Holding

The Court held that the prosecution failed to prove the identity of the accused and did not establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt, leading to the acquittal of the appellants.

Summary

The appellant Rahul and two co‑accused were convicted for kidnapping, rape and murder of a girl, and sentenced to death and other terms. The Supreme Court examined whether the prosecution had established the identity of the accused and proved guilt beyond reasonable doubt. It found that no identification parade was conducted, witnesses never identified the accused, and the car involved was not positively linked to the crime. The Court held that the confessions recorded by police were inadmissible in full under Section 25 of the Evidence Act and that the DNA and other forensic evidence lacked a reliable chain of custody. Additionally, material witnesses were not cross‑examined, violating the right to a fair trial. Consequently, the convictions and sentences were set aside and the appellants were acquitted.

Issues considered

The prosecution failed to establish the identity of the accused through a proper identification parade.
Whether confessions recorded by police officers are admissible under Section 25 or only portions under Section 27 of the Evidence Act.
The admissibility and reliability of DNA and other forensic evidence given alleged lapses in collection, preservation and chain of custody.
Whether the failure to cross‑examine material witnesses and the trial court's passive role violated the accused's right to a fair trial under Section 165 of the Evidence Act.
Whether the circumstantial evidence, taken cumulatively, satisfied the legal standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 357(A)
Indian Evidence Act, 1872s. 165, s. 25, s. 27, s. 45, s. 65B
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 201, s. 302, s. 34, s. 365, s. 367, s. 376(2)(g)

Subjects

circumstantial evidenceidentification paradeconfession admissibilityDNA evidencefair trialSection 165 Evidence ActSection 25 Evidence ActSection 27 Evidence Actdeath penaltyacquittal

Judgment

[2022] 9 S.C.R. 1129 1129

RAHUL A
v.
STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & ANR.
(Criminal Appeal No. 611 of 2022)
NOVEMBER 07, 2022 B
[UDAY UMESH LALIT, CJI, S. RAVINDRA BHAT
AND BELA M. TRIVEDI, JJ.]
Penal Code, 1860 – ss. 365, 367, 376(2)(g), 302, 201 & 34 –
A girl was kidnapped when she was returning from her job along
with her friends – She was raped and killed later on and her body C
was thrown in open field – FIR was registered against the accused-
appellant u/s 365, 367, 376(2)(g), 302, 201 read with 34 of IPC –
Trial Court after appreciating the evidence on record and material
recovered during investigation, convicted and sentenced them with
death penalty – The same was confirmed by the High Court in Death D
Sentence Reference referred by the Session Court – On appeal,
held: Neither any T.I. Parade was conducted by the investigating
officer during the course of investigation for the identification of
the accused, nor any of the witnesses had identified the accused
during their respective depositions before the Court – The
circumstances under which the accused were arrested and the car E
was seized have also raised serious doubts in the story put-forth by
the prosecution – None of the witnesses had seen the registration
number of the car in which the victim was kidnapped – The trial
Court had allowed the entire disclosure statements of the three
accused to be admitted in evidence, the said statements being in F
nature of the confessions before the police were hit by s.25 of the
Evidence Act – Trial Court had committed gross error in exhibiting
the entire disclosure statements of the accused recorded – The
incriminating articles were sent to the CFSL for examination
however, no conclusive opinion was given by the CFSL to establish
their link with the accused – The call details record of the phone G
being electronic record, was also not proved in terms of s.65B of
the Evidence Act – It has been noticed from the record that out of
the 49 witnesses examined by the prosecution, 10 material witnesses
were not cross-examined and many other important witnesses were
not adequately cross-examined by the defence counsel – The
H
1129
1130 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A Appellants-accused were deprived of their rights to have a fair trial,
apart from the fact that the truth also could not be elicited by the
trial Court – Judgments and orders of conviction and sentence
passed by the trial Court and the High Court set aside.
Evidence Act, 1872 – 27, 45 & 65B – Circumstantial Evidence
B – 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 was committed by the accused only
and none else – The evidence with regard to the arrest of the
appellants-accused, their identification, discoveries and recoveries
of the incriminating articles, identity of the Indica Car, the seizures
C and sealing of the articles and collection of samples, the medical
and scientific evidence, the report of DNA profiling, the evidence
with regard to the CDRs etc. were not proved by the prosecution by
leading, cogent, clinching and clear evidence much less unerringly
pointing the guilt of the accused.
D Evidence Act, 1872 – s.165 – Section 165 of the Indian
Evidence Act confers unbridled powers upon the trial courts to put
any question at any stage to the witnesses to elicit the truth – The
Judge is not expected to be a passive umpire but is supposed to
actively participate in the trial, and to question the witnesses to
E reach to a correct conclusion.
Allowing the appeal, the Court
HELD: 1.1 Neither any T.I. Parade was conducted by the
investigating officer during the course of investigation for the
identification of the accused, nor any of the witnesses had
F identified the accused during their respective depositions before
the Court. Therefore, the very identity of the Appellants -accused
having not been duly established, the entire case of the
prosecution falls flat on the very first circumstance having not
been duly proved by any evidence much less clinching evidence,
G against the Appellants-accused. [Para 20][1147-D-E]
1.2 As regards the arrest of the accused-R, PW-12 ASI had
stated before the Court that the accused-R was seen driving the
red Indica Car, and he looked perplexed; when he asked for the
documents of the said vehicle, the accused-R could not produce
H
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1131
ANR.

them and therefore he (PW-12) apprehended ‘R’ and handed over A
his custody to the SHO at P.S. Chhawla. The PW-12 ASI had tried
to explain that there was a message from the Control Room that
a girl was abducted in a red coloured Indica Car and the police
had to apprehend the said vehicle and to report to the concerned
SHO, and therefore he apprehended R. Thus, the accused R was
B
apprehended because he was driving one red Indica Car.
Pertinently, none of the witnesses examined by the prosecution
had identified the Indica Car which was allegedly being driven by
‘R’ on 13.02.2012. P.W-29, the complainant S had admitted in
her cross-examination that she could not say with certainty that
it was the same car in which the victim was kidnapped. None of C
the witnesses had seen even the registration number of the car
in which the victim was kidnapped. [Para 22][1148-B-D]
1.3 It may be noted that the trial court had allowed the entire
disclosure statements of the three accused to be admitted in
evidence by exhibiting the same as Ex. PW-39/B, PW-41/B and D
PW-41/C. The said statements were recorded by the PW-48, SG,
when they were in police custody. The said statements being in
nature of the confessions before the police were hit by Section
25 of the Evidence Act. The law in this regard is very clear that
the confession before the police officer by the accused when he
is in police custody, cannot be called an extra-judicial confession. E
If a confession is made by the accused before the police, and a
portion of such confession leads to the recovery of any
incriminating material, such portion alone would be admissible
under Section 27 of the Evidence Act, and not the entire
confessional statements. In the instant case, therefore the trial F
court had committed gross error in exhibiting the entire
disclosure statements of the accused recorded by the PW-48 P1,
for being read in evidence. Though, the information furnished to
the Investigating Officer leading to the discovery of the place of
the offence would be admissible to the extent indicated in Section
27 read with Section 8 of the Evidence Act, but not the entire G
disclosure statement in the nature of confession recorded by the
police officer. [Para 25][1149-F-H; 1150-A-B]

