Holding

The High Court's acquittal was upheld because the confessional statements were not proven voluntary and the circumstantial evidence did not satisfy the requirements of a complete, cogent chain.

Summary

The case involved the murder of Mayurani, a Sri Lankan student, and the conviction of Balaprasanna under Section 302 IPC based primarily on circumstantial evidence and confessional statements that led to the recovery of various items. The prosecution relied on statements made by the accused while in custody, invoking Section 27 of the Evidence Act, to discover knives, a log, blood‑stained clothing, a computer, gold ingots and other articles. The Supreme Court examined whether these confessional statements were made voluntarily and whether the chain of circumstantial evidence was complete and cogent. It found serious doubts about the voluntariness of the statements, inconsistencies in the recovery of evidence, and gaps in the evidential chain, rendering the prosecution's case insufficient to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Consequently, the Court upheld the Madras High Court's acquittal and dismissed the appeal.

Issues considered

The admissibility and voluntariness of confessional statements under Section 27 of the Evidence Act.
Whether the circumstantial evidence presented formed a complete, unbroken chain sufficient to convict.
Whether the prosecution proved the accused's guilt beyond reasonable doubt under Section 302 IPC.

Legislation cited

Subjects

circumstantial evidenceconfessional statementSection 27 Evidence Actvoluntarinessmurderacquittalchain of evidenceIndian Penal Code 302criminal appeal

Judgment

[2008] 11 S.C.R. 31
~

INSPECTOR OF POLICE, TAMIL NADU A
v.
BALAPRASANNA
(Criminal Appeal No.1125 of 2008)
JULY 21, 2008
B
-f
[DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT AND P. SATHASIVAM, JJ.]

Evidence Act, 1872:
s.27 - Confessional statement leading to recovery of ar-
tic/es - Prosecution while relying upon the confessional state-
c
ment leading to recovery of articles under s.27 of the Act, has
to prove through cogent evidence that the statement was made
voluntarily and led to discovery of the relevant facts - On facts,
alleged confession made belatedly - Hence cannot be relied
upon as it created doubt regarding its authenticity and D
A voluntariness - Penal Code, 1860 - s. 302.
Circumstantial evidence - Links in the chain of circum-
stances - Held: Must be complete and proved by cogent evi-
dence - Where case rests squarely on circumstantial evi- E
dence, inference of guilt can be justified only when all the in-
criminating facts and circumstances are found to be incom-
patible with the innocence of the accused or the guilt of any
other person.
Prosecution case was that deceased was found dead F
~
in her room. On the basis of FIR filed by PW-1, investiga-
tion was taken up by P.W.40. Subsequently on the basis
of the order of the High Court, such investigation was
completed by P.W.42.
The accused was arrested on suspicion. On the ba- G
sis of his statement, knife and a log allegedly used for
• --\ killing, and certain other materials were recovered. Initially,
P.W.40 suspected the role of P.W.1, his wife P.W.2, P.W.3,
from whose house certain incriminating materias were re-
31 H
32 SUPREME COURT REPORrs [2008] 11 S.C.R.

A covered allegedly on ttte basis of statement'of the ac-
cused as well as P.W.4, who was working as a cleaner in
the vehicle of P.W.1. Subsequently, however, P.W.42, who
took over investigation from P.WAO filed charge-sh~et only
against the respondent on the footing that P.Ws. 1 to 4
B had no role to play in the crime. ·
r
ihe .prosecuti'cin'-relied up~~ ortly circurtt.stanti~I· evi-
dence, namely, confessional statements of the accused
leading to recovery of various incriminating materiais. The
C prosecution has also relied upon the alleged motive to
the effect that the accused urgently wanted money with a
(.
view to.increase his marks·in-Mathematics and, therefore, I
the .ac-.cused had stolen articles: belonging to the de-
ceased: -'
- ~ ·-. ' . , • . '" I ~ '· . . ' . \ • . - , •• • ,•

p . T_rial..court convicted accused unqer ·s.302 IPC on
the basis of circumstantial evidence. High Cou.rt found
that the circumstances highlighted were not ·sufficient to
fasten the guilt on the accused, ·and directed .acquittal.
Hence: the present appeal, -
E Dismissing. the
..
appeal, 'the.
.
Court ~ ;
\-
HELD: 1.1 Where a· cas·e rests squarely on circum-
stantial evidence; the inference of guilt can be justified
only when all the incriminating facts and circumstances
are found to be incompatible with the innocence of the
r
i

F a·ccused .or the guilt of_ any ~ther' person.'.The ma.l'n cir~
cumstances_ reiled upon by the prosec'utiorr reTates
" - -' .: - -- '
the
' ~ ~ - ~ ' . . ' • • ~
to \ '!

