# [1976] 1 S.C.R. 602 - **Citation:** [1976] 1 S.C.R. 602 - **Court:** Supreme Court of India - **Decided:** 1975-09-02 - **Bench:** Y. V. Chandrachud, P. N. Bhagwati, R. S. Sarkar!\ - **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/1976-1-s-c-r-602-6641 - **Pages:** 18 ## Headnote Indian Pi:nal Code (Act 45 of 1860) ss. 210, 218 and 468; Code of Critnincl Procedure (Act 5 of 1898) s. 174-Scope of. A • B .. '-( On a report given by the father, regarding the disappearance of. his t".\'o { dauohters investigation was taken up by the D.S.P. because of certain special circ~n1sta;1ces. After completing the investigation, A-2, a sub-inspector of police, A·l his friend and another were charged with offences under ss. 120B, 366, 376: 302/34, fo1, 218, 468/34, and 324 I.P.C. for conspiracy, abduction, C rape, murder, cau~ing evidence of crime to disappear, fabricating reports, forgery and causing hurt. The trial court acquitted all the accuse1d. On JJ.!lPeal by the State. th;: High Court convicted A.1 and A.2 for offences under ss. 201, 218 and 468 1.P.C. Oismissing the appeal to this Court, HELD·: (1) Jn order to bring home an offence under s. 201. I.P.C., the prosecution has to prove; (a) that an offence has been committed; (b) that the a.ccuM:d knew or had reason to believe that the offence has been committed; (c) tb.at with such knowledge or belief he, (i) caused any evidence of the comn1ission of that offence' to disappear. or, (ii) gave any information respecting that offence which he then knew or believed to be false; ( d) that he did so '"'ith the intention of ~crcening the offender from legal punishment: and (e) if the charge be of an aggr~vated form, as in the present case, that the offence in rerpect of which the accused caused evidence to disappear was punishable w·ith death or with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment extending to IO yem. [6 IOA-E] \Vhether the circumstantial evidence in a particular case is sufficient and safe enongh t . .) warrant a finding that an offence has been committed, is a question which belong!li to the realm of facts and not of law. So is the question whether the accu~d knew or had reason to believe that such an offence has been committed. [617H-618B] Pall'inder Kaur v. State of Punjab, [19531 S.C.R. 94, explained. (2) Jn the present case the two girls died an unnatural death. The corpse of one was found on a beach having been washed ashore and the Corpse of the other was seen floating in the sea. A fislrerman who noticed the second body saw marks indicating throttling. He removed a wrist watch and ornament:; from it and allowed the body to drift away. The wrist watch and orn~ ments were identified as belonging to the younger sister of the first victim. The 3 possibilities· are, that they committoed suicide by drowning, or that their deaths were accidental, or that they were done to death by 1ome person or persons. The choice of' anv of these pos.sibilities would leaO_ to the ex::Iusion of the other two. [610G-H] D F G 3(a) The elder sister was a graduate and a mature girl of 22 who U'5ed to H be the leader of the College Union. On the day of the occurrence the deceased girls along \vith their parents had particioated in certain festivities. They were cheerful ar.d there was no evidence to show tohat thev were suffering from anv mental depression with suicidal tendencies. [61 IE-H] • • • ... ' ' K. P. RAO v. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR (Sarkaria, J.) 603 A (b) The body on the sea-shore was in a semi-nude condition·. It had on only B c D F G H blouse, brassiere, petticoat and drawers but no sari. From the fact that it is customary for women of the locality to tie their saries, tightly the possibility of the sari having been swept off bv waves was remote. This shows that she was not wearing her sari when her bcdy was immersed in \vater, but no Indian woman would commit suicide by jumping into sea in such a near nude condition, because, it would expose h_er body to post n1ortenz indignity. [611 H-162 C] (c) When the body \Vas first seen there were, an injury on the forehead fron1 which blood was oozing. a reddish abrasion on the thigh and blood marks o? the drawers. The stomacQ, how;:ver, \Vas not in a bloated conditon. These circumstances show that death was not due to drownin ## Text _Characters 0–39,953 of 56,886. This is a partial read: ask again with offset=39953 for what follows._ 602 KODALI PURANCHANDRA RAO & ANR. V, THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, ANDHRA PRADESH September 2, 1975 [Y. V. CHANDRACHUD, P. N. BHAGWATI AND R. S. SARKAR!