H
1132 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A 1.4 The recovery of a strand of hair found from the body of
the deceased by ASI BS as per the Seizure Memo (Exhibit 34/A)
is also highly doubtful, inasmuch as the same was allegedly found
from the body of the deceased which was lying in the open field
for about three days and three nights. The PW-8 father of the
deceased and PW-3 and PW-7 neighbours of the deceased who
B
had identified the dead body of the victim had not stated anything
about the articles lying near the dead body. The learned advocates
for the appellants had also drawn the attention of the Court with
regard to number of inconsistencies and contradictions appearing
in the evidence of the Haryana Police, Delhi Police and also in
C the testimonies of the formal witnesses, which render the entire
evidence with regard to the discovery and recovery as also seizure
of the incriminating articles, very unreliable. The seizure of the
articles like burnt ash, underwear of the deceased etc. on
14.02.2012 at the instance of the accused were also not duly
proved by the prosecution. The said articles were sent to the
D
CFSL for examination however, no conclusive opinion was given
by the CFSL to establish their link with the accused. [Para
27][1150-G-H; 1151-A-B]
1.5 In the instant case, the alleged incident of kidnapping
had taken place on 09.02.2012 and the dead body of the victim
E was found on 13.02.2012. Hence, the time of death was also very
much significant, however in view of the state in which the dead
body was found, the Post-Mortem Report Ex.26/A is also not
clear about the timing as to when the death had occurred. The
Post-Mortem report stated the time of death to be 72 to 96 hours
F i.e. between 10.02.2012 to 11.02.2012, as the post-mortem had
taken on 14.02.2012. However, as per the case of the prosecution,
death would have taken place on the intervening night of
09.02.2012 to 10.02.2012. The body of the deceased also did not
show any signs of putrefaction. It is highly unlikely that the dead
body would have remained in the field for three days without being
G noticed by anybody. [Para 29][1151-E-G]
1.6 The Amicus Curiae has also assailed the forensic
evidence i.e., the report regarding the DNA Profiling dated
18.04.2012 (Exhibit P-23/1) giving incriminating findings. She

H
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1133
ANR.

vehemently submitted that apart from the fact that the collection A
of the samples sent for examination itself was very doubtful, the
said forensic evidence was neither scientifically nor legally proved
and could not have been used as a circumstance against the
Appellants-accused. The Court finds substance in the said
submissions made by the Amicus Curiae. The DNA evidence is
B
in the nature of opinion evidence as envisaged under Section 45
and like any other opinion evidence, its probative value varies
from case to case. It is true that PW-23, Senior Scientific Officer
(Biology) of CFSL, New Delhi had stepped into the witness box
and his report regarding DNA profiling was exhibited as Ex. PW-
23/A, however mere exhibiting a document, would not prove its C
contents. The record shows that all the samples relating to the
accused and relating to the deceased were seized by the
Investigating Officer on 14.02.2012 and 16.02.2012; and they were
sent to CFSL for examination on 27.02.2012. During this period,
they remained in the Malkhana of the Police Station. Under the
D
circumstances, the possibility of tampering with the samples
collected also could not be ruled out. Neither the Trial Court nor
the High Court has examined the underlying basis of the findings
in the DNA reports nor have they examined the fact whether the
techniques were reliably applied by the expert. In absence of
such evidence on record, all the reports with regard to the DNA E
profiling become highly vulnerable, more particularly when the
collection and sealing of the samples sent for examination were
also not free from suspicion. [Paras 31 & 32][1152-C-E; 1157-F-
H; 1158-A-B]
2. Thus, having regard to the totality of circumstances and F
the evidence on record, it is difficult to hold that the prosecution
had proved the guilt of the accused by adducing cogent and
clinching evidence. As per the settled legal position, in order to
sustain conviction, the circumstances taken cumulatively should
form a chain so complete that there is no escape from the
G
conclusion that within all human probability, the crime was
committed by the accused only and none else. The circumstantial
evidence must be complete and incapable of explanation of any
other hypothesis than that of the guilt of the accused and such
evidence should not only be consistent with the guilt of the accused
H
1134 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A but should be inconsistent with his innocence. As demonstrated
earlier, the evidence with regard to the arrest of the Appellants-
accused, their identification, discoveries and recoveries of the
incriminating articles, identity of the Indica Car, the seizures and
sealing of the articles and collection of samples, the medical and
scientific evidence, the report of DNA profiling, the evidence
B
with regard to the CDRs etc. were not proved by the prosecution
by leading, cogent, clinching and clear evidence much less
unerringly pointing the guilt of the accused. The prosecution has
to bring home the charges levelled against them beyond
reasonable doubt, which the prosecution has failed to do in the
C instant case, resultantly, the Court is left with no alternative but
to acquit the accused, though involved in a very heinous crime.
It may be true that if the accused involved in the heinous crime
go unpunished or are acquitted, a kind of agony and frustration
may be caused to the society in general and to the family of the
victim in particular, however the law does not permit the Courts
D
to punish the accused on the basis of moral conviction or on
suspicion alone. No conviction should be based merely on the
apprehension of indictment or condemnation over the decision
rendered. Every case has to be decided by the Courts strictly on
merits and in accordance with law without being influenced by
E any kind of outside moral pressures or otherwise. The Court is
constrained to make these observations as the Court has noticed
many glaring lapses having occurred during the course of the
trial. It has been noticed from the record that out of the 49
witnesses examined by the prosecution, 10 material witnesses
were not cross-examined and many other important witnesses
F
were not adequately cross-examined by the defence counsel. It
may be reminded that Section 165 of the Indian Evidence Act
confers unbridled powers upon the trial courts to put any question
at any stage to the witnesses to elicit the truth. As observed in
several decisions, the Judge is not expected to be a passive
G umpire but is supposed to actively participate in the trial, and to
question the witnesses to reach to a correct conclusion. In the
instant case, material witnesses examined by the prosecution
having not been either cross-examined or adequately examined,
and the trial court also having acted as a passive umpire, it is
H
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1135
ANR.

found that the Appellants-accused were deprived of their rights A
to have a fair trial, apart from the fact that the truth also could not
be elicited by the trial court. It is left to the wisdom and discretion
of the trial courts to exercise their powers under Section 165 of
the Indian Evidence Act for eliciting the truth in the cases before
them, howsoever heinous or otherwise they may be. [Paras 33-
B
35][1158-B-H; 1159-A-B; 1160-F-G]
Sharad Birdhichand Sarda vs. State of Maharashtra
(1984) 4 SCC 116 : [1985] 1 SCR 88; Padala Veera
Reddy vs. State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors. (1989) Suppl.
2 SCC 706; Navaneethakrishnan vs.State by Inspector
C
of Police (2018) 16 SCC 161 – relied on.
Manoj and Ors. Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh (2022)
SCC Online SC 677; State of Rajasthan vs. Ani alias
Hanif and Others (1997) 6 SCC 162 : [1997] 1 SCR
199 – referred to.
D
Case Law Reference
[1985] 1 SCR 88 relied on Para 16
[1997] 1 SCR 199 referred to Para 34
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal E
No.611 of 2022.
From the Judgment and Order dated 26.08.2014 of the High Court
of Delhi at New Delhi in Crl. A No.563/2014.
With F
Criminal Appeal Nos.612-613 And 614-615 of 2022.
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG, Ms. Sonia Mathur, Sr. Adv.,/Amicus
Curiae, A. Sirajudeen, Ms. Kiran Suri, Sr. Advs., Ms. Shivani Misra,
Ms. Khushboo Aggarwal, Ms. Prerna Dhall, Simarjeet Singh Saluja,
Harinder Mohan Singh, Parnam Prabhakar, Karthik Vasan, Ms. Nidhi, G
S.S. Ray, Prashant Singh, Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Abhay Kumar, Sughosh
Subramanyam, Gurmeet Singh Makker, Dr. (Ms.) Charuwali Khanna,
Dharmendra Pal, Krishna Kumar, Ms. Nandani Gupta, Dr. (Ms.) Vipin
Gupta, Advs. for the appearing parties.
H
1136 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.
1. All the appeals arise out of the common judgment and order
dated 26.08.2014 passed by the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi, in
the Death Sentence Reference No. 01/2014 with Criminal Appeal Nos.
B 563/2014, 726/2014 and 1036/2014, whereby the High Court while
affirming the sentence of death and other sentences imposed on the
Appellants-accused by the Additional Sessions Judge, Special Fast Track
Court, Dwarka Courts, New Delhi (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Trial
Court’) in Sessions Case No. 91/2013 had dismissed the criminal appeals
C filed by the Appellants-accused. The Trial Court vide the Order dated
19.02.2014 had convicted all the three Appellants-accused i.e., A1 Ravi
Kumar, A2 Vinod @ Chhotu and A3 Rahul for the offences punishable
under Sections 365/34, 367/34, 376(2)(g), 302/34 and 201/34 IPC,
however had acquitted all the three from the charge under Section 377/
34 IPC. The order of sentences imposed on the accused read as under:-
D
“1. To imprisonment for a period of five years alongwith a fine of
Rs.25,000/- each for the offence punishable under Section 365/
34 IPC. The convicts shall undergo further imprisonment for a
period of six months each in case of default in payment of fine;
and
E
2. To imprisonment for a period of five years alongwith a fine of
Rs.25,000/- each for the offence punishable u/s. 367/34 IPC. The
convicts shall undergo further imprisonment for a period of six
months each in case of default in payment of fine; and

