STATE OF RAJASTHANversusSRI CHAND

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                                    [2015] 6 S.C.R. 321


                                   STATE OF RAJASTHAN             A
                                                      v.
                                        SRI CHAND
                       (Criminal Appeal No. 561 OF 2009)
                                                                  B
                                      MAY 11, 2015
                           [PINAKI CHANDRA GHOSE AND .
                               UDAY UMESH LALIT, JJ.]

           Penal Code, 1860: ss.3761511 -Attempt to rape 12       c
  years old girl - Trial court acquitted accused-respondent of
  offence ulss. 3761511 and found him guilty for offence uls.354
  and granted benefit of Probation of Offenders Act in view of
  his clear record and no prior conviction - High Court refused
  to interfere with the order of trial court- On State's appeal, D
  Held: There was no eye witness on record apart from the
  prosecutrix herself for proving offence of attempt of rape -
• PW3 only saw the accused fleeing away and the alleged
  eye witness, was never produced before the Court nor her
  statement was recorded u/s.161 Cr.P.C. -Also, no medical E
  examination of the prosecutrix was conducted- The offence
  of attempt to rape was, therefore, not proved beyond
  reasonable doubt - However, he was rightly convicted u/
  s.354 - The offence of outraging the modesty is heinous in
  nature and there is no reason for granting benefit ofprobation F
  in this case - The accused is not granted benefit of Probation
  of Offenders Act, 1958.

              Partly allowing the appeal, the Court
                                                                  G
        HELD: 1. FIR was recorded under Section 376 read
 with Section 511 of IPC i.e. attempt to rape and not rape
 per se. The prosecutrix in her statement stated that the
 accused took her inside her house, closed it, undressed
 her and undressed himself. Thereafter, she stated, he            H
                                                 321
322        SUPREME COURT REPORTS                [2015] 6 S.C.R.


A     got on to her and did bad work. On being repeatedly
      asked what bad work was done, she kept quiet and
      bowed her head, in embarrassment understandably. One
      must not lose sight of the fact that the prosecutrix was
      a minor child atthe time of the incident. The father (PWS)
B     of the prosecutrix categorically stated that bad work
      meant rape. However, veracity of his statement is
      doubtful since he was not an eye witness and was not
      even told about the incident by the prosecutrix. He was
      told details of the incident by PW3 who was not an eye
C     witness to the incident. However, PW3 was the first
      person to have learnt of the offence from the prosecutrix
      and he has completely corroborated her version. By this
      consistent evidence what was proved beyond
      reasonable doubt is the offence under Section 354 of
0
      IPC. However, the question of attempt to rape was not
      proved beyond reasonable doubt. It was held in Aman
      Kumar's case that in order to come to the conclusion
      that attempt to rape is committed it should be shown
E     that the accused was determined to have sexual
      connection (penetration) with the prosecutrix at all
      events inspite of all resistance. In the present case, the
      accused fled away when the PW3 came to the place of
      incident due to shouting of the prosecutrix. This would
F     show he wasn't determined to have sexual connection
      with the prosecutrix despite all resistance and odds. Also
      there were inconsistencies in the statement of the
      prosecutrix wherein she stated that she had suffered
      injuries on her breast but same was not corroborated
G     by the medical evidence. Also, 'S' who is an important
      eye witness was not produced as a witness. In this view
      of the matter, offence of attempt to rape was not proved
      sufficiently. [Para 8] [327-B-G;328-B-E]

H           Aman Kumar and Anr. vs. State of Haryana (2004) 4
        STATE OF RAJASTHAN v. SRI CHAND                      323
                                              •



SCC 379: 2004 (2) SCR 237; Tarkeshwar Sahu vs. State of A
Bihar (now Jharkhand) (2006) 8 SCC 560: 2006 (7) Suppl.
SCR 10 - relied on.

