STATE OF UTTAR PRADESHversusLALLOO & OTHERS.

                                                                  543

                                                                         A
                          STATE OF ll1TAR PRADESH
                                    v.
                             LALLOO & OTHERS.




,
'
                             AUGUST 13, 1985

              [S. MURTAZA FAZAL ALI AND A. VARADARAJAN, JJ ·]

         A. Murder trial - Evidence of eye witnesses, appreciation of
    - Probability of their presence at the scerie of occurrence of the
    crime - Section 3 of the Evidence Act.
                                                                         ll




                                                                         c
         B. First Information Report - Gan the authoriship of the
    First Information Report be doubted, just because the report is
    long and contains all the details - Sections 144 and 145 of the
    Code of Criminal Procedure (Act II of 1974), .1973 read with
    Section 114 of the Evidence Act.
                                                                         D
         c. Conviction and sentence - Where two view~ leading to the
    guilt of the accused, on the evidence available on record are not
    possible, conviction is justified - Even in case of gruesome and
    cold-blooded orurder long delay in hearing an appeal justifies
    conversion of death sentences into one of life imprisonment -
    Supreme Court Rules, 1966 .Order XXII read· with order XI.VI and
    Article l42tl) of the Constitution.                                   E

          Respondent Laloo and three others were charged, convicted,
    and  sentenced to death for the cOlllDiasion of the off~e of
    orurder under section 302 IPC read with section 34 IPC of the
    deceased Babu Jaleshwar Singh under bright moonlight and at about
    8 p.m. on 24.9.1974, while he was accompanied by the three eye           F
    witnesses, Ram Surat (PW 1), Subhan Sain (PW 2), Bansidhar (PW
    3). The prosecution case was;_ (a) that there was a long standing
    enmity between the accused and the deceased Jaleshwar Singh who
    was a leading l.aild owner and agriculturist of Mangalpura and the
    Pradhan of that village for over 18 or 20 years before the date
    of occurrence; (ii) that the deceased had stated in his complaint         G
    Ex. KA-13 dated 14.2.1973 that the accused and the one Chandrika
)
    Mall.ah were planning to kill him due to election and litigation.
    enmity and were collecting money for that purpose amongst
    themselves; (iii) that the accused· and others had moved two
    Complaints for the removal of the deceased as Pradhan of
    Mangalpura; that while the first complaint had been rejected by           H
    the Sub-divisional Officer, Ballia on 10.5.1974, the second
    544              SUPfili.ME COURT REPORTS    [1985] SUPP.2 s.c.R.


A   complaint was pending enquiry before that officer at the time of
    his death and factually the deceased accompanied by PWs 1 to 3
    was returning after attending the case posted on that day; (iv)
    that while they were returning, at the end of the Moonj jungle
    situate about 1-1/2 furlongs away from Mangalpura village the
    accused respondents attacked the deceased with the tamancha
B   (country-made pistol) and daos (long heavy knives used for
    slaughtering goats and cutting wood); (v) that it was Lalloo who
    fired with his tamancha and the deceased fell down after recei-
    ving _injury on his chfst and on his exhortion to_ severe his neck
    the others Ganga Da:.;al Gond, Sri Kishun. Chamar and Jagan Nath
    Godaria pounced upon the deceased and cut the neck; (vi) that
    when PWs 1 _to 3 shou~ed in disapproval of what the respondents
c   were doing, Lalloo . pointed his tamancha towards them and
    threatened to kill them and getting frightened they ran towards
                          I
    Gosainpur and after itiforming Ayodhaya and Sheo ·that the respon-
    dents had attacked the deceased they rushed to Mangalpura where
    they met Kharag Bahad~r (PW 6) and others and informed them also
    about the attack on : the deceased by the respondents accused;
    (vii) that the first information report was written by Raghubana
D   Tiwari (PW 16) of Mangalpura with the particulars furnished by PW
    1 at the spot at abo4t 9 p.m. on 24.9.74, and later handed over
    by PW 1 at Bansidh Police Station, PW 15; (viii) that PW 15 left
    the police station along with PW l and others for the scene of
    occurrence at 1.30 a.m.• on 25.9.74 and began his investigation at
    the spot at 4 a.m.; (ix) that the headless body was identified to
    be that of the deceased Jaleshwar Singh by PWo 1,3,6 and 16 and
    Bachchalal (PW 5) - ail of whom belonged to Mangalpura; (x) that
    autopsy on the body :of the deceased disclosed, incised wound
     severing the neck completely, multiple gun shot wounds on the
                            I                                •
    upper part of the frqnt chest, and abraded contusiona over the
    upper part of the hip;: and (xi) that the doctor opined that death
F   was due to severence' of the neck by a sharp-edged and heavy
     cutting weapon and that the injury to the neck was sufficient in
     the ordinary course of nature to cause death.

