Holding

The conviction cannot be sustained where reasonable doubt exists as to the accused's participation; the benefit of doubt must go to the accused.

Summary

The appellants, three brothers, were convicted under IPC sections 302, 394 and 34 for the murder of Bigna Bedia and robbery of his house. The sole eye‑witness, the victim's wife (PW‑14), claimed to have identified the accused but later said she was unconscious until the police arrived, casting doubt on her testimony. The first information report, filed by the victim's brother (PW‑1), recorded that five or six unknown persons committed the crime and made no identification, contradicting the prosecution’s later theory. The Supreme Court examined the inconsistencies in PW‑14’s and PW‑1’s statements and held that the identity of the assailants remained unknown, creating reasonable doubt. Applying the principle of benefit of doubt, the Court set aside the convictions and acquitted the appellants.

Issues considered

Whether the conviction under sections 302, 394 and 34 IPC can be sustained in the absence of positive identification of the accused.
Whether the benefit of doubt applies when the sole eyewitness testimony is infirm and contradictory.
Whether the prosecution's theory of the victim's wife's unconsciousness is credible to explain the lack of identification.

Legislation cited

Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 302, s. 34, s. 394

Subjects

murderrobberyIPC sections 302IPC section 394IPC section 34benefit of doubteyewitness testimonyidentificationcriminal appealacquittal

Judgment

GURJA BEDIA AND ORS.
A
v.
STATE OF BIHAR -..{-

AUGUST 1, 1990

B [KULDIP SINGH, P.B. SAWANT AND
M. FATHIMA BEEVI, JJ.]

Indian Penal Code: ss. 34, 302 & 394-/dentity of assailants-
Testimony of P.W. suffering from serious infirmities casting reasonable
doubt-Benefit of doubt to be given to accused-Appellants acquitted.
-"
c The appellants were convicted for offences nuder ss. 302, 394 and
34 IPC. They were alleged to have entered the house of the deceased at
midnight and attacked ·him and his wife, PW 14; with sharp edged
weapons. He sustained fatal Injuries and died instantaneously. His wife -· ,,'
was injured. Their two sons ran to the house of uncle PW-1, at a
D distance to inform him of the incident. They had not seen the assailants.
By the time PW-1 reached the scene the assailants had fled. He had been
in the house the whole night and contacted all the concerned persons. In
the FIR that he lodged at about 10 a.m. the next morning the assailants
were not named.

The prosecution case was that the appellants had committed the
~"'
E
crime on account of enmity. PW-14, who claimed to be an eye witness,
deposed that she had identified the appellants. She also stated that she
became unconscious and regained consciousness only the next day when
the police arrived. PW-I supported her version.

F The trial court accepted the testimony of PW-14. The High Court
agreed with it.
-I-
In this appeal by special leave, it was contended for the appellants
that if PW-14 had identified the assailants, it would have been possible
for PW-1 to disclose the identity of the accused at the thpe the first
G information report was lodged, and. that the prosecution had intro-
duced the theory of unconsciousness of PW-14 only in an attempt to
explain away the lacuna.

Allowing the appeal, the Court,
_,,..

H HELD:!. It is not safe to sustain the conviction when there is

572
GURJA BEDIA v. STATE OF BIHAR [FATHIMA BEEVI, J] 573

reasonable donbt regarding the participation of the appellants in the
A
crime. The benefi! of doubt must necessarily go to them.

2. The statement of PW-I at the earliest point of time belies the
truth of what he had deposed before the court. He had been categoric in
the FIR that he had made enquiries with the wife and sons of the
deceased before proceeding to the police station and asserted that five B
or six unknown persons had committed the crime. He had also stated
that details could be furnished by the widow and sons of the deceased.
This affirmed that he could not gather any useful information regarding
identity of the assailants. All the same, in cross examination he sup-
ported the version of PW-14 that she was lying unconscious when he
reached the house at night and she narrated the incident aner regaining
consciousness when the police reached there. It clearly indicates that an c
attempt had been made by the prosecution to introduce the case of
unconsciousness of PW-14 to explain the infirmity. [576F; GI

3. The circumstance that the identity of the assailants was
unknown until the police arrived at the scene showed that PW-14 or her D
children bad not identified the assailants at the time of the occurrence.
The courts below have failed to appreciate her evidence in the correct
perspective in the light of the clinching evidence. [5768]

_,,<. CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
~.%of~. E

From the Judgment and Order dated 9.11.1977 of the Patna High
Court in Criminal Appeal No. 332 of 1971.

J.M. Khanna for the Appellants.
F
D. Goburdhan for the Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered b.y

FA THIMA BEEVI, J. This appeal by special leave is directed
against the judgment and order dated 9 .11.1977 of the High Court °Of G
Patna whereby the conviction and sentences of the appellants for the
offences under Sections 302, 394 and 34, I.P.C., have beeen confirmed.