        3. In the present case the accused was not a
minor, rather he committed an offence against a minor         B
girl. Further, the evidence on record showed that he ran
away only when the prosecutrix screamed and PW3
came to the place of incident, which showed that the
accused could have had worse intentions. The offence
is heinous in nature and there is no reason for granting      C
benefit of probation in this case. The trial court has not
given any special consideration to the character of the
accused apart from the fact that this was the first
conviction of the accused. This is far from sufficient
to grant probation in an offence like outraging the           D
modesty of a woman. The accused respondent is not
granted the benefit of Probation of Offenders Act, 1958,
but his conviction is maintained under Section 354 l.P.C.
only. The accused respondent is hereby sentenced to
rigorous imprisonment for two years. [Paras 11, 12]           E
[329-F-H; 330-A-C]

    Azhar Ali vs. State of West Bengal (2013) 10 SCC 31:
2013 (9) SCR 911; State of Himachal Pradesh vs. Dharam
Pal (2004) 9 SCC 681 - referred to.                      F

                  Case Law Reference
  2004 (2) SCR 237             relied on.         Para 8
  2006 (7) Suppl. SCR 10       relied on.         Para 8
  2013 (9) SCR 911             referred to.       Para 9      G
  (2004) 9 sec 681             referred to.       Para 10
      CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal
Appeal No. 561 of 2009
                                                              H
324        SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 (2015] 6 S.C.R.


A            From the Judgment and Order dated 24.01.2007 of
      the High Court of Rajasthan at Jaipur Bench, Jaipur in S. B.
      Criminal Leave to Appeal No. 255 of 2003

           Shiv Mangal Sharma, AAG, Puneet Parihar, Milind
B     Kumar for the Appellant.

            Nidhi for the Respondent.

            The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

C           PINAKI CHANDRA GHOSE, J. - 1. This appeal, by
  special leave, has been filed by the State of Rajasthan
  against the judgment and order dated 24.01.2007 passed
  by the High Court of Rajasthan, Jaipur Bench, Jaipur, in S.B.
  Criminal Leave to Appeal No.255 of 2003, whereby the High
D Court rejected the appeal of the State filed against the
  acquittal of the respondent.

          2. The facts of this case, as per the prosecution story,
  are that on 1.08.2002, Gujarmal son of Sukkan Ram Lali,
E resident of Baseth, P.S. Kathumar, District Laxmangarh
  (Rajasthan), submitted a written report at Police Station
  Kathumar stating therein that on 31.7.2002, at around 10
  AM., his daughter the prosecutrix, aged 12 years, had gone
  to the jungle to graze buffaloes. Sri Chand son of Madan Lal
F Saini, whose house is in the jungle, approached his daughter,
  the prosecutrix and told her that his sister was calling her.
  By luring her in this way, Sri Chand took his daughter the
  prosecutrix to his house. No one was there in the house and
  Sri Chand took his daughter the prosecutrix inside the room,
G closed the door from inside, forcibly undressed her and made
  her to lie on the ground and started raping her forcibly.The
  prosecutrix cried upon which Sri Chand put some cloth in
  her mouth. Hearing her cries, Bihari Saini, who was passing
H nearby, reached there and he witnessed the whole incident.
  Saroj wife of Prahlad also reached at the site. Out of fear,
                                              .   .;·.             \c
         STATE OF RAJASTHAN v. SRI CHAND.                          325
            [PINAKI CHANDRA GHOSE, J.]

accused Sri Chand fled: away from the place of incident.            A

       3. On the basis of the above written report, Case
No.116/2002 was registered under Section 376/511 of the
Indian Penal Code, 1860 ("IPC") and investigation started.
During the course of investigation, Investigating Officer ASI       B
Heera Lal visited the site and prepared a site map.
Statements of complainant Gujarmal, prosecutrix and Bihari
Saini were recorded under Section 161 of Cr.P.C. statement
of prosecutrix was also got recorded under Section 164
Cr.P.C. and she was further examined atAlwar to ascertain           C
her age, medical and for X-ray. A report regarding her age
was obtained in which the age of prosecutrix was stated as
16 years. Accused Sri Chand was arrested and was got
examined regarding his potency to perform sexual
intercourse . After the investigation, it was found that accused    D
Sri Chand committed the offence under Section 376/511 of
IPC. A charge-sheet was filed in the Court of Judicial
Magistrate, Kathumar, and thereafter the case was
committed to the Court of Additional District and Sessions
Judge, Laxmangarh, for adjudication. Accused Sri Chand              E
was served the charge-sheet and he denied the charges
and claimed for trial.

