part of his share, out of which he had already
 G     spent Rs. 5,000/. The Appellant led the police to his residence and aided
       in recovering Rs. 5,000/- which were found wrapped in a ‘red cloth’
       (Ex. P1), along with a passbook (Ex. P2). It is alleged that the ‘red
       cloth’ belonged to the wife of the Complainant, with the name ‘Kamla’
       embroidered on it and the passbook belonged to the Complainant. Similarly,
       the disclosure statements of the co-accused led to the recovery of some
 H
        BIJENDER @ MANDAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                                  1143
                    [SURYA KANT, J.]

paltry amount and a country made pistol belonging to co-accused Manjeet,       A
which was allegedly used for commission of the crime. These
incriminatory statements were in line with the divulgation of the Appellant.
        5. During the trial, a host of Prosecution witnesses turned hostile.
Even though the Complainant (PW-4), in his deposition, acknowledged
that the ‘red cloth’ belonged to his wife but he refuted that the pass book    B
and/or the said cloth was recovered from the possession of the Appellant
in his presence. He further denied that the Accused, including the
Appellant, matched the identity of the persons who committed the felony.
He also denied that the recovery memo (Ex. PD/2) bore his signature.
The Complainant’s nephew, Sanjay (PW-6), who was an eye-witness,
also debunked the very occurrence of the incident in its entirety and          C
testified that no amount was snatched from his uncle, the Complainant.
In a similar vein, PW-5 and PW-8, who were independent witnesses to
the recovery of the articles by the police and to the alleged conspiracy,
respectively, also resiled and were declared hostile.
       6. Only the formal witnesses supported the tale of the Prosecution      D
and stood their ground qua the guilt of the Accused. In this regard, the
testimony of ASI Rajinder Kumar (PW-14), who was in-charge of the
investigation, bears some significance. This witness affirmed to the
legitimacy of the disclosure statements presented by all the Accused,
including the Appellant, and stated that the Complainant in his                E
supplementary statement before the police had contended that Rs. 46,000/
- were wrapped in a ‘red cloth’ which had Complainant’s wife’s name
embroidered on it along with a Passbook of Indian Bank. Albeit, ASI
Rajinder Kumar in his cross-examination, admitted that the ‘red cloth’
which was recovered from the house of the Appellant was easily available
in the market and that the name ‘Kamla’ could also be easily engraved          F
thereupon. Further, he also deposed that whilst co-accused Manjeet had
sought for Test Identification Parade (for short, “T.I.P.”), the Complainant
refused to participate in the same and instead had tendered an affidavit,
claiming that if he were to identify Manjeet he would be killed. H.C.
Karmbir Singh (PW-13), who was present with PW-14 when the                     G
disclosure statements were tendered by the Accused, also supported
the Prosecution version and deposed that the recovery of the incriminating
articles was made in his presence.
       7. The Appellant in his 313 Cr.P.C. statement denied the recovery
of all the incriminating evidence put before him. To the same effect           H
1144             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2021] 7 S.C.R.


 A     were the statements made by other co-accused under Section 313 Cr.P.C.,
       denying the Prosecution version completely.
              8. The Trial Court found strength in the contention of the
       Prosecution that the material witnesses had substantially proved its version
       though with minor discrepancies. The Court further noted that an
 B     admission by an accused leading to the discovery of any -----fact could
       be used against them and that in the instant case, the Accused had failed
       to provide any explanation as to how they came into possession of the
       articles, especially the ‘red cloth’ and the passbook, which were recovered
       from the custody of the Appellant. In light of the instant fact scenario,
       the Trial Court concluded that recovery of the Articles was sufficient to
 C     draw the inference of culpability and to bring home the guilt of the
       Accused. Consequently, the Trial Court convicted the Appellant and
       Manjeet under Sections 392 & 397 IPC. Manjeet was further convicted
       under Section 25 of the Indian Arms Act, 1959. Accused Mukesh and
       Subhash were also convicted under Section 120B IPC. All the Accused
 D     were sentenced with a maximum sentence of rigorous imprisonment of
       10 years each under Section 397 IPC and/or Section 120B IPC.
              9. Discontented, the Accused preferred separate appeals before
       the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. Their primary contention was
       that none of the eye-witnesses or the independent witnesses supported
 E     the Prosecution case and that they could not be convicted solely on the
       basis of disclosure statements. Upon re-appraisal of evidence, the High
       Court was unimpressed by the plea raised on behalf of the Accused and
       concurred with the findings of the Trial Court and further noted that due
       to enormous rise in instances of dacoity, the non-identification of the
       accused in the Court could not be construed as a material consideration
 F     where other evidence points towards the commission of the crime. The
       High Court vide a common judgment maintained the conviction of the
       Accused persons. Nonetheless, the High Court reduced the sentence
       under Section 397 IPC to rigorous imprisonment of 7 years so as to
       meet the ends of justice.
 G           10. The aggrieved Appellant is now before this Court.
             CONTENTIONS:
             11. We have heard learned counsel(s) for the Appellant and the
       Respondent-State at a considerable length and perused the record in-
       depth. The principal contention raised on behalf of the Appellant is that
 H
        BIJENDER @ MANDAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                                  1145
                    [SURYA KANT, J.]

