Holding

The High Court's acquittal was set aside because the accused could not invoke private defence after the mischief was completed and the alibi was not proved beyond reasonable doubt, so the trial court's convictions stand.

Summary

The State of Haryana appealed the Punjab & Haryana High Court's acquittal of five accused who had been convicted of rioting, murder and attempted murder. The High Court had set aside the trial court's convictions on the basis that the accused acted in private defence of person and property. The Supreme Court examined whether the right of private defence under Sections 96, 100 and 105 of the IPC could be invoked after the alleged mischief was already completed, and whether the alibi pleaded by the accused was proved with the requisite certainty. It held that the accused could not claim private defence once the damage was done and that the alibi evidence was insufficient, constituting substantial errors of law and fact in the High Court's judgment. Consequently, the Court allowed the appeal, set aside the acquittal and restored the trial court's convictions. The decision re‑affirmed the limited scope of private defence and the strict standard for alibi pleas in criminal trials.

Issues considered

The High Court erred in acquitting the accused on the ground of private defence.
Whether the right of private defence under IPC Sections 96, 100 and 105 can be claimed after the alleged mischief is completed.
Whether a plea of alibi must be proved with absolute certainty under the Evidence Act.
Whether the Supreme Court may interfere with an acquittal under CrPC Section 378 when substantial errors of law and fact exist.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 378
Indian Evidence Act, 1872s. 113
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 100, s. 105, s. 148, s. 149, s. 302, s. 307, s. 425, s. 96

Subjects

private defencealibiappeal against acquittalcriminal proceduremischiefburden of proofriotingmurder

Judgment

(
A RAJESH KUMAR ETC.
v.
DHARAMVTR AND ORS.

MARCH 12, 1997

B [M.K. MUKHERJEE AND BN. KIRPAL, JJ.)

Criminal Procedure Code, 1913--Secfion 378-Appcal against acquit-
tal-Scope-Pmvers of High Cowt to intc1fen~-Substa11tial e1rors of law and
fact-lntC1ference justified.
c Indian Penal Code. 1860--Section 96.100,11)5-Private Defence---Right
of-Scope-Held, such a tight can be exercised only to repel unlawful aggres-
sion and not to retaliate.

Evidence Act, li:i72-Sectio11 3--Plea of alibi-Standard of proof-
D Held, a plea of alibi must be proved with absolute cenainty so as tu com-
pletely exclude presence of the pet:ffJ/l concernrd.

Respondent D along with his three brothers Sh, SB and Sr, and son
Y were rnnvicted for offences u/Ss 148, 302/149, 307/149 IJ'C of rioting,
E committing murders of three deceased persons, and attempting to commit
the murder of his brother. In appeal the High Court set aside their
convictions and sentences. These appeals bad been filed against the judg-
ment of acquittal.

Th~ families of the deceased and the accused closely related, used to
F live in adjacent houses and over a shop, litigations were going on between
the two families. Prosecution case that the five accused and one L (since
deceased) started demolishing the inner boundary wail of the shop in order
to make it a part of their own house and on hearing the sound the deceased
Y went to the lane in front of their house and asked the accused not to •
demolish the wall; that immediately thereafter accused D, armed with a
G lathi and other four accused and L with knives came out of the shop and
started intlicting blows on Y with their respective weapons; that on hearing
the alarms raised by him when PW 13, his father D and his grandfather S
came forward to his rescue, accused Sb, L and Sr assaulted PW13 with
their knives and all the five accused persons and L also assaulted D and
H S causing injuries on their persons; that D fired a short from his licensed
l012
RAJESH KUMAR ETC. v. DHARAMVIR 1013

gun, which hit L and thereafter the five accused persons ran away with A
their weapons. Y succumbed to bis injuries there, injured S and L died in
the hospital while D died after about 13 days of the incident.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them.
The trial Court recorded their convictions accepting the version of the
prosecution in preference to that of the defence. The High Court upset the B
judgment of the trial Court, accepting the plea of right of private defence
of person and property raised by the accused persons though the findings
recorded were in agreement with the findings ol' the trial Court. In this
appeal filed against the judgment of the High Court, the appellants con-
tended that the ju~gment of the High Court was patently wrong as it was C
based on contradictory findings and misappreciation of principles of law
relati.ng to the exercise of right of private defence.

