Supreme Court of India
STATE OF MAHARASHTRA ETC. ETC.versusSUKHDEO SINGH AND ANR. ETC .. ETC.
- Citation
- 1992 INSC 173
- Decided
- 15 July 1992
- Disposal
- Disposed off
- Bench
- A M AHMADI
Holding
The Supreme Court upheld the convictions and death sentences of Accused No.1 and Accused No.5, finding the trial court's assessment of identification, handwriting expert, and section 313 statements proper and confirming that sentencing on the same day does not invalidate the death penalty.
Summary
The State of Maharashtra prosecuted Sukhdev Singh (Accused No.1) and Harjinder Singh Jinda (Accused No.5) for the murder of retired General Vaidya under the IPC and TADA. The trial court convicted both of murder (IPC ss.302, 307, 34) and sentenced them to death, relying on eyewitness identification, statements under section 313, and limited handwriting expert evidence. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined the admissibility and weight of identification without a test parade, the reliability of handwriting expert testimony, the evidentiary value of statements recorded under section 313, and procedural requirements for imposing a death sentence. The Court held that the trial court correctly evaluated the evidence, that section 313 statements can be considered, and that sentencing on the same day does not invalidate the death penalty. Consequently, the convictions and death sentences were upheld and the appeal dismissed.
Issues considered
- The adequacy of eyewitness identification made in court without a prompt test identification parade.
- The reliability and required corroboration of handwriting expert evidence under the Evidence Act.
- The admissibility and evidentiary weight of statements recorded under section 313 of the CrPC.
- Whether a death sentence can be confirmed when conviction and sentencing are pronounced on the same day.
- The sufficiency of evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy under TADA and IPC provisions.
- The applicability of section 235(2) of the CrPC regarding opportunity to present mitigating circumstances before sentencing.
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 12(4), s. 235(2), s. 311, s. 313, s. 314
- Indian Evidence Act, 1872s. 3, s. 73, s. 9
- Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 120B, s. 212, s. 302, s. 307, s. 34, s. 465, s. 468, s. 471
- Passport Acts. 10
- Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1985s. 3(2)(i), s. 3(2)(ii), s. 3(3), s. 4
Subjects
murderconspiracyidentification paradehandwriting expertTADAdeath penaltysection 313criminal procedureevidence lawcapital punishmentterrorism
Judgment
A STATE OF MAHARASHTRA ETC. ETC.
v.
SUKHDEO SINGH AND ANR. ETC.. ETC.
"
JULY 15, 1992
B [AM. AHJ\1ADI AND K. RAMASWAMY, JJ.}
Penal Code, 1860-Sections 302, 307 and 3~rosecution for murder
of General Vaidya-Trial under TADA-Conviction and death sentence by
Designated Court-Validity of.
c Penal Code, 186Q-Sections 120B, 302, 307, 465, 468, 471and212 and
Sections 3 and 4 of the Te"orist and Disruptive Activities :Act, 1985 and
Section 10 of the Passport Act-Charges under against the accused-Convic-
-
tion and death sentence of accused 1 and 5 u/ss. 302, 307, 34, /PC and
acquittal of other accused by Designated Court-Appreciation of evidence by
D Supreme (Jourt-Findings of Designated Court approved.
Evidence Act, 1872-Section 9-Test Identification parad~After long
lapse of time, first time in Court-£vidential value of.
Evidence Act, 1872-Sections 3, 73-Appreciation of evidenc~
E Evidence regarding identity of author of document-Expert opinion- ~-
Reliability of-Comparing documents by Court-Effect of-Identification of
-
accuse~vidential value of.
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973-Section 311-Statements recorded
undel"-Evidential value of-Plea of guilt tantamount to admission of all facts
F
constituting offence-Court's duty.
Te"orist and Disruptive Activities Act, 1985-Sections 3(2)(i) or- (ii)
and 3(3) read with sections 120B, 465, 468, 471, 419, 302, 307, 34,
/PC-Charged under-Procedure to be adopted.
G
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973-Section 235(2)-conviction and
death sentence pronounced on same day-Legality of.
The Prosecution case was that on the orders of the then Prime
Mini!!ter, the then Chief of the Armed Forces, General Vaidya, was as·
H signed the task of flushing out militants who had taken refuge in the
480
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH 481
Golden Temple. Some militants were killed and a part of the Golden A
Temple was damaged in the Blue Star Operation.
The militants vowed to avenge the deaths of their colleagues and to
punish those who were responsible for the descreation of the Golden
Temple. The then Prime Minister was assassinated on 31.10.1984.
B
General Vaidya after his retirement o~ 31.1.1986 decided to settle
down with his wife in Pone. As their Bungalow was under construction,
they shared the bungalow occupied by another Major General in Pune.
On 26.5.1986, when General Vaidya and his wife shifted to their new C
- bungalow, they were provided only the service's of only one armed Head
<::onstable for security duty.
On 10.8.1986, at about 10 a.m., General Vaidya with his wife went for
_ shopping accompanied with the securityman. General Vaidya was driving
the Car with his wife sitting i_!l the front seat to his left and the securityman D
sitting in the near seat just behind her. After shopping, at about 11.30 a.m.,
while they were returning to their residence via Rajendrasinghji Road,
General Vaidya, slowed down to negotiate a turn to the right at the square
in front of his residence, at the intersection of Rajendrasinghji and Ab·
himanyu Roads. At that point of time, a red Ind-Suzuki motor cycle -eame E
parallel to the car on the side of General Vaidya and the person occupying
the pillion seat of the motor cycle fired three shots from close range at the
head of the deceased. Before his wife and securityman co~ld realise what
had happened, General Vaidya slumped on his wife's shoulder. The motor
cyclists drove away and could not be located. As General Vaidya lost
control over the car, it surged towarCis a cyclist. The cycle came under the F
car, and the car stopped at a short distance in front of a compound wall.
The cyclist escaped by jumping off the cycle. The injured General Vaidya
was carried to the Command Hospital in a passing by green matador van,
which was fetched by the securityman. In the Hospital General Vaidya was
declared dead.
G
The securityman immediately informed the L.I.B. Office about the
incident and at the place of the incident the securityman's formal com·
plaint was recorded by a Police Inspector, and the investigation was
commenced. A Panchnama of the scene of occurrence was drawn up by the
Inspector in the presence of witnesses and the empty cartridges and other H
·f
482 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.
A articles were recovered therefrom.
On 7.9.1986, two persons riding a red Ind-Suzuki motor cycle collied
with a truck. They were thrown oft' the motor cycle and sustained injuries.
A bag containing arms and ammunition was also thrown oft'. They hur-
riedly collected the spilled articles. When the people, who had collected
B there went tO assist them, they behaved in an abrasive manner and one of
them, who.was identified as accused No.1 raising his revolver threatened
to shoot, which raised the crowd's suspicion and the matter was reported
to Police Inspector of Pimpri Police Station. Police swung into action and
caused the arrest of the accused Nos.1 and 2. They were charge-sheeted
c under section 307, IPC for that incident. (Later they were convicted ·and
sentenced for that otl'ence.) While they were being taken in a jeep to the
Primpri Police Station, the accused raised slogans of "Khalistan Zin-
dabad" and proudly proclaimed that they were the assailants of the
deceased General Vaidya.
·D In the course .of investigation it came to light that apart from
accused Nos. 1 and 2, other terrorists namely accused Nos. 3 to 5 and the
absconding accused Nos. 6 to 9 were involved in the conspiracy allegedly
hatched for assassinating the deceased General immediately after his
retirement and on depletion of the security cover.
E .,
On 14.8.1987, the accused Nos. 1 and 2 and others were charge
shee:ed under sections 1208, 302, 307, 465, 468, 471 and 212, IPC, and
sections 3 and 4 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act, 1985 and
section 10 of the Passport Act. ·
F The Presiding Judge of the Designated Court held that the prosecu-
tion failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused before him )"'
and the absconding accused had entered into a criminal conspiracy to
commit the murder of General Vaidya; that accused No. 5 was driving the
motor cycle with accused No.1 on the pillion seat; that accused No.1 fired
G the shots from close range killing General Vaidya and injuring his wife
who was seated next to him; that the crime in question was committed in
furtherance of the common intention of accused No.1 and accused No. 5
to cause the murder of General Vaidya. ~
The Judge of the Designated Court convicted accused No.1 under
H sections 302 and 307, IPC for the. murder of General Vaidya and for
-~
,, STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH 483
attempting to take the life of his wife. Accused No. S was convicted under A
section 302 and section 307 read with section 34, IPC. Accused Nos. 1 and
S were sentenced to death subject to confirmation of sentence by this
Court. They were also sentenced to rigorous imprisonmebt for 10 years for
the oft'ence under section 307. The substantive sentence were ordered to
.. run concurrently. Accused 1 and 5 were acquitted of all other charges
levelled against them. Accused Nos. 2,3 and 4 were acquitted of all the
charges levelled against them•
Accused 1 and S did not file. any appeal against their convictions by
the Designated Court.
B
- In the Death Reference No.1 of 1989 and in the Criminal Appeal No.
17 of 1990, the State questioned before this Court the correctness of the
c
grounds on which the trial Court acquitted the accused Nos. 2 to 4 of all
~- the charges levelled against them and the acquittal of accused 1 and S of
the other charges levelled against them besides sections 302, 307/34, IPC.
D
The State also submitted that the statement of the accused recorded
) under section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was sufficient
~
to prove their involvement in the commission of the crime and such
statement also corroborated the prosecution case.
~ The accused contended that if there was no evidence or circumstance E
appearing in the prosecution evidence implicating the accused with the
commission of the crime with which they were charged, there was nothing
for the accused to explain and their examination under section 313 of the
Code was wholly unnecessary and improper and should be totally dis-
carded and their admissions, if any, wholly ignored; that since the convic-
F
tion and sentence were pronounced on the same day, the capital sentence
awarded to the accused should not be confirmed.
Dis~issing the Criminal Appeal and disposing of the Death Refer-
ence, this Court, while confirming the conviction order and sentence
passed by the Designated Court. G
_.__ HELD : 1.01 No weight can be attached t~ such identification more
so when no satisfactory explanation is forthcoming for the investigation
otracer's failure to promptly hold a test identification parade. [501E]
1.02. The direct evidence, if at all, regarding the identity of the persons H
484 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.
A who moved about in different assumed names is either wholly wanting or is
of such a weak nature that it would be hazardous to place reliance ~hereon
without proper corroboration. The direct evidence regarding identity of the
culprits comprises of (i) identification for the first time after a lapse of
considerable time in Court or (ii) identification at a test identification
parade. In the case of total strangers, it is not safe to place implicit reliance
B on the evidence of witnesses who had just a fleeting glimpse of the person
identified or who had no particular reason to remember the person con-
cerned, if the identification is made for the first time in Court. In the
present case it was all the more difficult as indisputably the accused per-
sons had since changed their appearances. [506C-E]
c
1.03 Test identification parade, if held promptly and after taking the
necessary precautions to ensure its credibility, would lend the required
-
assurance which the court ordinarily seeks to ad on it. In the absence of
such test identification parade it would be extremely risky to place implicit
reliance on identification made for the first time in Court after a long lapse
D of time and that too of persons who had changed their appearance. [506F]
Kanan & Ors. v. State of Kera/a, (1979] 3 SCC 319, relied on.
1.04. Before a Court can act on the opinion evidence of a handwriting
expert two things must be proved beyond any manner of doubt, namely, (i)
E
the genuineness of the specimen/admitted handwriting of the concerned
accused and (ii) the handwriting expert is a competent, reliable and
dependable witness whose evidence inspires confidence. (5088]
1.05 Evidence regarding the identity of the author of any document
F can be tendered (i) by examining the person who is convel'8ant and familiar
with the handwriting of such person or (ii) through the testimony of an
expert who is qualified and competent to make a comparison of the
disputed writing and the admitted writing on a scientific basis and (iii) by
the court comparing the disputed document with the admitted one. [509F]
G 1.06 Since the science of identification of handwriting by comparison
is not an . infallible one, prudence demands that before acting on such
opinion the Court should be fully satisfied about the authorship of the
admitted writings which is made the sole basis for comparison and the
Court should also be fully satisfied about the competence and credibility
H of'the handwriting expert. It is indeed true that by nature and habit, over
,...,
~
. STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH 485
a period of time, each individual develops certain traits which give a A
- distinct character to his writings making it possible to identify the author
but it must at the same time be realised that since handwriting experts are
generally engaged by one of the contesting parties they, consciously or ,
unconsciously, tend to lean in favour of an opinion which is helpful to the
party engaging him. [509H-510A]
B
1.07 When one comes across cases of conflicting opinions given by
two handwriting experts engaged by opposite parties. It is necessary to
exercise extra care and caution in evaluating their opinion before accepting
~
the same. So courts have as a rule of prudence refused to place implicit
faith on the opinion evidence of a handwriting expert. Normally courts c
have considered it dangerous to base a conviction solely on the testimony
-- of a handwriting expert because such evidence is not regarded as con-
elusive. Since such opinion evidence cannot take the place of substantive
evidence, courts have, as a rule of prudence, looked for corroboration
before acting on such evidence. True it is, there is no rule of law that the
D
evidence of a handwriting expert cannot be acted upon unless substantially
corroborated but courts have been slow in placing implicit reliance on such
opinion evidence, without more, because of the imperfect nature of the
science of identification of handwriting and its accepted fallibility. There
is no absolute rule of law or even or prudence which has ripened into a
rule of law that in no case can the court base its findings solely on the E
),.. opinion of a handwriting expert but the imperfect and frail nature of the
science of identification of the author by comparison of his admitted
"' handwriting with the disputed ones has placed a heavy responsibility on
the courts to exercise extra care and caution before acting on such opinion.
Before a court can place reliance on the opinion of an expert, it must be
F
shown that he has not betrayed any bias an~ the reasons on which he has
based his opinion are convincing and satisfactory. It is for this reason that
'"( the courts are wary to act, solely on the evidence of a handwriting expert;
'
-ti- that, however, does not mean that even if there exist numerous striking
peculiarities and mannerisms which stand out to identify the writer the
court will not act on the expert's evidence. In the end it all depends on the G
character of the evidence of the expert and the facts and circumstances of
each case. [510B-GJ
_...._
1.08 A handwriting expert is a competent witness whose opinion
evidence is recognised as relevant under the provisions of the Evidence Act H
~
486 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.
I
..
A and has not been equated to the class of evidence of an accomplice. It
would, therefore, not be fair to approach the opinion evidence with
suspicion but the correct approach would be to weigh the reasons on which
it is based. The quality of his opinion would depend on the soundness or
the reasons on which it is founded. But the court cannot afford to overlook
the fact that the Science of identification of handwriting is an imperfect
B and frail one as compared to the science of identification of finger-prints;
courts have, therefore, been wary in placing implicit reliance on such
opinion evidence and have looked for corroboration bot that is not to say
that it is a rule of prudence or general application regardless of the ,...;
circumstances of the case and the quality of expert evidence. No hard and
c fast rule can be laid down in this behalf but the Court has to decide in
each case on its· own merits what weight it should attach to the opinion of
the expert. [513A·CJ
Ram Narain v. State of U.P., (1973) 2 SCC 86; Bhagwan Kaur v.
-
Maharaj Krishan Sharma, (1973) 4 SCC 46 and Murari Lal v. State of M.P.,
D ~
(1980) 1 sec 704, referred to.