          For cOming to the-conclusion as to conviction and sentence,
    the Trial Court accept~d the evidence of PWs l to 3 who were
G   examined as eye witnes~es and also the evidence of PW 5 and 6 and
    relied upon the ~'irst Information Report given by PW 1. But on
    appeal, the Learned µudges of the High Court suspected the
    genuineness of the Fir~t Information Report as being that of PW l
    for the reason that it was quite long and contained all the
    details, rejected the evidence of PWs l to 3 about the occurrence
H   and acquitted. the respondents, although they found that the
                         STATE v. LALLOO                       545


factum of the occurrence of the crime, the prosecution case with      A
regard to its time and the weapons used in the assault fully
corroborated by medical evidence while the recovery of blood
fixed the venue of the crime. Hence the appeal by the stat"'

     Allowing the appeal and while confirming their convictions,
the Court altered the sentence of death passed on them to that of     B
imprisonment and

    HELD: 1.1 A thorough and careful analysis of the evidence on
record shows that the evidence of PWs 1 to 3 .are true and reli-
able and that they were present at the scene and at the time of
the CO!llllission of the offence. And this is not a case where two    C
views of the evidence available on record are possible. [555 D-F]

     1.2 It cannot be said that if there are ten pieces of cir-
cumstantial evidence in a case, an inference that the investiga-
ting officer did not have honest belief in the truth of the
proceedings nine pieces of circumstantial evidence, merely            D
because he had brought on record even the tenth piece of circum-
stantial evidence. [551 E-F)

     1.3 Exhibit Ka-1 is the only first information report in
the case and that it was scribed by PW 16 at the spot on the
basis of particulars furnished by P.W.l at 9 p.m. and handed over
by P.W.l at the police station at about 11.30 p.m. on the same        E
day and that only after a case .had been registered on the basis
of that first information report, P.W.15 left the police station
along with P.w.1·and others at 1.30 a.m. on 25.9.1974 and reached
the scene of occurrence at 4 a.m. To contend that PW 1 is not the
author of the first information report and it was recorded at the
police station at 11 a.m. on 25.9.1974 on the evidence of P.W.16      F
who is a self-condemned witness who had been treated as hostile
to the prosecution will not only be inconsistent but also
incorrect. If it had been recorded only at that time it is
improbable that copies thereof would have been delivered by PW 14
to the higher authorities in the morning of 25.9.1974. [553 B,D)
                                                                      G
     1.4 No adverse inference call be drawn from the , cross-exami-
nation of PW 15 to the effect that the first parcha of the case
diary which is dated 25.9.1974 bears the signature of the Deputy
Superintendent of police and endorsement of his off ice has made
on 28.9.1974 and without the seal of that office. That there was
delay in the receipt of the copies of relevant records from the       H
    546                SUPR!jME COURT REPORTS       ll985] SUPP.2 s.c.R.

A
    police station in tl\e office of the Superintendent of Police
    though even accordiI)8 to the evidence of PW 16 which is
    unreliable the first information report was in existence at least
    at 11 a.m. on 25,9.19]4 is incorrect. [552 G-H, 553 A-B]

B        1.5 The facts that P.W.l was seen by PW 6 soon after the
    occurrence, and he g~t the first information report scribed by
    PW 16 at 9 p.m. on ,24.9.74 itself and handed it over at the
    police station at ll.30 p.m. on the same day and accompanied PW
    15 from the police s:tation to the scene of occurrence at l.30
    a.m. on 25,9,74 probablise the evidence of PW 1 that he had gone
    to Ballia on 24.9.74 iui'1 left that place for Mangalpura by a bus
c   along with the deceas~d. [553 G-H, 554 A]