The three appellants are brothers. The deceased, Bigna Bedia,
lived with his wife Sohagia Bedia and sons in village Karmatola. The
incident happened on the night of 5/6.9.1968. Bigna was sleeping H
574 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 3 S.C.R.

along with his son Jhalku in the verandah while Sohagia was sleeping
A
along with Malku on cot. At about midnight, the intruders entered the
house by cutting the tatti and attacked Sohagia and her husband. Binga
Bedia sustained fatal in juries and died instantaneously. Sohagia was
injured. The intruders took away the utensils and two she-goats kept
at one end of the verandah. Jiwan Bedia, the brother of the deceased,
B on being informed by Jhalku and Lalku about the incident reached the
house and after making enquiries, he lodged the first information
report at the police station at about 10.00 A.M in the next morning.
The crime was registered against unidentified persons. In the course of
the investigation these appellants were arrested and were finally
charge-sheeted.
c There had been ill-feeling between the appellants on the one
hand and the deceased and his wife on the other, though the appellants
are the sons of the elder sister of Sohagia. The prosecution case is that
on account of enmity, the three appellants committed the crime.
Sohagia claimed to be an eye witness. According to this witness, the
D three appellants were armed. Gurja had a tangi, Birja had a lathi and
Mukund had a pharsa. On entering the house Gurja and Birja dealt
blows on Sohagia with the weapons they had. She got injured and
cried. On hearing the alarm, the deceased was awakened from sleep
and when he was trying to get up, all the three appellants left her and
killed her husband. P. W. 14 asserted that Gurja had been flashing a
E torch and that she had identified all the three appellants. She also
stated that she became unconscious and regained consciousness only
the next day when the police arrived at the scene. According to the
prosecution, P.W. 14 is the only eye witness. Lalku and Jhalku who
ran to the house of P. W 1 had not seen the assailants. The trial court
accepted !he testimony of P. W. 14 corroborated by the medical evi-
F dence and other circumstances as the basis for the conviction. The
.A._
High Court agreed with the trial court in holding that the prosecution
has succeeded to bring home the guilt of all the appellants.

The learned counsel for the appellants urged before us that the
testimony of P.W. 14 suffers from serious infirmities casting reason-
G able doubt as to the identity of the assailants and the conviction is
therefore unwarranted. The circumstances relied on by the learned
counsel is that in the first information report the identity of the
accused had not been revealed. It is argued that if P. W. 14 had
identified the assailants, it would have been possible for P. W. 1 to
disclose the identity of the accused at the time the first infonnation
H report was lodged and the circumstances are such that the statements
GURJA BED!A v. STATE OF BIHAR [FATHIMA BEEVI, J.] 575

of P. W. 14 are inspired and the prosecution has introduced the theory
A
~ of unconsciousness of P.W. 14 only in an attempt to explain away the
-" lacuna. To appreciate this contention, it is necessary to scrutinise the
first informatioq report in detail. P. W. 1, Jiwan Bedia, is the full
brother of the deceased. He has been residing in village Jawabera
which is at a diJ;tance of about half a kilometre from Karmatola. Lalku
and Jhalku reached his house at about midnight and raised hu/la that B
some thieves had entered their house and killed their father and were
also killing their mother. On hearing this, P.W. 1 got up and went to
T · village Jawabera where he informed his gotias about the incident.
Then taking Sawna Bedia, Jhopra Bedia and others along with him he
went to the house of Bigna Bedia. There he did not find any thief. On
entering the house, he found Bigna Bedia lying dead with bleeding ·
injuries on his head and legs. The wife of Bigna was also injured with a C
cut injury on her face. He learnt there from the wife and both the
sons of Bigna that 5 or 6 persons had entered the house by cutting the
tatti and had inflicted in juries on Bigna and his wife with tangi, bhujali
etc. and they also removed the lock and peg and took away utensils
and two she-goats from the house. P.W. 1 then went to the villagers of D
Karmatola and told them about this incident. P. W. 1 also contacted
the Mukhia of the village Hindebilli and others before going to the
police station. P.W. 1 in narrating the incident in the Fard byan stated
that he learnt from the wife and sons of the deceased that 5 or 6
persons had entered the house and committed the crime and details
could be furnished by the widow and the sons of the deceased. E

P.W. 1, no doubt, in cross-examination supported the version of
P.W. 14 that Sohagia was lying unconscious when he reached the
house at night and she narrated the incident after regaining conscious-
ness the next day when the police reached there.
F
The statement of P.W. 1 at the earliest point of time belies the
truth of what he has deposed before the court. He had been categoric
that he made enquiries with the wife and sons of the deceased before
proceeding to the police station and asserted that 5 or 6 unknown
persons had committed the crime. It clearly indicates that an attempt
had been made by the prosecution to introduce the case of uncon- G
sciousness of P.W. 14 to explain the infirmity. It may be that P.W. 14
on account of the shock could not have been so eloquent and depres-
sed, but P.W. 1 had been in the house the whole night and he had
contacted all the concerned persons and also made enquiries. The
statement in Ex. p. 6 that details would be given by tbe wife and sons
who were present in the house also affirms that he could not gather any H
576 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 3 S.C. R.

A useful information regarding the identity of the assailants. The courts
below have failed to appreciate the evidence of P. W. 14 in the correct -+.-
perspective in the light of the clinching evidence in the case. The
circumstances that the identity of the assailants was unknown until the
police arrived at the scene is clear indication that P. W. 14 or her
children bad not identified the assailants at the time of the occurrence.
B It could be that on account of enmity and ill-will their suspicion bas
turned against these appellants and inspired by that suspicion, the
investigation bad been misdirected.
·~
We do not therefore consider it safe to sustain the conviction
when there is reasonable doubt regarding the participation of the
c appellants. The benefit of doubt must necessarily go to the appellants.

In the result, the appeal is allowed. The convictions and sen-
tences are set aside. The bail bonds shall stand cancelled.

P.S.S. Appeal allowed.
'

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