The respondents submitted that the order of acquittal passed in their
favour was based on proper appreciation of evidence and that this Court
would not be justified in interfering with the same as it was neither vitiated D
by any grave error of law nor did it cause serious micarriage of justice.

Allowed the appeals, this Court

HELD : l.1. Ordinarily th~s Court does not interfere with an acquit-
tal record!;!d by the High Court but if it is found that the order of acquittal E
suffers from substantial errors of law and fact, it. becomes the duty .of this
Court to interfere with the same to redeem the course of justice. [1018-A-B]
. .
1.2. The observations made by the High Court that com1ilainants
came to the spot together armed with deadly weapons, run counter to the
positive case made out by the accused themselves. The High Court was F
therefore not justified in making out a third case based on surmise and
conjecture. [1020-H; 1021-A, 1021-C]

1.3. A right of private defence can be exercised only to repel unlawful
aggression-and not to retaliate. To put it differently, the right is one of
defence and not of requital or reprisal. Such being the nature of right, the G
High Court could not have exonerated the accused persons of the charges
levelled against them by bestowing them the right to retaliate and attack the
complainant party: Placing reliance on evidence o'· DW3, a procured wit-
ness, the conclusions drawn by the High Court that"the complainant party
tried to break open the outer door of the house of the accused party must be H
1014 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 2 S.C.R.

A held to be factually untenable. Even if the accused persons had attacked the
complainant party after the latter had damaged the outer door of their
house, the offence that was committed by the complainant party by causing
such damage would amount to mischief within the meaning of Sec. 425 IPC
and, therefore, in view of Section 105 of the Indian Penal Code the accused
-
B would hav,e been entitled to exercise their right of private defence of proper-
ty so long as the complainant party continued in the commission of the
mischief. Alter the damage was done, the accused had no right of private
defence of property, which meant that when they attacked the complainant
party in the lane they were the aggressors. Conse!]ucntly, it was the com-
plaimmt party - and not the accused -who was entitled to exercise the right
C of private defence of their persons and their act of gunning down accused L
after four of them were assaulted by the accused party with deadly weapons .
would not be an offence in view of Sections 96 and 100 of the Indian Penal
Code. [1022-G-H, E; 1022-H; 1023-D]

1.4. It is trite that a plea of alibi must be proved with absolute
D certainty so as to completely exclude the presence of the person concerned
at the time and the place where the incident took place. Testimony of DW 2
did not substantiate the plea of alibi raised on behalf of the accused.
[1025-A-B]
E 1.5. Thus, the prosecution has been able to prove the charges levelled
against the accused beyond all reasonable doubts. Hence the judgment or'
the High Court is set aside and that of the Trial Court restored. [1025-B-C]

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal
Nos. 5 and 6 of 1990 Etc.
F
From the Judgment and Order dated 20.12.98 of the Punjab &
Haryana High Court in Cr!. A. No. 80 and 81.DB of 1985.

Uma Datta, Prem Malhotra for the Appellants.

G R.L. Kohli, R.C. Kohili and Prem Malhotra for the Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

M.K. MUKHERJEE, J. Dharamvir, a resident of Samalkha in the
district of karnal, along with his three brothers Shakti Singh, Subhash and
H Suresh, and son Yudhvir was placed on trial before the Additional Sessions
RATESH KUMAR ETC. v. DHARAMVIR [M.K. MUKHERJEE, J.) 1015