       4. Before the Trial Court, the prosecution examined
ten witnesses and after analyzing the evidence on record F
and after hearing the arguments advanced on behalf of the
parties, the Trial Court acquitted the accused respondent by
granting him probation. The State of Rajasthan preferred an
appeal before the High Court, for grant of leave to appeal
againstthe order of acquittal, which was rejected. Aggrieved G
by the order of the High Court, the state of Rajasthan has
preferred this criminal appeal, by special leave, before this
Court.

       5. We have heard the learned counsel appearing for           H
326         SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2015) 6 S.C.R.


A     the State of Rajasthan and the learned counsel appearing
      for the accused respondent and have perused the judgment
      rendered by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast
      Track, Laxmangarh.

B             6. The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge,
      Fast Track, Laxmangarh, noticed in his judgmentthat though
      there is a serious charge of attempt to rape against the
      accused but the First Information Report has been lodged
      with a delay of about 28 hours for which neither any
C     explanation has been given iri the Report nor the complainant
      has mentioned anything in his statement about the said delay,
      which makes the prosecution case doubtful. The learned
      Sessions judge further found that the statement of PW3
      Biharilal Saini cannot be doubted as it corroborates the
D     statement of PW5 the prosecutrix herself. However, PW3
      had stated that when he reached the house of Sri Chand he
      saw Sri Chand fleeing away while prosecutrix was inside
      and her clothes were disturbed. The learned Sessions Judge
      noted that non production of Saroj, an alleged eye witness,
E     is an important circumstance; however, the testimony of
      prosecutrix cannot be discarded on this ground. The
      prosecutrix in her statement has corroborated the story in
      FIR, as recorded above. However she only says that the
F     accused did bad work with her. On repeated questioning
      about what bad work was done, she remained quiet with
      head bowed down. The learned Sessions judge found that
      there is consistent statement of the prosecutrix and PW3
      that accused Sri Chand undressed her as well as himself.
G     Therefore, the learned Sessions Judge found the offence
      under Section 354 of IPC as proved. Thereupon, the learned
      Sessions Judge went on to grant the accused benefit of
      Probation of Offenders Act in view of his clear record and no
      prior conviction.
H
             7. The learned High Court after hearing counsels for
          STATE OF RAJASTHAN v. SRI GHAND1·
             [PINAKI CHANDRA GHOSE, J.]

both the sides and having examined the judgment of the               A
Sessions Judge refused to grant leave to appeal.

        8. We find that that FIR was recorded under Section
376 read with Section 511 of IPC i.e. attempt to rape and
not rape per se. There is no eye witness on record apart             B
from the prosecutrix herself as PW3 Biharilal only saw the
accused fleeing away and Saroj, the alleged eye witness,
was never produced before the Court nor her statement was
recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. Also, no medical
examination of the prosecutrix has been conducted. The               C
prosecutrix has in her statement stated that the accused Sri
Chand took her inside her house, closed it, undressed her
and undressed himself. Thereafter, she states, he got on to
her and did bad work. On being repeatedly asked what bad
work was done, she kept quiet and bowed her head, in                 D
embarrassment understandably. One must not lose sight of
the fact that the prosecutrix was a minor child at the time of
the incident. The father (PW6) of the prosecutrix has
categorically stated that bad work meant rape. However, we
find difficulty in veracity of his statement since he was not        E
an eye witness and was not even told about the. incident by
the prosecutrix. He was told details of the incident by Biharilal
(PW3) who is not an eye witness to the incident. However,
Biharilal was the first person to have learnt of the offence         F
from the prosecutrix and he has completely corroborated
her version. By this consistent evidence what is proved
beyond reasonable doubt is the offence under Section 354
of IPC. However, the question of attempt to rape is not proved
beyond reasonable doubt. On the question of attempt to rape,         G
learned counsel appearing for the respondent has sought to
rely on two precedents being Aman Kumar and Anr. Vs.
State of Haryana, (2004) 4 SCC 379, and Tarkeshwar Sahu
Vs. State ofBihar(nowJharkhand), (2006) 8 SCC 560. In
both the cited judgments it is held that for the act to constitute   H
          SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2015) 6 S.C.R.