· 1.09 Although section 73 specifically empowers the court to compare
the disputed writings with the specimeo/adniitted writings shown to be
genuine, prudence demands that the Court should be extremely slow in
E venturing an opinion on the basis of mere comparison, more so, when the
quality of evidence in respect of specimen/admitted writings is not of high
standard. [514FJ
1.10 It is not advisable to venture a conclusion based on such
·~
..
comparison having regard to the state of evidence on record in regard to
F the specimen/admitted writings of the accused Nos. 1 and 2. [514G]
1.11 Except for a couple of minor contradictions there is nothing
)-'"
brought out in his cross-examination to doubt PW 16's (Security man)
·..\-
testimony regardiag identification of accused No.1 as the person who fired
the shots at General Vaidya. The presence of this witness at the time of
G
occurrence cannot and indeed was not doubted. So also it cannot be denied
that he had an opportunity to identify the assailant. There is no serious
infirmity in bis evidence Which would cast a doubt as regards. his Iden·
tification of accused No.1. [517C] ~
H 1.12 PW 14, the cyclist, did not notice an autorickshaw but in court's
STATE v. SU.KHDEO SINGH 487
.. view that cannot cast any doubt on the credibility of PW 16. His attention
was rivetted at the car and the motor cycle after he heard the shots and
there was no need for him to notice the autorickshaw. [5188]
2.01 Section 313 of the Code is a statutory provision and embodies
A
the fundamental principle of fairness based .on the maxim audi alteram
partem. It is trite law that the attention of the accused must be specifically B
invited to inculpatory pieces of evidence or circumstances laid on record
with a view to giving him an opportunity to offer an explanation if he
chooses to do so. The section imposes a heavy duty on the court to take
~
great care to ensure that the incriminating circumstances are put to the
accused and his response solicited. The words 'shall question him' clearly
bring out the mandatory character of the clause and cast an imperative
c
- duty on the court and confer a corresponding right on the accused to an·
· opportunity to offer his explanation for such incriminating material ap-
pearing against him. [5268-5278)
...~ 2.02 The stage of examination of the accused under clause (b) of D
sub-section (1) of section 313 reaches only after the witnesses for the
prosecution have been examined and before the accused is called on to
enter upon his defence. At the stage of closure of the prosecution evidence
and before recording of statement under section 313, the judge is not
expected to evaluate the evidence for the. purpose of deciding whether or E
not he should question the accused. After the section 313 stage is over he
.,,J... has to hear the oral submissions of counsel on the evidence adduced before
pronouncing on the evidence. The trial judge is not expected before he
- examines the accused under section 313 of the Code, to sift the evidence
and pronounce on whether or not he would accept the evidence regarding
any incriminating material to determine whether or not to examine the F
accused on that material. To do so would be to pre-judge the evidence
'-( without hearing the prosecution under section 314 of the Code. [527C-E]
.. 2.03 It is only where the court finds that no incriminating material has
surfaced that the accused may not be examined under section 3_13 of the
G
Code. Ifthere is material against the accused he must be examined. [527F)
2.04 In the instant case it is not correct to say that no incriminating
4... material had surfaced against the accused, particularly accused No. 5, and
hence the trial judge was not justified in examining the accused under
section 313 of the Code. [527G] H
.,
488 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1992] 3 S.C.R.
A 2.05 Since no oath is administered to the accused, the statements
made by the accused will not be evidence Stricto sensu. That is why
sub-section (3) says that the accused shall not render himself liable to
punishment if he gives false answers. [52iH]
-
-....._...
2.06 The answers given by the accused in response to his examination
B under section 313 can be taken into consideration in such inquiry or trial.
This much is clear on a plain reading of the above sub-section. Therefore,
though not strictly evidence, sub-section (4) permits that it may be taken
into consideration in the said inquiry or trial. [528C] ~
c v. $tateState of Maharashtra v. R.S. Chowdhari, (1967] 3 SCR 708; Hate Singh
of Madhya Bharat, 1955 Crl. L.J. 1933 and Narain Singh v. State of
Punjab, (1963] 3 SCR 678, relied on.
lit Bahat:.ur Chetri v. State of Arunacha/ Pradesh, 1977 Crl. L.J. 1833
-
and Asokan v. State of Kera/a, 1982 Crl. L.J. 173, distinguished. _l
D
2.07 The plea of guilt tantamounts to an admission of all the facts
constituting the offence. It is, therefore, essential that before accepting and
acting on the plea the Judge must feel satisfied that the accused admits
fact i.e. ingredients constituting the offence. The plea of the accused must,
therefore, be clear, unambiguous and unqualified and the Court must be
E satisfied that he has understood the nature of the allegations made against
him and admits (hem. The Court must act with caution and circumspec- ~
tion before accepting and acting on the plea of guilt. Once these require-
ments are satisfied the law permits the Judge trying the case to record a
conviction based on the plea of guilt. If, however, the accused does not --......
F plead guilty or the learned Judge does not act on his plea he must fix a
date for the examination of the witnesses, i.e. the trial of the case. There
is nothing in this Chapter which prevents the accused from pleading guilty
~
at any subsequent stage of the trial. But before the trial Judge accepts and
acts on that plea he must administer the same caution unto himself. This
plea of guilt may also be put forward by the accused in his statement '
G recorded under section 313 of the Code. (5308-D]
2.08 In the instant case, besides giving written confessional state-
ments, both accused No. 1 and accused No. 5 admitted to have been ~
involved in the commission of murder of General Vaidya. It is pointed out
H that both the accused have unmistakably, ~nequivocally and without any
~
(•
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH 489
reservation whatsoever admitted the fact that they were responsible for the A
-y murder of General Vaidya. [530E]
2.09 Accused No. 1 did not name accused No. 5 as the driver of the
motor cycle, perhaps he desired to keep him out, but accused No. 5 has
himself admitted that he was driving the motor cycle with accused No.1 on
the pillion seat and to facilitate the crime he had brought the motor cycle B
in line with the Maruti car so that accused No.1 may have an opportunity
of firing at his victim from close quarters. There is, therefore, no doubt
~ whatsoever that both accused No.1 and accused N.o. 5 were acting in
concert, they had a common intention to kill General Vaidya and in
furtherance of that intention accused No.1 fired the fatal shots. [530F-G] c
2.09 The trial Judge was justified in holding that accused No.1 was
guilty under section 302 and accused No. 5 was guilty under section 302/34,
IPC. (5308)
3.01 In the instant case, the accused were tried under the section D
3(2)(i) or (ii) and 3(3) provisions of TADA Act and the Rules made
thereunder along with the offences under sections 1208, 465, 468, 471, 419,
302 and 307, IPC. They were also charged for the commission of the
aforesaid offences with the aid of section 34, IPC. Under section 13(4) the
procedure which the Designated Court must follow is the procedure E
prescribed in the Code for the trial before a Court of Session. [531H-532C]
3.02 The Trial Judge took the view that since the murder of General
Vaidya was also on account of his involvement in the Blue Star Operation
his case stood more or less on the same footing and hence fell within 'the
rarest of a rare' category. This line of reasoning adopted by the Trial Judge F
is unassailable. The accused persons had no remorse or repentence, in fact
"---( they felt proud of having killed General Vaidya in execution of their plan.
[532H-SJ3B]
Kehar Singh & Ors. v. State (Delhi Administration), (1988) 3 SCC 609,
relied on. G
19'
4.01 The choice of sentence had to be inade after giving the accused an
--Jtl._ effective and real opportunity to place his antecedents, social and economic
background, mitigating and extenuating circumstances, etc., before the
Court, for otherwise the court's decision may be vulnerable. (533D] H
490 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992] 3 S.C.R.
A Allaudin Mian v. State of Bihar, (1989] 3 SCC 5; Milkiat Singh v. State
of Punjab, JT (1991) 2 SC 190 (Paragraph 18); Jumman Khan v. State of
U.P., [1990} Suppl. 3 SCR 398 and Kehar Singh & Ors., v. State, (1988] 3
sec 609, referred to.
4.02. Having regard to the well planned manner in which they ex-
B ecuted their resolve to kill General Vaidya they were aware that there was
every likelih9od of the Court imposing the extreme penalty and they would
have, if they so desired, placed material in their written statements or
would have requested the Court for time when their statements under
section 313 of the Code were recorded, if they desired to pray for a lesser
C sentence. Their resolve not to do so is reflected in the fact that they have
not chosen to file and appeal against their comictions by the Designated
Court. In the present case the requirements of section 235(2) of the Code
have been satisfied in letter an spirit and no prejudice is shown to have ---
occurred to the accused. [53SC]
D 4.03 The conviction of accused No.I under section 302 and 307, IPC
and accused No. 5 under sections 302 and 307, IPC, both read with section
34, IPC and the sentence of death awarded to both of them is confirmed.
[53SE]
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Death Reference
.E Case No. 1 of 1989.
WITH
Criminal Appeal No. 17 of 1990.
F From the Judgment and Order dated 21.10.89 of the Pone Desig-
nated Court in Terrorist Sessions Case No. 2 of 1987.
Altaf Ahmed, Additional Solicitor General, V.V.Vaze, S.B. ,._.
Takawane, S.MJadhav, A.S.Bhasme and Ms. A.Subhashini fdr the Com-
plainant/Appellant.
G
R.S.Sodhi, Harshad Nimbalka, P.G, Sawarkar and I.S. Goel for the
Accused/ Respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered bf
H AHMADI, J. General A.S.Vaidya, the then chief of the Armed
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.] 491
,, Forces was, on the orders of the then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi,
assigned the difficult and delicate task of flushing out militants who had
taken refuge in the Golden Temple at Amritsar. During this operation,
known as the Blue Star Operation, some militants were killed and a part
A
of the Golden Temple known as Harminder Saheb was damaged. Both the
them Prime Minister Smt Indira Gandhi and General Vaidya had, there-
fore, incurred the wrath of the Punjab militants for what they called the B
desecration of the Golden Temple. They, therefore, vowed to avenge the
deaths of their colleagues and punish all those who were responsible for
the damage to the Golden Temple. After the assassination of Smt. Gandhi
~J
on 31st October, 1984, it is the prosecution case, they waited for General
Vaidya to retire on 31st January, 1986 so that the security cover which
would then stand reduced may not be difficult to penetrate. After his
c
retirement General Vaidya decided to settled down in Pune in the State of
Maharashtra.
After· his retirement on 31st January, 1986, General Vaidya and his
1- wife Bhanumati left Delhi for Pune. As their bungalow at Pune was still D
under construction, they shared bungalow No. 20 at Queens Garden, Pune,
occupied by Major General Y.K. Yadav. General Vaidya owned a Maruti
Car bearing Registration No. DIB 1437 which reached Pune on the next
day i.e. 1st February, 1986. Between 4th and 16th February, 1986 General
Vaidya and his wife went to Goa for a brief holiday. They returned to Pune
on 16th February, 1986. They continued to reside in the bungalow occupied E
~ by Major General Y.K. Yadav. General Vaidya was required to be
hospitalised from 24th March to 7th April, 1986 as he was suspected to be
suffering from jaundice. During his stay in bungalow No. 20, Queens
Garden, two Police Sub-Inspectors were available on security duty, one for
himself and another for Major General Yaday but after his discharge from F
the hospital and on their shifting to their bungalow at 47/3, Koregaon Park
with effect from 26th May, 1986 only one armed Head Constable, Ram-
-'"(
chandra Kshirsagar, was on security duty with him. Although the name
plate of General Vaidya was displayed on one of the two posts of the
entrance gate to bungalow No. 20 at Queens Garden, no such name plate
G
..
was displayed at bungalow No. 47/3, Koregaon Park.
On the morning of 10th August, 1986, General Vaidya and his wife
~ left their bungalow with the securityman Ramchandra Kshirsagar for shop-
ping in their Maruti Car No. DIB 1437 at about 10.00 a.m. The car was
being driven by General Vaidya with his wife sitting in the front seat to his H
492 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992] 3 S.C.R.
A left and the securityman sitting in the rear seat just behind her. After the
shopping spree was completed at about 11.30 a.m. and while they were
returning to their residence via Rajendrasinghji Road, the car had to take
a turn to the right at the square in front of 18 Queens Garden at the
intersection of Rajendrasinghji and Abhimanyu roads. To negotiate this
turn General Vaidya who was driving the vehicle slowed down. At that
B point of time a red Ind-Suzuki motor cycle came parallel to the car on the
side of General Vaidya and the person occupying the pillion seat of the
motor cycle fired three shots from close range at the head of General
Vaidya. Before his wife and securityman could realise what had happened,
General Vaidya slumped on the shoulder of his wife Bhanumati. The motor
c cyclists drove away and could not be located. An auto-rickshaw passed by.
As General Vaidya lost control over the vehicle the car surged towards a
cyclist Digamber Gaikwad. The latter, in order to save himself, jumped off
the cycle. The cycle came under the Maruti Car. and as a result the car
stopped at a short distance in front of a compound wall. Immediately
D thereafter the securityman stepped out of the vehicle and went in search
of some bigger vehicle to carry General Vaidya to the hospital. A Green
Matador Van which wa passing by was fetched by the securityman in which
the injured General Vaidya was carried to the Command Hospital where
he was declared dead. ·
E The securityman immediately informed the L.I.B. Office about the
incident which information was received by Police Inspector Garad. On
receipt of the information the Commissioner of Police and his Deputy
arrived at the hospital and questioned the securityman who narrated the
incident to them. Thereupon the securityman was asked to go to the
Control Room. On reaching the Control Room he received a message from
F
Inspector Mohite requiring him to return to the place of the incident where
his formal complaint was recorded by Inspector Mohite. A Panchnama of
the scene of occurrence was drawn up by Inspector Mohite in the presence
of witnesse~ and the empty cartridges and other articles were recovered
therefrom.
G
As stated earlier, the assailants of General Vaidya had made good
their escape from the scene of occurrence after the incident. On 7th
September, 1986, two persons riding a red Ind-Suzuki motor cycle collided
with a truck. They were thrown off the motor cycle and sustained injuries.
-
H A bag containing arms and ammunition was also thrown off but they
,, STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.] 493
hurriedly collected the spilled articles. When members of the public who A
had collected there immediately after the accident went to assist them they
behaved in an abrasive manner and one of them, later identified as accused
No.1 Sukhdev Singh @ Sukha, raised his revolver and threatened to shoot,
which raised the suspicion of the crown prompting one Narayan Bajarang
Pawar to report the matter to Inspector A.I. Pathan of Pimpri Police
Station. Inspector Pathan swung ii .to action and along with the informant
B
and his staff members, including Sub-Inspector Nimbalkar, went in search
of the two motor cyclists. Inspector Pathan went to the pimpri Railway
Police Station and asked P.S.I. M.K.Kadam of that Police Station to
immediately go to the place of the accident and guard the same until
further orders. Inspector Pathan, on return, noticed two persons passing c
- by Vishal Talkies and as one of them was limping his suspicion was aroused
whereupon he drove his vehicle near them and pounced on one of them,
later identified as accused No.2 Nirmal Singh @ Nima. Accused No. 1
~ Sukha tried to run away but P.S.l. Nimbalkar gave a chase and caught hold
of him and brought him to Inspector Pathan. Before he was overpowered,
D
it is the prosecution case, that accused No.1 Sukha unsuccessfully tried to
fire a shot at P.S.I. Nimbalkar to make good his escape. It may here be
mentioned that both accused No.1 and accused No.2 were charge-sheeted
under section 307, IPC, for that incident and were ultimately convicted and
sentenced.
E
After both accused No.1 and accused No.2 were apprehended by
- Inspector Pathan and P.S.I. Nimbalkar they were searched and weapons
like pistol _and revolver along with live cartridges were recovered from
them. They were also carrying certain papers concerning the red Ind-
Suzuki moto~ cycle and they too were attached. As a seizable crowd had F
gathered on the road Inspector Pathan thought it wise to cause the seizure
memorandum to be recorded at the Pimpri Police Station. The prosecution
case is that while the two persons were being taken in a jeep to the Pimpri
Police Station they raised slogans of "Khalistan Zindabad" ·and proudly
proclaimed that they were the assailants of General Vaidya. After reaching
.... the Police Station all the articles which were found in the possession of G
these two persons were attached under a seizure memorandum. Inspector
~ Pathan suspected that the pistol which was found from them may have been
the weapon used for killing General Vaidya and hence he sent the weapons
as well as the cartridges attached from the scene of occurrence to the
aallistic Expert who reported that the cartridges found from the place H
494 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.