Judge, Karna! for rioting, committing the murders of Yogesh, his father A
Dinesh, and his grand-father Suraj Bhan, and attempting lo commit the
murder of hlS brother Rajesh. The trial ended with an order of convictions
recorded against all of them under Sections 148, 302/149 (three counts)
and 307/149 of the Indian Penal Code and of sentences of rigorous im-
prisonment for six months, imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs. 200/-, B
and rigorous imprisonment for seven years and a fine of Rs. 200/- respec-
tively, and a direction that the substantive sentences shall run concurrently.
In appeal the High Court set aside their convictions and sentences; and
aggrieved thereby the State of Haryana and the complainant Rajesh have
filed these appeals.
c
The deceased Dinesh Chander was the younger brother of Tutsi
Ram, who is the father of accused Dharamvir, Shakti Singh, Subhash,
Suresh and Lachhi Ram (since deceased). The families of Dinesh and Tulsi
used to live in adjacent houses, both of which open into a lane on the west.
To the adjacent east of the house of accused is a shop v.>ith a common inner D
boundary wall. Over that shop litigations were going on between the two
families and a few days before the incident, out of which these appeals
stem, a decree was passed in favour of deceased suraj Bha.n by the
Additional District Judge, Kamal. In another suit filed by Tulsi Ram to
evict Hari Kishan, the tenant of that shop, he also got a decree and in
execution thereof recovered its possession on May 5, 1984 at or about 2 E
P.M. through the Court bailiff (P.W. 10).

According to the prosecution case on the same thy at or about 4.30
P.M. the five accused and Lachhi Ram started demolishing the inner
boundary wall of the shop in order to make it a part of their own house. F
On hearing the sound of pounding on the wall yogesh went to the lane in
front of their house and asked the accused not to demolish the wall.
Immediately thereafter accused Dharamvir, armed \vith a lathi, and other
four accused and Lachhi Ram with knives came out of the shop and started
inflicting blows on yogesh v.>ith their respective weapons. On hearing the
alarms raised by him when Rajesh (P.W. 19), his father Dincsh Chander, G
and his Grand-father suraj Bhan came forward to his rescue. Subhash,
Lachhi Ram and Suresh, assaulted Rajesh mth their knives. All the five
accused persons and Lachhi Ram also assaulted Dinesh Chander and Suraj
Bhan causing injuries on their persons. At that stage, Dinesh Ch~J1der fired
a shot from his licensed gu~, which hlt Lachhi Ram. In the meantime H
'-
1016 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 2 s.c.RY

A Krishna Devi (P .W. 14) mother of Rajesh, had ·also reached the spot.
Thereafter the five accused persons ran away with their weapons. Though
Yogesh had succumbed to his unjuries there, his body was taken to the
local Primary Health Centre, where injured Dinesh Chander, Suraj Bhan
and Lachhi Ram were removed for treatment. Injured Rajesh however first
-
went to Samalkha Police Station to lodge the FIR.
B
After recording the FIR, S.L Bodh Ra.i (P.W. 21) sent Rajesh to the
Health Center for medical examination. He then went to the spot, prepared

C
a site plan, and seized blood stained earth and an empty cartridge (Ext.
P.6) from there and a hammer (Ext. P.4 and P.5) from the shop. Thereafter
he went to the health center at Samalkha and held inquest on the dead
--
body of deceased Yogesh. In the meantime Suraj Bhan, Dinesh Chander
and Lachhi Ram had been removed to Medical College Hospital, Rothak
for better treatment. Lacchi Ram, however, succumbed to his injuries on
the same evening and Suraj Bhan on the following day. Dinesh Chander
D continued to be treated in that hospital till he died m1 May 10, 1984.