statements .ofthe. accused leading to discovery of m·ate~
riat' facts~ ad~issible uride'r of the Eyidenc~ Act, 1'si2. s:21
[Paras 9,18] [41-E, 45-8,C] ·. .. · · · 1·· ·· ·
G .' • . . ' • . .·. . .f .• . . -
Hukam. Singt1v. State ofRajqsthan AIR (1977)' s~ 1063;
Eradu' and. Ors. v.' ·~sttite of Hyderab'ad°flJR. (19S6) SC ·316;
Earabhadrappa v.' State of Kamataka ·AiR (1 ~83) sc 446; State
of UP. v. Sukhbasi and Ors. AIR (1985)° SC 1224; Ba/winder
H Singh ·v. State: of Punjab Al R (1987) sc 3·50; Ashok Kum~r
/

INSPECTOR OF POLICE, TAMIL NADU v. 33
BALAPRASANNA
).._
Chatterjee v. State of M.P AIR (1989) SC 1890; Bhagat Ram A
v. State of Punjab AIR (1954) SC 621; C. Chenga Reddy and
Ors. v. State of A.P (1996) 10 SCC 193; Padala Veera Reddy
v. State of A.P and Ors. AIR (1990) SC 79 State of UP v. Ashok
Kumar Srivastava (1992) Crl.LJ 1104; Hanumaht Govind
Nargundkar and Anr. v. State ofMadhya Pradesh AIR 1952 B
.>, SC 343; Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra,
AIR (1984) SC 1622; State of Rajasthan v. Rajaram (2003) 8
SCC 180; State of Haryana v. Jagbir Singh & Anr. (2003) 11
sec 261 - relied on.
---!'
"Wills' Circumstantial Evidence" by Sir Alfred Wills - re-
c
ferred to.
1.2. Law is well settled that the prosecution while re-
lying upon the confessional statement leading to discov-
ery of articles under s.27 of the Evidence Act, has to prove D
through cogent evidence that the statement' has been
made voluntarily and leads to discovery of the relevant
facts. [Para 19] [45-C,D]

- Pulukuri Kotayya v. Emperor AIR (1947) PC 67; K.
Chinnaswamy Reddy v. State of A.P AIR (1962) SC 1788; E
Anter Singh v. State of Rajasthan AIR (2004) SC 2665;.
Rameshwar v. State Rammi alias of Madhya Pradesh AIR
(1999) SC 3544 - relied on.
2.1. Significantly, the prosecution has relied upon the
F
evidence of PW 40 who was investigating initially. His evi-
~
dence. has to be considered in the background of what
has been stated by PW 22 and CW 1. It has been accepted
by the prosecution that great efforts were made by PW
40 to falsely implicate PWs 1 ~to 4 and for that purpose a
departmental proceeding was initiated. Even according G
to the statement of the subsequent investigating officer
(PW 42), several blank papers with the signature of PW
22 and CW 1 had been taken by PW 40 and such docu-
ments had been used to create false records to implicate
PWs 1 to 4. It is to be noted that PW 2 himself was one of H
34 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008] 11 S.C.R.

A the suspected persons at the initial stage of investiga- "" ',_
tion. That apart, materials on record such as the state- .._
ment of P.W.22 recorded under s.164 Cr.P.C. and the state;.. t=
.--
ment of C.W.1, raise a reasonable doubt relating to
voluntariness of the alleged confession. P.W.22, who is a r-
B close relation of the deceased (cousin) has stated that ./

two days after the occurrence after the information that +.-
accused was roaming near LIC Colony. Police arrested
him and he was taken to the police station and a witness 1-
I
was present there. It is further stated that at the time of
c enquiry, the accused was beaten up by the police and
they seized a gold ring and Rs.5000/- cash from him. If
this is the statement of P.W.22 recorded under s.164 ~

Cr.P.C., a witness in whose presence the confessional
statement leading to discovery of articles fr.om the house
D of P.W.3 had been made, it raises serious doubt regard-
ing the voluntariness of the statement. lri this context, it
is also note worthy to indicate that C.W. t in tlis evidence

·-
has stated that the accused was in police station on 24-4-
2003 itself. Similar s~tement is made by P.W.4. That apart,
C.W.1 has stated that no statement has been made in his
E
presence. The prosecution version to the effect that even
some signatures on blank papers had been taken from
P.W.22 and C.W.1 thus assumes great importance. [Paras
25,26] [47-E,F,G,H, 48-A,B,C,D,E]
F 2.2. The alleged statement made by the accused led
to discovery of knife, bloodstained clothes,· rope, etc. j>
There is no evidence to show that in f;:tct the wearing ap-
parels containing bloodstains belonged to the accused,
except the alleged confessional statement. No witness
G has spoken that those clothes were wo~n by the accused
at any time far less at or about the time of occurrence. It is
also to be kept in view that those articl.es were recovered )-
from the house of P.W.3 and at the init!al· stage c:>f investi- ~

gation, P.W.3 himself was one of the suspected per~on
and he was arrested. Therefore, the statement of P.W.3
H
INSPECTOR OF POLICE, TAMIL NADU v. 35
).._
BALAPRASANNA