         1.6 The name of ~ l not finding a place in the order sheet
    of the Trial Court at Ballia is not a sure base for holding that
    he couuld not have gone to Ballia on 24.9.1974. Equally the evi-
                          '
    deuce of PW 2 to the,effect   that much jungle falls in the first
    route and therefore people
                          I
                                go  by that route only during the day
D   time while the second route which is plain is normally taken by
    the commutors during IU-ght is convincing. The. High Court failed
    to take note of the fact that it was night time and PW 2 would
    have had the company Jf the deceased and PWs 1 and 3. Further the
    examination of PW 15 at Mangalpura by PW 1 to 3 on 25.9.1974
    itself also probablises their presence and witneasing the
    occurrence of the crime. PW l alone belongs to Mangalpura while
    PWs 2 and 3 belongs to different villages. PWs 2 and 3 are
    independent witnesses and PW l is a respectable witness as he is
    a member of te Gram Sabha and President of the Co-operative
    Society, though admittedly he was the pairo)<ar of the deceased in
    the case for which he had gone to Ballia on 24.9.1974 which has a
F   little importance. [554 B-G, 555 A,D-E]

            CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 320 of
    1977.

          From the Judgment and Order dated 27.10.1976 of the Allaha-
G   bad liigh Court in Criminal Appeal No. 1411 of 1976.

            Dalveer Bhandari jand Manoj Prasad for the appellants.

            R.K.Garg, L.R. Singh, N.M. Popli and    V.J. Francis for the
    respondents.
H
            The Judgment of t;he Court was delivered by
                STATE v. LALLOO [VARADARAJAN, J. J           547


     VARADARAJAN, J. This appeal by special is by the State of      A
Uttar Pradesh against the acquittal of the respondents Lalloo,
Ganga Dayal Gond, Sri Kishun Chamar and Jagan Nath Godaria by the
High Court, reversing the judgment of the trial court which
convicted them and sentenced them to death under section 302 IPC
for the murder of one Babu Jaleshwar Singh at about 8 p .m. on
24.9.1974 •                                                         B

    • The case of t~e prosecution has been set out in the
judguients of the courts below. Therefore, it is not necessary to
set out in detail the facts of the case in this judgment. Suffice
it to say that the prosecution case is that there was long stan-
ding enmity between the respondents and. the deceased Jaleshwar     c
Singh who was a leading land owner and agriculturist of
Mangalpura and the Pradhan of that village for 18 or 20 years
before he was murdered at about 8 p.m. on 24.9.1974 at the end
of the moonj jungle situate about 1-1/2 furlongs away from
Mangalpura village when he was coming along the footpath running
through that moonj jungle in the company of Ram Surat (PW l),       D
Subhan Sain (PW 2); Bansidhar (PW 3) by the respondents attacking
him with a tamancha (country-made pistol) and daos (long heavy
knives used for slaughtering goats and cutting wood). There was
bright moonlight during that night it being the day of Bhado Sudi
9 and there were also torch-lights with P.Ws. l and 3. PWs. l to
3 belongs respectively to Mangalpura, Ram Nagar and Shankerpura
which is situate about 1-1/2 miles north of Mangalpura. P.W.l is    E
Adhyaksha (President) of the Co-operative Society of Mangalpura
besides being a member of the Gram Sabha of that village. The
respondent Jagan · Nath belongs to Gosainpur which being a nearby
village is included in Mangalpura Gram Sabha while the other
three resjSOndents belong to Mangalpura itself. The respondent,
Jagan Nath is also a member of . the same Gram Sabha. There was     F
admittedly long-standing enmity between the respondents and the
deceased Jaleshwar Singh right from 1959. The deceased had stated
in his complaint Ex.Ka-13 dated 14.2.1973 !;_hat the respondents
and one Chandrika Mallah were planning to kill him due to elec-
tion and litigation enmity and were collecting money for that
purpose amongst themselves. The respondents and others had moved    G
two ·complaints for the removal of the deceased as Pradhan of
Mangalpura. The first of those complaints had been rejected by
the Sub-'Divisionsl Officer, Ballia on 10.5.1974 while the second
was pending enquiry before that Officer at the time of his death.
The deceased accompanied by PWs l to 3 was returning on 24.9.1974
from Ballia where he had gone in connection with the enquiry into
the second complaint which had been posted on that day. The facts
relating to the admitted enmity between the respondents and the
deceased are mentioned in para 10 of the trial court's judgment.
    548              SUPREME COURT REPORTS         [1985) SUPP.2 s.c.R.