A where General Vaidya was shot were fired from the pistol which was
recovered from the possession of these two persons after their arrest on
7th September, 1986. In the course of investigation it came to light that
besides accused Nos.1and2 certain other persons described as territorists,
•
namely, accused No.3 Yadvinder Singh, accused No.4 Avtar Singh, accused
No.5 Harjinder Singh and absconding accused Sukhminder Singh @ Sukhi,
B Daljit Singh @ Bittoo @ Sanjeev Gupta, Jasvinder Kaur, and Baljinder
Singh @ Raju were involved in the conspiracy allegedly hatched for assas-
sinating General Vaidya immediately after his retirement and on depletion
of the security cover. Accused Nos.1 and 2 and others named hereinabove
were charge sheeted on 14th August, 1987 under sections 120B, 302, 307,
C 465, 468, ·471 and 212, IPC sections 3 and 4 of Terrorist and Disruptive
Activities Act, 1985, hereinafter called 'TADA', and section 10 of the
Passport Act.
-
In regard to the charge of conspiracy, forgery, etc., the prosecution
D case is that absconding accused Sukhi hired a flat sometime in October-
November 1985 at 7, Antop Hill, Bombay. Thereafter he came to Pune and
stayed in Dreamland Hotel in the assumed name of Rakesh Sharma. On
January 26, 1986 he shifted to and registered himself as Ravindra Sharma
in Hotel Gulmohar on the pretext that he was visiting the city for business
purposes. He was accompanied by another person. They gave a false
E address that they were residents of 307, Om Apartments, Bombay. While
in Pune an advertisement appeared in the local daily Maharashtra Herald
F
offering a flat No. G-21, Salunke Vihar, Pune on hire. This flat was in the
possession of Major A.KMadan and he was desirous of letting it out to
repay the instalments of the loan taken for meeting the construction cost
of the said flat. He had entrusted this work of finding a suitable tenant to
-
one V.R.Hallur and had given a Power of Attorney to him for that purpose.
The said V.R.Hallur approached the Estate Agents Bhavar Sanghavi and
disclosed that he was desirous of letting out the flat on a rent ranging
between Rs.1200 ~d Rs. 1500 with a deposit ranging between Rs. 12,000
and Rs. 15,000 . The Estate Agents published an advertisement in the local
G newspaper Maharashtra Herald, in consequence whereof one person iden-
tifying himself as Ravindra Sharma approached the Estate Agent and
finalised the deal by paying Rs. 15,000 in cash as deposit and agreeing to
pay rent at the rate of Rs. 1500 per month and went on to pay advance
rent for three months i.e. Rs. 4500 to the said V.R. Hallur. The deal was
H dosed on 30th January, 1986. It is the prosecution case that this flat was
STAIB v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.] 495
'
• hired as the conspirators needed an operatio11al base in Pune to facilitate
the killing of General Vaidya.
The prosecution case further is that on 3rd May, 1986 the 7, Antop
A
Hill flat at Bombay was raided and besides arms and ani'munition an
English novel Tripple was found on the cover page whereof someone had
scribbled the number of General Vaidya's Maruti Car. Clothes of different
B
sizes were also found indicating the presence of more than one person. On
'--· 8th May, 1986 an Ind-Suzuki motor cyde bearing No. MFK 7548 was
purchased in the name of Sanjiv Gupta from its owner Suresh Shah through
R.V. Antapurkar, a salesman. Accused No.1 is reported to have lived in
.._ Hotel Ashirvad, Pune on 9th June, 1986. Accused No.1 lived in Hotel Amir c
in Room No. 517 on 11th June, 1986, in Hotel Jawahar in Room No. 206
on the next day and in Hotel Mayur in Room No. 702 on 13th June, 1986.
On the same day he is shown to have stayed in Hotel Commando, Bandra,
_)_ Bombay in Room in 402. The Union Bank robbery took place on that day.
The motor cycle was sent for servicing on 1st July, 1986. Sukhi left for
U.SA. on· a forged passport on 14th July, 1986 and was arrested there.
D
According to the prosecution they lived in different hotels in different
assumed names for drawing up a plan to kill General Vaidya.
Now we enter the crucial stage. According to the Prosecution, in
~ pursuance of the conspiracy hatched to kill General Vaidya, Accused E
Nos.1, 2 and 5 left Ambala cantonment for Doorg on 3rd August, 1986 by
138 UP Chhatisgadh Express. The form for reservation of sleeper berths
dated 29th July, 1986, Exh. 700, is alleged to have been filled by Accused1
No.1, of course in an assumed name. They reached Doorg on 5th August,
1986 and left for 'B,9mbay on the next day by Gitanjali Express. From F
Bombay the prosecution alleges that they w~nt to Pune. Prosecution has
' '- '
also ten~ered eviden_ce ·to show that on 9th August, 1986, accused Nos.1
and 5 made inquiries concerning the whereabouts of a retired military
officer in the neighbourhood of General Vaidya. After accomplishing the
task accused No.1 returned to Bombay by 7.30 p.m. and stayed in Hotel
Neelkanth, Khar, in the assumed name of Pradeep Kumar. On 6th Septem- G
ber, 1986, accused Nos.1 and 2 are stated to have stayed in Hotel Dalmond,
-11- Bandra, Bombay, in the assumed names of Ravi Gupta and Sandeep
Kumar before their arrest at Pune on 7th September, 1986 by Inspector
Pathan. This, in brief, are the broad outlines of the alleged conspiracy
perpetrated by the accused persons and the absconding accused to kill H
"'
496 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1992] 3 S.CR.
A General Vaidya. To prove these circumstances a large number of docu-
ments and ocular testimony of several witnesses came to be tendered by
the prosecution before the Designated Coiirt. • '
The investigation revealed that on the date of the incident the motor
cycle was driven by accused No.5 Harjinder singh @ Jinda with accused
B
No.1 Sukhdev Singh @ Sukha in the pillion seat. The shots were fired by
accused No.l from the pillion seat at close range after accused No.5 had
brought the motor cycle in line with the front window of the driver's seat ·---1
of the Maruti Car. The window pane was lowered and General Vaidya was
at the steering wheel with his right elbow resting on the window and the
c hand holding the top of the car. As stated earlier, three shots were fired
in quick succession and before Bhanumati and the securityman could .
realise what had happened the motor cyclists made good their escape. Had
-
it not been for the accident which took place on 7th September, 1986 in
which the said motor cycle was involved the police would have been --'-
D groping in the dark to nab the perpetrators of the crime. Accused Nos.2,
3 and 4 were put up for trial as co-conspirators. The other co-conspirators
could not be placed for trial as they could not be traced since they were
absconding. All the five accused denied the charge and claimed to be tried.
However, after the charge was framed accused No.1 Sukhvinder Singh@
Sukha expressed his desire on 19th September, 1988 to make a statement
E before the Court admitting to have killed General Vaidya. He made the ~
statement in open Court and the learned Presiding Judge of the Designated
Court, Pune gave him eight days' time to reflect and make a detailed
written statement thereafter, if he so desired. On 26th September, 1988
when the accused were once again arraigned before the Designated Court
F accused No.1 submitted a written statement, Exh. 60-A, admitting to have
fired four bullets at General Vaidya and to have killed him. He also stated ...,...,
in that statement that he had accidentally injured Bhanumati Vaidya al-
though he did not intend to do so. According to him since she was sitting
close to Gene.ral Vaidya one of the bullets strayed and caused injury to
her. So far as accuse~ No.5 Harjinder Singh @ Jinda is concerned, he, in
G his statement recorded under section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code,
1973, admitted that he was the person driving the black (not red) Indu-
Suzuki motor cycle with accused No.1 in the pillion seat. It was he who ~
brought his motor cycle in line with the Maruti Car driven by General
Vaidya to facilitate accused No.l Sukha to shoot the General. It was only
H thereafter that accused No.l fired the bullets which caused the death of
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.] 497
General Vaidya. A
The learned Presiding Judge of the Designated Court, Pune, framed
the points for determination and came to the conclusion that the prosecu-
tion had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused before
him and the absconding accused had entered into a criminal conspiracy to B
commit the murder of General Vaidya. He, however, came to the con-
clusion that accused No.5 was driving the motor cycle with accused No.1
on the pillion seat and it was the latter who fired the shots from close range
killing General Vaidya and injuring his wife who was seated next to him.
He came to the conclusion that the crime in question was committed in
furtherance of the common intention of accused No.1 and accused No.5 to C
- cause the murder of General Vaidya. He also came to the conclusion that
the said two accused persons were guilty of attempt to commit the murder
of Bhanumati in furtherance of their common intention. After a detailed
and elaborate judgment running into over 300 typed pages, the learned
judge of the Designated Court, Pune, convicted acctised No.1 under sec- D
tions 302 and 307, IPC for the murder of General Vaidya and for attempt-
ing to take the life of his wife Bhanumati. He convicted accused No.5 under
section 302 and section 307, both read with section 34, IPC. He sentenced
both accused No.1 and accused No.5 to death subject to confirmation of
sentence by this Court. For the offence under section 307 he sentenced
both accused No.1 and accused No. 5 to rigorous imprisonment for 10 E
years. Both the substantive sentences were ordered to run concurrently. He
acquitted both accused No.1 and accused No.5 of all the other charges
levelled against them. So far as accused Nos.2, 3 and 4 are concerned he
acquitted them of all the charges levelled against them and directed that
they be set at liberty at once.
F
The facts of which we have given a brief resume make it crystal clear
that broadly speaking the prosecution case has two elements, the first
relating to the charge of criminal conspiracy and the various criminal acts
done in. furtherance thereof and the second relating to the actual murder
of General Vaidya. The prosecution has also invoked sections 3 and 4 of G
TADA.
Now according to the prosecution as soon as it became known to the
militant that General Vaidya planned to settle down at Pune after his
retirement from Army service, wheels began to move to kill him as soon H
498 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1992) 3 S.C.R.
A as the security cover available to him was reduced. The prosecution
tendered evidence, both oral and documentary, to show that the conspiracy
was hatched between 23rd January 1986 and 3rd May, 1986.. The first step
taken in this direction was to hire a flat in Block No. G-21, Salunke Vihar,
Pune, to create an operational base to work out and implement the alleged
B crh,1inal conspiracy. This flat was hired by one Ravindra Sharma whom the
.prosecution identifies as absconding accused Sukhi. Now according to the
prosecution after acquiring this base, Sukhi left the country on 14th July,
1986 and did not participate further in the execution of the alleged con-
spiracy. Accused No.2 Nirmal Singh became privy to the conspiracy later
on. To prove this part of the prosecution case evidence has been tendered
C to show that two persons Raj Kumar Sharma and Rakesh Sharma came
and stayed in Hotel Dreamland, Pune, from 23rd to 26th January, 1986 and
contacted various estate agents on telephone, including PW 20 B.D.
Sanghvi, partner· of M/s. Estate Corporation, Pune, with a view to hiring a
flat in Pune. The absconding accused Sukhi, it is contended, had stayed in
D that hotel under assumed name of Rakesh Sharma. PW 3 Rajender Tulsi
Pillai has been examined to show that thereafter the said accused Sukhi
and his companion shifted to Hotel Gulmohar on the 26th at about 2.20
p.m. and stayed there till 10.00 a.m. of the 29th. Therefore, according to
the prosecution Rakesh Sharma and Ravinder Sharma were one and the
same person and the evidence of the handwriting expert PW 120 M.K.
E Kanbar establishes that the said person was none other than the abscond-
i'lg accused Sukhi, The entries identified as Q.3 and Q.4 from the register.
of Dreamland Hotel and Q.5 and Q.6 from the register of Gulmohar Hotel
are, in the opinion of PW 120, to be of Sukhi. It is indeed true that while
discussing this part of the prosecution evidence the learned trial judge has
F committed certain factual errors and has wrongly read the evidence as if
-
PW 120 had opined that the said entries were made by accused No.1
Sukha. That is probably on account of similarity of names; he seems to have
substituted Sukha for Sukhi. We have, however, corrected this error while
appreciating the prosecution evidence. But is must be remembered that
because Sukhi had fled from the Country he could not be produced for
G identification by the hotel staff. No one has, therefore, identified him as
Rakesh Sharma or Ravinder Sharma. The question of identity, therefore,
rests solely on the evidence of the handwriting expert PW 120.
Then we come to the evidence of PW 20 B.D.Sanghvi and PW 22
H G.H.Bhagchandani who figured in the transaction concerning the letting
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.] 499
out of the G-21, Salunke Vihar flat at Pune, to one Ravinder Sharma. A
According to the prosecution this Ravinder Sharma had met PW 20 and it
was PW 22 who had shown the flat to him. Both these witnesses had,
therefore, an occasion to see Ravinder Sharma from close quarters. It was
in their presence that the said Ravinder Sharma had signed the agreement
to lease on 27th January, 1986. PW 104 V.R.Hallur, the Power of Attorney B
of Major Madan and PW 105 R.J.Kulkarni who had contacted PW 20 were
also concerned with the said deal. The evidence of PW 65 D.B.Bhagve
reveals that one Ravinder Sharma had purchased a bank draft of Rs. 15,000
from the Bank of Baroda, Pune, on 25th January, 1986 in the name of
Neelam Madan. The lease documents are at Exh. 598 and 599. From the
evidence of the aforestated witnesses it is established that a person who C
gave his name as Ravinder Sharma had contacted them for hiring the flat
and the deal with finalised, payments were made and documents executed
between the 24th and 27th January, 1986 at Pune. The question is who was
this Ravinder Sharma? Once again there is no direct evidence regarding
his identity but the prosecution places reliance on the opinion evidence of D
the handwriting expert PW 120 who has deposed that all these documents
are in the handwriting of the absconding accused Sukhi.
From the above evidence what the prosecution can at best be said to
have established is that the person who signed the register of Dreamland
Hotel as Rakesh Sharma and the register of Gulmohar Hotel as Ravinder E
Sharma and the person who signed the lease documents pertaining to G-21,
Salunke Vihar flat as Ravinder Sharma was one and the same person
because according to the evidence of PW 120 the handwritings tally but
the identity of that person has got to be established by comparing the said
handwriting with the undisputed handwriting of the suspect. The prosecu- F
tion seeks to attribute the authorship of the aforesaid documents to the
absconding accused Sukhi but since the specimen or admitted handwriting
of Sukhi could not be secured, as he had fled from this country to U.S.A.
even before the conspiracy came to light, the mere opinion evidence of PW
120, even if accepted at its face value, is not sufficient to establish the
identity of the author if those documents. We will have to see if this G
missing link is supplied by other evidence on record. We may also hasten
to add that at this stage we are not examining what value can he attached
to the evidence of PW 120. The find of the original bill of Hotel Gulmohar,
Exh. 92A, from the G-21, Salunke Vihar flat after the arrest of accused
Nos.1 and 2 does not improve the matter for that by itself cannot prove H
500 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992] 3 S.C.R.
A that the absconding accused Sukhi was the author of the documents relied
on. None of these witnesses, not even PW 62 Kantilal Shah, has identified
him even from his photograph.· So also the fact that the said person,
whoever he was, had given a false and bogus Bombay address of 307, Om
Apartments, Borivali or that the handwriting of some person who had
• -- '
stayed in yet another assumed name in different hotels of Pune, Ah-
B medabad and Bhavnagar is of no help to establish the identity. Even though
the entries Exh. 416 and 417 have been relied upon the two telephone
operators of Dreamland Hotel were not examined. That being so the '--iii
prosecution evidence falls for short for establishing its case that all these
entries were made by the absconding accused Sulchi.
c
Then we come to the evidence in regard to the activities at the Antop
Hill flat, Bombay, belonging to PW 49 Sadanand Gangnaik. According to
him he had let the flat to Makhni Bai but since she has not been examined
the further link is not established. As pointed out earlier, according to the
l_
D prosecution, that flat too was hired by the absconding accused Sukhi
sometime in October-November 1985 and the same was raided on 3rd May,
1986. Evidence was tendered by the prosecution with the avowed purpose
of showing that a group of terrorists were in occupation of the said flat and
when the same was raided certain incriminating evidence was found and
attached therefrom. One such important piece is stated to be a novel in .
