Holding

The conviction of Uttam alias Cheaku under Section 395 IPC is upheld and the High Court's acquittal is set aside.

Summary

The State of Haryana prosecuted Uttam alias Cheaku and three others for a highway robbery on the Delhi‑Jaipur road, during which the victims Om Parkash and his wife Jai Rani were assaulted, robbed and injured. The trial court, after detailed consideration of victim testimony and identification parades, convicted Uttam under IPC Section 395 and sentenced him to four years' rigorous imprisonment, acquitting the other accused. The Punjab and Haryana High Court reversed this conviction, extending the benefit of doubt to Uttam without discussing the evidence. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that the High Court's judgment was perfunctory and illegal, affirming that the victims' identification and unshaken testimony proved Uttam's participation beyond reasonable doubt. Consequently, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court order, restored the trial court's conviction and sentence, and emphasized the need for strict punishment in highway robbery cases.

Issues considered

Whether the High Court erred in acquitting the accused Uttam alias Cheaku despite victim identification and testimony.
Whether the testimony of the victims, identified in a test parade, is sufficient to sustain a conviction under Section 395 IPC.
Whether the benefit of doubt should be extended to the accused in the circumstances of the case.

Legislation cited

Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 395, s. 397, s. 412

Subjects

highway robberySection 395 IPCidentification paradebenefit of doubtconvictionappellate reviewevidencevictim testimony

Judgment

A STATE OF HARYANA
v.
.
UTTAM ALIAS CHEAKU r
APRIL 21, 1987

B [A.P. SEN AND V. BALAKRISHNA ERADI, JJ.]

Indian Penal Code, 1860--Section 395-Highway robbery-Case
of-Accused convicted-Trial Court judgment well reasoned and consi- /
>-- .
dered-Based on testimony of victims-High Court in appeal-Rejec-
~
ting trial court judgment without proper consideration and discussion- ~
'
c Accused acquitted-Supreme Court in appeal by State-Setting aside
High Court Judgment-Restoring conviction and sentence on accused-
Necessity for seriousness and care to be bestowed in such cases-
Pointed out. f-
The respondent, along with three others, was tried for offences
D under sections 395, 397 and 412 of the Indian Penal Code. The prosecu-
tion alleged that the respondent had deliberately dashed his car against
the car of P. W. Son the Delhi-Jaipur Road, while the latter was travel-
ling to Jaipur alongwith his wife, PW 6 and daughter. Five persons, two
or three of them armed with revolvers and others with daggers came out
of the respondent's car. One of them gave a couple of knife blows in the 'f
E chest of PW S, and anqther, who was armed with a pistol, fired shots In
the air and scared away drivers of some trucks who were passing along
that road and tried to come to the aid of PW S who was crying out for
help. One of the assailants removed the ear rings, necklace and wrist
-
watch from the person of PW 6, and in that process, one of her ear lobes
was cut as under. The wrist watch and purse of PW S and three attache ~~
F cases on the luggage carrier of his car were also forcibly removed and
taken away. Before the culprits left the spot in their car with all the ~
booty, a shot was fired by one of them which hit PW S on the forehead.
PW S somehow managed to drive back his car to Gurgaon and narrated
the whole incident to his partner and thereafter he and his wife were
medically examined and treated at Gurgaon Civil Hospital, for the
G various injuries that were found on them. Thereafter an F.I.R. was
lodged with the Gurgaon Police. The accused were arrested after a
fairly long delay and two test identification parades were held, one
..,...-,
separately for the respondent-accused at his request and other for the
remaining suspects. The respondent was identified hy the victims. On
the basis of the information furnished by the accused some of the arti-
H des of the victims were recovered.
1064
STATE OF HARYANA v. UTIAM 1065

The trial court held that the charge against the respondent under
section 395 I.P.C. was proved beyond all reasonable doubt and con-
A
-1 victed and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for four
years. The other three accused were acquitted on the ground that.their
participation in the crime was not sufficiently proved and hence they
were entitled to the benefit of doubt.
The High Court, however, allowed the appeal of the respondent B
. by extending the benefit of doubt to him and set aside his conviction
-"' and sentence.

-t Allowing the State's appeal by Special leave.

HELD: 1. A case of highway robbery, such as this, should have
been dealt with much more seriousness and care than has been besto- c
wed on it by the High Court. Its approach to the case and the conclusion
~ recorded by it cannot but be characterised as manifestly illegal and
perverse. The trial court has rightly concluded that from the evidence
of the victims the participation of the respondent in the commission of
the offence had been proved beyond all doubt. [1069B-C] D
2.1 The High Court, by a most perfunctory judgment, set aside
the judgment of the trial court, insofar as the trial court had convicted
the respondent herein, and acquitted him. It has dealt with the case in a
-~ very superficial and casual manner and has not even taken care to
discuss the evidence adduced in the case, before it proceeded to in-
E
-- terfere with the well considered judgment of the trial court. [I068G-H]