During investigation, accused Dharamvir and Yudhvir were arrested
on May 8, 1984 and the other three on May 10,1984. On May 11, 1984,
while in police custody, accused Shakti Singh made a disdosure statement,
which resulted in discovery of a blood stained knife. On completion of
E investigation Police submitted chargcshcet against the five accused respon-
dents and in due course the case was committed to the Court of Session.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against them
when examined under Section 313 Cr.P.C. and accused subhash gave the
following version of the incident:
F
"On the day of occurrence at about 3.00/4.00 P.M. Lachhi was in
the process of breaking the wall of the shop to make it a part of
our house after Shakti had taken possession of the shop in a legal
manner. Rajesh PW and his brother Yogesh after hearing the noise
came outside our house while armed with kni,ves. They started
G knocking at our closed door but Lachhi did not bother in spite of
the fact that they had started abusing us and threatening us that
Rajesh and Dinesh were successful in breaking the door of our
house. Lachhi removed the handle of the hand-pump which is near
the door and I also came down stairs after arming myself with a
H knife because I had seen PWs Rajesh and Yogesh armed with
RAJESH KUMAR ETC. v. DHARAMVIR (M.K MUKHERJEE, J.] 1017

knives and in an aggressive mood both of them attacked Lachhi A
and me and we defcndend ourselves. Lachhi caused injuries to
Rajesh with the hand-pump lnndlc and was successful in throwing
down his knife. When Lachhi was being attacked by Yogesh I gave
him a blow in his back. Meanwhile Lachhi grappled with Yogesh
and dis-armed him and snatched his knife. Lachhi was much
stronger than Y ogesh. Meanwhile Dinesh armed with a gun and
B
Suraj Bhan armed with lathi came there and Suraj Bhan gave a
lathi blow to Lachhi and me. I grappled with Suraj Bhan and gave
him knife blows in self defence. Meanwhile Dinesh fired shots, one
shot hit Lach hi as he was reloading his gun, Lachhi gave him blows
but he was successful in reloading the gun. He fired one more shot C
at Lachhi. When T was grappling with Suraj Bhan, Dinesh fired a
shot towards us but meanwhile we had fallen down. I ran
away to
save my life Because Lachhi had not got up and I was alone. I
went to Sonepat and eot myself treated there first from Dr.
Ramesh Batra and then got myself medically examined also from D
the Civil Hospital, Sonepat. Smt. Vimlesh wife of Shak.ti Singh had
witnessed the entire occurrence, None of the other accused was
present at the spot. They have been falsely involved in the case,
Krishna was not present at the spot."

The other four accused denied their presence at the spot at the time of the E
incident and accused Shakti daimcd that at the material time he was with
his lawyer at Panipat.

In support of their respective cases the prosewtion ex~mined twenty
three witnesses and defence five.
F
After taking us through the entire evidence and the impugned judg-
ment Mr. Uma Datta, the learned counsel appearing for the appellants,
contended that the judgment of the High Court was patently wrong as it
was based on contradictory findings and misappreciation of principles of
law relating to t.hc exercise of right of private defence. In refuting the above G
. contentions Mr. Kohli, the learned counsel appearing for the accused
~espondents, on the other hand submitted that the order of acquittal passed
in their favour was based on proper appreciation of evidence and this
Court would not be justified in interfering with the same, more so, as it
was neither. vitiated by any grave error ol law nor did it cause serious H
·y
1018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1997] 2 S.C.R. l _
A miscarriage of Justice.

It is true that ordinarily this Court does not interfere with an acquittal
recorded by the High Court but if it is found that order of acquittal suffers
from substantial errors of law and fact, it becomes the duly of this Court
to interfere with the same to redeem the course of justice. Having carefully
B gone through the impugned judgment in the light of the evidence on record
we find that this case essentially calls for such interference.