\, JJ.] Indian Pi:nal Code (Act 45 of 1860) ss. 210, 218 and 468; Code of Critnincl Procedure (Act 5 of 1898) s. 174-Scope of. A • B .. '-( On a report given by the father, regarding the disappearance of. his t".\'o { dauohters investigation was taken up by the D.S.P. because of certain special circ~n1sta;1ces. After completing the investigation, A-2, a sub-inspector of police, A·l his friend and another were charged with offences under ss. 120B, 366, 376: 302/34, fo1, 218, 468/34, and 324 I.P.C. for conspiracy, abduction, C rape, murder, cau~ing evidence of crime to disappear, fabricating reports, forgery and causing hurt. The trial court acquitted all the accuse1d. On JJ.!lPeal by the State. th;: High Court convicted A.1 and A.2 for offences under ss. 201, 218 and 468 1.P.C. Oismissing the appeal to this Court, HELD·: (1) Jn order to bring home an offence under s. 201. I.P.C., the prosecution has to prove; (a) that an offence has been committed; (b) that the a.ccuM:d knew or had reason to believe that the offence has been committed; (c) tb.at with such knowledge or belief he, (i) caused any evidence of the comn1ission of that offence' to disappear. or, (ii) gave any information respecting that offence which he then knew or believed to be false; ( d) that he did so '"'ith the intention of ~crcening the offender from legal punishment: and (e) if the charge be of an aggr~vated form, as in the present case, that the offence in rerpect of which the accused caused evidence to disappear was punishable w·ith death or with imprisonment for life or with imprisonment extending to IO yem. [6 IOA-E] \Vhether the circumstantial evidence in a particular case is sufficient and safe enongh t . .) warrant a finding that an offence has been committed, is a question which belong!li to the realm of facts and not of law. So is the question whether the accu~d knew or had reason to believe that such an offence has been committed. [617H-618B] Pall'inder Kaur v. State of Punjab, [19531 S.C.R. 94, explained. (2) Jn the present case the two girls died an unnatural death. The corpse of one was found on a beach having been washed ashore and the Corpse of the other was seen floating in the sea. A fislrerman who noticed the second body saw marks indicating throttling. He removed a wrist watch and ornament:; from it and allowed the body to drift away. The wrist watch and orn~ ments were identified as belonging to the younger sister of the first victim. The 3 possibilities· are, that they committoed suicide by drowning, or that their deaths were accidental, or that they were done to death by 1ome person or persons. The choice of' anv of these pos.sibilities would leaO_ to the ex::Iusion of the other two. [610G-H] D F G 3(a) The elder sister was a graduate and a mature girl of 22 who U'5ed to H be the leader of the College Union. On the day of the occurrence the deceased girls along \vith their parents had particioated in certain festivities. They were cheerful ar.d there was no evidence to show tohat thev were suffering from anv mental depression with suicidal tendencies. [61 IE-H] • • • ... ' ' K. P. RAO v. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR (Sarkaria, J.) 603 A (b) The body on the sea-shore was in a semi-nude condition·. It had on only B c D F G H blouse, brassiere, petticoat and drawers but no sari. From the fact that it is customary for women of the locality to tie their saries, tightly the possibility of the sari having been swept off bv waves was remote. This shows that she was not wearing her sari when her bcdy was immersed in \vater, but no Indian woman would commit suicide by jumping into sea in such a near nude condition, because, it would expose h_er body to post n1ortenz indignity. [611 H-162 C] (c) When the body \Vas first seen there were, an injury on the forehead fron1 which blood was oozing. a reddish abrasion on the thigh and blood marks o? the drawers. The stomacQ, how;:ver, \Vas not in