E english entitled Tripple on the cover page whereof someone had scribbled --""
in pencil the number of General Vaidya's Car DIB-1437. On the basis of
the documents referred to in the preceding paragraph, the handwriting
expert PW 120 says that the scribe of this number is the very person who
happens to be the author of the aforesaid documents. But this pieee of
F evidence suffers from the very same handicap from which the other
---
evidence suffers in regard to the identity of the author of this document
also. Besides, PW 48 H.S. Bhullar has contradicted himself on the author-
ship of the writing on the cover page of the novel Tripple. In his examina-
"""'
· tion-in-chief he said it was in the handwriting of Sukba but on this point
he was cross-examined by the prosecution to extract a statement that it was
G written by Sukhi. The idea was to establish contact between Sukhi and
Sukha so that the former can be connected with the crime with the aid of
section 120B, I.P.C. From the fact that clothes of different sizes were ~
recovered form the said flat it was argued that several persons were in
occupation of the flat. The find of three live and one empty cartridges wa5
H a circumstance 'projected by counsel to support his say that the flat was
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.) 501
used for illegal purposes. A
" From the above facts it is not possible to infer that Sukhi and Sukha
were in occupation of the flat. This gap is sought to be filled through PW
48 H.S. Bhullar who claims to be a friend of the inmates of the flat. This
witness deposes to have taken three prostitutes to the. flat to satisfy the
sexual urges of Sukhi, Sukha and another who were living therein. Now this B
witness is said to have identified Sukha in Court. Exh. 318 dated 8th
December, 1988 is an application given by accused No. 5 Jinda alleging
that when he and Sukha were being taken to Court they were shown to the
prosecution witnesses. Before we examine this allegation it is necessary to
bear in mind that PW 48 was apprehended by the police on 10th May, 1986 C
-- and was booked as a co-accused but was later released and used as a
Witness. Great care must be exercised before acting on such a belated
identification in Court by a witness who cannot be said to be an inde-
pendent and unbaised person. Corroboration is sought to be provided
through the maid servant PW 49 Lalita who was working in the flat. She D
too had identified the accused in Court only. She was candid enough to
accept the fact that the accused Sukha and Jinda were shown to her and
PW 48 when they were being taken to Court. This admission nullifies the
identification of the two accused by these two witnesses in Court. No
weight can be attached to such identification more so when no satisfactory
explanation is forthcoming for the investigation officer's failure to hold a E
test identification parade. So also PW 50 Hira Sinha, one of the prostitutes,
also identifies him in Court but she too was not called to any test iden-
- tification parade to identify the inmates of the flat. She too admits that
Sukha was shown to her when he was in the lock-up. The other prostitute
Jaya who is said to have had sex with Sukha was not called to the witness
stand though she attended Court. When PW 50 could not identify the
F
person with who she had sex what reliance can be placed on her identifica-
tion of Sukha in Court after a lapse of almost two years? Besides, it is an
admitted fact that there was considerable change in the appearance of the
accused, earlier they were clean shaven and later they were attired like
sikhs making identification all the more difficult. No neighbour, not even G
the laundryman, was examined to establish their identity. In this state of
the .evidence if the learned trial judge was reluctant to act on such weak
evidence, no exception can be taken in regard to his approach.
Reliance has been placed on the evidence of PW 46 Jagdish Bhave, H
)-
502 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.
A a policeman, who deposes that he bad gone to the flat at 10.00 a.m. to make
inquiries, was pulled in and locked up in the lavatory on 3rd May, 1986.
He identifies accused No.1 Sukha as the person who had pointed a foreign
make revolver at his neck. He also claims to have identified him at the test
identification parade as well as in Court. In regard to the identification at
the test £dentification parade, there is some discrepancy as he seems to
B have initially identified a wrong person. He had also seen him in the
lock-up before the identification parade. Lastly, he claims he had managed
to secure help by breaking the glasspanes of the rear ventillator of the
lavatory. Now PW 49 Lalita deposes that she was in the flat till 11,00 a.m.
If this witness was locked up and he had raised an alarm, PW 49 Lalita
C would certainly have learnt about the same but she is totally silent about
the same. If the glasspanes were broken a note thereof would have been
taken in the panchnama. Atleast PW 158 PSI George would have spoken
about the same. Besides the story given by PW 46 cannot be said to be a
-
natur-al and cretlible one. The prosecution tried to contend that PW 49
D Lalita being an illiterate woman was making a mistake on the time factor.
We have no reason to so believe. Even if there is any doubt the benefit
thereof would go to the defence. PW 155 M.V.Mulley who arranged the
test identification parade for PW 46 supports him. But the prosecution
does not explain why Inspector Ratan Singh and Sub-Inspector Govind
Singh and the laundry man were not examined. Sub-Inspector Govind
E Singh would have explained why he could not identify accused No.1 at the
test identification parade if he had been called to the witness stand. To us
it seems PW 46 was put up to supply the lacuna regarding the involvement
and identification of accused No.1 in particular. The learned trial judge
was right in pointing out that several independent witnesses had not been
.F examined and the prosecution staked its claim on an artificial and un-
. natural story found unacceptable put forth in the testimony of PW 49
--
Lalita. Even the identification of accused No.1 Sukha by PW 46 Jagdish
does not carry conviction and is of no avail to the prosecution.
From the flat during the raid three live and one empty cartridges
G were found. One live cartridge was of.32" bore while the other two live
cartridges were of .38" bore. The empty cartridge was of .38" bore. These
were forwarded along with the revolver which was found from accused
No.2 on 7th September, 1986 at Pone, to PW 125 M.D.Asgekar, the ballistic
expert. This witness has deposed that the empty cartridge was fired from
· H the revolver found from accused No.2, which weapon, it was said, was used
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH (AHMADI, J.] 503
in the Union Bank robbery. It is further his say that the live pistol cartridge A
.32" bore was similar to the one used in General Vaidya's assassination.
True it is, the learned trial judge has overlooked this evidence. We will
consider the impact of this evidence at a later stage.
A Brylcream bottle, Article 83, was found in the flat. PW 150 Vijay
Tote lifted the fingerprint on that bottle which was later compared by PW B
122 A.R. Angre, Fingerprint-expert, with the fingerprint of accused No. 1
Exh. 607 and was found to tally. PW 107 S.V.Shevde, Director of
Fingerprint Bureau proves this fact.
The next circumstance relied upon concerns the purchase of .i red C
Ind-Suzuki motor cycle MFK 7548 on 8th May, 1986 through PW 18
Anantpurkar from PW 23 Suresh Shah, the allottee. This motor cycle was
later serviced on 1st July, 1986 by PW 39 Pimpalnekar. The motor cycle
was purchased in the name of Sanjeev Gupta, a name allegedly assumed
by absconding accused Daljit Singh alias Bittu. The evidence of PW 12 D
Trimbak Yeravedkar shows that it was registered in the R.T.O. in the name
of S.B.Shah and was then transferred in the name of Sanjeev Gupta. PW
76; a CBI officer had attached the free service coupon Exh.187 and the
requisition slip Exh. 259. Neither bears any signature of the police officer
or panch witness in token of being attached. The papers concerning a
motor cycle bearing the name of Sanjeev Gupta are stated to have been E
recovered of 7th September, 1986 from Sukha and Nimma after their arrest
following an accident. Since, according to the prosecution, the said motor
cycle was used for murdering General Vaidya and was later recovered from
the accident site on 7th September, 1986, it was argued that there was
conspiracy preceding the said murder. The owner's manual, Article 10, was F
found from G-21, Salunke Vihar, ·Pune, but that does not bear any name
of even the registration number of the vehicle. The find of such a docu-
ment, assuming it was really there and was not planted as submitted by the
defence counsel, cannot advance the prosecution case: Another link which
the prosecution tried to establish was that this motor cycle was seen parked
in the garage allotted to the occupant of G-21, Salunke Vihar flat. This fact G
is proved through PW 24 Vidyadhar Sabnis. PW 25 Lt. Col. Basanti Lal,
occupant of G-23 flat, however, states that since the garage allotted to him
was being used for preparing his furniture in the month of May 1986, he
was using the garage allotted to G-19 or G-21 flat holders for parking his
car. All that his evidence shows that in the month of May 1986 one person H
504 SUPREME COURT R'E:PORTS [1992) 3 S.C.R.
A had come inquiring about the occupants of G-21 flat and as the flat was
locked he had left a message which this witness says he had slipped through
the gap in the door of that flat. This is neither here nor there. Then he
states that he had seen a red Ind-Suzuki motor cycle parked near the
garage of G-21 flat on the 9th or 10th of August, 1986. PW 26 Prakash
Sabale, a neighbour residing in Anand· Apartments, was called to depose
B that sometime in June 1986 he had seen a red Ind-Suzuki parked in the
garage of G-21 flat. The evidence of this witness conflicts with that of PW
25 who has stated in no uncertain terms that he was parking his car in the
said garage. Was there any particular reason for these witnesses to take
note of the red coloured Ind-Suzuki motor cycle? No reason has been
c assigned by the witnesses or the investigating officer. Such red Ind-Suzuki
motor cycles were not an uncommon sight in the city of Pune, atleast none
, says. so. The evidence tendered by the prosecution in this behalf betrays a
laboured attemp. to connect the inmates of G-21 flat with the purchase of
a red Ind-Suzuki motor cycle since it was subsequently involv::;d in an
-
D accident on 7th September, 1986, and accused Sukha and Nimma were
found using the same. No attempt was made to establish the identity of
Sanjeev Gupta even through photographs.
PW 27 Hanuman Kunjir, a newspaper vendor, was examined to prove
that he supplied the Indian Express newspaper to the occupants of G-21
E flat. ,He discontinued supplying the newspaper when he found that the
earlier issues which he had left in the door-gap had not been collected by
anyone and there was no gap through which he could push-in the
newspaper. Once he had found the door open and recovered his dues
F
under receipt Exh. 218. No attempt has been made to establish the identity
of the person who asked him to supply the newspaper or the person who
paid the amount of Rs.40 for which he gave the receipt Exh. 218. Hence
-
his evidence is of no use to the prosecution.
The prosecution alleges that Sukhi left India on 14th July, 1986. The
absconding accused Bittu and accused No.1 Sukha had also secured false
G passports in fake names. Sukha is said to have taken out a passport in the
name of Charan Singh. No expert opinion was tendered though the hand-
writing expert was examined to show that the application for passport was
tendered by. Sukha in the assumed name of Charan Singh. The learned trial ~
judge also points out that the photograph seems to have been tempered
H with and ex-facie raises a grave suspicion regarding the circumstances in
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.] 505
which and the point of time when it tame to be affixed. PW 55 S.S. Kehlon A
-..., has signed the index card of Charan Singh's application. PW 54 Raj Rani
Malhotra deposes that nothing adverse was reported by the CID officers
in respect of Charan Singh. The passport was, therefore, issued to Charan
Singh. From the above evidence it is difficult to ascertain who tampered
with the photograph. Even PW 70 Rajkumar Mittal who dealt with the
B
index card did not find anything suspicious at that time. PW 77 Kulbhusan
·Sikka had delivered the passport to Shashi Bhushan who was authorised
by Charan Singh to receive the same. From the above evidence and
~ particularly la~k of expert evidence it is difficult to conclude that accused
No.1 Sukha had committed forgery to secure a passport to leave India. The
prosecution has tried to show that Sukhi obtained a passport in the nanie c
of Sunil Kumar, Bittu obtained a passport in the name of Harjit Sidhu and
Sukha tried to obtain a passport in the name of Charan Singh. It is true
that Sukhi left India on 14th July 1986, may be on a forged passport. So
also we may assume that Bittu obtained a false passport and so did Sukha.
_.)_ This by itself will not establish a firm link between the three as co-con-
D
spirators. As stated earlier none in the passport office suspected anything
shady in regard to Charan Singh's application for grant of passport. It
seems that only after the passport was issued some tampering was at-
tempted. The manner in which the photograph is pinned raises suspicion.
Who did it is the question? There is no evidence in this behalf. There is
nothing on record, except suspicion, that accused No.1 was privy to it. In E
~ the absence of reliable evidence it is unwise to act on mere suspicion. We,
therefore, cannot find fault with the approach of the learned trial judge so
• far as this part of the prosecution case in concerned.
One further fact on which the prosecution places reliance in support F
of its' case of criminal conspiracy is that acc:µsed Nos. 1, 2 and 5 travelled
by Chhatisgarh Express from Ambala to Doorg between 3rd August, 1986
and 5th August, 1986 and from Doorg to Bombay by Gitanjali Express in
assumed names. Apart from the oral evidence of PWs 126 to 135 and 151,
the prosecution has placed strong reliance on the reservation forms Exh.
700 and 701 purporting to be in the handwriting of accused No.1 Sukha. G
-
There is no direct evidence as admittedly they had travelled in assumed
names and none has identified them. Thus the only evidence is the opinion
-I- evidence of the handwriting expert PW 120 to the effect that the reserva-
tion forms are in the handwriting of accused No;l Sukha. While .in Bombay,
the accused No. 1 is stated to have given his clothes to Lily White Dry- H
506 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1992) 3 S.C.R.
A cleaners on 7th August, 1986 and received them from PW 89 Deepak .
Nanawani on the next day. PW 30 Arjun Punjabi has proved the two tags·
of the said laundry found from G-21, Salunke Vihar flat when the same
was searched. But the said evidence cannot be of much use unless the
identity of the person who delivered and received back the clothes is
established. Here also the prosecution relies on the evidence of the hand-
B writing expert to show that accused No.1 had written his name (assumed
name) on the bill prepared at the time the clothes were delivered for
dry-cleaning.
From the facts discussed above it becomes clear that the direct
C evidence, if at all, regarding the identity of the persons who moved about
in different assumed names is either wholly wanting or is of such a weak
nature that it would be hazardous to place reliance thereon without proper
corroboration. As pointed out earlier the direct evidence regarding identity
of the culprits comprises of (i) identification for the first time after a lapse
D of considerable time in Court or (ii) identification.at a test identification
parade. In the case of total strangers, it is not safe to place implicit reliance
on the evidence of witnesses who had just a fleeting glimpse of the person
identified or who had no particular reason to remember the person con-
cerned, if the identification is made for the first time in Court. In the
present case it was all the more difficult as indisputably the accused
E persons had since changed their appearance. Test identification parade, if
held promptly and after taking the necessary precautions to ensure its
creditability, would lend the required assurance which the court ordinarily
seeks to act on it. In the absence of such test identification parade it would
be extremely risky to place implicit reliance on identification made for the
F first time in Court after a long lapse of time and that too of persons who
had changed their appearance. We, therefore, think that the learned trial
judge was perfectly justified in looking for corroboration. In Kanan & Ors.
v. State of Kera/a, [1979) SCC 621 this Court speaking through Murtaza
Fazal Ali, J. observed :
G "It is well settled that where a witness identifies an accused who
is not known to him in the Court for the first time, his evidence
is absolutely valueless unless there has been a previous T.I.
parade to test his powers of observations. The idea of holding
T.I. parade under Section 9 of the Evidence Act is to test the
H veracity of the witness on the question of bis capability to
-~
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH (AHMADI, J.] 507
.., identify an unknown person whom the witness may have seen A
only once. If no T.I. parade is held then it will be wholly unsafe
to rely on his testimony regarding the identification of an
accused for the first time in Court."
We are in respectful agreement with the aforequoted observations.
B
The prosecution also led evidence to show that the accused persons
were put up for test identification by the witnesses who claim to have seen
'. them at different places before the actual incident of murder took place.