' and his mother that those articles were brought by the A
'
accused and left in the upstairs room is to be considered
with a pinch of salt. Moreover, there is nothing to indicate
that in fact the bloodstained clothes and rope had tallied
with the blood grouping of the deceased. The knife did not
contain any bloodstain. Therefore, the aspect relating to B
recovery of articles from the house of P.W.3 and his mother
cannot be considered as a link to complete the chain of
circumstantial evidence. [Para 27] [48-E,F,G 49-A]
2.3. The next recovery relates to recovery of com-
poter and accessories. Apart from the fact that there is
c
niggling doubt about the so called confession, in view of
statement under s.164 Cr.P.C. of P.W.22 and the statement
of C.W.1, a further doubt is raised regarding such aspect
in view of evidence of C.W.1 to the effect that he had seen
such computer in the room of the deceased when they D
had gone to the room after the offence was reported. The
fact that C.W.1 is a close relation of the deceased adds
weight to his evidence rather than taking it away. Even
accepting that the computer had been given to P.W.15 by
the accused, such circumstance by itself does not unerr- E
ingly points towards the guilt of the accused either in re-
spect of offence of murder or even robbery. It is quite
possible that such articles might have been borrowed by
the accused from the deceased and not necessarily sto-
len by the accused from the deceased after killing her. F
1 The fact that P.W.9 had not initially stated anything before
P.W.40 about the accused coming down with computer
and stated so for the first time when she was re-exam-
ined after 5 months cannot be lost sight of. As a matter of
fact, P.W.9 who was examined on the very date when po- G
lice started investigation did not inform the police that she
had seen the accused coming down from upstairs or that
the accused had threatened her. [Para 28] [49-8,C,D,E,F]
2.4 The next recovery relates to the ingots. For the
aforesaid aspect, the evidence of P.Ws. 17, 18 and 19 is H
.(

36 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008] 11 S.C.R.
,..
A relevant.; Since the gold,en jewellery had· been molten and I
'
were recovered in the shape of ingots, itwould_be very haz-
ardous to come to the conclusion that in fact the golden
jewel,lery belonged to the deceased. If the accused had killed
th~ decease~ and stolen. those golden jewellery, tt:iere is no
B reason, as to _why he had also not taken ear rings from the
dee.eased. The fact that ear _rings .were on. the qead pody is f.
admitted by the prosecution . .[Para 29] [49-G, 50-A,Bl
2.5 The prosecutibn has strongly relied upon the fact
c that "M" Dollar belonging to the deceased and a chain
wit~ ~ey of the room of the deceased were discovered
from .inside the toilet in the room which was previously
occupied by the accused; For the aforesaid purpose, they
have r.elied upon the evidence of P.W.42 and the seizure
witness. P.W.24. The accusep had alleg.edly made earlier
D confessional_ statement before P.W.40 on 26-4-2003 lead-
ing to discovery of several articles. The subsequent state- ;...
ment spoken to by, P.W.42, the subsequent Investigating
Offi.cer, is alleged to have been -made only in September,
2003, after ~b.out five months, So far as the first confes-
E sion- statement made before P.W.40 is concerned, admit-
tedly .the ~ccused was under physical .custody, at that
tim~, whereas at the time of Jast confession .stated to have
been _made before P.W.42, the accused. was· on bail and
he had been summoned by P.W.42 for further examina-
F tion and, therefore, techoic:ally in custody. If the. accused
had· not made such a statement at such first instance,
when he had confessed about other articles, .it is not un-
derstood as to how afte.r 5 months when he was on. bail
he would m~ke such a statement. Such alleged cQnfes~
G sion made belatedly thus creates doubt regarding its au-
thenticity or voluntariness. !n this context, it is to be noted
that .C.W. 1 states that "M" Dollar was taken from him by
P.W.42 for the purpose of facilitating investigation. Keep- ....
ing in view the fact that C.W.1 is a close relation of the
deceased arid obviously interested in punishing the real
H
INSPECTOR OF POLICE; TAMIL NADU v. 37
BALAPRASANNA

culprit, su.ch a statem.ent coming from ·c.W.1 cannot be A
slightly brushed aside. [Pafa 30 ] [50-8,C,D,E,F,G]
2.6 The fact that there .had been a statement alleg-
edly made by P.W.1 leading to recovery of a parallel key
from the dash board of the car of P.W.1, cannot be lost
8
sight of. It is of course true that the prosecution has tried
to exonerate P.W.1 by adducing evidence through P.Ws ..
36 and 39 to the effect that immediately after recovery of
the dead body, P.W.40 had taken two such keys, thus con-
tradicting the alleged confession of P.W.1. However, the
very suspicious role of P.W.40, who apparently was in pos- C
session of.at least two keys 9f the. same lock creates sus-
picion regarding recovery of another key after 5 months.
[Para 31] [50-G,H, 51-A,8] ·
3. Law is well settled that when the prosecution re- o
lies upon circumstantial evidence, all the links in the chain
of circumstances must be complete and should be
proved through cogent evidence. When the judgment of
the High· Court is analysed the inevitable conclusion is
that the impugned judgment of the High Court does not E
suffer from any infirmity to warrant interference. [Paras
32, 33] [51-8,C,D]
Case Law Reference
(1977) SC 1063 relied on [Para 9]
F
AIR (1956) SC 316 relied on [Para 9]
AIR (1983) SC 446 relied on [Para 9]
. AIR (1985) SC 1224 relied on [Para 9]
AIR (~987) SC 350 relied on [Para 9] G