a bloated conditon. These circumstances show that death was not due to drowning. [612 G; E·F] (4) It was nobody·s case that any boat met with an accident off or near the sea·shore resulting in loss of human life. No suggestion of accidental death of any person or woman \Vas put to any prosecution witness. Such a plea had not ever been put forward by the accused in their st:;i.tements recorded under s. 342, Cr. P.C. Theref'ore, the possibility of accidental death must alS'O be excluded. [613 B-D] · (5) This process of elimination of suicide and accidental death inevitably leads to the conclusion that the death of these two _girls, or at any rate of the first victim, was due to culpable homicide. [613 D] (6) From the very start, the investigation conducted by A. 2 was dishonest and fraudulent. He inte[ltionally indulged in suppressio veri and suggestio falsi. l613 E-F] (a) The morning after the night wh~n the. dead body was seen on. the beach, a report was handed at the Police Station but the Head Constable returned it saying that it should be drawn up in the printed form and signed by the village Munsiff. A little later, A-2, the sub-inspector incharge of the police· station, came there and the Head Constable told him about the report. At that time A.I and P. W. 49, also came to the Police Station, and A·.l also referred to the finding of' the dead-body on the seashore. Thereafter, A.1, A.2 and P.W. 49 and others went to the seashore at about noon. A·2 did not hold any inquest on the dead body, but instead, directed the body to be buried. When the Kamam questioned A·2 why he did not send the body for p@st 1norteni exan'lination, A-2 replied tha~ the: bod~' was that of a prostitute-though the body was in an identifiable condition and he knew the· vict_im personally. He also said that it was a case of suicide and that P.W. 49 was a relation of the victim. A-1, who heard this, also said that P.W. 49 was a relation of the victim. Thereafter, · A·2 fabricated an Inquest Report in which he stated falsely that there were no injuries on the dead body and that the stomach was bloated due to drinking of water, suggesting that it· was a case of death by drowning. He also fabricated a false report as ff given to him by one who knew the victim and the other girl to be prostitutes. That report was handed over by A-2 at the Police Station only 5 days later and he asked the Head Constable to note the date as if given 3 days before. The Head Constable did so after some hesitation. Jnspite of persistent requests by the D.S.P., A-2 sent the copies of the F.l.R. and Inquest Report prepared by him only after an inordinate delay. A·2 also made false entries in the General Diary of the Police Station to corroborate the false Inquest Report and the fictitious con1plaint. He even tried to di'sS1Uada the father from getting the body, which was buried, exhumed. [605, G-,6Q7 C; 614 G-616 El (b) It was A--2'5 duty to enter faithfully and truly the substance .of the information in the station diary and to record further that he was proceeding for iii.vestigation on the basis thereof when he received information fropi. the Head Constable about the report regarding the finding of a dead-body on the seashore. Instead of retrieving the written report that had be~n first received Il;t the police· station and returned by the head·constable .. he fabricated another document pur· oorting to be the first information. A.11 the reliable witnesses for the: prosecution have deposed that• no such person as the one who gave the first in.formation was present at the scene of occurrence. When the D.S.P. was investigati'ng into the matter A~2 was not able to produce· or give any indication about that informant' thoug-h he claimed to have known him. Efforts to trace the existence of the two prostituteS mentioned in that report were also futile leading to the inference · that they were also fictitious persons. [613 F-614 Fl 604 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1976) l S.C.R. The credible circumstantial evidenoe on recOrd re-inforced by the inference avai.1able from the incriminating conduct of the. appellants, particularly AA, in deliberately preparing false records to suppress the identity and the causo of death of the deceased girls fully justifies