F 3. To imprisonment with a fine of Rs.50,000/- each for the offence
punishable u/s 376(2) (g) IPC. The convicts shall undergo further
imprisonment for a period of one year each in cases of non-
payment of fine; and
4. To death for the offence punishable u/s 302/34 IPC with a fine
of Rs.50,000/- each; and
G
5. To imprisonment for a period of three years with a fine of
Rs.10,000/- each for the offence punishable u/s201/34 IPC. The
convicts shall undergo further imprisonment for a period of six
months each in case of non-payment of fine.”
H
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1137
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

2. The case of prosecution as emerging from the record and A
proceedings of the Trial Court is that an information was received in the
Police Station Chhawla on 09.02.2012 at 09:18 PM from the police control
room that a girl was kidnapped in the red-coloured Tata Indica Car near
Hanuman Chowk, Qutub Vihar, Chhawla and the car had proceeded
towards Shyam Vihar. The information was recorded as DD No. 27 A,
B
and the investigation was entrusted to SI Prakash Chand. Accordingly,
SI Prakash Chand along with the constable Rakesh reached at the spot
near Hanuman Chowk, Qutub Vihar, where they met a girl named
Saraswati. On her statement being recorded to the effect that on
09.02.2012 at about 08:45 PM, when she was returning from her job at
DLF Gurgaon along with her friends Pooja, Sangeeta and the victim C
Anamika (name is changed), and when they were walking near the
Hanuman Chowk, a red coloured Indica Car came from behind;the driver
suddenly applied breaks on reaching near to them; that a boy opened the
door of the car and pulled Anamika forcibly inside the car; that there
were other three or four boys sitting in the Indica Car. On the basis of
D
the said statement of the complainant Saraswati, an FIR was registered
under Section 363 of IPC. The investigation was commenced by the SI
Prakash Chand.
3. On 12.02.2012, the investigation of the case was transferred to
the special staff south-west New Delhi and was entrusted to SI Ashok
Kumar. On 13.02.2012, further investigation of the case was entrusted E
to Inspector Sandeep Gupta. On thesame day ASI Rajender Singh
produced the accused Rahul and a red coloured Indica Car bearing
registration no. DL-3 CAF-4348 before the Inspector Sandeep Gupta,
stating that accused Rahul who was found perplexed and roaming in the
said car near Metro station, sector-9 Dwarka, New Delhi. F
4. During the course of interrogation of the accused Rahul by the
Inspector Sandeep Gupta, Rahul confessed that he along with his brother
Ravi and one Vinod @ Chhotu had kidnapped a girl from Qutub Vihar;
hadcommitted rape on her, had killed her and hadthrown her dead body
in the fields ahead of Jhajjar. The said accused Rahul therefore was G
arrested, and subsequently the accused Ravi and accused Vinod were
also arrested.The disclosure statements of the other two accused were
also recorded wherein they had admitted to have kidnapped, gang raped
and killed the victim.

H
1138 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A 5. As per the further case of the prosecution, when the aforesaid
Tata Indica car was seized, mobile phones were recovered from the
personal search of the accused Rahul and the accused Ravi, and they
were also seized. Thereafter, inspector Sandeep Gupta alongwith his
staff and the two accused Ravi and Vinod left for the search of the dead
body of the victim, and found the same lying in the mustard fields, near
B
Karawara Morel, village Rodai, at the instance of the two accused.
Information about the same was conveyed to P.S. Rodai. Thereafter
ASI Balwan alongwith his Crime Team from P.S. Rodai also reached at
the spot. The Crime Team lifted some hair strands from the body of the
deceased as well as two plastic glasses, one empty pouch of snacks,
C piece of earthenware pot, a broken piece of a red-coloured plastic bumper
and one wallet near the dead body. Thereafter ASI Balwan Singh sent
the dead body to Civil Hospital, Rewari for postmortem examination.
The two accused were brought to Delhi and were got medically examined.
During the course of further interrogation, the accused Rahul got
recovered the mobile phone of the deceased. The accused also got
D
recovered the panty of the deceased which she was wearing at the time
of incident and the steel Parat, in which they had burnt the articles
belonging to the deceased.
6. On 15.02.2012 further investigation of the case was entrusted
to Inspector Ranjeet Singh. He got the aforesaid Tata Indica Car inspected
E by CFSL team. Hair strands found inside the car as well as in its seat
covers were seized. He obtained the opinion from the autopsy doctor
regarding the Jack and Pana, which were found in the Tata Indica Car
and it was opined by the doctor that the external injuries found on the
body of the deceased were possible by the said Jack and Pana. The hair
F strands of the deceased which had been preserved by the autopsy doctor
were sent to Safdarjung Hospital for examination. All the articles lifted
from and near the dead body were sent to CFSL for examination. The
Tata Indica Car was also sent to CFSL for examination. The IO also
obtained the call details record of mobile no. 9540594640 of the deceased,
mobile no. 9968988533 of the accused Rahul and mobile no. 8802090923
G of the accused Ravi. The DNA reports were also obtained on the articles
seized and sent to the CFSL, New Delhi.
7. After completion of the investigation, Charge Sheet was laid
before the concerned court. Upon the committal of the case to the court
of Sessions, Charges u/s 365/34 IPC, u/s 367/34, u/s 376(2)(g) IPC, u/s
H
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1139
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

377/34 IPC, u/s 302 IPC and u/s 201/34 IPC were framed against all the A
three accused on 26.05.2012. Since the accused pleaded not guilty to
the said charges, trial was held.
8. The prosecution had examined 49 witnesses to bring home the
guilt of the accused. The accused were examined u/s. 313 Cr.PC on
27.11.2013 wherein all of them denied the incriminating facts and B
circumstances put to them and claimed false implication. One witness
was examined on behalf of the accused Rahul and Ravi in their defence.
He was the Legal Assistant of ‘Nav Bharat Times’ and had brought the
issue dated 15.02.2012 of daily newspaper ‘Nav Bharat Times’ Ex.DW1/
A.
9. The Trial Court after appreciating the evidence on record C
adduced by the prosecution and by the accused, convicted and sentenced
them as stated hereinabove, which has been confirmed by the High
Court vide the impugned order.
10. The present appeals were filed by the accused through the
Supreme Court Legal Services Committee. Considering the facts on D
record, the Court vide order dated 05.12.2019 had requested learned
Senior Counsel Ms. Sonia Mathur to appear as an Amicus Curiae.
Accordingly learned Amicus Curiae Ms. Mathur and learned Senior
Advocate Mr. A. Sirajudeen, appearing for the Appellants-accused and
learned ASG Ms. Aishwarya Bhati appearing for the Respondent-state E
were heard at length.
11. The learned Amicus Curiae Ms. Sonia Mathur and learned
Senior Advocate Mr. Sirajudeenfor the appellants broadly made the
following submissions:
(i) The identity of any of the Appellants-accused in the alleged
F
abduction of the victim was not established.
(ii) The circumstances under which the possession of red
coloured Tata Indica Car was recovered from the appellant
Rahul, and the circumstances under which all the three
accused were arrested, were not proved.
G
(iii) The recoveries made from the scene of offence allegedly
at the instance of the appellants on 13.02.2021, were also
not proved.
(iv) The recoveries of articles like broken piece of bumper, wallet
and hair strands allegedly recovered from the place where
H
1140 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A the body of the deceased victim was found, were highly
doubtful, as the same were not mentioned by the key
witnesses during the course of their respective depositions.
(v) There were discrepancies with regard to the photography
and the videography done by the Delhi Police and Haryana
B Police and with regard to the position of the arm, visibility
of the jeans lining and mud on the jeans of the deceased
and the presence of a wallet seen in the photographs, which
created a dent in the credibility of the investigation carried
by the prosecution.