2.2. The trial court after an elaborate and analytical discussion of
·~ the whole evidence recorded the conclusion that the participation of the
respondent in the commission of the crime was established beyond all
doubt inasmuch as he had been identified by the both the victims, and
~ their testimony narrating the details of the incident of robbery and F
assault was not shaken in cross-examination and deserved to be
accepted as wholly truthful. [10680-E]
2 .3 Both the victims, PW 5 and 6, had clearly identified the
respondent at the test identification parade as well as in the court and
they had clearly and unequivocally desposed that -he was one of the G
----, assailants who took part in the robbery and assault. The trial court has
given sound and convincing reasons for accepting and acting upon their
testimony. The High Court has, however, not discussed in its judgment
as to why it considered that the testimony of the victims of the crime
could not be accepted and why it could not form the foundation for the
conviction of the respondent. [I068H; 1069A-B] H
1066 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1987] 2 S.C.R.

A 3. The judgment of the High Court is set aside and that of the
trial court convicting the respondent under section 395 of the Indian )..
Penal Code and sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment of
four years is restored. Necessity for awarding severe purishment in
such cases of proven highway robbery stressed. [1069F]

B CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
No. 559of1983.

From the Judgment and Order dated 7. l.1982 of the Punjab and
Haryana High Court in Cr!. Appeal No. 537 (SB) of 1980.

C Harbans Lal, LS. Goel and K. Chaudhri for the Appellant.

Govind Mukhoty (Amicus Curiae) for the Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

D BALAKRISHNA ERADI, J. Uttam alias Cheaku, the respon-
dent-herein along with three others was tried by the learned Addi-
tional Sessions Judge, Gurgaon for alleged commission of offences
under Sections 395, 397 and 412 of the Indian Penal Code. By judg-
ment dated July 21, 1980, the learned Additional Sessions Judge held
that the charge against Uttam under Section 395 I.P.C. was _proved
E beyond all reasonable doubt and he was accordingly convicted and
sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for four years. The other
three accused were acquitted on the ground that their participation in
--
the crime was not sufficiently proved and hence they were entitled to
the benefit of doubt. The respondent carried the matter in appeal to
the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The High Court by its
F impugned judgment dated January 7, 1982 allowed the said appeal,
extending the benefit of doubt to the respondent, and set aside his
conviction and sentence. The State of Haryana has come up to this
Court with this appeal against the said order of acquittal after obtain-
ing Special leave from this Court.

G Briefly stated, the prosecution case ii; that on October 24, 1978,
Om Parkash (P.W. 5) accompanied by his wife Jai Rani (P.W. 6) and ',--
their daughter Nee lam left Delhi in the early hours of the morning for
Jaipur by car. Om Park ash and his wife Jai Rani were in the front seat
of the vehicle while their daughter was occupying the rear seat. When
their car had reached about 10-12 Kms. beyond Gurgaon on the Delhi-
H Jaipur Road, another car bearing registration No. DEA-2914 came
STATE OF HARYANA v. UITAM (ERADI, J.l 1067

from behind and attempted to overtake their vehicle. Even though Om A
Parkash had made way for the other car to pass, that car deliberately
swerved to the left side and stn1ck against the front wheel of his car,
whereupon Om Parkash stopped his car on the left side of the road in
the kacha portion. In the meantime, the other car also stopped at a
distance of about ten paces ahead and five persons Glime out of that
vehicle. It is stated that two or three out of them were armed with B
revolvers and others with daggers. Om Parkash got out of the vehicle
_J and asked the assailants as to why they had caused the accident. In the
' meantime, Jai Rani also came out of the car. One of the assailants then
gave a couple of knife blows in the chest of Om Parkash, whereupon
t he tried to raise an alarm. Hearing the said cry for help, some trucks
which were passing along that road tried to stop but one of the assail-c
ants who was armed with a pistol, fired shots in the air and scared away
those truck drivers. Thereafter one of the !lssailants removed the ear
~ rings, necklace and wrist watch from the person of Jai Rani and in that
process one of her ear lobes was cut as under. The wrist watch and
purse of Om Parkash were also removed by one of the culprits. Apart
from that, three attache cases which were on the luggage carrier bf the D
car were also forcibly removed and taken away by the miscreants.
Before the culprits left the spot in their car with all the booty, a shot
was fired by one of them which hit Om Parkash on his forehead. After
inflicting the said injury, the miscreants made good their escape.
A
Om Parkash somehow managed to drive back his car to Gurgaon E
~
and there he contacted his partner Joginder Singh (P. W. 7) to whom
he narrated the whole incident. Om Parkash was immediately taken to
Civil Hospital, Gurgaon where he was medically examined and various
-~ injuries were found on his person. Jai Rani also medically examined
and the injury on her right ear lobe was declared to be grievous. The
]I other injuries were found to be simple for which she was given first F
aid. The first information report was thereafter lodged with the police
by Om Parkash and Sub-Inspector Tilak Raj (P.W. 21) carried out the
investigation. He recovered empty cartridge cases (Exhibits P. 15 and
P. 16), one wad (Exhibit P. 17) and one Ball Point Pen (Exhibit P. 18)
from the place of occurrence. During the investigation it was found
that the car used by the culprits had been stolen on October 23, 1973 G
--{ from the house of its owner, one S.K. Mahajan. Subsequently, on
October 27, 1978, the car was found lying abandoned in the Ghaziabad
factory area and it was taken into police custody.