the conclusion reached by the High Court. [611 B-C] (c) Section 174, Cr. p,c. peremptorily requires that the officer should hold an inquest on a dead body at the. spot. This mandate is conveyed by the word 'there' occurring ins. 174(1). Section 174(3} gives a discretion to the Police Officer not to ·sent the l;>ody f'or post 1norte1n examination only in one case, namely, where there can be no doubt as to the cause of the death. ThiSi discretion has to be exercised prudently and hone:-;tly. [616 A-C] (d) A-2 is a police. officer of standing and experience, who was expected: to discharge the duties entrusted to him by law with fidelity and accuracy. He was requiraj. to ascertain the cause of death and investigate the circumstances and the manner in which it was brought about. His duty was to make honest efforts to reach at the truth. He knew thoe deceased and saw the injuries on her dead body and n1ust have known that in the circumstanc~s of the case autopsy of the dead body was necessary to ascertain the cause of her death. He flouted all the salutary requirements of s. 174. Cr. P.C. and his conduct in distoring and suppressing material evidence and preparing. false records as to the inden~ tity of the dead body the cause of death and the falsification of the data bearing on that cause, could not be explained on any reasonable hypothesis save that of his guilt. [617 B-E; 618 D-F] . A B c (7) As regards A-1, his conderted conduct, includingi that in supporting the fraudulent misrepresentation made by A-2 to the Karnam. regarding PW 49 b~ing a rel3tion of the deceased, sho,vs that he was a guilty associate of A-2. D CRIMINAL APPEALLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 392 of 1974. Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated the 25th April, 1974 of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 701 of 1972. P. Basi Reddy and G. Narasimhulu, for the appellant. A. S. Mulla, T. V. S. N. Chari and P. P. Rao, for the respondent. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SARKARIA J.-This appeal is directed against a judgment of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, converting-on appeal by the Statethe acquittal of the appellants into conviction. Appellant No. 1 (for short A-1) was an arrack contractor doing liquor business inter a/ia within the territorial jurisdiction of Police Station Indukurpet, District Nellore, while Appellant No. 2 (for short, A-2) was a Sub-Inspector of Police in-charge of this Police Station. The appellants and one other person were tried by the First Additional Sessions Judge Nellore on charges under ss.120-B, 366, 376, 302/34,. 201, 218, 468/34, 324, Penal Code relating to the abduction, tape and murder etc. of two sisters, named Kalarani and Chandrika Rani of Nellore. The Sessions Judge· acquitted the three accused of all the charges. Against the aC;quittal of the appellants only the State preferred an appeal. The High Court partly allowed the appeal, set aside the acquittal on charges 7, 8, 9 and 11 and convicted A-2 and A-1, under ss. 201, 201/34, Penal Code and sentenced each of them to five years rigorous imprisonment. A-2 and A-1 were further convicted under s. 218 and 218/109, Penal Code and sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment, each. They were also convicted under E F G H --;( I I • • t • : A .. B - ' D E F • G • H ,. K. P. RAO V. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR (Sarkaria, J.) 605 s. 468 and 468 /34, Penal Code and sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment each. The sentences on all the counts were directed, to run concurrently. Their acquittal on the remaining charges, including those of abduction, rape and murder, was upheld . The facts of the prosecution case, asthey emerge from the rccmd, are as follows : Kalarani and Chandrika Rani deceased were two of the six daughters of PW!, a legal practitioner of Nellore. Kalarani was aged 21 and a graduate from the local Women's College, Nellore. She used to be the President of the College Union and as such was well known. Chandrika Rani was, aged 17 and a B.A. student in that very college. On 6-6-1971 in the morning the deceased girls along with their parents and other sisters attended a marriage in the house of a family friend (P.W.2). In the afternoon they went away from the marriage house saying that they were going out to have coca-<:ola. At about 4 p.m. they boarded a bus bound for Mypaud which is a sea-shore resort at a distance of 11 miles Jirom Nellore. At about 5.40 p.m. they were seen alighting from the bus al Mypaud and then proceeding towards Sagarvilla, a Travellers' Bungalow situated near the seashore. They were last seen at about 6-30 p.m. on the seashore by P.Ws. 11, 12, 13 and 14. Shortly thereafte~, P.W. 18, a rickshaw puller was attracted to the seashore by the outcry of a woman. When he proceeded in that direction, Chandrika Rani came running to him for help. P.W. 18 saw 4 persons including A-1 and A-2 carrying away Kalarani who was groaning. On seeing P.W. 18, A-1 and A-2 turned on hint. A-I first slapped and then stabbed P.W. 18 on his right arm with a pen knife, while A-2 gave blows on his back. Out of fiight, P.W. 18 took to his heels while Chandrika Rani was dragged away by the appellants. Ori 6-6-1971 Chamundeshwari Festival was being celebrated in Gsngapatnam and neighbouring areas at 'about 9 p.ni. It was a bright moonlight. On learning that the dead body of a girl had been seen on the beach of Pallipalem which is a hamlet o Gangapatnam, many persons went tl,lere. P.W. 23, a fisherman ofPallipalem and P.W. 25, an employee of the Electricity Department were also among , those persons. It was the body of a girl, aged about 21 or 22 years, of fair complexion and stout built. Blood was oozing from a reddish abrasion on the forehead. There was a gold ring with a red stone on the finger of the body. Next morning, P.W. 23 went to P.W. 26. the Sarpanch of Gangapatnarn and informed the later about the corpse on the seashore. P.W. 23 and P.W. 26 then went to the village Karnam (P .W. 27) as they found the village Munsiff absent. The Karnam scribed a report to the dictation of P.W. 23. Th~ Sarpanch signed it and sent it at about 7-30 a.ni. through a bus dnver (P.W . 29) to the Police Station, Indukurpet. The report was handed over in the Polic,e Station at about 8-30 a.m. to the Head-Constable (P.W. 34), as A-2,, the Sub-Inspector was away. The Head Constabl~ (P.W. 34), read the report and returned it to P.W. 29 with th!'. obiection that the bearer should fetch a report drawn up on the printed form and signed by the village· Munsiff. Within a few minutet 606 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1976] 1 S.C.R. of the return of the report, between 8-30 and 8-45 A.M., A-2 returned to the Police Station. Just at this juncture P.W. 49, a Personal Assistant to P.W. 38, a cine actor of Madras, and A-1, arrived there in Car No. M.S.V. 1539, driven by a motor driver. The car had met an accident on the 4th June within the jurisdiction of this Police Station. The car was therefore at least theoretically-in th·e custody of the Police. A-1 was a mutual friend of A-2 and of the owner of the car. P.W. 49 therefore, had ·brought A-1 to the Police Station to help the form_er in getting t!J.e_ car released. A-1 introduced P.W. 49 to A-2. A-1 then asked A-2 if he knew that the dead-body of a girl was found floating on the sea-shore. A-2 then asked the Head-Constable (PW 34) if any report regarding the dead body was received. The HeadConstable replied that a report from the Sarpanch about the dead body seen on the sea-shore at Paliipalem had been reseived but had been• returned, as it was not from the village Munsiff. A-2 said some person might have drowned as it usually happened on the seashore. The Head-Constable and A-1 told A-2 that the body found on the shore was said to haye been wearing drawers and might be of a person of high-class family. A-2 said that he himself would go and ,enquire about it. A-2 asked ¥.W. 4 to take him in his car to the spot. Thereupon,, A-1, A-2, P.W. 49, two constables and two others in addition to the driver, proceeded in the car. After going some ·distance, the two "others" got down. A-1 and A-2 had a talk with them. The car was then taken to Ramudupalem. There at about 11.30 A.M., A-1 and A-2 met the Sarpanch (P.W. 26) and asked him to follow them to Pallipalem. The car was then taken to Gangapatnam. There the O:mstables were dropped. They left a messa_ge for the Karnam of the village to reach