We have adverted to the prosecution evidence in this behalf earlier and
have pointed out how weak and thoroughly unreliable the said evidence is. c
It has been shown that some of the witnesses who claim to have identified
the accused, one or more, have conceded that they had an occasion to see
the accused in the Borivali lock-up earlier in point of time. This admission
on the part of the witnesses has rendered the evidence in this behalf of
_)__
little or no value and such evidence was rightly brushed aside by the trial
D
Court. We too, having critically examined the evidence in this behalf, find
' it difficult to accept the same. Therefore, the direct evidence regarding the
identity of the accused is of no help to the prosecution.
The prosecution has then relied on the evidence of the handwritirig
,.-:..i-.
expert PW 120 to establish the involvement of the accused, iiicluding the E
absconding accused, in the commission of the crime in question. In the case
of the absconding accused Sukhi, PW 120 examined a host of documents
- marked 0.1 to 0.34, 0.55 and 0.62 to 0.91 and compared them with the
two documents A53 and A54 marked as admitted writings of Sukhi. The
expert opined that 0.1 to 0.12, 0.14 to 0.23, 0.55, 0.62 to 0.66, 0.68 to F
0.70, 0.72 to 0.77, 0.79 to 0.85, 0.87 and 0.89 were in the handwriting
...,,, of the author of the documents marked A53 and A54. In the case of
accused No.l Sukha, PW 120 examined the questioned documents marked
0.40 to 0.54, 0.60, 0.61, 0.94 and 0.95 and compared them with his
specimen writings marked Sl to S49, S52 to S59, S62 to S64 and the
admitted writings Al to A53 and A62 to A73 and came to the conclusion G
that the writings 0.40, 0.54, 0.60, 0.61, 0.94 and 0.95 tallied with the
specimen and admitted writings of accused No.1... So far 0.55 is concerned
-I-- an express negative opinion was obtained that it was not in the hand of
accused No. 1. Similary in regard to the accused Daljit Singh @ Bittu,
questioned documents marked 0.35 to 0.39 were compared with the H
508 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1992] 3 S.C.R.
A admitted writings marked ASS to AS9 and the expert opined that Q.3S to
Q.39 showed similarities with ASS to AS9. The handwriting of accused No.S ,.,-
Jinda could ·not be obtained and, therefore, the question of comparing his
specimen writings with the questioned writings did not arise.
Before a Court can act on the opinion evidence of a handwriting
B
expert two things must be proved beyond any manner of doubt, namely, (i)
the genuineness of the specimen/admitted handwriting of the· concerned
accused and (ii) the handwriting expert is a competent, reliable and
dependable witness whose evidence inspires confidence. In the present
case since the absconding accused are not before us we are mainly con-
c cerned with the expert's opinion implicating accused No.1 Sukha. The
specimen writings of this accused have been proved through the evidence
of PW S Shaikh Zahir and PW 68 Anand Pawar. The evidence shows that
PW 168 S.Prasad, a police officer, had called the witness to a room where
accused No.2 Nirmal Singh was present and he was required to write down
D what the said police officer dictated to him. The specimen writings of
Nirmal Singh have been proved through the evidence of the said PW S and
PW 41 Ramkripal Trivedi. Thereafter they went to another room where
accused No. 1 was present. At the instance of PW 160 M.P. Singh he was
asked to sign as many as fifteen papers. The learned trial judge has not
doubted this part of the prosecution case and we may proceed on that
E basis. To prove the natural handwriting of accused No.1, the prosecution
examined PW 84 S.K.Prachendia, a lecturer of Gyan Jyoti P.G. College.
This witness claims that accused No.1 was his student and he had submitted
an application in the prescribed form for admission to be P.G. Course as
a private candidate. In support, reliance is placed on the photograph Art.31
F shoWing the witness in company of accused No.1. Two other registers (Arts.
39 & 40) have been relied upon to prove that certain replies are in the
-
hand of accused No.1. But unfortunately for the prosecution the witness
could not even identify accused No.1 in the dock nor did he state that the
form and the entries in the registers were made by accused No.1 in his
presence. In his cross-examination the witness admitted that he would not
G be able to identify the handwriting of other students who studied under
him. More so in the case of accused No.1 who was only a private student.
In the circumstances we agree with the learned trial judge that the evidence
on record in regard to the natural handwriting of accused No.I is not
, satisfactory and does not inspire confidence. If we rule out this part of the
H material used by the handwriting expert for comparison we are merely left
STATE v: SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.) 509
with the specimen writings/signatures of accused No.1 taken while in A
custody. Here also the evidence of PW 120 itself shows that the handwriting
of the railway reservation from Exh. 700 does not tally with the specimen
writings/signatures of accused No.1. It only highlights the fact that it would
be dangerous to identify the person who travelled on the strength of the
reservation form Exh.700 by ::;omparing the writing thereon with the B
specimen writings of accused No.1. The evidence of PW 30 Arjun Punjabi
and PW 89 Deepak Nanwani and the find of laundry tag No. 8833 of Lily
White Dry-cleaners from G-21, Salunke Vihar flat on 7th September, 1986
was used to establish the fact that accused No.1 was one of the inmates of
the said flat and was in Pune a couple of days before the murder of General
Vaidya. This connection is sought to be established on the strength of the C
opinion evidence of PW 120 that the handwriting and signature on the
laundry bill Exh. 547 tallied with the specimen writings/signatures of ac-
cused No.1. But the laundry tags do not bear the name of the laundry or
the year of issue. It was, however, urged that the evidence of PW 89 clearly
proved that the number on the tags tallied with the number on the Bill and D
the opinion evidence of PW 120 clearly established the fact that since the
writing and signature on the bill tallied with the specimen writing/signature
of accused No.1, it was reasonable to infer that accused No.1 resided in
the G-21, Salunke Vihar flat. But wh'!t is indeed surprising is that PW 89
was neither called to the test identification parade nor asked to identify
the person who had delivered the clothes for drycleaning from amongst the E
accused seated in the dock. The question then is whether implicit reliance
can be placed on the opinion evidence of the handwriting expert PW 120.
- It is well settled that evidence regarding the identity of the author of
any document can be tendered (i) by examining the person who is conver- F ·
sant and familiar with the handwriting of such person or (ii) through the
testimony of an expert who is qualified and competent to make a com-
parison of the disputed writing and the admitted writing on a scientific
basis and (iii) by the court comparing. the disputed document with the
admitted one. In the present case the prosecution has resorted to the
second mode by relying on the opinion evidence of the handwriting expert G
PW 120. But since the science of identification of handwriting by com-
~ parison is not an infallible one, prudence demands that before acting on
such opinion the Court should be fully satisfied about the authorship of the
admitted writings which is made the sole basis for comparison and the
Court should also be fully satisfied about the competence and credibility H
510 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992] 3 S.C.R.
A of the handwriting expert. It is indeed true that by nature and habit, over
a period of time; each indiviual develops certain traits which give a distinct
character to his writings making it possible to indentify the author but it
must at the same time be realised that since handwriting experts are
generally engaged by one of the contesting parties they, consciously or
unconsciously, tend to lean in favour of an opinion which is helful to the
B party engaging him. That is why we come across cases of conflicting
opinions given by two handwriting experts engaged by opposite parties. It
is, therefore, necessary to exercise extra care and caution in evaluating their
opinion before accepting the same. So courts have as a rule of prudence .
refused to place implicit faith on the opinion evidence of a handwriting
c expert. Normally courts have considered it dangerous to base a conviction
solely on the testimony of a handwriting expert because such evidence is
not regarded as conclusive. Since such opinion evidence cannot take the
place of substantive evidence, courts have, as a rule of prudence, looked
for corroboration before acting on such evidence. True it is, there is no
D rule of law that the evidence of a handwriting expert cannot be acted upon
unless substantially corroborated but courts have been slow in placing
implicit reliance on such opinion evidence, without more, became of the
imperfect nature of the science of identification of handwriting and its
accepted fallibility. There is no absolute rule of law or even of prudence
which has ripened into a rule of law that in no case can the court base its
E fmdings solely on the opinion of a handwriting expert but the imperfact
and frail nature of the science of identification of the author by comparison
of his admitted handwriting with the disputed ones has placed a heavy
responsibility on the courts to exercise extra care and caution before acting
on such opinion. Before a court can place reliance on the .opinion of an
F expert, it must be shown that he has not betrayed any bias and the reasons
-
on which he has based his opinion are convincing and satisfactory. It is for
this reason that the courts are wary to act solely on the evidence of a
handwriting expert; that, however, does not mean that even if there exist
numerous striking peculiarities and mannerisms which stand out to identify
the writer, the court will not act on the expert's evidence. In the end it all
G depends on the character of the evidence of the expert and the facts and
circumstances of each case.
In Ram Narain v. State of U.P., [1973] 2 SCC &? this Court was called
upon to consider whether a conviction based on uncorroborated testimony
H of the handwriting expert could be sustained. This Court held :
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.) 511
"It is no doubt true that the opinion of handwriting expert given A
in evidence is no less fallible than any other expert opinion
adduced in evidence with the result that such evidence has to
be received with great caution. But this opinion evidence, which
is relevant, may be \Vorthy of accpetance if there is internal or
external evidence relating to the document in question support-
ing the view expressed by the expert."
B
A similar view was expressed in the case of Bhagwan Kaur v. Maharaj
Krishan Shanna, [1973] 4 SCC ·46 in the following words :
"The evidence of a handwriting expert, unlike that of a C
fingerprint expert, is generally of a frail character and its
fallibilities have been quite often noticed. The courts should,
therefore, by wary to give too much weight to the evidence of
a handwriting expert."
In Murari Lal v. State of M.P., (1980] 1 SCC 704 this Court was once D
again called upon to examine whether the opinion evidence of a handwrit-
fug expert needs to be substantially corroborated before it can be acted
upon to base a conviction. Dealing with this oft repeated submission this
Court pointed out :
"Expert testimony is made relevant by Section 45 of the E
Evidence Act and where the Court has to form an opinion upon
a point as to identity of handwriting, the opinion of a person
'specially skilled' 'in questions as to identity of handwriting' is
expressly made a relevant fact. There is nothing in the Evidence
Act, as for example like illustration (b) to Section 114 which F
entitles the Court to presume that an accomplice is unwrothy
of credit, unless he is corroborated in material particulars,
which justifies the court in assuming that a handwriting expert's
opinion in unwrothy of credit unless corroborated. The
Evidence Act itself (Section 3) tells us that 'a fact is said to be
proved when, after considering the matters before it, the Court G
either believes it to exist or considers its existence so probable
that a prudent man ought, under the circumstances of the
particular case, to act upon the supposition that it exists'. It is
necessary to occasionally remind ourselves of this interpreta-
tion clause in the Evidence Act lest we set an artificial standard · H
512 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1992] 3 S.C.R.
A of proof not warranted by the provisions of the Act. Further,
under Section 114 of the Evidence Act, the Court may presume
r
the existence of any fact which it thinks likely to have happened,
regard being had to the common course of natural events,
human conduct, and public and private business, in their rela-
tion to facts of the particular case. It is also to be noticed that
B Section 46 of the Evidence Act makes facts, not otherwise
relevant, relevant if they support or are inconsistent with the
opinions of experts, when such opinions are relevant. So, cor- ~
roboration may not invariably be insisted -upon before acting
on the opinion of an handwriting expert and there need be no
c initial suspicion. But, on the facts of a particular case, a court
may require corroboration of a varying degree. There can be
no hard and fast rule, but nothing will justify the rejection of
-
the opinion of an expert supported by unchallenged reasons on
the sole ground that it is not corroborated. The approach of a
court while dealing with the opinion of a handwriting expert
-'-
D
should be to proceed cautiously, probe the reasons for the
opinion, consider all other relevant evidence and decide finally
to accept or reject it."
After examining the case law this Court proceed to add :
E ~'
"We are firmly of the opinion that there is no rule of law, nor
F
any rule of prudence which has crystallised into a rule of law,
that opinion-evidence of a handwriting expert must never be
acted upon, unless substantially corroborated. But, having due
-
regard to the imperfect nature of the science of identification
of handwriting, the approach, as we indicated earlier, should "'r"
be one of caution. Reasons for the opinion must be carefully
probed and examined. All other relevant evidence must be
considered. In appropriate cases, corroboration may be sought.·
G In cases where the reasons for the opinion are convincing and
there is no reliable evidence throwing a doubt, the uncor-
roborated testimony of an handwriting expert may be accepted. ~-
There cannot be any inflexible rule on a matter which, in the
ultimate analysis, is no more than a question of testimonal
H weight."
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.) 513
What emerges from the easer law referred to above is that a hand- A
writing expert is a competent witness whose opinion evidence is recognised
as relevant· under the provisions of the Evidence Act and has not been
equated to the class of evidence of an accomplice. It would, therefore, not
be fair to approach the opinion evidence with suspicion but the correct
approach would be to weigh the reasons on which it is based. The quality
B
of his opinion would depend on the soundness of the reasons on which it
is founded. But the court cannot afford to overlook the fact that the science
\,_c of identification of handwriting is an imperfact and frail one as compared
to the science of identification of finger-prints; courts have, therefore, been
wary in placing implicit reliance on such opinion evidence and have looked
c
-
for corroboration but that is not to say that it is a rule of prudence of
general application regardless of the circumstances of the case and the
quality of expert evidence. No hard and fast rule can be laid down in this
behalf but the Court has to decide in each case of its own merits what
weight it should attach to the opinion of the expert.
~-
D
The trial court examined the evidence of the handwriting expert PW
120 in great detail and came to the conclusion that it was hazardous to rely
on his evidence as he had betrayed bias against the accilsed and in favour
of the prosecution as 'he also belongs to the Police Department' (see
paragraph 159 of the judgment). As regards the specimen writings/sigpa-
i
~· tures of accused No.1 the trial court observes in paragraph 157 as under : E
"These answers in cross-exmination of this witness do show that
......... the specimen writings of Sukhdev Singh alias Sukha (accused
No. 1) and the questioned writings are not written by Sukhdev
Singh (accused No.1) at all. " F
As regards accused No.2 Nimma, the learned trial judge points out
that the specimen signature 'N.Singh' does not correspond \vith the ques-
tioned documents. The learned trial judge, therefore, did not consider it
~
wise to place reliance on the opil).ion of PW 120 particularly because he
did not consider his opinion to be independent but found that he had G
betrayed a tilt in favour of the investigating machinery. Since the trial court
did not consider the opinion of PW 120 to be dependable he did not deem
7'-
it necesary to look for corroboration. For the same reason he did not
consider it necessary to scrutinise the evidence of the e~pert in regard to
the two absconding accused Sukhi and Bittu. No such opinion evidence ~s H
514 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1992) 3 S.C.R.
A relied upon in respect of the other accused. We may at·once state that the
quality of evidence in regard to proof of identity of Sukhi and Bittu through
their so-called handwriting is weaker than that of accused No.1. We have
carefully examined the opinion evidence of PW 120 and we agree with the
learned trial judge that the quality of his evidence is not so high as to
commend acceptance without corroboration. Having given our anxious
B consideration to the expert's evidence, through which we were taken by the
learned counsel for the prosecution, we do not think that the view taken
by the learned trial judge is legally unsustainable or perverse. Even other-
wise having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and the
nature of evidence tendered and the quality of evidence of PW 120 the
c prosecution has not succeeded in establishing beyond reasonable doubt the
so-called conspiracy.
It was then submitted, relying on section 73 of the Evidence Act, that
-
we should compare the disputed material with the specimen/admitted
D material on record and reach our own conclusion. There is no doubt that
the said provision empowers the court to see for itself whether on a
comparison of the two sets of writing/signature, it can safely be concluded
with the assistance of the expert opinion that the disputed writings are in
the handwriting of the accused as alleged. For this purpose we were shown
the enlarged copies of the two sets of writings but we are afraid we did not
E consider it advisable to venture a conclusion based on such comparison
having regard to the state of evidence on record in regard to the
specimen/admitted writings of the accused Nos.1 and 2. Although the
section specifically empowers the court to compare the disputed writings
with the specimen/admitted writings shown to be genuine, prudence
F demands that the Court should be extremely slow in venturing an opinion
on the basis of mere comparison, more so, when the quality of evidence in
respect of specimen/admitted writings is not of high standard. We have
already pointed out the state of evidence as regards the specimen/admitted
writings earlier and we think it would be ·dangerous to stake any opinion
on the basis of mere comparison. We have, therefore, refrained from basing
G our conclusion by comparing the disputed writings with the specimen/ad-
mitted writings.