The accused were arrested after a fairly long delay since it so
happened that subsequent to the occurrence in question the accuse.d H
1068 SUPREME COURT REPORTS 119871 2 s.c.R.

A.persons had been allegedly involved in the commission of other crimes
in the State of Uttar Pradesh and they were lodged in the Meerut jail.
After the accused were brought from Meerut, two test identification
parades were held, one separately for Uttam at his request and the
other for the remaining suspects. In the first parade, Uttam was cor-
rectly ·identified by both Om Parkash and Jai Rani. In the second
B identification parade, Om Parkash failed to identify any of the other
accused whereas Jai Rani identified Triloli'Singh, who was accused
No. 2. On the basis of the information furnished by the accused the
Investigating Officer and the police party led by him recovered some
of the articles which formed the contents of the suit"cases removed
from the car of the victims. They consisted of new suit length cloths,
C sarees, trousers, blouses, petticoats etc.

The Prosecution examined in all 22 witnesse~ in its endeavour to
establish the guilt of the accused in relation to the the charges framed
against them. The learned Additional Sessions Judge after an elabo-
rate and analytical discussion of the whole evidence recorded the con-
.·n clusion that the participation of the respondent-Uttam in the commis-
sion of the crime was established beyond all doubt inasmuch as he had
been identified by both Om Parkash (P.W. 5) and Jai Rani (P.W. 6),
and the testimony given by these two witnesses narrating the details of
the incident of robbery and assault was not in any manner shaken in
cross-examination and deserved to be accepted as wh.olly truthful. The
E remaining three accused were given the benefit of doubt mainly on the
~

ground that excepting the second accused who had been identified I

only by Jai .Rani at the identification parade, the others were not
identified either by Jai Rani or by Om Parkash and hence there was no
satisfactory proof of their participation in the crime. In the light of the
aforesaid conclusion reached by him, the learned Additional Sessions
F Judge convicted the respondent-Uttam under Section 395 I.P.C. and
sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment of four years.

The High Court by a judgment which we are constrained to
characte.ise as most perfunctory has set aside the judgment of the
learned Additional Sessions Judge in so far as he was convicted the
G respondent-herein and acquitted him. We regret to have to remark
that the High Court has dealt with the case in a very superficial and y-
casual manner and has not even taken to trouble to discuss the evi-
dence adduced in the case before it proceeded to interfere with the
well considered judgment of the trial court. Both Om Parkash (P.W.
5) and Jai Rani (P.W. 6) had clearly identified the respondent at
H the test identification parade as well as in the Courl and they had
STATE OF HARYANA v. UTIAM [ERADI, J.! • 1069

clearly and unequivocally deposed that he was one of the assailants A
"-1 who took part in the robbery and assault. Their testimony has been
discussed at length by the learned Additional Sessions Judge and he
has given sound and convincing reasons for accepting and acting upon
the same. The whole discussion of the case by the High Court is con-
tained in one short paragraph of its judgment namely, paragraph 6. It
is not disclosed anywhere therein as to why the High Court considered
B
_...\ that the testimony of these two witnesses who were the victims of the
crime could not be accepted and why it could not form the foundation

- for the conviction of the respondent. A case of highway robbery, such
'
" as this, should have been dealt with much more seriousness and care
than has been bestowed on it by the High Court. The approach of the
lfigh Court to the case and the conclusion recorded by it cannot but be c
characterised as manifestly illegal and perverse.
~-
In the absence of any discussion of the evidence by the High
Court, we have ourselves gone through the entire evidence adduced in
the case with the assistance of the Counsel appearing in both sides. We
.D
are in complete agreement with the conclusion recorded by the learned
Additional Sessions Judge that from the evidence of Om Parkash
(P.W. 5) and Jai Rani (P.W. 6), the participation of the accused in the
commission of the offence has been proved beyond all reasonable
-~- doubt. The respondent was, therefore, rightly convicted by the
learned Additional Sessions Judge and the only mistake committed by
E
~ the learned Additional Sessions Judge was in not in awarding a more
severe sentence commensurate with the gravity of the offence.

- f,. In the result, we allow the appeal, set aside the judgment of the
High Court and restore that of the learned Additional Sessions Judge
convicting the respondent under Section 395 I.P.C. and sentencinf
·--1 F
him to undergo rigorous imprisonment of four years. The Bail Bond o
the respondent will stand cancelled. He shall be taken into custody
forthwith to serve out the remaining portion of the sentence.

N.P.V. Appeal allowed.
G
.r-{ '