his conviction is based solely on the basis of the ‘disclosure statement’      A
and that there is no other cogent evidence to withstand his conviction
under Sections 392 and 397 IPC. It was further contended that during
the pendency of the present appeal, this Court, in Criminal Appeal No.
1375 of 2010 and Criminal Appeal No. 1328 of 2013 had already acquitted
co-accused Mukesh and Suresh with a finding that there was a lack of
                                                                               B
evidence to sustain their conviction under Section 120B IPC.
       12. Learned State Counsel, on the other hand, reminded us of the
limited scope of interference by this Court in a case of concurrent finding
of fact and canvassed that the conviction of the Appellant, on the basis
of his disclosure statement, which led to the recovery of Rs. 5,000/-
along with the ‘red cloth’ and the Indian Bank passbook, was sufficient        C
to foster the conviction of the Appellant. Regarding the acquittal of the
co-accused, it was rebutted that the allegations qua them pertained only
to the extent of conspiracy, and hence, their acquittal did not have any
substantial impact on the conviction of the Appellant herein, who is alleged
to have actually carried out the malfeasance.                                  D
      ANALYSIS:
       13. It may be accentuated at the outset that although this Court is
bestowed with capacious powers under Article 136 of the Constitution,
yet, while beseeching such powers in a criminal appeal by special leave,
this Court would by and large abstain from entering into a fresh re-           E
appraisement of evidence and doubt the credibility of witnesses when
there is a concurrent finding of fact, save for certain exceptional
circumstances where the decision(s) under challenge are shown to have
committed a manifest error of law or procedure or the conclusion reached
is ex--facie perverse.                                                         F
        14. Adverting to the case at hand, indubitably, the only eye-
witnesses to the alleged crime, i.e., the Complainant (PW-4) and his
nephew (PW-6) have not supported the case of the Prosecution. The
Complainant (PW-4) in his testimony before the Court unequivocally
denied that the Appellant or his co-accused were involved in the execution     G
of the offence. Further, in the deposition of ASI Rajinder Kumar (PW-
14), who was the investigating officer of the case, there is no mention of
T.I.P. even attempted to be led, in so far as the Appellant is concerned.
Ergo, the very identity of the Appellant as one of the perpetrators stands
obscured, particularly, considering that all the accused in the case were
                                                                               H
1146             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                               [2021] 7 S.C.R.


 A     arrested on the basis of a secret information, the origin of which is naturally
       unknown.
              15. The short question that falls for our consideration thus is whether
       the conviction of the Appellant on the strength of the purported disclosure
       statement (Ex. PD) and the recovery memo (Ex. PD/2), in the absence
 B     of any corroborative evidence, can sustain?
              16. We have implored ourselves with abounding pronouncements
       of this Court on this point. It may be true that at times the Court can
       convict an accused exclusively on the basis of his disclosure statement
       and the resultant recovery of inculpatory material. However, in order to
 C     sustain the guilt of such accused, the recovery should be unimpeachable
       and not be shrouded with elements of doubt.1 We may hasten to add that
       circumstances such as (i) the period of interval between the malfeasance
       and the disclosure; (ii) commonality of the recovered object and its
       availability in the market; (iii) nature of the object and its relevance to
       the crime; (iv) ease of transferability of the object; (v) the testimony
 D     and trustworthiness of the attesting witness before the Court and/or
       other like factors, are weighty considerations that aid in gauging the
       intrinsic evidentiary value and credibility of the recovery. (See: Tulsiram
       Kanu vs. The State 2; Pancho vs. State of Haryana 3; State of
       Rajasthan vs. Talevar & Anr4 and Bharama Parasram Kudhachkar
 E     vs. State of Karnataka5)
              17. Incontrovertibly, where the prosecution fails to inspire
       confidence in the manner and/or contents of the recovery with regard to
       its nexus to the alleged offence, the Court ought to stretch the benefit of
       doubt to the accused. Its nearly three centuries old cardinal principle of
 F     criminal jurisprudence that “it is better that ten guilty persons escape,
       than that one innocent suffer”. The doctrine of extending benefit of
       doubt to an accused, notwithstanding the proof of a strong suspicion,
       holds its fort on the premise that “the acquittal of a guilty person
       constitutes a miscarriage of justice just as much as the conviction
       of the innocent”.
 G

       1
         Vijay Thakur vs. State of Himachal Pradesh, (2014) 14 SCC 609
       2
         AIR 1954 SC 1
       3
         (2011) 10 SCC 165.
       4
         (2011) 11 SCC 666
       5
 H       (2014) 14 SCC 431
        BIJENDER @ MANDAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                                   1147
                    [SURYA KANT, J.]