From the above discussion of the evidence it is clear that the
prosecution's effort to provide the missing links in the chain by seeking to
H establish the identity of the participants to the alleged conspiracy through
•
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.) 515
. the handwriting expert PW 120 has miserably failed. We, therefore, agree
with the conclusion of the learned trial judge in this behalf.
A
That brings us to the incident of murder of General Vaidya on the
morning of 10th August, 1986 at about 11.30 a.m. We have set out the facts
in regard to the said incident in some detail in the earlier part of this
judgment· and will recapitulate only those facts which are necessary to be
B
noticed for the purpose of appreciating the evidence leading to the murder.
~ The fact that General Vaidya died a homicidal death is established beyol)d
and manner of doubt by the evidence of PW 157 Dr. L.K.Bade who had
undertaken the post-mortem examination and had opined that death was
due to shock suffered following gun shot injuries. Counsel for the defence c
- had also admitted this fact as is evidenced by Exh. 155. As this fact was
not challenged before the trial cou· t, as indeed it could not be, nor was it
contested before us, we need not detain ourselves on the same and would
proceed to examine the evidence with a view to fixing the responsibility for
the said crime.
D
On the morning of the day of the incident General Vaidya and his
wife PW 106 Bhanumati had gone out for shopping in the Maruti Car DIB
1437 at about 10.00 a.m. with their securityman PW 16 Ramchandra
Kshrisagar in the rear seat. When they were returning at about 11.30 a.tn.
.A- with General Vaidya in the driver's seat, his wife by his side in the front E
and the securityman behind her, the incident in question occurred. The car
had slowed down at the intersection of Rajendrasinghji and Abhimanyu
roads since it had to negotiate a sharp right turn to go to the residence of
General Vaidya. Taking advantage of this fact a Ind-Suzuki motor cycle
came parallel to the car on the side of the driver i.e. General Vaidya and F.
the pillion rider took out a pistol or gun and fired and three shots in quick
~ succession at the deceased. Immediately thereafter the motor cyclists sped
away and the victim slumped on the shoulder of his wife who too was
injured. Unfortunately the reflexes of the securityman were not fast enough
and hence the culprits could make good their espace without a shot having
been fired at them by the securityman. The car drifted towards the cyclists G
PW 14 Digambar Gaikwad who, sensing trouble, jumped off leaving the
1#- cycle which came under the front wheel of the car. Therefore, we have the
testimony of tqree persons who can be described as witnesses to the main
incident, namdly, PW 16 the securityman, PW 106, the wife of the deceased
and .PW 14, the cyclist. In addition to the evidence of the aforesaid three H
516 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1992] 3 S.C.R.
A witnesses, the prosecution has also placed reliance on the evidence of PW
111 G.B.Naik, PW 114 Vijay Anant Kulkarni and PW 115 B.V.Deokar, on
the plea that these witnesses had laso seen the incident and the culprits
from the rickshaw in which they were passing at that time of the incident.
•
The trial court has placed reliance on the first set of the witnesses and has
rejected the evidence tendered through the second set of witnesses as it
B did not accept the fact that the autorickshaw in question had actually
passed by. We will discuss the prosecution evidence regarding the commis-
sion of the crime in two parts. ·
The evidence of the securityman PW 16 Ramchandra Kshirsagar is
c that when the car was proceeding towards the intersection from where it
had to tufn right to go to the bungalow of General Vaidya, he saw an
autorickshaw coming from the opposite side and signalled it by stretching
out his hand to keep to the extreme left. Then he saw a cyclist also coming
from the opposite side and signalled him also. Just then the car which had
D slowed down considerably began to negotiate a turn when a red Ind-Suzuki
motor cycle drove along the car on the side of General Vaidya who was at
the steering wheel. The pillion rider fired three shots from his weapon at
the head of General Vaidya and then sped away. This witness wants us to
believe that as he was busy signalling the rickshaw driver he had not seen
the motor cycle approaching the car before the first shot was fired. As soon
E as the car came to a halt, he jumped out of the car with his service revolver
but as PW 106 Bhanumati Vaidya was shouting for a conveyance he, went
about searching for one and found a matador van in which the injured
General Vaidya was rushed to the hospital. It was after .reaching the
hospital that he contacted the L.I.B. Inspector Garad to whom he narrated
F the incident an.cl reiterated the same to the Commissioner of Police. His
detailed complaint Exh. 179 was then recorded by PW 119 Inspector
· Mohite in which he described the colour of the motor cycle as black and
not red. Since he was sitting behind PW 106 Bhanumati, he could have seen
the assailant when his attention was drawn in that direction on hearing the
G first shot fired from close range. It is difficult to believe that he had no
opportunity to see the motor cyclists. It must be remembered that four
shots were ijred, albeit in quick succession, but there was a slight pause
after the first shot. It is difficult to agree with the suggestion that he had
no opportunity to see the assailant and his companion. In fact he states
that he saw them from a distance of three or four feet only. As pointed out
H earlier accuse<.. Nos.1 and 2 were arrested on 7th September, 1986 when
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.] 517
they met with an accident. Thereafter on 22nd September, 1986 this witness A
was called at about 12 noon to the Yervada Jail. Soon thereafter a person
who identified himself as a magistrate came and gave them cei:tain instruc-
tion!' regarding the identification parade about to be held. He was then
called to a room in which 10 to 12 persons had lined up and he was asked
if the person who had fired at General Vaidya was amongst them. He
identified one peson from the queue as the assailant. He identified accused
B
No.I as that person in Court also. The Panchnama drawn up iQ regard to
the test identification parade is at Exh. 349 duly proved by PW 51 B.S.
Karkande, Special Judicial Magistrate. Except for a couple of minor con-
tradictions there is nothing brought out in his cross-examination to doubt
his testimony regarding identification of accused No.1 as the person who c
fired the shots at General Vaidya. The presence of this witness at the time
of occurrence cannot and indeed was not doubted. So also it cannot be
denied that he had an opportunity to identify the assailant. We, therefore,
do not see any serious infirmity in his evidence which would cast a doubt
as regards his identification of accused No. 1.
D
The next important witness is PW 106 Bhanumati Vaidya. Sbe had
accompanied her husband and was sitting next to him in the front seat of
the car when the incident took place. She states that when the car took a
turn at the intersection she heard three sounds like the misfire of a motor
cycle but soon thereafter her husband's left hand slipped from the steering E
and his neck slumped on her shoulder. She states that the car drifted
towards a cyclist who jumped off leaving the cycle which was run over by
the front wheels of the motor car. She saw the motor cycle with two riders
speed away and could only see the back of the pillion rider. She too had
received bullet injuries on her right shoulder and was admitted in the' F
intensive care unit of the hospital. She was operated upon for removal of
the bullets from her body. Next day a magistrate had visited the hospital
and had recorded her statement. She has deposed that the pillion rider
whom she had seen from behind had been noticed by her tw~ days earlier·
on 8th August, 1986 at about 9.00 or 9.30 a. m. with a red motor cycle
opposite Gadge Maharaj School at the corner of bungalow No. 45. Two G
persons were standing there one of whom was the pillion rider whom she
saw from behind after the shoot out. She, however, expressed her inability
to indcntify him from amongst the accused persons in Court Under
cross-examination she stated that she could not say if it was a motor cycle
or a moped. Thus her evidence proves the incident beyond any manner of, H
518 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.
A doubt but her evidence is of little use on the question of identity of the
assailant and his companion. .'"'
PW 14 Digamber Shridhar Gaikward, the cyclist, deposes that at the
time of the incident he was proceeding on his cycle towards the railway
station when he heard three sounds and looked towards the Maruti car.
B He saw a red motor cycle by the side of the driver of the car. It sped away
with two persos riding it. The pillion rider who had a bag was seen putting
something therein. Since the driver of the car was wounded on his head,
he lost control of the vehicle and the same came towards him whereupon
he jumped off and the cycle was under the wheels of the car. In cross-ex-
c amination he stated that he had not seen any other vehicle on the road,
thereby ruling out the presence of any autorickshaw in regard to which PW
16 has spoken. His evidence is also not useful from the point of identity of
the assailant.
D The evidence of three more witnesses PW 60 Jaysing Mahadeo Hole,
PW 61 Nazir Husain Ansari and PW 103 Ashok Jadhav may be noticed at
this stage. PW 61 and PW 103 have deposed that on the day previous to
the incident two persons had approached them and had inquired about the
residence of a recently retired army General. These two persons identified
accused No.1 as the person who had approached them with his companion
E waiting near the motor cycle. PW 60 is the chowkidar who had seen two
persons sitting on their red motor cycle in the compound of Gadge
Maharaj School and had driven them out. He also identified accused No.
1 along with PWs 16, 61 and 103 at the test identification parade held on
22nd September, 1986. It is pertinent to note that PWs 61 and 103 had
F identified accused No.5 through his photographs Articles 23 and 75. They
identified him in Court but accused No. 5 stated in answer to question No.
135 that they did so at the behest of the police.
We now come to the next group of witnesses, the driver and the two
passengers of the autorickshaw which the securityman PW 16 claims was
G seen coming from the opposite direction. PW 16 says that just as the car
was turning towards the right, he saw an autorickshaw coming ·from the
opposite direction and signalled it to move to the extreme left. True it is ·
that PW 14, the cyclist, did not notice it but in our view that cannot cast
any doubt on the credibility of PW 16. There was no need for the cyclist
H to take note of the autorickshaw. His attention was rivetted at the car and
· STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.) 519
the motor cycle after he heard the shots and there was no need for him to A
..._'
notice the autorickshaw. Counsel for the accused submitted that the story
regarding the presence of an autorickshaw was invented by the securityman
PW 16 to save his skin as he had been guilty of a serious lapse in having
failed to save General Vaidya and apprehend his assailants. We may
examine the evidence of the rickshaw driver PW 115 Baban Vithobha
Deokar and the two passengers PW 111 G.B.Naik and PW 114 Vijay Anant
B
Kulkarni. PW 111 had two daughters Anuradha and Anupama. Anuradh<J.
is the wife of PW 114 whereas Anupama was wedded to Arunkumar
,,}
Tomar. Anupama had come to her father's house from Secunderabad on
4th August, 1986 as her relations with her husband were strained. On the
next day her husband who was an Education Instructor in the Military had c
also come to Pune. While at the house of PW 111 there was a quarrel
between the couple; hot words were followed by physical assault. In the
course of this quarred she was kicked in the abdomen and being pregnant
complications developed within a couple of days necessitating her removal
to the clinic of PW 1 Dr. Sudhir Kumar on 7th August, 1986. Her husband
D
had left earlier but PW 114 who had come to Pune had assisted his
father-in-law in the treatment of Anupama who was operated upon on the
morning of 10th August, 1986, vide Exh. 82. The son of PW 111 was also
a doctor in military service and in consultation with him and PW 114, PW
111 had decided to lodge a complaint against Arunkumar Tomar with the
higher military authorities. After the complaint was drafted it was decided E
,..£'
to have it typed on a stamp paper so that sufficient copies could be taken
~
out for being despatched to various authorities. The stamp paper was
purchased from PW 36 Mrs. Gokhle. The draft was got typed at N.B. Xerox'
company situate at Camp, Pune, as is evident from PW 37 Hidayat Ali.
This part of the prosecution case is supported by Exh. 249, an entry from
F
the stamp-vendor's register, evidencing the purchase of the stamp paper
..... Exh. 249A proved through the stamp-vendor PW 36. The original com-
· plaint Exh. 249A typed on the stamp paper was forwarded to the General
Officer Commanding whereas ten copies thereof taken out on an.electronic
typewriter were sent to different authorities under the signagure of
Anupama. This is also proved through the deposition of PW 37 Hidayat G
Ali.
,,,,,.
On 10th August, 1986, PW 111 and PW 114 picked up an autorick-
shaw outside Agakhan Palace at about 11.00 a.m. to go to Stree Clinic of
Dr. Sudhir Kumar. He was instructed lo drive through camp area. They H
520 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1992) 3 S.C.R.
A passed through Bund Gardens, took the overbridge and passed via the
Circuit House to Abhimanyu Road. PW 111 was sitting on the right side
and his son-in-law PW 114 was to his left. A white Maruti car was noticed
and then he saw ~ red coloured Ind-Suzuki motor cycle being driven
parallel to the car on the driver's seat side. They then saw the pillion rider
pump in three bullets in the head of the driver of the car. This witness
B deposes that the assailants were 20 or 25 years of age. When the motor
cycle passed by the rickshaw, the witness had an opportunity to identify the
motor cyclists. They were clean shaven then but were in turban and beard
in Court. Then these two witnesses got down from the rickshaw and helped
others lift the body of General Vaidya to the matador van which carried
c him and his wife to the hospital. They then went to PW 37 Hidayat Ali,
picked up the typed material and went to Stree Clinic where they dis-
charged the rickshaw. They had narrated the incident to PW 37. PW 111
also claims to have made a note about the incident in his dairy Exh. 622.
It is true that the statements of these two witnesses were recorded late i.e.
D on 24th October, 1986 presumbaly because their names had not surfaced
earlier. The witness was shown several photographs and he could recognise
one of them as the driver of the motor cycle. This photograph is marked
Art. 148.. Later both PW 111 and PW 114 had identified accused No.1 at
the test identification parade held on 29th October, 1986. Both the wit-
nesses also identified accused Nos.1 and 5 in Court. Albeit PW 111 took
E some time to identify accused No. 1 in Court but that may be on account
of the change in his apperance. It is said that the evidence of PW 111 and
PW 114 stands corroborated by the evidence of PW 36 and PW 37 and the j
documentary evidence Exh. 249, 249A and Exh. 82. Ill
F The rickshaw driver PW 115 has deposed that on 10th August, 1986
at about 11.00 a.m. while he was waiting in front of Agakhan Palace he was
engaged by PW 111 and PW 114 who instructed him that they desired to
go to the camp area and from there to the Deccan area. When his vehicle
approached the Circuit House intersection and emerged on the Ab-
himanyu road he saw a white Maruti car and one Ind-Suzuki motor cycle
G taking a turn to the right of the intersection. The motor cyclists drove on
the side of the driver's seat and the pillion rid~r fired three shots at the
driver of the car. Immediately thereafter the motor cyclists sped away. He
then speaks about the manner in which the cyclist jumped off and the car
came to a halt after running over the cycle. He also states that thereafter
H the two passengers got down from his rickshaw and went near the car. He
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.) 521
also parked his rickshaw at the comer of the intersection and joined the A
other two pascngers. He found that the car driver was injured on the head
and was bleeding profusely. A matador van arrived and the injured was
lifted and placed in the van and carried to the hospital. He and the two
passengers then returned to the rickshaw and proceeded towards Deccan
side and from there to the Stree Clinic. Sometime after the incident i.e. on B
8th November, 1986, the C.B.I. officers showed him seven or eight
photographs and asked him if he cduld recognise the photographs of the
motor cyclists. He recognised the photograph of the driver of the motor
cycle is but he did not notice any photograph of the pillion rider. The
photograph of the driver of the motor cycle is included at Art. 150 and his
signature was obtained on the reverse of it. This photograph is stated to C
be of accused No.5 whom the witness later identified in Court also. No test
identification parade could be held as accused No.5 Jinda could not be
arrested till 30th August, 1987. The evidence of this witness also lends
corroboration to the evidence of PWs 111and114.