C (vi) Recoveries of articles made on 14.02.2012 from the open
places which were easily accessible to the public was not
supported by any independent witnesses.
(vii) The post-mortem report did not prove the time of the death
of the victim, in view of the state in which the body was
D discovered.
(viii) The forensic evidence collected against the accused during
the course of investigation was not scientifically and legally
proved and therefore could not be used as a circumstance
against the appellants.
E (ix) The call details record of the accused Rahul and Ravi were
not proved to be incriminatory.
(x) There was violation of fair trial rights of the accused, as
ten material witnesses were not cross-examined, and many
other crucial witnesses were not adequately examined by
F the defence counsel during the course of the trial.
12. The learned ASG Ms. Aishwarya Bhati has made the following
submissions:
(i) There being concurrent findings of the facts and convictions
recorded by the Trial Court and the High Court after fully
G appreciating the evidence on record,this Court may not
disturb the same considering the gravity of the offences for
which the appellants were charged.
(ii) The case against Rahul was proved by the prosecutionby
examining all material witnesses including the ASI Rajender
H
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1141
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

Singh who had apprehended him, while he was driving red A
coloured Tata Indica Car in question.A jack and spanner
and a strand of hair were found in the said Tata Indica Car
and the jack was found to be stained with blood.
(iii) DNA profile generated from jack and hair found in the car
and female fraction DNA obtained from the vaginal swab B
of Anamika were consistent with each other.
(iv) The injuries found on the victim Anamika were possible to
have been caused by the jack and spanner found in the car
(v) A broken piece of bumper found near the dead body of
Anamika was opined to be the piece of bumper of red C
coloured Indica Car being driven by Rahul.
(vi) From the testimony of PW-10 Hari Om, it was established
that the car was with Rahul from 07:45 AM on January 9,
2012 till around 10:00AM of February 10, 2012, during the
period when the crime was allegedly committed. D
(vii) The semen of Rahul was detected on the seat cover of the
Indica Car.
(viii) A wallet containing two ATM cards, a driving licence,
photocopies of school leavingcertificates and PAN card,
E
was found near place where Anamika’s dead body was
recovered and it was proved that it was the wallet of the
accused Rahul.
(ix) The hair strand recovered from the dead body of Anamika
matched with the DNA extracted from the blood sample of
F
the accused Ravi.
(x) The accused Ravi was carrying a mobile phone having
telephone no. 8802090923 when he was arrested, and the
call details records showed that during the period Anamika
was removed from Delhi and her body dumped in village
Rodai, the said phone was foundaround the area of village G
Rodai.
(xi) So far as the accused Vinod was concerned, the DNA
profile of the semen extracted from the vaginal swab of
Anamika matched with his DNA profile, and his semen
H
1142 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A was also detected from the seat cover of Tata India Car
driven by Rahul.
13. After the arguments on the issue of conviction were concluded,
certain directions were given by this Court to the Respondent-State to
place the report of the Probation Officer relating to the appellants, the
B report of the Jail Administration about the nature of the work done by
the appellants in jail. Directions were also issued to the Director
VIMHANS to constitute a suitable team for the psychiatric evaluation
of the appellants and to place the report on record. Accordingly, all the
reports have been placed on record by the concerned authorities. The
father of the victim Kunwar Singh Negi had filed an application being
C Crl.M.P. No. 5559 of 2015 seeking his impleadment as a party respondent
to enable him to participate in the proceedings. Another application was
also filed by one Yogita Bhayana to implead her as a party respondent
on the ground that she was a support person of the family of the deceased-
victim and activist working in the field of providing counselling and succour
D to sexually abused children in Delhi as well as other states.
14. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties, in the light
of the evidence on record, it cannot be denied that the entire case of
prosecution rested on the circumstantial evidence, and that the victim
was raped and brutally murdered. The Trial Court relying upon the
E following circumstances as“proved” convicted and sentenced the
Appellants-accused for the charged offences:
“(1) The deceased has been kidnapped in a red colour Tata Indica
car.
(2) The red colour Tata Indica car bearing registration No. DL
F 3C AF 4348 belonging to PW-10 was in the custody of accused
Rahul from 07.45 am on 9.2.2012 till 9 a.m. on 10.2.2012 and
from 11.2.2012 to 13.2.2012.
(3) The female hair strand was found on the rear seat of the
aforesaid Tata Indica car and DNA generated from it was found
G similar to the DNA of the deceased implying that it was the hair
of the deceased.
(4) The DNA generated from the semen spots found on the seat
covers of the aforesaid Tata Indica car was similar to that of
accused Rahul.
H
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1143
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

(5) The dead body of the deceased was recovered from the fields A
of village Rodai at the instance of accused Ravi and Vinod on
13.2.2012.
(6) A red colour purse containing some cash, ATM cards as well
as PAN card and driving license in the name of Rahul were found
near the dead body of the deceased. B
(7) The three accused had pointed out the spot, on which they
had smashed the head of the deceased with a ‘Matka’ in order to
kill her.
(8) A Jack and pana were recovered from the boot of the aforesaid
Tata Indica car bearing registration No. DL 3C AF 4348, which C
was having blood spots and DNA generated from the blood spots
was found similar to that of the deceased implying that deceased
was hit by said Jack and Pana.
(9) The autopsy doctor (PW26) opined that the injuries found on
the dead body of ‘Anamica’ could be possible by aforesaid Jack D
and Pana.
(10) A broken piece of bumper of the aforesaid Tata Indica car
bearing registration No. DL 3C AF 4348 was also recovered from
near the dead body of the deceased in the fields of village Rodai.
E
(11) The panty of the deceased was got recovered by accused
Vinod from a vacant plot adjacent to house No. RZ-54, Palam
Vihar, Sector-6, Dwarka, belonging to PW-11 where the three
accused were residing as a tenant.
(12) Accused Rahul had got recovered the broken mobile phone
F
of the deceased from amongst the bushes on the central verge in
front of the road near Karnal Cinema Hall, near Rajinder Dhaba,
Delhi.
(13) The vaginal swab of the deceased was found to have mixed
male DNA profile, which was similar to that of accused Vinod as
well as accused Ravi. G

(14) The location of mobile phones of the accused Rahul, accused
Ravi and the deceased was around Jhajhar, Haryana in the night
intervening between 09.2.2012 and 10.2.2012 when the deceased
was kidnapped, raped and murdered.”
H
1144 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A 15. The High Court also believing the same set of circumstances
as“proved” further noted that the two incriminating circumstances of
the DNA of a strand of hair recovered from Anamica’s dead body
matching DNA of Ravi and DNA generated from semen spots found on
seat cover of the Indica car matching DNA profile of Vinod were
overlooked by the Trial Court.
B
16. The law pertaining to the appreciation of circumstantial
evidence is quite well settled by this Court in catena of decisions. In
Sharad Birdhichand Sarda vs. State of Maharashtra1, this Court
after taking note of earlier decisions had carved out five principles: -
“152. Before discussing the cases relied upon by the High Court
C we would like to cite a few decisions on the nature, character and
essential proof required in a criminal case which rests on
circumstantial evidence alone. The most fundamental and basic
decision of this Court is Hanumant v. State of Madhya
Pradesh [AIR 1952 SC 343 : 1952 SCR 1091 : 1953 Cri LJ 129]
. This case has been uniformly followed and applied by this Court
D
in a large number of later decisions up-to-date, for instance, the
cases of Tufail (Alias) Simmi v. State of Uttar Pradesh [(1969)
3 SCC 198 : 1970 SCC (Cri) 55] and Ramgopal v. State of
Maharashtra [(1972) 4 SCC 625 : AIR 1972 SC 656] . It may be
useful to extract what Mahajan, J. has laid down in Hanumant
E case [AIR 1952 SC 343 : 1952 SCR 1091 : 1953 Cri LJ 129] :
“It is well to remember that in cases where the evidence is of a
circumstantial nature, the circumstances from which the conclusion
of guilt is to be drawn should 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 accused. Again, the circumstances
F
should be of a conclusive nature and tendency and they should be
such as to exclude 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 reasonable ground for a conclusion
consistent with the innocence of the accused and it must be such
G as to show that within all human probability the act must have
been done by the accused.”
153. A close analysis of this decision would show that the following
conditions must be fulfilled before a case against an accused can
be said to be fully established:
1
H (1984) 4 SCC 116
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1145
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