AIR (1989) SC 1890 relied on [Para 9]
AIR (1954) SC 621 relied on [Para 9]
(1996) 10 sec 193 relied on [Para 10] H
38 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008) 11 S.C.R.

A AIR (1990) SC 79 relied on [Para 11]
,(_

(1992) CRL. l.J. 1104 relied on [Para 12]
AIR (1952) SC 343 relied on [Para 15]
AIR (1984) SC 1622 relied on [Para 16]
B
(2003) 8 sec 180 relied on [Para 17]
+-
(2003) 11 sec 261 relied on [Para 17]
AIR (1947) PC 67 relied on [Para 19]
c AIR (1962) SC 1788 relied on [Para 22]
AIR (2004) SC 2665 relied on [Para 23]
AIR (1999) SC 3544 relied on [Para 24]

D CRIMINALAPPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
No. 1125 of 2008
From the final Judgment and order dated 23/12/2005 of
the High Court of Judicature at Madras in Criminal Appeal No.
202 of 2005
E
R. Sundaravaradan, V.G. Pragasam, S.J. Aristotle and
Prabu Ramasubramanian for the Appellant.
A.TM. Rangaramanujam, V. Balaji and P.N. Ramalingam
for the respondent.
F
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Dr. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. 1. Leave granted.
2. Challenge in this appeal is to the order of a Division
Bench of Madras High Court allowing the appeal filed by the
G
respondent (hereinafter referred to as the 'accused'). The ac-
cused was convicted for offence punishable under Section 302
of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the 'IPC') and· sen-
tenced to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of )!-

Rs.10,000/- with default stipulation by Principal District Judge,
H Madurai. He was also convicted for offences punishable under
INSPECTOR OF POLICE, TAMIL NADU v. 39
BALAPRASANNA [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]

. ·Section 392 read with Section 397 IPC and sentence to un- A
dergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and to pay a fine.
3. Background facts in a nutshell are as follows:
.The deceased is one Mayurani, a Sri Lankan student, who
was residing in the first floor .of the house belonging to one B
~.· Solsimalai (P.W.1). The Accused is also a Sri Lankan student
studying in a different co.liege, but staying in the second floor of
the same premises. The occurrence allegedly took place in the
afternoon of 22.4.2003. The First Information Report was lodged
byP.W.1 on 24-4-2003 at about 9.30 A.M. It was indicated in C
the First Information Report that on 24.4.2003 at 9.00A.M., while
the informant had gone to perform pooja in the first floor of the
house, he got foul smell in the last room of the first floor and
found blood seeping through the front door. On opening the win.:.
dow he noticed that Mayurani was lying in a pool of blood with o
her face covered with a bag. On the basis of the aforesaid F.l.R.,
-~ investigation was taken up initially by P.W.40. Subsequently Ori
the basis of the order of the High Court, such investigation was
completed by P.W.42.
The accused is stated to have been arrested on suspi- E
cion on 26.4.2003. On the basis of the statement of the ac-
cused, prosecution discovered many materials including a knife
and a log allegedly used for killing.
Initially, P.W.40 suspected the role of P.W.1, his wife P.W.2, F
P.W.3, from whose house certain incriminating material were
recovered allegedly on the basis of statement of the accused
as well as P.W.4, who was working as a cleaner in the vehicle
of P.W.1. Subsequently, however, P.W.42, who took over inves-
tigation from P.W.40 filed charge-sheet only against the respon-
dent on the footing that P.Ws. 1 to 4 had no role to play in the G
crime.
4. The prosecution relied upon only circumstantial evi-
dence, namely, confessional statements of the accused lead ...
ing to recovery of various incriminating materials. Ex.P-6is the H
40 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008] 11 S.C.R.