        18. It may not be wise or prudent to convict a person only because      A
there is rampant increase in heinous crimes and victims are oftenly
reluctant to speak truth due to fear or other extraneous reasons. The
burden to prove the guilt beyond doubt does not shift on the suspect save
where the law casts duty on the accused to prove his/her innocence. It
is the bounden duty of the prosecution in cases where material witnesses
                                                                                B
are likely to be slippery, either to get their statements recorded at the
earliest under Section 164 Cr.P.C. or collect such other cogent evidence
that its case does not entirely depend upon oral testimonies.
        19. Unmindful of these age-old parameters, we find that the
Prosecution in the present case has miserably failed to bring home the
guilt of the Appellant and Courts below have been unwittingly swayed            C
by irrelevant considerations, such as the rise in the incidents of dacoity.
In its desire to hold a heavy hand over such derelictions, the Trial Court
and the High Court have hastened to shift the burden on the Appellant to
elucidate how he bechanced to be in possession of the incriminating
articles, without primarily scrutinizing the credibility and admissibility of   D
the recovery as well as its linkage to the misconduct.We say so for the
following reasons:
      Firstly, the High Court and the Trial Court failed to take into
consideration that the testimony of ASI Rajinder Kumar (PW-14)
exhibited no substantial effort made by the police for conducting the           E
search of the residence of the Appellant in the presence of local witnesses.
The only independent witness to the recovery was Raldu (PW-8) who
was admittedly a companion of the Complainant.
      Secondly, the Complainant (PW-4) as well as Raldu (PW-8), have
unambiguously refuted that neither the passbook, nor the ‘red cloth’ was        F
recovered from the possession of the Appellant, as claimed in his
disclosure statement.
       Thirdly, while the Complainant (PW-4) negated his signatures on
the recovery memo (EX. PD/2), on the other hand, Raldu (PW-8) also
neither enumerated the recovery memo (Ex. PD/2) in the catalogue of             G
exhibited documents, nor did that he affirm to having his endorsement.
       Fourthly, the recovered articles are common place objects such
as money which can be easily transferred from one hand to another and
the ‘red cloth’ with ‘Kamla’ embossed on it, as has been acceded by the
                                                                                H
1148                SUPREME COURT REPORTS                        [2021] 7 S.C.R.


 A     Investigating Officer, Rajinder Kumar (PW-14), can also be easily
       available in market.
             Fifthly, the recovery took place nearly a month after the
       commission of the alleged offence. We find it incredulous, that the
       Appellant during the entire time period kept both the red cloth and the
 B     passbook in his custody, along with the money he allegedly robbed off
       the Complainant.
             Sixthly and finally, there is no other evidence on record which
       even remotely points towards the iniquity of the Appellant.
              20. It appears to us that the Trial Court and the High Court have
 C     erroneously drawn adverse inference against the Appellant, in spite of
       the Prosecution having lamentably failed to adequately dispense with its
       burden of proof to depict culpability of the Appellant. As far as the view
       of the Trial Court and the High Court qua the alleged threat is concerned,
       we find it hard-pressed to give credence to such allegations in the absence
 D     of any compelling evidence to substantiate the same. Although, the
       Prosecution has attempted to place reliance on the affidavit presented
       by the Complainant during the T.I.P. offered by the co-accused-Manjeet,
       we find that the said affidavit does not name the Appellant herein and
       pertains solely to Manjeet.

 E            21. In light of the afore-stated discussion, we are of the considered
       opinion that the evidence on record does not establish the guilt of the
       Appellant beyond reasonable doubt and the Courts below have arrived
       at recording the guilt of the Appellant in absence of any cogent rationale,
       justifying his conviction.

 F             CONCLUSION :
             22. Consequently, and as a sequel thereto, the criminal appeal is
       allowed. The judgments and orders passed by the Trial Court and High
       Court are set-aside and the Appellant is acquitted of all charges. Bail
       bond, if any, stands discharged.
 G
       Nidhi Jain                                                    Appeal allowed.




 H