(1) the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be A
drawn should be fully established.
It may be noted here that this Court indicated that the
circumstances concerned “must or should” and not “may be”
established. There is not only a grammatical but a legal distinction
between “may be proved” and “must be or should be proved” as B
was held by this Court in Shivaji Sahabrao Bobade v. State of
Maharashtra [(1973) 2 SCC 793 :
“Certainly, it is a primary principle that the accused must be and
not merely may be guilty before a court can convict and the mental
distance between ‘may be’ and ‘must be’ is long and divides vague C
conjectures from sure conclusions.”
(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 except that the accused
is guilty, D
(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
E
(5) there must be a chain of evidence so complete as not to leave
any reasonable ground for the conclusion consistent with the
innocence of the accused and must show that in all human
probability the act must have been done by the accused.
154. These five golden principles, if we may say so, constitute
F
the panchsheel of the proof of a case based on circumstantial
evidence.”
17. In Padala Veera Reddy vs. State of Andhra Pradesh &
Ors2 , it was observed as under:
“10………. (1) the circumstances from which an inference of G
guilt is sought to be drawn, must be cogently and firmly established;
(2) those circumstances should be of a definite tendency unerringly
pointing towards guilt of the accused;
2
(1989) Suppl. 2 SCC 706
H
1146 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A (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 was committed by the accused
and none else; and
(4) the circumstantial evidence in order to sustain conviction must
B be complete and incapable of explanation of any other hypothesis
than that of the guilt of the accused and such evidence should not
only be consistent with the guilt of the accused but should be
inconsistent with his innocence. (See Gambhir v. State of
Maharashtra .”
C 18. The said principles have also been followed in
Navaneethakrishnan vs. State by Inspector of Police (2018) 16 SCC
161. Keeping in view the afore-stated principles, let us examine whether
the circumstances relied upon by the Trial Court and the High Court
cogently and firmly established the guilt of the Appellants-accused.

D 19. The first and foremost circumstance relied upon by the
prosecution was with regard to the victim having been kidnapped in a
red coloured Tata Indica Caron 09.02.2012 at about 8:45 p.m. In this
regard the prosecution has relied upon evidence of PW-1 Pooja Rawat,
PW-2 Vikas Singh Rawat, PW-4 Vikas, PW-29 Saraswati and PW-42
Sangeeta. As per the case of the prosecution, the victim along with PW-
E 1 Pooja Rawat, PW-29 Saraswati and PW-42 Sangeeta was returning
home and when she and her friends were walking through Hanuman
Chowk, a red-coloured Tata Indica car came from behind and suddenly
stopped near them. One boy thereafter came out of the car and pulled
the victim into the car. There were other three-four persons sitting in the
F said car. At that time PW-4 Vikas tried to intervene, but the said boys in
the car started quarrelling with him and thereafter drove out the car
along with victim. Though the said story put forth by the prosecution to
an extent,is supported by the concerned witnesses viz. PW-1 Pooja
Rawat, PW-4 Vikas, PW-29 Saraswati, and PW-42 Sangeeta, none of
the said witnesses had identified the accused sitting in the Court during
G the course of their respective depositions. Even the PW-4 Vikas, who
had some altercations with the boys attempting to kidnap the victimalso
could not identify any of the accused sitting in the Court during the course
of his deposition and say that the accused were the boys with whom he
hadthe altercations as they were kidnapping the victim. Further, the PW-
H 1 Pooja Rawat stated that the Appellants-accused had covered their
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1147
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

faces, whereas PW-29 Saraswati and PW-4 Vikas stated that the faces A
of the accused could not be recognized because of darkness. PW-2
Vikas Singh Rawat who happened to be the brother of PW-1 Pooja
Rawat and whose house was situated near Hanuman Chowk had
immediately come out of the house and had stated to have seen the red
coloured Indica car going towards Tajpur. The said witness also therefore
B
could not identify the persons who had kidnapped the victim. The PW-8
Kunwar Singh Negi, father of the deceased had stated that his daughter
was kidnapped on 09.02.2012 by some unknown persons when she was
returning from Gurgaon along with her friends, however, he having not
witnessed the incident, also could not identify the accused. There was
no T.I. parade conducted by any of the Investigating Officers during the C
course of their respective investigations.
20. From the said evidence of the concerned witnesses, it clearly
transpires that neither any T.I. Parade was conducted by the investigating
officer during the course of investigation for the identification of the
accused, nor any of the witnesses had identified the accused during D
their respective depositions before the Court. Therefore, the very identity
of the Appellants -accused having not been duly established, the entire
case of the prosecution falls flat on the very first circumstance having
not been duly proved by any evidence much less clinching evidence,
against the Appellants-accused.
E
21. The next important circumstance relied upon by the
prosecution was the arrest of the accused Rahul with red coloured Indica
car on 13.02.2012. Again, turning to the case of prosecution, it appears
that after the alleged incident of kidnapping, an information was received
by the Police Station Chhawla, New Delhi through call at 21:18 hours on
09.02.2012 to the effect that a girl was kidnapped in a red-coloured Tata F
Indica Car near Hanuman Chowk, Qutub Vihar, Chhawla. The said
information was recorded as DD No.27A at the said police station. On
receving the said information S.I. Prakash Chand (PW-45) who was
posted at P.S. Chhawla, along with constable Rakesh had gone to the
spot at Hanuman Chowk, where they met the complainant- Saraswati. G
She gave her statement with regard to the alleged incident and on the
basis of her statement, the FIR was got registered under Section 363
IPC by SI Prakash Chand. Thereafter on 13.02.2012 when the
investigation was entrusted to the SHO, P.S. Chhawla, Inspector Sandeep
Gupta (PW-48), the ASI Rajinder Singh from P.S. Sector-23, Dwarka
H
1148 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A (PW-12) produced the accused-Rahul and one red coloured Indica Car
bearing Registration No. DL 3C AF 4348 stating that the accused Rahul
was found roaming in the said car near Metro station, Sector 9, Dwarka,
New Delhi.
22. As regards the arrest of the accused-Rahul, PW-12 ASI
B Rajinder Singh had stated before the Court that the accused-Rahul was
seen driving the red Indica Car, and he looked perplexed; when he asked
for the documents of the said vehicle, the accused-Rahul could not
produce them and therefore he (PW-12) apprehended Rahul and handed
over his custody to the SHO at P.S. Chhawla. The PW-12 ASI Rajinder
had tried to explain that there was a message from the Control Room
C that a girl was abducted in a red coloured Indica Car and the police had
to apprehend the said vehicle and to report to the concerned SHO, and
therefore he apprehended Rahul. Thus, the accused Rahul was
apprehended because he was driving one red Indica Car. Pertinently,
none of the witnesses examined by the prosecution had identified the
D Indica Car which was allegedly being driven by Rahul on 13.02.2012.
P.W-29, the complainant Saraswati had admitted in her cross-examination
that she could not say with certainty that it was the same car in which
the victim was kidnapped. None of the witnesses had seen even the
registration number of the car in which the victim was kidnapped.
E 23. Now, as per the further case of the prosecution, the accused-
Rahul gave a disclosure statement (Ex. PW-39/B) before Inspector
Sandeep Guptaon the basis of which the other accused Vinod and Ravi
were brought to the police station by the beat constables, and they were
also arrested at 14:45 and 15:00 hours respectively. They also gave their
disclosure statements (Ex. P.W-39/A and Ex.PW-39/C) before P-1
F Sandeep Gupta. The said beat constables were not examined by the
prosecution before the Trial Court. The non-examination of the said beat
constables has created a cloud of doubt in the story of the arrests of the
accused, as in the further statements, recorded under Section 313 of
Cr.P.C., the accused-Rahul had stated that Ravi was lifted from his
G house, and when he (i.e., Rahul) reached to the police station in the
evening to enquire about Ravi, he was arrested and the car was seized.
The accused-Vinod and Ravi have also stated that they were picked up
from their home. Thus, the circumstances under which the accused were
arrested and the car was seized have also raised serious doubts in the
story put-forth by the prosecution.
H
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1149
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