Jn view of the respective cases of the parties as detailed above, there
is no room for doubt that in course of the incident that took place on that
C fateful afternoon, Rajesh, his brother Yogesh, their father Dinesh and
grand-father Suraj Bhan as well as Lachhi Ram, brother of accused Shakti
Singh, sustained injuries. The parties however joined issue as to the manner
in which the occurrence took place and, for that matter, how the victims
sustained those injuries and all, except Rajesh, met with their death. To
D appreciate the steps of reasoning of the High Court for upsetting the
findings of the trial Court on the above issue it will be necessary to first
look into the evidence of the doctors, namely, Dr. K.L. Khurana "(P.W. 1),
Dr. Mahesh Prakash (P.W. 2), Dr. O.P. Gogia (P.W. 8), Dr. D.K. Sharma
(P.W. 5) and Dr. Rajnish Bhalla (P.W. 6), who deposed about the injuries
found on the above five persons and as to the cause of death of four of
E them. Dr. K.L. Khurna (P.W. 1) examined Rajesh and found eight injuries
on his person, including one incised wound and six lacerated wounds. Dr.
Mahesh Prakash (P.W. 2) held autopsy on the dead body of Yogesh and
found two incised wounds and one abrasion, while Dr. O.P. Gogia (P.W.
3), who held autopsy on the dead body of Lachhi, found one incised wound
p and five lacerated wounds, of which, he opined, the first was a surgical
wound and the others were caused by fire-arms. Mr. Rajnish Bhalla (P.W.
6), who examined Suraj Bhan on the night of the incident, found seven
incised wounds on his person and Dr. D.K. Sharma (P.W. 5), who held
post-mortem examination on his dead body on the following day cor-
roborated the evidence of P.W. 6. Dr. Sharma also held post-mortem on
G the dead body of Dinesh Chand and found stitched wound on his abdomen.
The doctors, who held the post-mortem examinations opined that the
injuries found on the persons of the four deceased were sufficient to cause
death in the ordinary course of nature.

H Coming now to the manner in which the incident took place, the
RAJESH KUMAR ETC. v. DHARAMVIR [M.K. MUKHERJEE, J.] 1019

prosecution relied on the evidence of Rajesh (P.W. 19) and his mother A
Krishna Devi (P.W. 14), and the defence on that of smt. Bimlesh (P.W, 4),
wife of accused Shakti Singh, in support of their respective versions. On a
detailed discussion of their evidence and correlating the same with other
evidence adduced by the parties the trial court accepted the version of the
prosecution in preference to that of the defence.
1B
In dealing with the above aspect of the matter the High court first
made the following observations:-

"The parties are however, at variance about the place, and the
manner in which the occurrence took place, as well as, about the C
presence and participation of the accused, other than Subhash,
and their companion Lachhi Ram deceased. According to the
prosecution stmy, besides Rajesh Kumar, first imfonnant his mother
Krishna Devi (P. W. 14) too had witnessed the occzm·ence that took
place in the lane in front of their house, adjoining the house of the
accused. Taking into consideration all these facts, as well as the time D
of the occwrence and fact that after the occz11Tence Rajesh Kumar
P. W. lodged the reporl with the police within half an hour of the
occzm·ence it is quite patent that his presence and that of his mother
Smt. Krishna Devi (P. W. 14) at the spot at the time of the occwre11ce
is quite 11at11ral, probable and convincing. Mere fact. that after the E
occurrence Smt. Krishna Devi did not accompany the injured or
her deceased son to the hospital, and instead preferred to stay at
her home, possibly because she would be under great shock on
seeing the ghastly sight, would not be sufficient to uphold the
defence plea that her presence at the spot at the time of the
occurrence is doubtful." F

(emphasis supplied)

Thereafter the High Court posed the question as to whether the
accused acted bonafide in exercise of right of private defence of their G
persons and property and observed that to resolve the issue the place and
the manner in which the occurrence took place assumed considerable
importance. The High Court then discussed the relevant evidence and
answered the question in the following manner:-

"According to the testimony of S.I. Bodh Raj, who went to the spot H
1020 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997) 2 S.C.R. . . . .

A on the evening of the occurrence, blood was lifted by him from
the street, which, as per the report of the Chemical Examiner, and
that of the Serologist, was found stained with human blood. No
blood was lifted from inside the shop in dispute, where, according to
Subl1ash accused, the complainant party initially went in order to
stop the accused from dismantling the common wall betwem the
B
shop in dispute and the house of the accused, the complainant pmty
attqcked him and his brother Lachhi Ram and the latter inflicted
injuries to Rajesh kumar P. W. with the handle of handpump, and
Subhash accused, who was anned with a knife, gave a blow with the
same to Yogesh (deceased) 011 his back. This tell tale circumstance
c does suppmt the ocular account given by Rajesh Kumar and his
mother Kris/ma Devi. P. W.f. that the entire occurence took place in
the lane itself."