A
         When the deceased was going a little ahead of l'Ws. 1 to 3 in
    the eastern end of the moonj jungle, the respondents emerged from
    the moonj plants, armed, Lalloo with a tamancha, Sri Kishun and
    Ganga Dayal with da9s and Jagan Nath with a whip. Lalloo fired
    with his tamancha and the deceased fell down after receiving
B   injury on his chest. The.refore, Lalloo exhorted the other
    respondents for cut~ing the neck of the deceased whereupon the
    other respondents pounced upon the deceased for severing his
    neck. When P.Ws 1 to 3 shouted in disapproval of what the respon-
    dents were doing, Lalloo pointed his tamancha towards them and
    threatened to kill them. They, therefore, got frightened and ran
    towards Gosainpur and after informing Ayodhaya and Sheo that the
c   respondents had atta,cked the deceased they rushed to Mangalpura
    where they met Kharag Bahadur (PW 6) and others and informed them
    also about the attac~ on the deceased by the respondents. Subse-
    quently all of them went to the scene of occurrence and·found the
    deceased's headless body lying in a pool of blood.
            I
          The first information report was written by Raghubans
D
    Tiwari (PW 16) of Maµgalpura with the particulars furnished by PW
    1 at the spot at about 9 p.m. on 24.9.1974. It was handed over by
    p;w.1 at Bansidh police station at' 11.30 p.m. on 24.9.1974 to the
    Sub-Inspector of police P.W.15. P.W.15 left the police station
    along with P.W 1 and others for the scene of occurrence at 1.30
    a.m. on 25.9.1974 and he began his investigation at the spot at 4
    a.m.    '
E           "'
          The headless bo~y was identified to be that of the deceased
    Jaleshwar Singh by P\ls. 1,3,6 and 16 and Bachchalal (P.W 5) all
    of whom belong to Mangalpura. The trunk was further identified to
    be that of the deci:ased Jaleshwar Singh with reference to the           ••
F
    towel(Ex·. II), ganj (Ex.III), kurta (Ex.IV), dhoti (Ex. V), chhata
    (Ex.VI), hand-kerchief (Ex.XI), letter (Ex.XII) addressed to the
    deceased on which he had written that he had given Rs.10 to PW 1
    for bringing witness~s and thumb-impression of the deceased which
    had been compared with his undisputed thumb impression. Autopsy
    on the body of the deceased Jaleshwar Singh disclosed (1) incised
    wound severing the neck completely; (2) multiple gun shot wounds
G
    on the upper part of the front chest and (3) abraded contusions
    over the, upper part of the hip. The doctor opined that death was
    due to severence of the neck by a sharp-edged and heavy cutting
    weapon 'and that the injury to the neck was sufficient in the
    ordinary course of nature to cause death.
H
          The entire prosecution case against the respon1ents rests on
                                                                             ...
    the evidence of l'Ws 1 to 3 who were examined as eye.:...itnesses and-
                 STATE v. LALLOO lVARADARAJAN, J.]           549

                                                                    A
also on the evidence of PWs 5 and 6 •. The learned Sessions Judge
accepted their evidence and relied upon the first information·
report given by PW 1 and found that all the respondents had
committed the brutal murder of Jaleshwar Singh on account of the
adoµtted enmity and he accordingly convicted and sentenced them
to death under section 302 read with section 34 I.P .c. But on      B
appeal the learned Judges of the High Court suspected the
genuineness of the first information report as being that of PW l
and rejected the evidence of PWs l to 3 abOut the occurrence and
acquitted the respondents although they found:

           "The medical evidence leaves no room for doubt as to     c
          .the factum of the occurrence, and the prosecution case
           with regard to its time and the weapons used in the
           assault also receives broad corrOboration from it. The
           place of occurrence (near the eastern end of the
           jungle of moonj plants in village Mangalpura) is also
           fixed up by the recovery of blood from there."           D