A  offence of rape penetration is pre-requisite (this is the pre
  2013 Criminal Amendment position of law) and therefore for
  the offence of attempt to rape the accused must have so
  advanced in his actions that it would have resulted into rape
  had some extraneous factors not intervened. It is held in
B Aman Kumar's case that in order to conie to the conclusion
  that attempt to rape is committed it should be shown that
  the accused was determined to have sexual connection
  (penetration) with the prosecutrix at all events inspite of all
  resistance. In the present case the accused fled away on
C when the PW3 came to the place of incident due to shouting
  of the prosecutrix. This shows he wasn't determined to have
  sexual connection with the prosecutrix despite all resistance ,
  and odds. Also it would be relevant to note that there are
  inconsistencies in the statement of the prosecutrix wherein
0
  she states that she had suffered injuries on her breast but
  same is not corroborated by the medical evidence. Also,
  Saroj, who is an important eye witness, is not produced as a
  witness. In this view of the matter, we find it difficult to hold
E that offence of attempt to rape is proved to a sufficient
  measure.

          9. Now we move to the question of sentence vis-a-
  vis the benefit granted under the Probation of Offenders Act,
F 1958. In Azhar Ali Vs. State of West Bengal, (2013) 10
  SCC 31, this Court while dealing with the question of
  applicability of 1958 Act to an offence under Section 354 of
  IPC, found as follows:

      "12. In the instant case, as the appellant has committed
G     a heinous crime and with the social conditions prevailing
      in the society, the modesty of a women has to be
      strongly guarded and as the appellant behaved like a
      roadside Romeo, we do not think it is a fit case where
      the benefit of the 1958 Act should be given to the
H
      Appellant."
         STATE OF RAJASTHAN v. SRI CHAND                     32,9
  n
            [P'l.NAKI CHANDRA GHOSE, J.j l<"~

         10. In State ofHimachal Pradesh Vs. Dharam Pal, A
 (2004) 9 SCC 681, this Court was dealing with probation of
 offenders in case of offence of attempt to commit rape. The
 finding of this Court in the said judgment is relevant for all
 the offences against the women, which is as follows:
                                                                B
    "6. According to us, the offence of an attempt to commit
    rape is a serious offence, as ultimately if translated
    into the act leads to an assault on the most valuable
    possession of a woman i.e. character, reputation,
    dignity and honour. In a traditional and conservative       C
    country like India, any attempt to mi.sbehave or sexually
    assault a woman is one of the most depraved acts.
    The Act (Probation of Offenders Act, 1958) is intended
    to reform the persons who can be reformed and would
    cease to be a nuisance in the society. But the discretion   D
    to exercise the jurisdiction under Section 4 (of the
    Probation of Offenders Act, 1958) is hedged with a
    condition about the nature of the offence and the
    character of the offender."
                                                                E
In above case although this Court did not interfere with the
benefit of probation granted by the High Court due to peculiar
facts of the case however it did not approve the reasoning
given by the High Court.
                                                               F
         11. In the present case the accused is not a minor,
 rather he has committed an offence against a minor girl who
 is helpless. Further, it is clear from the evidence on record
that he ran away only wheri the prosecutrix screamed and
 PW3 came to the place of incident, which goes on to show G
that the accused could have had worse intentions. The
offence is heinous in nature and there is no reason for
granting benefit of probation in this case. The Trial Court
has not given any special consideration to the character of
~the accused apart from the fact that this was the first H
330          SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2015] 6 S.C.R.


A     conviction of the accused. We find this is far from sufficient
      to grant probation in an offence like outraging the modesty
      ofa woman.

          12. In view of the discussion in the foregoing
B paragraphs, we allow this appeal to the limited extent that
  the accused respondent is not granted the benefit of
  Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, but his conviction is
  maintained under Section 354 l.P.C. only. The accused
  respondent is hereby sentenced to rigorous imprisonment
C for two years. The respondent is directed to surrender within
  a period of two weeks to serve out the sentence, failing which
  the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Laxmangarh,
  shall take necessary steps to take him into custody to serve
  out the sentence. Let a copy of this judgment be sent to the
D Additional District and Sessions Judge, Laxmangarh, for
  information and necessary action.

      Devika Gujral                             Appeal partly allowed.


E