24. Curiously, the evidence with regard to the time as who reached A
to the place of incident first where the body of the victim was lying,is
also not clear. PW-46 ASI Balwan Singh P.S. Rodai, Haryana, stated
that on 13.02.2012 on the receipt of DD No. 24, he along with head
constable Vinod and head constable Aman Kumar had reached to the
fields near Karawara Railway Phatak, Rewari, where he found that
B
SHO P.S. Chhawla, Sandeep Gupta (PW-48) and other staff members
were already there. In his cross-examination PW-46 stated that he
received the DD No. 24 at about 11.30 a.m or 12.00 noon, and he had
reached to the spot at around 4.30 p.m. P.W. 48 P1 Sandeep Gupta
stated that on 13.02.2012, after arrest of all the three accused and visiting
the spot from where the alleged kidnapping had taken place, he alongwith C
his team and the two accused Ravi and Vinod, leaving Rahul at the
police station, had gone to P.S. Rodai, Distt. Rewari, Haryana he further
stated that thereafter, on the accused Ravi and Vinod having indicated,
they all reached to the spot i.e., the field where the dead body of the
victim was lying. Since a PCR van of P.S. Rodai was parked there, an
D
information was sent to P.S Rodai through PCR officials and thereafter
ASI Balwant Singh along with his staff reached the spot. Thus, there
are contradictions in the respective depositions of P.W.-46 and P.W.-48
as to how and when they reached to the spot where the dead body of
the victim was found lying. Though the said DD No. 24 was an extremely
crucial piece of evidence, the said document was not got exhibited as an E
evidence by the prosecution.
25. At this juncture, it may be noted that the trial court had allowed
the entire disclosure statements of the three accused to be admitted in
evidence by exhibiting the same as Ex.PW-39/B, PW-41/B and PW-41/
C. The said statements were recorded by the PW-48, Sandeep Gupta, F
when they were in police custody. The said statements being in nature
of the confessions before the police were hit by Section 25 of the Evidence
Act. The law in this regard is very clear that the confession before the
police officer by the accused when he is in police custody, cannot be
called an extra-judicial confession. If a confession is made by the accused
before the police, and a portion of such confession leads to the recovery G
of any incriminating material, such portion alone would be admissible
under Section 27 of the Evidence Act, and not the entire confessional
statements. In the instant case, therefore the trial court had committed
gross error in exhibiting the entire disclosure statements of the accused
recorded by the PW-48 P1 Sandeep Kumar Gupta, for being read in H
1150 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A evidence. Though, the information furnished to the Investigating Officer
leading to the discovery of the place of the offence would be admissible
to the extent indicated in Section 27 read with Section 8 of the Evidence
Act, but not the entire disclosure statement in the nature of confession
recorded by the police officer.
B 26. This takes us to the next circumstance with regard to the
alleged discovery of incriminating articles on 13.02.2021 namely, the
broken piece of bumper, wallet containing the documents connecting the
accused-Rahul etc. In this regard, the evidence of the Delhi Police and
the Haryana Police Officers would be relevant. Though PW-32 Head
Constable Omkar Singh of P.S. Chhawla and PW-36 ASI Atar Singh, in
C charge of Crime Team South-West District, New Delhi, stated about
the recovery of the said incriminating articles, PW-37, PW-38, PW-39
and PW-41 who were also there at the spotdid not make any mention
about the said articles. Again PW-31 photographer called at the instance
of P.S. Rodai also did not state about the said articles. The other non-
D official witnesses i.e. PW-3, PW-7, PW-8 and PW-14 also did not state
anything about such discoveries or recoveries. The prosecution had also
not proved by cogent evidence that the broken piece of bumper lying
near the dead body of the victim was of the red coloured indica car
seized from the accused-Rahul. Further, the seizure memo of the wallet
(Exhibit 34/A) mentioned only that one red coloured wallet containing
E Rs.365 and a list of things was seized. There was no mention about any
document in the seizure memo which could connect the accused Rahul.
If the ATM cards, driving licence, photocopies of school leaving
certificates and PAN card connecting the accused Rahul, were found
from the said wallet, no Investigating Officer would commit such a blunder
F of not mentioning them in the seizure memo. The accused-Rahul in his
further statement under Section 313 had stated that the said articles
were taken away from him at the police station.
27. The recovery of a strand of hair found from the body of the
deceased by ASI Balwan Singh as per the Seizure Memo (Exhibit 34/A)
G is also highly doubtful, inasmuch as the same was allegedly found from
the body of the deceased which was lying in the open field for about
three days and three nights. The PW-8 father of the deceased and PW-
3 and PW-7 neighbours of the deceased who had identified the dead
body of the victim had not stated anything about the articles lying near
the dead body. The learned advocates for the appellants had also drawn
H
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1151
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

the attention of the Court with regard to number of inconsistencies and A
contradictions appearing in the evidence of the Haryana Police, Delhi
Police and also in the testimonies of the formal witnesses, which render
the entire evidence with regard to the discovery and recovery as also
seizure of the incriminating articles, very unreliable. The seizure of the
articles like burnt ash, underwear of the deceased etc. on 14.02.2012 at
B
the instance of the accused were also not duly proved by the prosecution.
The said articles were sent to the CFSL for examination however, no
conclusive opinion was given by the CFSL to establish their link with the
accused.
28. The next circumstance relied upon by the prosecution was
the alleged recovery of the phone of the deceased at the instance of the C
accused Rahul from the bushes on the road divider opposite to Rajinder
Dhaba near Kamal Cinema. Though PW-8 Kunwar Singh Negi, father
of the deceased had stated that mobile phone no.9540594640 was in his
name and was used by his daughter, he was not shown the phone
instrument for the purpose of identity. The call details record of the said D
phone being electronic record, was also not proved in terms of Section
65B of the Evidence Act. Hence, this part of the evidence also does not
take the case of the prosecution any further.
29. In the instant case, the alleged incident of kidnapping had
taken place on 09.02.2012 and the dead body of the victim was found on E
13.02.2012. Hence, the time of death was also very much significant,
however in view of the state in which the dead body was found, the
Post-Mortem Report Ex.26/A is also not clear about the timing as to
when the death had occurred.The Post-Mortem report stated the time
of death to be 72 to 96 hours i.e. between 10.02.2012 to 11.02.2012, as
the post-mortem had taken on 14.02.2012. However, as per the case of F
the prosecution, death would have taken place on the intervening night
of 09.02.2012 to 10.02.2012. The body of the deceased also did not
show any signs of putrefaction. It is highly unlikely that the dead body
would have remained in the field for three days without being noticed by
anybody. G
30. The learned Senior Advocates appearing for the appellants
have also rightly drawn the attention of the Court to the timings and the
manner in which the samples were collected during the course of post-
mortem of the deceased, to submit that the PW-48 P1 Sandeep Kumar
was present at the hospital when the post-mortem was conducted on H
1152 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A 14.02.2012, and therefore there was no reason to collect the samples
from the body of the deceased on 16.02.2012. The collection and sealing
of the samples during the MLC of the accused which had taken place
on 14.02.2012 at the RTMR Hospital, Jaffarpur also does not inspire
confidence. The story of blood stains and semens found on the seat
covers of the Indica Car seized on 13.02.2012 and sent to the CFSL for
B
examination also appears to be highly improbable and unreliable. There
is no clear evidence as to who was in custody of the said car after its
seizure till it was sent to CFSL for examination and as to whether the
car was sealed during the said period.
31. The learned Amicus Curiae has also assailed the forensic
C evidence i.e., the report regarding the DNA Profiling dated 18.04.2012
(Exhibit P-23/1) giving incriminating findings. She vehemently submitted
that apart from the fact that the collection of the samples sent for
examination itself was very doubtful, the said forensic evidence was
neither scientifically nor legally proved and could not have been used as
D a circumstance against the Appellants-accused. The Court finds
substance in the said submissions made by the Amicus Curiae. The DNA
evidence is in the nature of opinion evidence as envisaged under Section
45 and like any other opinion evidence, its probative value varies from
case to case. In this regard a very pertinent observations made by this
Court in case of Manoj and Ors. Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh3 deserve
E to be made. This Court has in detail dealt with the issue of DNA profiling
methodology and statistical analysis, as also the collection and
preservation of DNA evidence. The relevant paragraphs read as under:-
“138. During the hearing, an article published by the Central
Forensic Science Laboratory, Kolkatawas relied upon. The relevant
F extracts of the article are reproduced below:
“Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is genetic material present
in the nuclei of cells of living organisms. An average human body
is composed of about 100 trillion of cells. DNA is present in the
nucleus of cell as double helix, supercoiled to form chromosomes
G along with Intercalated proteins. Twenty-three pairs of
chromosomes present In each nucleated cells and an individual
Inherits 23 chromosomes from mother and 23 from father
transmitted through the ova and sperm respectively. At the time
of each cell division, chromosomes replicate and one set goes to
3
H (2022) SCC Online SC 677
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1153
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