     The case of the prosecution is that the lnf ormant PW l got
the first information report scribed by PW 16 at the spot at
about 9 p.m. on 24.9.1974 and presented it at the police station
at 11.30 p.m. on the same day to the Sub-Inspector of police PW
15 and that PW 15 left the police station after registering the
case to the scene of· occurrence along with PW 1 and others at      E
1.30 a.m. on 25.9.1974 and began his investigation at 4 a.m• The
names of the respondents as the assailants of the deceased as
well as the names of PWs. 1 to 3 as those of eye-witnesses are
mentioned in. the first information repo.rf and all the three
witnesses had been examined by PW 15 on 25.9.1974 itself
although, as stated earlier, PW l alone belongs to Mangalpura and       F
PWs. 2 and 3 belong to Shankerpura and Ram Nagar respectively.
The prosecution relied on the evidence of PW 5 who has stated
that he saw all the respondents sitting and talking under cover
of the rm.mjahani near about the scene of occurrence at about
nightfall on 24.9.1974 and that at about 8.30 or 8.45 p.m. --on
that day he heard shouts that the respondents whose names he has        G
mentioned were beating Babu Jaleshwar Singh. On hearing those
shouts PW 5 ran and on the way he met PW 6 and others and he went
along with them to the scene of occurrence and saw the headless
body of the deceased Jaleshwar Singh lying there. The evidence of
PW 6 is'that when he was sitting at his house at aout 8 p.m. on
the day of occurrence he heard the alarm "Run up people, I am           H
being killed".    He took up lathi and lantern and asked his
companions to proceed, and when· all of them were about 50 yards
        550              SUPREME COURT REPORTS       [1985) SUPP.2 s.c.R.


A       away from the out-sldrts of the village, PW 6 saw PW l and others
        coming and PW l told him that Lallo had shot the deceased Jalesh-
        war Singh with pistol., that Sri Kishun and Ganga Dayal aimed with
        daos and Jagan Nath armed with Kora (whip) were sitting on the
        chest of the deceased :ind Lalloo had said "cut the neck of sala-
        Pradhan" and that they (PWs l to 3) ran away from the scene when
B       Lalloo aimed and pistol at them. Thereafter PW 6 and others went
        to the scene of occurrence and found the headless body of Jalesh-
        war Singh lying there, and subsequently PW l got the report
        written by PW 16 and proceeded with it to the police station.

               The learned Judges of the High Court rejected the first
        information report of two grounds, namely, that it is       quite
C       long and contains all the details and that PW l is not the author
        of it'8 contents. They rejected the evidence of PWs l to 3 as
        unreliable but accepted the evidence of PW 16 that he wrote the
        first information report at the police station in the presence of
        his own father and others to the dictation of PW 15. They
        acquitted the respondents and set aside the conviction and t_he
        sentence awarded to them by the trial court.
D
              Mr. Dal veer Bhandari, learned counsel for the appellant
        State of -Uttar Pradesh took us through the evidence of PWs l to 3
        and. the other witnesses as also through the judgments of the
        courts below and submitted that the learned Judges of the High
        Court were not justified in holding that PW l is not the author
E       of the first information report and that it was written by PW 16
        at the -police station to the dictation of PW 15. He also
        submitted that the learned Judges of the High Court were not
        justified in rejecting the evidence of the eye-witnesses. PWs. l
        to 3 also of PWs. 5 and 6 and acquitting the respondents. OU the
        other hand, Mr. R.K. Garg, learned counsel for .the respondents
    F   submitted that the first Information report is not the '"brain
        child" of PW l and that it had been prepared at 11 a.m. on
        25.9.1974 as stated by PW 16 after PW 15 had visited the scene of
        occurrence and seen the injuries found on the headless body of
        the deceased Jaleshwar Singh. He submitted that the evidence of
        PW l that he had gone to Ballia in connection with the enquiry
    G   into the complaint filed for the removal of the deceased
        Jaleshwar Singh from the office of Pradhan of Mangalpura village
        and that he was accompanying him from Ballin and was present at
        the time of the occurrence is not believable at all having regard
        to the fact that although it is stated in the Hrst information
        report that PW 1 went to llallia along>'ith the deceased Jaleshwar
    H   Singh he has admitted in his evidence that he did not go with the
                STATE v. LALLOO (VARAJJARAJAN, J.]j          551