(emphasis supplied)

D
On persual of the record we notice that the. above quoted findings
are based on proper approval of the evidence and in agreement with the
findings of the trial Court. Surprisingly however, inspite of such findings
recorded in favour of the prosecution- which would have necessarily led to
the affirmance of the Judgment of the trial Court-the High Court upset the
E same, accepting the plea of right of private defence of person and property
raised by the accused ·persons. In so doing, we arc constrained to say, the
High Court not only contradicted those findings but also arrived at findings
which are patently wrong- both factually and legally.

F Though the High Court found that Rajcsh (P. W. 18) and his mother
Krishna Devi (P.W. 14) were reliable witnesses, (as the earlier quoted
passages. indicate) it disbeliev~d their statements that Dinesh came to the
spot with his liceuced gun and opened fire after he and his other family
members were assaulted. According to the High Court it was different to
believe that after the complainant party became aware that the accused
,G party started dismantling the common wall between the shop-in dispute
only Y ogesh would come out in the lane to dissuade the accused from
carr)fog out their aforesaid pian. On that premise, the High Court ob-
served that it seemed quite probable that besides Yogcsh his brother
Rajesh, their father Dincsh and their grand-father Suraj Bhan came to the
H spot together armed with deadly weapons. The above observation runs
RAJESH KUMAR ETC. v. DHARAMVIR [M.K. MUKHERJEE, J.] 1021

counter to the positive case made out by accused themselves, as noticed A
earlier, while narrating the sequence of events. Subhash stated in his
examination under Section 313 Cr. P.C. that when the fighting was going
· on between Rajesh and Yogesh on the one hand and Lachhi Ram and him
on the other Dinesh arrived at the scene armed with a gun and Suraj Bhan
with a lathi. Smt. Bimlesh (D.W,4) was more specific on the point for she B
stated that in course of the scuffle that was going on between Yogesh and
Lachhi, Yogesh fell down on the ground and Suraj Bhan and Dinesh at
once came out of their house, the former with a lathi and a latter with a
gun. The High Court was therefore not justified in making out a third case
based on surmise and conjecture.
c
Another consideration that influenced the High Court to accept the
defence plea of Tight of private defence was a testimony of Satbir Singh
(D.W. 8), who was examined by the accused to prove that on the day
following the occurrence one of the leaves of the outer door of their house
. was missing. The High Court, however, did not discuss his evidence and, D
we are sure that if the High Court had done so, it would have agreed with
the finding of the tiral Court that he was a procured witness.

From his testimony we got that he is a resident of Sonepat and there
he runs a-photo studio. On May 6, 1984 one Moo! Shankar approached
him at Sonepat and took him to the house of accused at Samalkha. There E
he took photographs (Ext. DC, DE and DH) of the outer door of the
house, one leaf of which he found broken, and of a hand pump with its
handle missing. In cross-examination he stated that his studio was situated
at Gohana Road, Sonepat and in between the bus stand of Sonepat and
his studio there were about 20-25 other photo studios on that road. He p
further stated that Moo! Shankar was not known to him from before.
Lastly, he stated there ·were photographers in Samalkha also. Having
regard to the undisputed fact that. Sonepat is at. a distance of about 40
Kilometers from Samalkha and that there were photographers in Samalkha,
it seems strange that the_ services of Satbir Singh, who was not known to
the accused were requisitioned. When the evidence of D.W. 3 is con- G
si<lered in the light of the evidence of S.1. Bodh Raj (P.W. 21), S.1. Piara
Ram (P.W. 19) and Sat Prakash (P.W. 12), who was witness to the seizure
of the articles by P.W. 21 and P.W. 19. ll becomes crystal clear that the
story of the breaking of the tloor was contrived by the accused later on to
build up a defence. All these witnesses categorically replied, when cross . H
1022 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997) 2 S.C.R.