each daughter cell. All Information about Internal organisation, A
physical characteristics, and physiological functions of the body is
encoded in DNA molecules in a language (sequence) of alphabets
of four nucleotides or bases: Adenine (A), Guanine (G), Thymine
(T) and Cytosine (C) along with sugar-phosphate backbone. A
human haploid cell contains 3 billion bases approx. All cells of the
B
body have exactly same DNA but it varies from individual to
Individual in the sequence of nucleotides. Mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) found in large number of copies in the mitochondria is
circular, double stranded, 16,569 base pair in length and shows
maternal inheritance. It is particularly useful in the study of people
related through the maternal line. Also being in large number of C
copies than nuclear DNA, it can be used in the analysis of degraded
samples. Similarly, the Y chromosome shows paternal inheritance
and is employed to trace the male lineage and resolve DNA from
males in sexual assault mixtures.
Only 0.1 % of DNA (about 3 million bases) differs from one D
person to another. Forensic DNA Scientists analyse only few
variable regions to generate a DNA profile of an individual to
compare with biological clue materials or control samples.
…………………………………………
DNA Profiling Methodology E

DNA profile is generated from the body fluids, stains, and other
biological specimen recovered from evidence and the results are
compared with the results obtained from reference samples. Thus,
a link among victim(s) and/or suspect(s) with one another or with
crime scene can be established. DNA Profiling Is a complex F
process of analyses of some highly variable regions of DNA. The
variable areas of DNA are termed Genetic Markers. The current
genetic markers of choice for forensic purposes are Short Tandem
Repeats (STRs). Analysis of a set of 15 STRs employing
Automated DNA Sequencer gives a DNA Profile unique to an G
Individual (except monozygotic twin). Similarly, STRs present on
Y chromosome (Y-STR) can also be used in sexual assault cases
or determining paternal lineage. In cases of sexual assaults, Y-
STRs are helpful in detection of male profile even in the presence
of high level of female portion or in case of azoo11permic or
H
1154 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A vasectomized” male. Cases In which DNA had undergone
environmental stress and biochemical degradation, min lSTRs can
be used for over routine STR because of shorter amplicon size.
DNA Profiling is a complicated process and each sequential step
involved in generating a profile can vary depending on the facilities
B available In the laboratory. The analysis principles, however, remain
similar, which include:
1. isolation, purification & quantitation of DNA
2. amplification of selected genetic markers

C 3. visualising the fragments and genotyping
4. statistical analysis & interpretation.
In mtDNA analysis, variations in Hypervariable Region I & II
(HVR I & II) are detected by sequencing and comparing results
with control samples:….
D
Statistical Analysis
Atypical DNA case involves comparison of evidence samples,
such as semen from a rape, and known or reference samples,
such as a blood sample from a suspect. Generally, there are three
possible outcomes of profile comparison:
E
1) Match: If the DNA profiles obtained from the two samples are
indistinguishable, they are said to have matched.
2) Exclusion: If the comparison of profiles shows differences, it
can only be explained by the two samples originating from different
F sources.
3) Inconclusive: The data does not support a conclusion Of the
three possible outcomes, only the “match” between samples needs
to be supported by statistical calculation. Statistics attempt to
provide meaning to the match. The match statistics are usually
G provided as an estimate of the Random Match Probability (RMP)
or in other words, the frequency of the particular DNA profile in
a population.
In case of paternity/maternity testing, exclusion at more than two
loci is considered exclusion. An allowance of 1 or 2 loci possible
mutations should be taken Into consideration while reporting a
H
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1155
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

match. Paternity of Maternity Indices and Likelihood Ratios are A
calculated further to support the match.
Collection and Preservation of Evidence
If DNA evidence is not properly documented, collected, packaged,
and preserved, It will not meet the legal and scientific requirements
for admissibility in. a court of law. Because extremely small B
samples of DNA can be used as evidence, greater attention to
contamination issues is necessary while locating, collecting, and
preserving DNA evidence can be contaminated when DNA from
another source gets mixed with DNA relevant to the case. This
can happen when someone sneezes or coughs over the evidence C
or touches his/her mouth, nose, or other part of the face and then
touches area that may contain the DNA to be tested. The exhibits
having biological specimen, which can establish link among
victim(s), suspect(s), scene of crime for solving the case should
be Identified, preserved, packed and sent for DNA Profiling.”
D
139. In an earlier judgment, R v. Dohoney & Adams the UK
Court of Appeal laid down the following guidelines concerning
the procedure for introducing DNA evidence in trials: (1) the
scientist should adduce the evidence of the DNA comparisons
together with his calculations of the random occurrence ratio; (2)
whenever such evidence is to be adduced, the Crown (prosecution) E
should serve upon the defence details as to how the calculations
have been carried out, which are sufficient for the defence to
scrutinise the basis of the calculations; (3) the Forensic Science
Service should make available to a defence expert, if requested,
the databases upon which the calculations have been based. F
140. The Law Commission of India in its report, observed as
follows:
“DNA evidence involves comparison between genetic material
thought to come from the person whose identity is in issue and a
sample of genetic material from a known person. If the samples G
do not ‘match’, then this will prove a lack of identity between the
known person and the person from whom the unknown sample
originated. If the samples match, that does not mean the identity
is conclusively proved. Rather, an expert will be able to derive
from a database of DNA samples, an approximate number
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1156 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A reflecting how often a similar DNA “profile” or “fingerprint” is
found. It may be, for example, that the relevant profile is found in
1 person in every 100,000: This is described as the ‘random
occurrence ratio’ (Phipson 1999).
Thus, DNA may be more useful for purposes of investigation but
B not for raising any presumption of identity in a court of law.”
141. In Dharam Deo Yadav v. State of UP this court discussed
the reliability of DNA evidence in a criminal trial, and held as
follows:
“The DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, which is the biological
C blueprint of every life. DNA is made-up of a double standard
structure consisting of a deoxyribose sugar and phosphate
backbone, cross-linked with two types of nucleic acids referred
to as adenine and guanine, purines and thymine and cytosine
pyrimidines…..DNA usually can be obtained from any biological
D material such as blood, semen, saliva, hair, skin, bones, etc. The
question as to whether DNA tests are virtually infallible may be a
moot question, but the fact remains that such test has come to
stay and is being used extensively in the investigation of crimes
and the Court often accepts the views of the experts, especially
when cases rest on circumstantial evidence. More than half a
E century, samples of human DNA began to be used in the criminal
justice system. Of course, debate lingers over the safeguards that
should be required in testing samples and in presenting the evidence
in Court. DNA profile, however, is consistently held to be valid
and reliable, but of course, it depends on the quality control and
F quality assurance procedures in the laboratory.”
142. The US Supreme Court, in District Attorney’s Office for
the Third Judicial District v. Osborne, dealt with a post-conviction
claim to access evidence, at the behest of the convict, who wished
to prove his innocence, through new DNA techniques. It was
G observed, in the context of the facts, that
“Modern DNA testing can provide powerful new evidence unlike
anything known before. Since its first use in criminal investigations
in the mid-1980s, there have been several major advances in DNA
technology, culminating in STR technology. It is now often possible
to determine whether a biological tissue matches a suspect with
H
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1157
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