A s~aternent lead!ng t,o r~covery of Travel .bags {M.Os. 2 & 3),
knife c~.05), wooden log (M.0.28·). rubb~r gfoves (rvi.0.29· se-
ries) cotton rope with human hair (M.N.0.30 series),. two
sponges soaked with blood (M.0.31 series), bloodstained blue
cl91ourjeanpant(M.0.32), bl.oodstained white banian (M.0.33),
B c'olour banial) (M.. 0,,34), bloodstained 'grey colour pant (M.0.35),
bloqdstained pillow (M.0.36), piastre bucket (M.0.37) from the
h_ouse.of.P.W'.3. Ex".P-8 is th_e statement leading to recovery of
computer and itS accessori~~ (M.Os. 6 to 17) from the house of
P.'f:-l 15, .a Cl~ssr:nate of the accused. Ex.P-10 is the statem.ent
c relafing.fo.)ew'elleries, ultimately leading to.recovery of gold in.,.
gots.(rvi.Q.1a"series).from the house of P.W..19 on the basis of
ot.her connecting statement~ of P.W.17 andP.W.18. These three
o
statemeri'fs., Exs. P.-6, p·~a and P'-1 dated 26-4-2003, were
m~~fo bef~ie P,VV.40 in.the presence of P.W.22 and C.W.1.. The
other: 'confessional stateme.nt Ex.P-12 dated 22-9.-2003 made
D b.efor~·P.W.42 ~nd_Subbiah ~nd P.w.24; led to n~covery of.''.M"
dqffar.(M.'Q.3~f and key chain with key ch~in in (M.0.39) fr9rn ;.
the .toilet in the room of the qCCused. The prosecution has.also
relied upon the alleged motive to the effect that the. accused
urgently wanted rnoney with a view to increase his marks in
E.. Mathematics :and, .. therefore, the accused had-·stolen articles
belonging to ·the deceased.
· 5. The trial court found the resp~ndeni guilty and recorded
conviction and imposed sentence as aforestated. The trial court
F found ttiat the prosecution version rested on circumstantial evi-
dence. The following circumstances were highlighted to find the·
accused guilty. ,· · ·
·(a) · The death is homicidal;
G · (b) The accused was in need of money to chase
mathematics paper and for the aforesaid purpose
he has killed the deceased to take away the valuable
articles like computer and gold ornaments to sell
>-
~uch articles in the mark~t.

H (c) At the time of occurrence, only the a:ccused,
-
INSPECTOR OF POLICE, TAMIL NADU v. 41
BALAPRASANNA [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]

deceased and PW 9 were available in the premises A
and there was no other person.
(d) Statement of the accused leading to recovery of
incriminating materials such as knife, rope, clothes,
wooden log and other valuable articles such as
8
computer, gold ornaments, "M" Dollar and the key
chain with key belonging to the deceased.
6. The High Court found that the circumstances highlighted
were not sufficient to fasten the guilt on the accused, and di-
rected acquittal. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted C
that the High Court failed to.notice that the circumstances high-
lighted clearly establis.h the chain of circumstances which es-
tablished the prosecution version and the High Court was not
justified in directing acquittal. .
7. Learned counsel for the respondent on the other hand D
supported the judgment of the High Court. · ·
' . '

8. The conviction based on circumstantial evidence has
been highlighted by this Court in various orders of this Cqurt.
9. It has been consistently laid down by this Court that E
where a case rests squarely on circumstantial evidence, the
inference of guilt can be justified only when all the incriminating
facts and circumstances are found to be incompatible with the
innocence of the accused or the guilt of any other person. (See
Hukam Singh v. State of Rajasthan AIR (1977 SC 1063); Eradu F
and Ors. v. State of Hyderabad (Al R 1956 SC 316);
Earabhadrappa v. State of Karnataka (Al R 1983 SC 446); State
of UP v. Sukhbasi and Ors. (AIR 1985 SC 1224); Ba/winder
Singh v. State of Punjab (AIR 1987 SC 350); ~shok Kumar
Chatterjee v. State of M.P (AIR 1989 SC 1890). The circum- G
stances from which an inference as to the guilt of the accused
is drawn have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt and have
to be .shown to be closely connected with the principal fact
sought to be inferred from those circumstances. In Bhagat Ram
v. State of Punjab (AIR 1954 SC 621), it was laid down that H
42 suPqEME COURT REPORTS, [2008] 11 S.C.R.

~
A where the case depends upon the conclusion drawn from cir-
cumstances the cumulative effect of. the circumstances must
be such as to negative the innocence of the accused and bring
the offences _home beyond any reasonable doubt.
. 10. We may also make a reference to a decision of this
B
Court in G Chenga Reddy and Ors. v. State of A.P (1996) 10
sec 1"93, wherein it has been observed thus: +

"In a case based on circumstantial evidence, the settled
law is that the·circumstances from which the conclusion of
c guilt .is drawn should be fully proved and such
-' circumstances must be conclusive in nature. Moreover, all
the circumstances should be complete and there should
. be no gap left in the chain of evidence. Further the proved
circumstances must be consistent only with the hypothesis
D of the guilt of the accused and totally inconsistent with his
innocence .... ".·
.~
. _11. In Padala Veera Reddy v. State of A.P and Ors. (AIR
1990 SC 79), it was laid down that when a case rests upon
circumstantial evidence, such evidence must satisfy the follow-
E ing tests:
. "(1) the circumstances from which an inference of guilt is
i•
sought to be drawn, must be cogently and firmly
established;