D
There is also the evidence of PW 28 Noor Mohamad, also a rickshaw
driver in whose rickshaw PW 111 and PW 114 had gone to the Jan Kalyan
Blood Bank to register their name in case blood may be required at the
time of Anupama's operation. He has also stated that the two passengers
were talking about having witnessed a shoot out ealier in the day as is
ordinarily seen in movies. E
The learned trial judge discarded this part of the prosecution case
for diverse reasons, some of them being (i) the story of the securitymam
PW 16 in regard to the location of the autorickshaw is in sharp conflict
with his version in the FIR; (ii) the presence of PW 111 and PW 114 at the F
place of the incident is highly doubtful for the reason that there was O:o
cause for them to take the longer route, more particularly when Anupama
w~ admitted to the clinic of PW 1 and wc.s to be operated on that very
day; · (iii) the conduct of both the witnesses in maintaining sphnix-like
silence for more than two and a half months when the incident had shaken
the natio.1l was highly unnatural, more so because admittedly PW 111 had G
met inspector Mohite oo:Iy a few days after the incident., may be in some
other connection; (iv) the entry in the diary of PW 111 regarding this
incident was ex-facie a laboured attempt made with a view to creating
corroborative documentary evidence to support his false version; and (v)
the identification of the motor cycle driver through a photograph purport- H
522 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.
A ing to be of accused No. 5 Jinda is also an attempt to connect the said
accused with the crime in question. The learned Additional Solicitor ~
General made a valiant attempt to question the correctness of the grounds
·on which the learned trial judge brushed aside this part of the prosecution
case. But for the view we are inclined to take we would have given our
B anxious consideration to the submissions of the learned counsel. The
purpose of leading this evidence was essentially to identify the driver of the
motor cycle through these witnesses. They did so by picking up one
photograph from seven or eight shown to them. Whose photograph is this?
Accused No. 5 disowns it. No test identification parade was held since
accused No. 5 Jinda was apprehended at Delhi a year or so later on 30th
C August, 1987 and was taken to Pune in January 1988. Although the
prosecution did not deem it wise to hold a test identification parade
because of the passage of time, the ·witnesses. examined later did not
hesitate to point a finger at accused No. 5 Jinda during the trial. Therefore,
according to the prosecution the photograph was that of accused No. 5
D Jinda who was very much in Court. The learned trial judge, therefore, had ~~
the benefit of comparing the photograph with accused No. 5 whose
photograph it purported to be. In this connection the learned trial judge
has this to say in paragraph 342 of his judgment :
"Firstly, in my opinion, this photograph does not appear to be
E that of Harjinder Singh alias Jinda (aced. 5) at all."
*** *** *** ***
"...how can I hold that this is the photograph of Jinda (aced.
5), when obviously to the naked eyes, it does not look similar .
F to the face of Jinda (aced. 5.)
Proceeding further, in paragraph 343, the learned judge add :
".........whereas in the instant case before me, the photograph
does not appear to be of Jinda (aced. 5)" .
G
It will thus be seen that the learned judge on a comparison of the
photograph with the features of acccused No. 5 who was very much before
him categorically held that the photograph pointed out by th_e witnesses -~
was not of accused No. 5. We cannot ignore the photograph from con-
H sideration for non-production of the negative (not traced) because that is
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.) 523
merely an additional plank on which the trial court has ruled out this part A
of the prosecution case. For the above reasons the trial court refused to
place reliance on the prosecution's attempt to establish the identity of
accused No.5 as the driver of the motor cycle through photographs.
But the learned Additional Solicitor General submitted that it is not B
possible to believe that the photographs relied on were not the photographs
of accused No.5. He submitted that accused No.5 was apprehended in
Delhi on 30th August, 1987 and as his legs wer fractured he was immedi-
ately admitted to a hospital and was taken to Pune in January 1988. In the
meantime his photographs had appeared in various newspapers, magazines
and 'also on television and, therefore, it is not possible to believe that the C
investigating officer would be. so naive as to show and produce someone
else's photographs. He submitted that perhaps because the appearance of
accused No.5 and undergone a chacge in the meantime even the learned
judge had difficulty in identifying him as the person in the photographs.
·~)
He submitted that this was followed by the witnesses identifying him in D
Court. There is considerable force in this line of reasoning but at the same
time we cannot over look the opinion of the learned judge who had the
opportunity to compare the photographs with the features of accused No.
5 who was very much before him. Had the evidence rested there we would
have found it difficult to ignore it but we find that accused No. 5 has in his
statement recorded under section 313 of the Code admitted the fact that E
it was he who was driving the motor <:Ycle with accused No.1 on the pillion
seat when General Vaidya was shot down. He has also admitted this fact
in bis written statement Exh. 922 submitted to court through the Jailor and
followed it up by admitting the same in answer to Question No. 249 of his
statement under section 313 of the Code. He has further stated that F
accused No. 1 and he killed General Vaidya as he had attacked and
destroyed the Akal Takht in the Goldevn Temple at Amritsar. He then
adds that the Sikhs are fighting for a separate State of Khalistan and will
continue to fight till the goal is achieved. Lastly, he says "we sikhs are not
afraid of death". It was, therefore, submitted by the learned Additional
· Solicitor General that this statement is sufficient to prove his involvement G
in the commission of the crime and in any event it lends conoboration to
- the prosecution evidence in this behalf. Accused No.1 has also made a
statement on similar lines admitting his involvement in the crime and the
fact that he had fired the fatal shots at General Vaidya from the pillion
seat of the motor cycle. So far as accused No.1 is concerned there is H
524 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.
A evidence tendered by the prosecution of witnesses who identified him at
the test identification parade, in court, through photographs and by the
eye-witness the securityman PW 16 and his statement lends corroboration
thereto. The question then is can a conviction be based on such an
admission of gllilt made in the written statements followed by the oral
statement under section 313 of the Code ?
B
The charge was framed on 2nd September, 1988. Both accused Nos.1
and 5 along with others pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against
them and claimed to be tried. After recording the plea, the proceedings
were adjourned to 19th September, 1988 on which date accused No.1 orally
C informed the learned trial judge that he had killed General Vaidya and he
did not desire to contest the case. The accused No.1 has later explained in
,,.. his statement under section 313 of the Code that according to him killing
General Vaidya was not a crime and that is why he had not pleaded guilty.
Be that as it may, the learned trial judge gave accused No.1 time upto 26th.
D September, 1988 to reflect. On that date accused No.1 presented a written
statement Exh. 60A wherein he admitted to have fired four shots at
General Vaidya and killed him. He further stated that he had learnt that
he had injured his wife also but that was wholly unintentional. Even later
when his statement was recorded under section 313 of the Code, he owned
the statement Exh. 60A and did not try to wriggle out of it. He departs
E from the prosecution case, in that, he says he was riding a black (not red)
motor cycle and that accused No.5 was not the driver but one Mathura
Singh was driving the motor cycle. That betrays an attempt on his part to
keep out accused No. 5. Even after this statement was filed the learned
trial judge did not convict him straightaway but proceeded to complete the
F prosecution evidence before recording his statement under section 313 of
the Code. He followed this up by yet another statement Exh. 919 admitting
his guilt.
Accused No. 5 Tmda pleaded not guilty to the ·charge. He did not
make any such statement till the conclusion of the evidence when he sent
0 Exh. 922 through jail. However, at the conclusion of the prosecution :,
evidence when accused No. 5 was examined under section 313 of the Code,
he admitted that he was the driver of the motor cycle and accused No.1
was his pillion rider. He also admitted that accused No.1 had fired the fatal
shots at General Vaidya while sitting on the pillion seat. In answer to the
H usual last question accused No. 5 said that on the date of the incident he ,
STAIB v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.) 525
was driving a black motor cycle with accused No.1 on the pillion seat and A
it was the latter who 'fired at and killed General Vaidya. This being an
admission of guilt, the question is whether the Court can act upon it. He
has supported this by his written statement Exh, 922. It will thus be seen
that both the accused Nos.1and5 made written as well as oral admissions
regarding their involvement iii the commission of the crime.
B
It is manifest from the written statements of both accused Nos.1 and
. 5 and from their oral statements recorded under section 313 of the Code
that they firmly believed that since General Vaidya was responsible for
conducting operation Blue Star which had damaged a sacred religious
place like the Akal Takht of the Golden Temple at Amritsar and had also C
-- hurt the religious feelings and sentiments of the sikh community, he was
guilty of a serious crime, the punishment for which could only be death,
and, therefore, they had merely executed him and in· doing so had not
committed any crime whatsoever. As stated earlier it is on this notion that
the accused continued to plead not guilty while at the same time admitting D
the fact of having killed General Vaidya. It may be mentioned that when
the eye-witness account was put to him, accused No.1 admitted that he was
the pillion rider who had fired four shots at General Vaidya. His answers
to the various circumstances pointed out to him in his statement under
section 313 of the Code reveal that he unhesitatingly admitted the entire
eye-witness account and also owned responsibility for the crime. Even in E
~-
his written statement Exh. 60A he admitted "Maine Vaidya Sabko Mara
Hain" meaning "I have killed Vaidya Saheb". So far as accused No. 5 is
concerned he too admitted the correctness of the eye-witness account of
the incident lea~g to the ultimate death of General Vaidya. When he was
--- asked if he had- anything else to say, he referred to his statement Exh. 922
and admitted that it was in his own handwriting, its contents were correct
F
- and he had signed it. He also admitted that he was driving the motor cycle
when his pillion rider fired at General Vaidya and injured him. It is in this
background that we must examine the impact of their admissions in their
statements under section 313 of the Code.
G
Section 313 of the Code is intended to afford a person accused of a
crime an opportunity to explain the circumstances appearing in evidence
against him. Sub-section (1) of the section is in two parts : the first part
empowers the court to put such questions to the accused as it considers
necessary at any stage of the inquiry or trial whereas the second part H
526 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992] 3 S.C.R.
A imposes a duty and makes it imperative on the court to question him
generally on the prosecution having completed the examination of its
witnesses and before the accused is called on to enter upon his defence.
Counsel for accused No.5 submitted that since no circ0mstance had sur-
faced in evidence tendered by the prosecution against the said accused,
there was nothing for him to explain and hence the learnt:d trial judge i
B committed a grave error in examining the said accused under section 313
of the Code. He subniitted that since the examination has to be made under
the said provision after the prosecution has examined all its witnesses and
rested, it is obligatory on the learned judge to decide which circumstance
he considers established to seek the explanation of the accused. He sub-
C mitted that the obligation to question the accused is a serious matter and
not a mere idle formality to be gone through by the trial court without
applying its mind as to the evidence and circumstances necessitating an
explanation by the accused. Therefore, counsel submit.ted, if there is no
evidence or circumstance appearing in the prosecution evidence implicat-
D ing the accused with the commission of the crime with which he is charged,
there is nothing for the accused to explain and hence his examination under
section 313 of the Code would be wholly unnecessary and improper. In
such a situation the accused cannot be questioned and his answers cannot
be used to supply the gaps left by witnesses in their evidence. In such a
situation collll$el for accused No.5 Jinda strongly submitted that his ex-
E amination under section 313 should be totally discarded and his admis-
sions, if any, wholly ignored for otherwise it may appear as if he was
trapped by the court. According to him the rules of fairness demand that
such examination should be left out of consideration and the admissions
made in the course of such examination cannot form the basis of convic-
F tion. Counsel for the accused No.1 also contended that the evidence
adduced by the prosecution against the accused was so thin and weak that
-
even if it was taken as proved the court would not have been in a position
to convict him and, therefore, it was unnecessary to examine him under
section 313 of the Code. Strong reliance was placed on lit Bahadur Chetri
· v. State of Afunacha/ Pradesh, 1977 Crl.LJ.1833 and Asokan v. State of
G Kera/a, 1982 Crl.LJ.173. We do not see any merit in these submissions
Section 313 of the Code is a statutory provision and embodies the
fundamental principle of fairness based on the maxim audi alteram plJltem.
It is trite law that the attention of the accused must be specifically invited
H to inculpatory pieces of evidence or circumst@ces laid on record with a
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.) 527
view to giving him an opportunity to offer an explanation if he chooses to A
do so. The section imposes a heavy duty on the court to take great care to
ensure that the incriminating circumstances are put to the accused and his
response solicited. The words 'shall question him' clearly bring out the
mandatory character of the clause and cast an imperative duty on the court
and confer a corresponding right on the accused to an opportunity to offer B
his explanation for such incriminating material appearing against him. It is,
therefore, true that the purpose of the examination of the accused under
section 313 is to give the accused an opportunity to explain the incriminat-
ing material which has surfaced on record. The stage of examination of the
accused under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 313 reaches only
after the witnesses for the prosecution have been examined and before the C
- accused is calle~ on to enter upon his defence. At the stage of closure of
the prosecution evidence and before recording of statement under section
313, the learned judge is not expected .to evaluate the evidence for the
purpose of deciding whether or not he should question the accused. After
the section 313 stage is over he has to hear the oral submissions of counsel D
on the evidence adduced before pronouncing on the evidence. The learned
trial judge is not expected before he examines the accused under section
313 of the code, to sift the evidence and pronounce on whether or not he
would accept the evidence regarding any incriminating material to deter-
mine whether or not to examine the accused on that material. To do so
would be to pre-judge the evidence without hearing the prosecution under E
section 314 of the Code. Therefore, no matter how weak or scanty the
prosecution evidence is in regard to a certain incriminating material, it is
the duty of the court to examine the accused and seek his explanation
thereon. It is only after that stage is over that the oral arguments have to
be heard before the judgment is rendered. It is only where the court finds F
that no incriminating material has surfaced that the accused may not be
examined under section 313 of the Code. If there is material against the
accused he must be examined. In the instant case it is not correct to say
that no incrlliunating material had surfaced against the accused, particular-
ly accused No. 5, and hence .the learned trial judge was not justified in
examining the accused under section 313 of the Code. G
That brings us to the question whether such a statement recorded
under section 313 of the Code can constitute the sole basis for conviction.
Since no oath is administered to the accused, the statements made by the
acc~ed will not be evidence stricto sensu. That is why sub-section (3) says H
528 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1992] 3 S.C.R.
A that the accused shall not render himself liable to punishment if he givens
false answers. Then comes sub-section (4) which reads :
"(4). The answers given by the accused may be taken into
consideration in such inquiry or trial, and put in evidence for
or against him in any other inquiry into, ·or trial for, any other
B offence which such answers may tend to show he has com-
mitted."
Thus the answers given by the accused in response to his examination
under section 313 can be taken into consideration in such inquiry or trial.
C This much is clear on a piain reading of the above sub-section. Therefore,
though not strictly evidence, sub-section (4) permits that it may be taken
into consideration in the said inquiry or trial. See State of Maharashtra v.
R.B.Chowdhari, [1967) 3 SCR 708. This court in the case of Hate Singh v.
-
State of Madhya Bharat, 1953 Crl.LJ.1933 held that an answer given by an
D accused under section 313 examination can be used for proving his guilt as
much as the evidence given by a prosecution witness. In Narain Singh v.
State of Punjab, [1963J 3 SCR 678 this Court held that if the accused
confesses to the commission of the offence with which he is charged the
Cou~t may, relying upon that confession, proceed to convict him. To state
the exact language in which the three-Judge Bench answered the question
E it would be advantageous to reproduce the relevant observations at pages
684-685:
"Under section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by the
first sub-section, insofar as it is material, the Court may at any
F stage of the enquiry or trial and after the witnesses for the
prosecution have been examined and before the accused is
called upon for his defence shall put questions to the accused
person for the purpose of. enabling him to explain any cir-
cumstance appearing in the evidence against him. Examination
under section 342 is primarily to be directed to those mattes
G on which evidence has been led for the prosecution to ascertain
from the accused his version or explanation - if any, of the
incident which forms the subject-matter of the charge and his
defence. By sub-section (3), the answers given by the accused
may "be taken into consideration" at the enquiry of the trial. If
H the accused person in his examination under section 342 con-
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.] 529
fesses to the commission of the offence charged against hi:n A
the court may, relying upon that confession, proceed to convict
him, but if he does not confess and in explaining circumstance
appearing in the evidence against him sets up his own version •
and seeks to explain his conduct pleading that he has com-
mitted no offence, the statement of the accused can only be B
taken into consideration in its entirety."·
(Emphasis supplied)
Sub-section (1) of section 313 corm:ponds to sub-section (1) of
- section 342 of the old Code except that it now stands bifurcated in two
parts with the proviso added thereto clarifying that in summons cases
where the presence of the accused is dispensed with his examination under
C
clause (b) may also be dispensed with. Sub-section (2) of section 313
reproduces the old sub-section (4) and the present sub-section (3) cor-
responds to the old sub-section (2) except for the change necessitated on D
account of the abolition of the jury system. The present sub-section (4) with
which we are concerned is a verbatim reproduction of the old sub-section
(3). Therefore, the aforestated observations apply with equal force.