near certainty. While of course many criminal trials proceed A
without any forensic and scientific testing at all, there is no
technology comparable to DNA testing for matching tissues when
such evidence is at issue. DNA testing has exonerated wrongly
convicted people, and has confirmed the convictions of many
others.”
B
143. Several decisions of this court - Pantangi Balarama Venkata
Ganesh v. State of Andhra Pradesh, Santosh Kumar Singh v. State
Through CBI, Inspector of Police, Tamil Nadu v. John
David, Krishan Kumar Malik v. State of Haryana, Surendra
Koli v. State of Uttar Pradesh, and Sandeep v. State of Uttar
Pradesh, Rajkumar v. Stateof Madhya Pradesh and Mukesh C
v. State for NCT of Delhi have dealt with the increasing
importance of DNA evidence. This court has also emphasized
the need for assuring quality control, about the samples, as well
as the technique for testing-in Anil v. State of Maharashtra
“7. Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a molecule that encodes D
the genetic information in all living organisms. DNA genotype
can be obtained from any biological material such as bone, blood,
semen, saliva, hair, skin, etc. Now, for several years, DNA profile
has also shown a tremendous impact on forensic investigation.
Generally, when DNA profile of a sample found at the scene of E
crime matches with DNA profile of the suspect, it can generally
be concluded that both samples have the same biological origin.
DNA profile is valid and reliable, but variance in a particular result
depends on the quality control and quality procedure in the
laboratory.”
F
32. It is true that PW-23 Dr. B.K. Mohapatra, Senior Scientific
Officer (Biology) of CFSL, New Delhi had stepped into the witness box
and his report regarding DNA profiling was exhibited as Ex. PW-23/A,
however mere exhibiting a document, would not prove its contents. The
record shows that all the samples relating to the accused and relating to
the deceased were seized by the Investigating Officer on 14.02.2012 G
and 16.02.2012; and they were sent to CFSL for examination on
27.02.2012. During this period, they remained in the Malkhana of the
Police Station. Under the circumstances, the possibility of tampering
with the samples collected also could not be ruled out.Neither the Trial
Court nor the High Court has examined the underlying basis of the findings
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1158 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A in the DNA reports nor have they examined the fact whether the
techniques were reliably applied by the expert. In absence of such
evidence on record, all the reports with regard to the DNA profiling
become highly vulnerable, more particularly when the collection and
sealing of the samples sent for examination were also not free from
suspicion.
B
33. Thus, having regard to the totality of circumstances and the
evidence on record, it is difficult to hold that the prosecution had proved
the guilt of the accused by adducingcogent and clinching evidence. As
per the settled legal position, in order to sustain conviction, the
circumstances taken cumulatively should form a chain so complete that
C there is no escape from the conclusion that within all human probability,
the crime was committed by the accused only and none else. The
circumstantial evidence must be complete and incapable of explanation
of any other hypothesis than that of the guilt of the accused and such
evidence should not only be consistent with the guilt of the accused but
D should be inconsistent with his innocence. As demonstrated earlier, the
evidence with regard to the arrest of the Appellants-accused, their
identification, discoveries and recoveries of the incriminating articles,
identity of the Indica Car, the seizures and sealing of the articles and
collection of samples, the medical and scientific evidence, the report of
DNA profiling, the evidence with regard to the CDRs etc. were not
E proved by the prosecution by leading, cogent, clinching and clear evidence
much less unerringly pointing the guilt of the accused. The prosecution
has to bring home the charges levelled against them beyond reasonable
doubt, which the prosecution has failed to do in the instant case,
resultantly, the Court is left with no alternative but to acquit the accused,
F though involved in a very heinous crime.It may be true that if the accused
involved in the heinous crime go unpunished or are acquitted, a kind of
agony and frustration may be caused to the society in general and to the
family of the victim in particular, however the law does not permit the
Courts to punish the accused on the basis of moral conviction or on
suspicion alone. No conviction should be based merely on the
G apprehension of indictment or condemnation over the decision rendered.
Every case has to be decided by the Courts strictly on merits and in
accordance with law without being influenced by any kind of outside
moral pressures or otherwise.
34. The Court is constrained to make these observations as the
H Court has noticed many glaring lapses having occurred during the course
RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1159
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

of the trial. It has been noticed from the record that out of the 49 witnesses A
examined by the prosecution, 10 material witnesses were not cross-
examined and many other important witnesses were not adequately cross-
examined by the defence counsel. It may be reminded that Section 165
of the Indian Evidence Act confers unbridled powers upon the trial courts
to put any question at any stage to the witnesses to elicit the truth. As
B
observed in several decisions, the Judge is not expected to be a passive
umpire but is supposed to actively participate in the trial, and to question
thewitnesses to reach to a correct conclusion. This Courtwhile not
accepting the submission that it was improper for the Court to have
interjected during the course of cross-examination of the witness, had
observed in the case of State of Rajasthan vs. Anialias Hanif and C
Others4 thus: -
“11. We are unable to appreciate the above criticism. Section
165 of the Evidence Act confers vast and unrestricted powers on
the trial court to put “any question he pleases, in any form,
at any time, of any witness, or of the parties, about D
any fact relevant or irrelevant” in order to discover relevant
facts. The said section was framed by lavishly studding it with the
word “any” which could only have been inspired by the legislative
intent to confer unbridled power on the trial court to use the power
whenever he deems it necessary to elicit truth. Even if any such
question crosses into irrelevancy the same would not transgress E
beyond the contours of powers of the court. This is clear from the
words “relevant or irrelevant” in Section 165. Neither of the parties
has any right to raise objection to any such question.
12. Reticence may be good in many circumstances, but a Judge
remaining mute during trial is not an ideal situation. A taciturn F
Judge may be the model caricatured in public mind. But there is
nothing wrong in his becoming active or dynamic during trial so
that criminal justice being the end could be achieved. Criminal
trial should not turn out to be a bout or combat between two rival
sides with the Judge performing the role only of a spectator or G
even an umpire to pronounce finally who won the race. A Judge
is expected to actively participate in the trial, elicit necessary
materials from witnesses in the appropriate context which he feels
necessary for reaching the correct conclusion. There is nothing
4
(1997) 6 SCC 162 H
1160 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 9 S.C.R.

A which inhibits his power to put questions to the witnesses, either
during chief examination or cross-examination or even during re-
examination to elicit truth. The corollary of it is that if a Judge felt
that a witness has committed an error or a slip it is the duty of the
Judge to ascertain whether it was so, for, to err is human and the
chances of erring may accelerate under stress of nervousness
B
during cross-examination. Criminal justice is not to be founded on
erroneous answers spelled out by witnesses during evidence-
collecting process. It is a useful exercise for trial Judge to remain
active and alert so that errors can be minimised.
13. In this context it is apposite to quote the observations of
C Chinnappa Reddy, J. in Ram Chander v. State of Haryana [(1981)
3 SCC 191 : 1981 SCC (Cri) 683 : AIR 1981 SC 1036] : (SCC p.
193, para 2)
“The adversary system of trial being what it is, there is an
unfortunate tendency for a Judge presiding over a trial to assume
D the role of a referee or an umpire and to allow the trial to develop
into a contest between the prosecution and the defence with the
inevitable distortions flowing from combative and competitive
elements entering the trial procedure. If a criminal court is to be
an effective instrument in dispensing justice, the presiding Judge
E must cease to be a spectator and a mere recording machine. He
must become a participant in the trial by evincing intelligent active
interest by putting questions to witnesses in order to ascertain the
truth.”
35. In the instant case, material witnesses examined by the
F prosecution having not been eithercross-examined or adequately
examined, and the trial court also having acted as a passive umpire, we
find that the Appellants-accused were deprived of their rights to have a
fair trial, apart from the fact that the truth also could not be elicited by
the trial court. We leave it to the wisdom and discretion of the trial
courts to exercise their powers under Section 165 of the Indian Evidence
G Act for eliciting the truth in the cases before them, howsoever heinous
or otherwise they may be.
36. Having said that and for the reasons stated above, the judgments
and orders of conviction and sentence passed by the trial court and the
High Court are set aside. The Appellants-accused are acquitted from
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RAHUL v. STATE OF DELHI MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & 1161
ANR. [BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.]

the charges levelled against them by giving them a benefit of doubt, and A
they are directed to be set free forthwith if not required in any other
case. The appeals deserve to be allowed accordingly.
37. It is needless to say that in view of Section 357(A) Cr.PC, the
family members of the deceased- victim would be entitled to the
compensation even though the accused have been acquitted. Hence, B
while allowing these appeals and acquitting the Appellants- accused, we
direct that the parents of the victim would be entitled to the compensation,
if not awarded so far by the Delhi State Legal Services Authority, as
may be permissible in accordance with law.
38. In view of the above, the appeals stand allowed. All pending C
applications also stand disposed of.
39. Before parting, we place on record the valuable assistance
rendered by the Amicus Curiae Ms. Sonia Mathur and the learned Senior
Advocates and their associates appearing for the parties.
D
Ankit Gyan Appeal allowed.
(Assisted by : Rahul Rathi, LCRA)

E

F

G

H