deceased to Ballia and stated   that he went to Ballia separately   A
and · reached the office of the Sub-Divisional Officer only at
about 1.30 p.m. on 24.9.1974 and also that his name is not
mentioned in the order sheet relating to that case. He further
submitted that the learned Judges of the High Court were justi-
fied in rejecting the evidence of not only PW 1 but also of PWs.
2 and 3 as unreliable and that ic would appear from the fact that   B
the investigating officer had gone in search of circumstantial
evidence by way of dress, shoes, letter, thwnb-impression etc.,
mentioned above for identifying the headless trunk as that of the
deceased Jaleshwar Singh that he did ;,ot beUeve the testimony of
PWs. 1 to 3 who are put forward as eye-witnesses in the case.
                                                                    c
      In our . opinion the submission that the investigating
officer PW 15 had no faith or honest belief in the testimony of
PWs. 1 to 3 regarding the identity of the headless trunk as that
of the deceased Jaleshwar Singh merely because he had looked up
for other circumstantial evidence to connect the headless trunk
with the deceased Jaleshwar Singh has to be stated only to be       D
rejected, for i t is impossible to hold from the fact that the
investigating officer looked up for some corroborative circwn-
stantial evidence that he did not have faith or belief in the
testimony of PWs. 1 to 3 as regards the identity and therefore it
is not possible to rely upon the evidence of PWs .1 to 3 as
regards the identity and therefore it is not possible to rely
upon the evidence of PWs 1 to 3 that they witnessed the             E
occurrence. It will be unreasonable to hold that if there are 10
pieces of circumstantial evidence in a case an inference that the
investigating officer did hot have honest belief in the truth of
the preceding 9 pieces of circumstantial evidence merely because
he had brought on record even the tenth piece of circumstantial
evidence.                                                           F

      The learned Judges of the High Court were not justified in
basing their conclusion that PW 1 is not the author of the first
information report and that it was recorded at the police station
at 11 a.m. on 25.9.1974 on the evidence of PW '16 who is a self-
condemned witness who had been treated as hostile to the prosecu-   G
tion. It is not possible to accept the evidence of PW 16 who was
admittedly present in the police station along with his father
and others and had consulted his father before writing the first
Information report and wrote it after his father asked him to
write it that he wrote it to the dictation of PW 15 at 11 a.m. on
25.9.1974 and dated it as 24.9.1974 as desired by PW 15. The        H
evidence of PW 16 is highly discrepant, for he has stated in one
    552              SUPREME COUllT REPORTS      [1985] SUPP.2 s.c.R.
            '
A   portion of his evidence that along with his father and others he
    reached the police station at about 10 a.m. on 25.9.1974 and
    returned from there at about 11 a.m. leaving only PW 1 at that
    place. In another portion of his evidence he has stated that PW
    15 came to the scene of occurrence at 8 or 9 a.m. on 25.9.1974
    and that he (PW 16) started along w.ith others to proceed to the
B   police station for the scene of occurrence only at about 9 a.m.
    on that day when PW 15 arrived. lie has further stated PW 15
    started 'for the scene of occurrence after he and the other
    persons reached the police station and that too only after the
    first information report was lodged at the police station. lie has
    also stated that he too accompanied PW i5 when he started from
    the police station at 10 or 10.30 a.m. and that he does not know
c   at what time PW 15 reached the scene of occurrence. Thus, it is
    seen that PW 16 has given highly discrepant evidence regarding
    the time at which he reached the police station along with his
    father and others including PW 1 as also about the time at which
    he claims to have written the first informatfon report to the
    dictation of PW 15 after getting the approval of his father for
    writing the same.
D
          The evidence of Uma Shankar Upadhya (PW 10) who was Head
    Constable at Bansidh police station is that PW 1 came to the
    police station at 11.30 p.m. on 24.9.1974 with the first informa-
    tion report (Ex.Ka-1) and that on the basis of that report he
    prepared the check report (Ex.KA·-21). It has been elicited in
E   his cross-examination that Constable Ram Naresh Singh (PW 14)
    left the police station carrying the special reports to his
    superior officers at 6.05 a.m. on 25.9.1974. In answer to ques-
    tions put to him in cross-examination PW 14 has stated that he
    carried the special reports to his superior officers from the
    police station. in the morning of 25.9.1974. The investigating
F   officer (PW 15) has stated in his evidence that after receipt of
    the first information report at the police station in his
    presence he took up investigation immediately and left the police
    station to the scene of occurrence along with PW 1 and others at
    about 1.30 a.m. on 25.9.1974 and reached the scene of occurrence
    at about 4 a.m. after some delay as he had to cross a river on
G   the way and wait for some time to call the boats-men. No doubt it
    has been' elicited from PW 15 in the cross-examination that the
    first parcha of the case diary which is dated 25.9.1974 bears the
    signature of the Deputy Superintendent of Police made on
    28.9.1974 but not the seal of that office. From that fact alone
    it could not be inferred that there was delay in the receipt of
    the copies of relevant records from the police station in the
                STATE v. LALLOO [VARADARAJAN, J.]             553