F (2) those circumstances should be of a definite tendency
unerringly pointing towards guilt of the accused; ,...__

(3) the circumstances, taken cumulatively should form a
chain so complete that there is no escape from the
conclusion that within all human probability the crime
G was committed by the accused and none else; and
(4). the circumstantial evidence in order to sustain
conviction must be complete and incapable of
explanation of any other hypothesis than that of the
H guilt of the accused and such evidence should not
INSPECTOR OF POLICE, TAMIL NADU v. 43
BALAPRASANNA [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]

only be consistent with the guilt of the accused but A
should be inconsistent with his innocence."
12. In State of U.P v. Ashok Kumar Srivastava, (1992
Crl.LJ 1104), it was pointed out that great care must be taken in
evaluating circumstantial evidence and if the evidence relied
8
-.+ on is reasonably capable of two inferences, the one in favour of
the accused must be accepted. It was also pointed out that the
circumstances relied upon must be found to have been fully es-
tablished and the cumulative effect of all the facts so estab-
lished must be consistent only with the hypothesis of guilt.
c
13. ~ir Alfred Wills in his admirable book ...Wills' Circum-
stantial Evidence" (Chapter VI) lays down the. following rules
specially to be observed in the case of circumstantial evidence:
..., (1) the·facts alleged as the basis of any legal inference must be
clearly proved and beyond reasonable doubt connected with D
,.. the factum probandum; (2) the burden of proof is always on the
party who asserts the existence of any fact, which infers legal
accountability; (3) in all cases, whether of direct or Circumstan-
tial evidence the best evidence must be adduced which the
nature of the case admits; (4) in order to justify the inference :of
E
~ guilt, the inculpatory facts must be incompatible with the inno-
cence of the accused and incapable of explanation, upon any
other reasonable hypothesis than that of his guilt, (5) if there be
any reasonable doubt of the guilt of the accused, he is entitled
as of right to be acquitted".
F
~ 14. There is no doubt that conviction can be based solely
on circumstantial evidence but it should be tested by the touch-
stone of law relating to circumstantial evidence laid down by
the this Court as far back as in 1952.
15. In Hanumant Govind Nargundkar and Anr. V State G
of Madhya Pradesh, (AIR 1952 SC 343), wherein it was ob-
--1.. served thus:

"It is well to remember that in cases where the evidence
is of a circumstantial nature, the circumstances fron:i which H
44
SUPREME. COURT REPORTS [2008] 11 S.C.R.

A ' : . the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn should be in the first
instance be fully established and all the facts so
established should be consistent only with the hypothesis
... of the guilt of the acc1.Jsed. Again, the circumstances should
be of. a conclusive .nature and tendency and they should
B . be . such as to _exclud~ every hypothesis but the one
proposed to be proved. In other words, there must be a
.chain of evidence _so far complete as not to leave any
. re~sonable ·ground for a conclusion consistent with the
· innocence of the accused and it must be such as to show
c that within all human. probability the act must have been
done by the accused."
'1
16. A reference may be made to a later decision .in Sharad
Birdti°iC,hf!m;l Sarda v. St9te of MaharashtraJ. (AIR 1984 SC
. 162.2~. Therein, ~hile dealing with ci~cumstantial evidence,. it
D has been held that onus was on the prosecution to prove that
the chain is con;iplete and the infirm,ity of lacuna inprosecution
cannot be cured by false defence or plea. The co.nditions pre-
cedent ·in the words of this Court, before conviction could be
based. qn circum?tantial evidence, rnust. be f_ully ·e_stablished.
E They are: , . - .,

(1) the circumstances-from which the conclusion of guilt
is to be drawn should· be fully established. The
circumstances concerned must or should and not
may be established;
F
·· (2) ·the facts so established should be consistent only ~-
with the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused, that is
' to say, they should not be explainable on any other
hypothesis exceptthat the accused is guilty;
G ·· (3) · the circumstances should be of a conclusive nature
· and tendency;
. .

(4) they should exclude every possible hypothesis except
· the-one to be proved; and
- . . '.