A examined on this aspect, that they did not notice any leaf of the outer door
of the house broken when they went there in the evening of may be 1984.
The comment of the High Court that their such reply was evasive is wholly
unjustified for if they had not seen any mark of violence on the door, the
only answer they could have given to that question was that they did not
notice any such mark.
B
With its assumptive view that all the accused came together armed
with deadly weapons and implicit reliance on the evidence of D.W. 3, the
High Court then drew the following inference :-

c "This aspect of the case probabalies the defence plea that the
complainant party went armed and tried lo break open the outer
door of the house of the accused party. 171ereafter, the accused party
retaliated and attacked tile complainant party, t/zis a;pect of the case
would indicate that the complaina11t pmty was the initial aggressor
and the accused pa1ty in order to retaliate came out in the lane and
D attacked the complai11ant party after the latter had damaged the outer
door of the house of the accused."

(emphasis supplied)

E In view of our preceding discussion the conclusions drawn by the
High Court that the complainant party tried to break open the outer door
of the house of the accused party must be said to be factually untenable;
and the discussion to follow will demonstrate that on the above factual
conclusions the accused persons were not legally entitled to the right of
private defence.
F
Section 96 of the Indian Penal Code provides that nothing is an
offence which is done in the exercise of the right of private defence and
the fascicle of Sections 97 to 106 thereof lays down the extent and limitation
of such right. From a plain reading of the above Sections it is manifest that
G such a right can be exercised only to repel unlawful aggression-and not to
retaliate. To put it differently, the right is one of defence and not of requital
or reprisal. Such being the nature of right, the High Court could not have
exonerated the accused persons of the charges levelled against them .by
bestowing them the right to retaliate and attack the complainant party.

H· We reach the same conclusion through a different route-even if we
RAJESH KUMAR ETC. v. DHARAMVIR [M.K. MUKHERJEE, J.) 1023

proceed on the assumption that the finding of the High Court that the A
accused party came out in the Jane and attacked the complainant party
after the latter had damaged the outer door of their house is a proper one.
The offence that was committed by the complainant party by causing such
damage would amount to 'mischief within the meaning of Section 425 of
the Indian Penal Code and, therefore, in view of Section 105 of the Indian B
Penal Code the accused would have been entitled to exercise their right of
private defence of property so long as the complainant party continued in
the commission of the mischief. In other words, after the damage was done,
the accused had no right of private defence of property, which necessarily
means that when they attacked the complainant party in the lane they were ·
the aggressors. Consequently, it was the complainant party - and not the C
accused - who was entitled to exercise the right of private defence of their
persons; and their act of gunning down Lachhi after four of them were
assaulted by the accused party with deadly weapons would not be an
offence in view of Sections 96 and 100 of the Indian Penal Code. In drawing
this conclusion we have drawn sustenance from the following finding of the D
High Court which, ·in our view; is based on correct appraisal of the
evidence:

"However, from the evidence on the record it is quite apparent
that Lachhi, companion of the accused, was shot after he and
· Subhash accused had allegedly inflicted injuries to Yogesh E
(deceased) and Rajesh P.W. By that time both Dinesh Chander
and Suraj Bhan had already received injuries at the hands of the
accused party. The sequence of events clearly shows that Lachhi
deceased received fire-wm inju1ies at the fag end, when Yogesh,
Rajes/z Kumar and Diliesh Chandei; and Suraj Bhan had already
F
received injwies 011 their person at the hand of the accused party."