office of the Superintendent of Police though it may be that the     A
endorsement in that office had been made only on 28.9.1974, for
even according to the evidence of PW 16 which is unreliable the
first information report was in existence at least at 11 a.m. on
25.9.1974. In these circumstances, we accept the evidence of PW
16 and find that Ex.Ka-1 is the only first information report in
the case and that it was scribed by PW 16 at the spot on the         IS
basis of particulars finished by PW l at 9 p.m. and handed over
by PW l at the police station at about 11.30 p.m. on the same day
and that only after a case had been registered on the basis of
that first information report PW 15 left the police station along
with PW l and others at 1.30 a.m. on 25.9.1974 and reached the
scene of occurrence at 4 a.m. The learned Judges of the High         C
Court, in our opinion, erred grieviously in holding on the
unreliable evidence of PW 16 alone that the first information
report (Ex.Ka-1) was recorded at the police station at 11. a.m.
on 25.9.1974. If it had been recorded only at that time it is
improbable that copies thereof would have been delivered by PW 14
to the higher authorities in the morning of 25.9.1974 itself.        D

      The learned Judges of the High Court have rejected the evi-
dence of PW '1 for two ·reasons, namely (1) that whereas he had
stated in the first information report that he went to Ballia
along with the deceased on 24.9.1974 he has stated in his
evidence that he went to Ballia only later at about 1.30 p.m. on
that day and did not accompany the deceased from Mangalpura and      E
(2) that the name of PW 1 is not mentioned in the order-sheet of
the Sub-Divisional Officer, Ballia relating to the case in
connection with which the deceased had gone to Ballia on that
day. No doubt there is discrepancy between the recital in the
first information report and the evidence of PW i on the queStion
whether PW 1 went along with the deceased to Ballia on 24.9.1974     F
or had gone to Ballia separately and met the deceased at that
place at about 1.30 p.m. on that day. It is not a material dis-
crepancy.   It would   appear from the fact   that on the letter
(Ex.XII) an endorsement had been made by the dece11sed to the
effect that on 24.9.1974 he had given Rs.10 to ~W 1 for bring-
ing witnesses -that PW .1 who was his pairokar might have gone to    G
Ballia with or without witnesses on 24.9.1974. If he had not gone
to liallia on that day and had not accomp.nied the deceased from'
Ballia when he left that place for Nangalpura it is not probable
that PW 1 would have been seen by PW 6 soon ~f ter the occurrence
or he could have got the first informntio,n report scribed by PW
16 at 9 p.m. on 24.9.1974 itself and handed it over at the police    H
station at 11.30 p.ffi. on the same day and accompanied PW 15 from
     554             SUPREME COURT REPORTS       [1985] SUPP.2 s.c.R.