H (5) there must be a chain of evidence so compete as·
INSPECTOR OF POLICE, TAMIL NADU v. · 45
BALAPRASANNA [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]

not to leave any reasonable ground for the conclusion A
consistent with the innocence of the accused and
must show that in all human probability the act must
have been done by the accused. ·
17. These aspectswere highlighted in State of Rajasthan
8
v. Rajaram (2003(8) SCC 180), State of Haryana v. ·Jcigbir
Singh &Anr. (2003(11) sec 261). ·
..
18. The ,main circumstances relied upon by the prosecu-
tion relates to the statements of the-accused leading to discov-
ery of materials facts, admissible under Section 27 of the In- C

-
\ dian Evidence Act, 1872 (in short the 'Evidence Act').
. 19. Law is well settled t.hat the prosecution while relying
upon the confessional statement leading to discovery of articles
under Section 27 of the Evidence Act, has to prove through
co"gent evidence that the statement has been made voluntarily D
~ and leads to discovery of the relevant facts. The scope and ambit
of Section 27 of the Evidence Act had been stated and restated
in several decisions of this Court. However, in almost all such
decisions reference is made to the observation of the Privy
CounCil in Pu/ukuri Kotayya v. Emperor (AIR 1947 PC 67). It is E ·
worthwhile to extract such quoted obser\tation:
"It is fallacious to treat the 'fact discovered' within the
section as equivalent to the object ·pro-duced; the fact
. discovered embraces the place from which the object is F
produced and the knowledge of the accused as to this
and the information given must relate distinctly to this fact.
Information as to past user" or the past history, of the object
~- produced· 1s not related to his discovery in the setting in
which it is discovered. Information-supplied by a person in G.
custody that 'I will produce a knife concealed in the roof of
my house' does not lead to the discovery of the knife;
knives were discovered m·any years ago. It leads to the
discovery of the fact that a knife is concealed in the house
of the informant to his knowledge, and if the knife is proved
to have been used in the commission of the offence, the H ·
46 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008] 11 S.C.R.

A fact discovered is very relevant. But if to the statement the
words be added 'with which stabbed A', these words are
inadmissible since they do not related to the discovery of
the knife in the house of the informant (p.77)".
20. At one time it was held that the expression "fact dis-
B.
covered" in the section is restricted to a physical or material +
fact which can be perceived by the senses, and that it does not
include a mental fact, now it is fairly settled that the expression
"fact discovered" includes not only the physical object produced,
butalso the place from which it is produced and the knowledge
c of the accused as to this, as noted in Pulukuri Kottaya's case
(supra).
21. The various requirements of the section can be
summed up as follows:
D (1) The fact of which evidence is sought to be given
must be relevant to the issue. It must be borne in >-.
mind that the provision has nothing to do with the
question of relevancy. The relevancy of the fact
discovered must be established according to the
E prescriptions relating to relevancy of other evidence
connecting it with the crime in order to make the fact
discovered admissible.

(2) The fact must have been discovered.

F (3) The discovery must have been in consequence of
some information -received from the accused and ,...
not by the accused's own act.

(4) The person giving the information must be accused
of any offence.
G
(5) He must be in the custody of a police officer.

(6) The discovery of a fact in consequence of information
received from an accused in custody must be
deposed to.
H
INSPECTOR OF POLICE, TAMIL NADU v. 47
BALAPRASANNA [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]

·( 7) Thereupon only that portion of the information which A
relates distinctly or strictly to the fact discovered can
be proved. The rest is Inadmissible.
22. As observed in Pulukuri Kottaya's case (supra) it can
seldom happen that information leading to the discovery of a
8
fact forms the foundation of the prosecution case. It is one link
in the chain of proof and the other links must be. forged in a
manner allowed by law. To similar effect was the view expressed
in K. Chinnaswamy Reddy v. State of A.P (AIR 1962 SC 1788).
23. The above position was highlighted in Anter Singh v. c
State of Rajasthan (AIR 2004 SC 26651.

24. In Rammi alias Rameshwar v. State of Madhya
Pradesh (AIR 1999 SC 3544) the scope and ambit of Section
27 of the Evidence Act was analysed in great detail and it was
concluded in para 12 as follows: D
"12. True, such information is admissible in evidence under
Section 27 of the Evidence Act, but admissibility alone
would not render the evidence, pertaining to the above
information, reliable. While testing the reliability of such E
evidence the court has to see whether it was voluntarily
stated by the accused."
25. Signifitantly, the prosecution has relied upon the evi-
dence of PW 40 who was investigating initially. His evidence
has to be considered in the background of what has been stated' F
by PW 22 and CW 1. It has been accepted by the prosecution
that great efforts were made by PW 40 to falsely implicate to
PWs 1 to 4 and for that purpose a departmental proceeding
was initiated. Even according to the statement of the subse:
quent investigating officer (PW 42), several blank papers with G
the signature of PW 22 and CW 1 had been by PW 40 and
such documents had been used to create false records to im~·
plicate PWs 1to4. It is to be noted that PW 2 himself was o·ne
of the su~pected person at the initial stage df investigation.
26. That apart, materials on record such as the statement H
INSPECTOR OF POLICE, TAMIL NADU v. 49
BALAPRASANNA [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]