(emphasis supplied)

Before we conclude our discussion on the above aspect it would be
necessary to refer to the statement made by accused Subhash in his G
examination under Section 313 Cr.P.C. (quoted earlier), wherein he started
that on being attacked by Rajesh and Yogesh he assaulted Yogesh and
Suraj Bhan. In support of his statement he examined Dr. Ramesh Batra
(D.W. 1) and Dr. N.K. Verma (D.W. 5). D.W. 1 testified that on May 5,
1984 at 11 P.M. he examined Subhash in his clinic at Sonepat and found a H ·
1024 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1997] 2 S.C.R.

A lacerated wound 3 ems. x 1 cm. over the left parietal region and he stitched
that wound. The other doctor (D.W.5), who claimed to have examined
Subhash on the following day (May 6, 1984) at 6.45 P.M., deposed that he
(Subhash) had one stiched wound over the left parietal bone, a bruise over
the.front of the right knee, abrasion on the right shoulder, sub-conjunctival
B haemorrhage over the middle part of the left eye and swelling over the left
eyebrow. According to D.W. 5 all the injuries that he found on the person
of Subhash were caused by blunt weapon. Apart from the fact that the
evidence of the two doctors vary regarding the number of injuries found ,
on the person of Subhash, the injuries could not have been caused in the
manner alleged by him, namely, attack by knives by Rajesh and Yogesh in
C which case we would have expected incised wounds. Indeed, D. W. 4, who
gave the defence version of the incident, did not state in her examination
of having seen subhash being attacked by Rajesh and Yogesh much less
with knives and· in cross examination she categorically stated that Subhash ·
did not receive any injury with the knife and that he received 3/4 injuries
D with lathis. All these facts and circumstances not only militate against the
defence version but also persuade us to hold that the claim of Subhash that
he sustained injuries in the incident owing to assault by Rajesh and Yogesh
with k1ives is unfounded.

That bring us to the question whether the High Court was justified
E in accepting the plea of alibi raised by accused Shakti Singh. As already
noticed all the accused except Subhash took the plea of alibi but only
Shakti Singh led evidence to substantiate it. According to him he had gone
witl1 the bailiff Dina Nath (P.W. 10) to Panipat after the possession of the
shop had been delivered to him to consult Shri H.K. Singal, Advocate
p about the other pending case and to inform him that the possession had
been taken and that he was with Shri H.K. Singal till 5 P.M. on May 5,
1984. Therefore, he stated, he could not have been present at the time of
occurrence, as alleged by the prosecution. In support of his contention he
examined Shri Singal (D.W. 2). He deposed that his office timings in
summer were from 4.30 P.M. to 8.00 P.M., and his office used to be opened
G by his clerk at'4.00 P.M. On the day Shakti Singh took possession of a: shop
at Samalkha in the begining of May 1984 he came to his office and
informed him about it. He lastly stated that Shakti Singh left his office at
about 5.00 P.M. Though D.W. 2 claimed to be the Advocate of Shakti Singh
in the litigation, no contemporaneous document was produced by Shakti
H Singh or D.W. 2, in support thereof or to prove the plea of alibi. In absence
RAfESH KUMAR ETC. v. DHARAMVIR [M.K. MUKHERJEE, J.] 1025

thereof it is difficult to believe that D.W. 2, would be remembering who A
met him, on which date and at what time. It is trite that a plea of alibi must
be proved with absolute certainty so as to completely exclude the presence
of the person concerned at the time when and the place where the incident
took place. Judged in that context we are in complete agreement with the
trial Court that the testimony of D.W. 2, for what it is worth, d.oes not
substantiate the plea of alibi raised on behalf of the accused Shakti Singh. B
On the conclusions as above we unhesitatingly hold that the prosecu-
tion has been able to prove the charges levelled against the accused beyond
all reasonable doubts. We, therefore, allow these appeals, set aside the
judgment of the High Court and restore that of the trial Court. The five C
accused-respondents, namely, Dharamvir, Shakti Singh, Suresh, Subhash
and Yudhvir, who are on bail, shall now surrender to their respective bail
bonds to serve out the sentence imposed upon them by the trial Court.

R.A. Appeal allowed.