Even on first principle we see no reason why the Court could not act
on the admission or confession made by the accused in the course of the E
trial or in his statement recorded under section 313 of the Code. Under
- section 12(4) of the TADA Act a Designated Court shall, for the purpose
of trial of any offence, have all the powers of a Court of Session and shall
try such offence as if it were a Court of Session so far as may be in
accordance With the procedure prescribed in the Code for the trial before F
a Court of Session, albeit subject to the other provisions of the Act. The
procedure for the trial of Session cases is outlined in Chapter XVIII of the
Code. According to the procedure provided in that Chapter after the case
is opened as required by section 226, if, upon consideration of the record
of the case and the documents submitted therewith, the Judge considers
that there is no sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused, he G
shall discharge the accused for reasons to be recorded. If, however, the
Judge does not see reason to discharge the accused he is required to frame
·in writing a charge against the accused as required by section 228 of. the
Code. Where the Judge frames the charge, the charge so framed has to be
read over and explained to the accused and the accused is required to be H
530 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.
.,.._
A asked whether he pleads guilty of the offence charged or claims to be tried.
Section 229 next provides that if the accused pleads guilty, the Judge shall
record the plea and may, in his discretion, convict him thereon. The plain
c language of this provision shows that if the accused pleads guilty the Judge
has to record the plea and thereafter decide whether or not to convict the
accused. The plea of guilt tantamounts to an admission of all the facts
B constituting the offence: It is, therefore, essential that before accepting and
acting on the plea the Judge must feel satisfied that the accused admits ..,...
facts or ingredients constituting the offence. The plea of the accused must,
therefore, be clear, unambiguous and unqualified and the Court must be
satisfied that he has understood the nature of the allegations made against
c him and admits them. The Court must act with caution and circumspection
before accepting and acting on the plea of guilt. Once these requirements
are satisfied the law permits the Judge trying the case to record a convic-
-
tion based on the plea of guilt. If, however, the accused does not plead
guilty or the learned Judge does not act on his plea he must fix a date for
D the examination of the witnesses i.e. the trial of the case. There is nothing
in this Chapter which prevents the accused from pleading guilty at any
subsequent stage of the trial. But before the trial Judge accepts and acts
on that plea he must administer the same caution unto himself. This plea
of guilt may also be put forward by the accused in his statement recorded
under section 313 of the Code. In the present case, besides giving written
E confessional statements both accused No.l and accused N0.5 admitted to f·
have been involved in the commission of murder of General Vaidya. We
have already pointed out earlier that both the accused have unmistakably,
unequivocally and without any reservation whatsoever admitted the fact
that they were responsible for the murder of 1General Vaidya. It is indeed
-
F true that accused No. 1 did not name accused No. 5 as the driver of the
motor cycle, perhaps he desired to keep him out, but accused ~o. 5 has -f-
himself admitted that he was driving the motor cycle with accused No. 1
on the pillion seat and to facilitate the crime he had broUght the motor
cycle in -line with the Maruti car so that accused No.L ·may have an
opportunity of firing at his victim from close quarters. There is, therefore,
G no doubt whatsoever that both accused No.l and accused No. 5 werejtcting
in concert, they had a common intention to kill General Vaidya and in .A
furtherance of that intention accused No. 1 fired the fatal shots. We are,
therefore, satisfied 'that the learned trial Judge was justified in holding that
accused No. 1 was guilty under section 302 and ·accused No. 5 was guilty
.H
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.] 531
under section 302/34, IPC. A
As pointed out earlier, learned counsel for accused Nos. 1 and 5
contended that although a statement recorded under section 313 of the
Code can be taken into consideration in an inquiry or trial since it is not
'evidence' Stricto sensu and not being under oath, it has little probative B
value. Reliance was placed on R.B.Chowdhari's case in support of this
proposition. The two decisions of the High Courts to which our attention
was drawn do not in fact militate against the view which we are inclined to
take in regard to the admission of guilt made by the two accused in their
statements recorded under section 313 of the Code. In the case of fit
- Bahadur Chetri only one witness was examined and immediately thereafter C
the statement of the accused was recorded under section 313 of the Code.
The deposition of the sole witness did not reveal that he had seen the
accused causing the injury in question. The question that was framed was
not consistent with this evidence and hence the High Court found that the
trial coµrt had acted illegally. It was held that such an answer cannot be D
construed as pleading guilty within the meaning of the provisions of the
Code and hence the learned Magistrate had acted contrary to iaw in
convicting and sentencing the accused on the basis of that plea. It will thus
be seen that the Court came to the conclusion that the accused could not
be stated to have pleaded guilty and hence the conviction was set aside. In
the other case of Asokan the High Court of Kerala pointed out that in a E
criminal case the burden of establishing the guilt beyond reasonable doubt
lies on the prosecution and that burden is neither taken away, nor dis-
charged, nor .shifted merely because the accused sets up a plea of private
defence. It was ·pointed out that if the prosecution has not placed any
incriminating evidence such an admission made by the accused will be of F
no avail unless the admission constitutes an admission of guilt of any
offence. In that case also the admission made by the accused read as a
whole did not constitute an admission of guilt of the offence charged. On
the contrary it was in the nature of a plea of private defence. In such
circumstances, the High Court came to the conclusion that in the absence
of a unequivocal, unmistakable and .unqualified plea of guilt, the Court G
could not have convicted the accused on the statement made by him under
section 313 of the Code. This decision also does not, therefore, help the
defence.
The accused were inter alia charged under sections 3(2)(i) or (ii) and H
y
532 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1992) 3 S.C.R.
A 3(3) of TADA Act read with sub-rule (4) of rule 23 of the rules framed
thereunder. Section 3 provides the punishment for terrorist acts. Section
10 lays down that when trying any offence a Designated Court may also try
any other offence with which the accused may, under the Code, be charged
at the same trial if the offence is connected with such other offence. It is
obvious that where an accused is put up for trial for the commission of any
B offence under the Act or the Rules made thereunder he can also be tried
by the same Designated Court for the other offences with which he may,
under the Code, be charged at the same trial provided the offence is ;1.--
connected with such other offence. In the instant case, the accused were
tried under the aforesaid provisions of TADA Act and the Rules made
c thereunder along with the offences under sections 1208, 645, 468, 471, 419,
302 and 307, IPC. They were also charged for the commission of the
aforesaid offences with the aid of section 34, IPC. As pointed out earlier
-
under section 12(4) the procedure which the Designated Court must follow
is the procedure prescribed in the Code for the trial before a Court of
Session. Accordingly, the two accused persons were tried by the Desig-
D
nated Court since they were charged for the commission of offences under
the TADA Act. The Designated Court, however, came to the conclusion
that the charge framed under section 3 of the TADA Act read with the
relevant rules had not been established and, therefore, acquitted the ac-
cused persons on that count. It is not necessary for us to examine the
E correctness of this finding as we also .come to the conclusion that capital )-
punishment is warranted. It also acquitted all the accused persons of the
other charges framed under the Penal Code save and except accused Nos.
1 and 5, as stated earlier. The accused were also convicted undet section
307 and 307/34 respectively for the injury caused to PW 106 Bhanumati
F Vaidya. Thus the conviction of accused Nos.1 and 5 is outside the
---
provisions of TADA Act and, therefore, it was open to the Designated
~
Court to award such sentence as was provided by the Penal Code. Section
17(3) of the TADA Act makes sections 366 to 371 and section 392 of the
Code applicable in relation to a case involving an offence triable by a
Designated Court. The Designated Court having come to the conclusion
G that this was a case falling within the description of 'the rarest of a rare'
awarded the extreme penalty of death to both accused Nos. 1 and 5 for the
murder of General Vaidya. In doing so, the Trial Court placed strong ......
,
reliance on the decision of this Court in Kehar Singh & Ors. v. State (Delhi
Administration), [1988] 3 SCC 609. The learned Trial Judge took the view
H
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.] 533
that since the murder of General Vaidya was also on account of his A
-...., involvement in the Blue Star Operation his case stood more or less on the
same footing and hence fell within 'the rarest of a rare' category. We think
- that this line of reasoniri.g adopted by the learned Trial Judge is unassail-
able. We may also point out that the accused persons had no remorse or
repentance, in fact they felt proud of having killed General Vaidya in
execution of their plan and hence we find no extenuating circumstance to
B.
make a departure from the ratio of Kehar Singh 's case.
-.....);
Lastly, placing reliance on the decision of this Court inA/laudin Mian
v. State of Bihar, [1989] 3 SCC 5. the learned defence counsel submitted
that in the present case also since the conviction and sentence were c
pronounced on the same day, the capital sentence awarded to the accused
- should not be confirmed. In the decision relied on, to which one of us
(Ahmadi, J.) was a party and who spoke for the Court, it was emphasised
that section 235(2) of the Code being mandatory in character, the accused
must be given an adequate opportunity of placing material bearing on the
question of sentence before the Court. It was pointed out that the choice D
of sentence had to be made after giving the accused an effective and real
opportunity to place his antecedents, social and economic background,
mitigating and extenuating circumstances, etc., before the Court for other-
wise the Court's decision may be vulnerable. It was then said in paragraph
10 at page 21 : E
-f "We think as a general rule the trial courts should after record-
ing the conviction adjourn the matter to a future date and call
upon both the prosecution as well as the defence to place the
relevant material bearing on the question of sentence before it
and thereafter pronounce the sentence to be imposed on the F
offender."
~- The above decision was rendered on 13th April, 1989 whereas the
present decision was pronounced on 21st October. 1989. Yet, contended
learned counsel for the accused the Court did not_ appreciate the spirit of
G
section 235(2) of the Code. The ratio of Allauddin Mian 's case was affirmed
in Milkiat Singh v. State of Punjab, JT (1991) 2 SC 190 (paragraph 18).
On the other hand the learned Additional Solicitor General invited
our attention to a subsequent decision of this Court in Jumman Khan v.
State of U.P., [1990) Suppl. 3 SCR 398. That decision turned on the facts H
534 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992] 3 S.C.R.
A of that case. In that case the Court refused to entertain the plea on the
ground that it was not raised in the courts below and was sought to be
raised for the first time in the apex court. That decision, therefore, does \y-
not assist the prosecution. Reliance was then placed on the third proviso
to section 309 of the Code which reads as under :
B "Provided also that no adjournment shall be granted for the
purpose only of enabling the accused person to show cause
against the sentence proposed to be imposed on him."
This proviso must be read in the context of the general policy of
C expeditious inquiry and trial manifested by the main part of the section.
That section emphasises that an inquiry or trial once it has begun should
proceed from day to day till the evidence of all the witnesses in attendance
has been recorded so that they may not be unnecessarily vexed. The
underlying object is to discourage frequent adjournments. But that does
-
D not mean that the proviso precludes the Court from adjourning the matter
even where the interest of justice so demands. The proviso may not entitle
an accused to an adjournment but it does not prohibit or preclude the
Court from granting one in such serious cases of life and death to satisfy
the requirement of justice as enshrined in section 235(2) of the Code.
Expeditious disposal of a criminal case is indeed the requirement of
E Article 21 of the Constitution; so also a fair opportunity to place all
relevant material before the court is equally the requirement of the said
article. Therefore, if the Court feels that the interest of justice demands
that the matter should be adjourned to enable both sides to place the
relevant material touching on the question of sentence before the Court,
F the above extracted proviso cannot preclude the court from doing so.
But in the instant case we find that both the accused decided to plead
guilty. Accused No.1 had done so at the earlier stage of the trial when he
filed the statement Exh. 60A. Accused No. 5 had also made up his mind
when he filed the statement Exh. 922 even before his examination under
G section 313 of the Code. Accused No. 1 had reiterated his determination
when he filed the statement Exh. 919. Thus both the accused had mentally
decided to own their involvement in the murder of General Vaidya before
their statements were recorded under section 313 of the Code. Not only _,.....__
that their attitude reveals that they had resolved to kill him as they
H considered him an enemy of the sikh community since he had desecrated
STATE v. SUKHDEO SINGH [AHMADI, J.] 535
the Akal Takht. They also told the trial court that they were proud of their A
act and were not afraid of death and were prepared to sacrifice their lives
for the article of their faith, namely, the realisation of their dream of a
separate State of Khalistan. It is thus apparent that before they made their
statements admitting their involvement they had mentally prepared them-
selves for the extreme penalty and, therefore, if they desired to place any
B
material for a lesser sentence they had ample opportunity to do so. But
after the decision of this Court in Kehar Singh's case and having regard to
the well planned manner in which they executed their resolve to kill
General Vaidya, they were aware that there was every likelihood of the
Court imposing the extreme penalty and they would have, if they so desired,
placed material in their written statements or would have requested the c
Court for time when their statements under section 313 of the Code were
- recorded, if they desired to pray for a lesser sentence. Their resolve not to
do so is reflected in the fact that they have not chosen to file any appeal
against their convictions by the Designated Court. We are, therefore, of
the view that in the present case the requirements of section 235 (2) of the D
Code have been satisfied in letter and spirit and no prejudice is shown to
have occurred to the accused. We, therefore, reject this contention of the
learned counsel for the accused.
For the above reasons, we are of the opinion that the decision of the
learned Trial Judge is based on sound reasons and is unassailable. We, E
therefore, confirm the conviction of accused No.1 under section 302 and
307, IPC and accused No.5 under section 302 and 307, IPC, both re~d with
section 34, IPC and the sentence of death awarded to both of them. We
see no merit in the State's appeal against the acquittal of the other accused
- persons of all the charges levelled against them and accused Nos. 1 and 5 F
on the other counts with which they were charged and accordingly dismiss
the stage's Criminal Appeal No. 17 of 1990. The Death Reference No. 1
of 1989 will stand disposed of as stated above.
Before we part we must express our deep sense of gratitude for the
excellent assistance rendered to us by the learned Additional Solicitor G
General, the learned counsel for the State of Maharashtra and the learned
Advocates appointed as amicus curiae to represent the accused persons.
But for their excellent marshalling and analysis of the evidence which runs
into several volumes we may have found it difficult to compress the same
and reach correct conclusions. A word of special praise is due to the H
536 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1992) 3 S.C.R.
A learned advocates Shri H.V.Nimbalkar and Shri LS.Goyal both of whom,
sacrificed their practice at Pune and attended to this case from time to
time devoting their valuable professional hours at considerable personal
inconvenience. Their devotion and dedication is also evident from the fact
that apart from making twenty trips to Delhi they spent a sizeable amount
of Rs. 29,00G from their own pockets as against which they have received
B a sum of Rs. 5,000 only on 29th October, 1991. At one point of time they
had also difficulty in procuring accommodation in Maharashtra Sadan till
we passed orders in that behalf. Such devotion and dedication enhances
the image and prestige of the legal profession. Apart from the time actually
spent on the aforesaid twenty occasions in this Court one has to merely
c imagine the number of hours they must have devoted for preparing the
defence. We direct the State of Maharashtra to pay the outstanding amount
of Rs. 24,000 which they have spent for travel and lodging and boarding
expenses and we also direct that they together be paid a further sum of Rs.
25,000 by way of profe~.:.ional fees for rendering service as amicus curiae.
-
The said amount will be paid to them within one month from today.
V.P.R. Death Reference disposed
of/Appeal dismissed.
-
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