A,
     the police station to the scene of occurrence at 1.30 a.m. on
     25.9.1974. Therefore, we accept the evidence of PW l that he had
     gone to Ballia on 24.9.1974 and had left that place for
     Mangalpura by a bus along with the deceased and was present at
     the time of occurrence and had witnessed the same. The learned
     Judges of the High Court hsd not rejected the evidence of PW 2
B    that on .24.9.1974 he had been to Ballia to meet his ailing
     relation Shamshuddin Sain at Baheri in Ballia and was in his
     house upto 4 or 4.30 p.m. He has stated that he thereafter
     boarded the bus in which the deceased and PW l were seated for
     proceeding to his village for which he had to get down from the
     bus and cross a river. They have rejected the evidence of PW 2
     that he was present along with the deceased at the time of the
c    occurrence and had seen the occurrence merely because after one
     crosses the 'dah' (river) there are two routes to proceed to
     Shankerpura one of them going from the ghat towards Shankerpura
     and the second towards Mangalpura on the west and then north to
     reach Shankerpura, and the learned Judges thought that it is
     improbable that PW 2 would have taken the route which is longer
     by l or 1-1/2 miles instead of the shorter route proceedings from
D    the ghat. The learned Judges have failed to give the importance
     which it deserves to the evidence of PW 2 that much jungle falls
     in the ·first route and therefore people go by that route only
     during day time and the second route is plain and therefore they
     go through that route during night. They have also failed to take
     note of the fact that it was night time and PW 2 would have had
E    the company of the deceased and PWs. l and 3, if he went by the
     longer route and would have had to go all alone if he went by the
     shorter route running through the ghat. The learned Judges have
     rejected the evidence of PW 3 who is a trader in bullocks merely
     because he has stated in his evidence that on 24.9.1974 he went
     to Ballia for purchasing a weak bullock whereas he had pur-
     chased a stronger bullock for Rs. 1200 from nearabout his village
     a few days later. They have observed that it is improbable that
     PW 3 would have gone to Ballia on 24.9.1974 for purchasing a weak
     bullock when strong bullocks were available in neighbourhood
     itself. PW 3 who trades in bullocks might purchase weak as well
     as strong bullocks depending upon the need as rightly submitted
G    by Mr. Dalveer Bhandari. The fact that PW 3 had gone to Ballia
     for purchasing a weak bullock is not a sufficient reason for dis-
     believing his evidence that he had gone to Ballia on 24.9.1974
     for purchasing a bullock and that he travelled by the bus in
     which the deceased and PWs. l and 2 were travelling on their

H
     return from Ballia on that day. As stated earlier the name of not
     only PW 2 but those of PWs.l and 3 as eye-witnesses are mentioned
                                                                         .
                                                                         ,
               STATE v. LALLOO [VARABARAJAN, J.]              555


in the first information report which has been found to have been
recorded at 9 p.m. itself at the spot and to have been handed
over at Bansidh police station at ll.30 p.m. on the same day. Pila
l to 3 have all been examined by PW 15 at Mangalpura on 25.9.1974
itself. It is not probable that they would have been easily and
readily available for examination on 25.9.1974 itself if they had    B
not been present at the time of the occurrence and had not witne-
ssed the occurrence. PW l alone belongs to MaDgalpura while PWs 2
and 3 belong to different villages as already mentioned. We,
therefore, accept the evidence of PWs 2 and 3 as well regarding
their presence at the time-of the occurrence and witnessing the      c
scene. PWs. 2 and 3 are independent witnesses, and PW l is a
respectable witness as he is a member of the Gram Sabha and Pre8-
ident of the Co-operative Society though admittedly he was the
pairokar of the deceased in the case for which he had gone to
Ballia on 24.9._1974. The name of PW l not finding a place in the    D
order sheet is not a sure basis for holding that he could not
have gone to Ballia on 24.9.1974. PWs. l to 3 have deposed about
 the occurrence as mentioned above, and we are of the opinion that
 there is no convincing reason -for rejecting their evl.dence as
 unreliable and that the learned Judges of the High Court were not   E
 justified at all in - rejecting their evidence for the flimsy
 reasons mentioned by them. We are also of the opinion that the
 learned trial Judge was absolutely justified in acceping the
 evidence of the prosecution witnesses and convicting the
 reopondents for the offence of murder and that the learned Judges   F
 of the High Court had not justification whatsoever for reversing
 that judgment and acquitting the respondents. This is not a case
where two views on the evidence available on record are possible.
We, therefore, allow the appeal and affirm that of the learned
 trial Judge convicting the respondents for the offence of murder    G
 of Jaleshwar Singh. But though the case is of gruesome and cold-
 blooded murder and the learned Sessions Judge was justified in
 awarding the sentence of death having regard to the fact that the
 occurrence took place over a decade ago, we sentence the
'respondents to undergo imprisonment for life. The bail bonds of
 the respondents who are on baicl are cancelled, and they shall be   H
 taken into custody forthwith for serving the remnning part of
 the sentence.




S.R.                                               ApPeal allowed.
                     •