there is nothing to indicate that in fact the bloodstained clothes A
and rope had tallied with the blood grouping of the deceased.
The knife did not contain any bloodstain. Therefore, the aspect
relating to recovery of articles from the house of P.W.3 and his
mother cannot be considered as a link to complete the chain of
circumstantial evidence. B
28. The next recovery relates to recovery of computer and
accessories. Apart from the fact thatthere is niggling doubt about
the so called confession, in view of statement under Section 164
of the Code of P.W.22 and the statement of C.W.1, a further doubt
is raised regarding such aspect in view of evidence of C.W.1 to C
the effect that he had seen such computer in the rooryi of the
deceased when they had gone to the room after the offence was
reported. The fact that C.W.1 is a close relation of the deceased
adds weight to his evidence rather than taking it away. E_ven ac-
cepting that the computer had been given to P.W.15 by the ac- D
cused, such circumstance by itself does not unerringly points to-~
wards the guilt of the accused either in respect of offence of mur-
der or even robbery. It is quite possible that such articles might
hc;ive been borrowed by the accused from the deceased and not
necessarily stolen by the accu.sed from the deceased after kill- E
ing her. The fact that P.W.9 had not initially stated anything before
P.W.40 about the accused coming down with computer at 3.30
P.M. and stated so for the first time when she was re-examined
after 5 months cannot be lost sight of. As a matter of fact, P.W.9
who was examined on the very date when police started investi-. F
gation did not inform the police that she had see~ the accused
coming down from upstairs or that the accused had threatened
her. Her statement to the following:

"I did not tell anyone that Balaprasanna took away the
computer and threatenad me. I did not tell this even to the G
Inspector of Police after going to the police station. I do
not tell this even to P.W.1 ... ".

29. The next recovery relates to the ingots. For the afore-
said aspect, the evidence of P.'Ns. 17, 18 and 19 is relevant. H
50 SUPREME GOURT REPORTS [2008] 11 S.C.R.
-;.( ~

A Since the golden jewellery had been molten and were recov-
ered in the shape of ingots, it would be very hazardous to come
to the conclusion that in fact the gold.en jewellery belonged to
the deceased. If the accused had killed the deceased and sto-
len those golden jewellery, there is no reason as to why he had
s. also not taken ear rings from the deceased. The fact that ear
rings were_ on. the dead body is .admitteq _by the prosecution.

30. The prosecution has .strongly relied upon the fact that
"M" Dollar belonging to· the deceased and .a chain with key of
the room ofthe deceased were discovered from inside the toi-'.
C- let in the··roomwhich was previously occupied by the accused.
For the aforesaid·purpose, they have relied upon the evidence.
of P.W.42 and· the'·seizure witness P:W.24. The accused had
allegedly made·earlier confessional statement before P.W.40
on 26'·4-2003 leadingto discovery of several articles.The sub-'
D sequerit statement spoken to by P.W.42, the subsequent lnves-'
tigatihg Officer, is alleged to have been made only in .septem-. >--
ber; 2003, after about five months. So far as the first confession ·--
I

statement made before P.VV.40 is ·concerned, admittedly the
accused was under physical custody, at that time, whereas at:
E >---
,.
the time of last confession stated to have been made before I
P.W.42, the accused was on bail and he had beeA summoned
by P~W.42 for further examination and; therefore, technically in
custody. If the accused had not made such a statement at such
first instance, when he had confessed about other articles, it:is
F not understood as to how after 5 months when he was on baii
he would make.such a statement. Such alleged confession made. ,I..-.
belatedly tf.rus' creates doubt: regarding its authenticity ·or
voluntariness. In this context, i1 is·to be noted thatc:w. 1 states
that "M'.'. Qollarwas taken from him by P.W.42 for the purpose of
G facil_i~ating investigation. Keeping in vie~ the fact that 9.vv.1 is
a cl6s~ relation of the. deceased and obviously interested in t--
punishing the real culprit, such a statemen.t coming from C.\N.1
"").-
cannot be slightly brushed aside.

31. T~e fact that there had been 1;1. statement ~liege~ly
H made by P.W.-1 leading to recovery of a parallel key from the
INSPECTOR OF POLICE, TAMIL NADU v. 51
BALAPRASANNA [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]

dash board of the car of P.W.1, cannot be lost sight of. It is of A
course true that the prosecution has tried to exonerate P.W.1
by adducing _evidence through P.Ws. 36 and 39 to the effect
that immediately after recovery of the dead body, P.W.40 had
taken two such keys, thus contradicting the alleged confession
of P.W.1. However, the very suspicious role of P.W.40, who ap- B
pare.ntly was in possession of at least two keys of the same
lock creates suspicion regarding recovery of another key after
5 months.
32. Law is well settled that when the prosecution relies
upon circumstantial ~vidence, all the links in the chain of cir- C
cumstances must be complete and should be proved through
cogent evidence.
33. When the judgment of the High Court is analysed in
the background of what has been stated by this Court as re- o
gards circumstantial evidence, the inevitable conclusion is that
.the impugned judgment of the High Court does not suffer from
any infirmity to warrant interference. The appeal is dismissed.
D.G. Appeal dismissed.