Pallipalem. Thereafter, they proceeded to the sea-shore of Pallipalem. The car was left at the canal before the sea. A-2, A-1, P.W. 49 and P.W. 26 then at about Noon, went to the beach where the dead body lay. P.W. 23 and P.W. 25 were guarding the deadbody. It was the body of a fair, stout girl aged about 20 years, who was wearing brassiers, blouse, striped drawers and a white petticoat. P.W. 23 handed over the ring M.0.9 to A-2 after removing the same from the body. On being directed by A-2, P.W. 23 washed the face of the corpse. There was a: mark on the forehead from which blood was oozing ont. There was a reddish abrasion on the thigh, and blood marks on the drawer of the dead body. On seeing the blood marks on the drawer, A-2 said that she might be in menses. A-2 further remarked that the body appeared to be of a girl from a high class family who had been out of doors. A-2 did not hold any inquest there on the dead-body. He did not prepare any record there. He directed the village vettis (menials) to bury the dead body forthwith while he himself proceeded along with his companions towards the village. In the distance they saw the Constables coming towards them. A-2 signalled them not to come near the dead body but to proceed to the Travellers' Bunga1ow at Mypad, while A-2 and party went to Mahalaxamma Tample in village Pallipaleni. There A-2 A B c D E ! F ~-..::::'. ~' .. ;I G • • H A, .. ~ '( - ' .( > \ • A B c D E F G H K. P. RAO v. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR (Sarkaria. J.) 607' secured the signature of P.W. 25, P.W. 26, P.W. 28 and A-1 on a blank sheet of paper. A-2 and his companions then went to the car. The Karnam (P.W. 27) was there. A-2 reproached the Karnam for coming late and added that he had finished all the work for which he (Karnam) had been sent for. He further told the Kamam that he had got the body buried. The karnam asked as to why A-2 did not send the body for post .. mortem examination A-?. replied that the body was of a prostitute who had committed suicide and that he did not suspect any foul play and so he ordered burial. The Karnam then enquired if any relation of the deceased had come. A-1 replied "yes",. while A-2 pointed towards P.W. 49 and said that he was the person connected with the deceased. A-1, A-2, P.W. 26, P.W. 27 and P. W. 49 then got into the car and proceeded. P.Ws. 26 and 27 were dropped near their houses. On the way P.W. 49 asked A-2 as to why he had represented him (P.W. 49) as a relation of the deceased. A-2 assured P.W. 49 that there was nothing to worry. Acrording to the prosecution, this dead body found ashore near Pallipalem-which is about 2 miles from Mypad-was of Kala Rani deceased who was well-koown to A-2. Inspite of it in the inquest report (Ex. P-11) which was not prepared on the spot but sometime later, A-2 wrote that the body was of n pros'titute, named Koppolo Vijaya, daughter of Chandrnyya, Baliy'a by caste of Ongole Town who had on 6.6. 71, come to Mypad along with her prostitute friend Nirmala by Bus A.P.N. 1400 at 5.45 P.M. and thereafter both these girls committed suicide by r.ntering sea at about 6.30 P .M. A-2 ended the report with an emphatic note : "It is conclusive that the deceased (Koppulu Vijaya) died due fo drowning". Despite the presence of injuries noticed on the dead bcdy A-2 recorded : "There are no injuries on the dead body". In order to support his version as to the cause of death A-2, according to the prosecution falsely noted that the "stomach is bloated due to drinking of water". The prosecution case further is that A-2 fabricated some time after the burial of the deadbody, a false report (Ex.P-25) purporting to have'be-en made to him on 7.6.1971 by one Nuthalapati Subba Rao who despite the best efforts of the investigators has remained untraced and is believed to be a fictitious person. As this report has an important bearing on the points for determination, we will reproduce it in extenso : "Statement of Nuthalapati Subbarao, son of Venkateswarlu, aged about 30 years,, Vysya of Patha-Guntur : Being an orphan for about 10 years, I have been doing brokerage in supplying extras in the cine field. Day before yesterday i.e. on Friday at Chirala near Lodges two girls Koppulu Vijaya d/ o Sundrayya of Ongole and P'aranjapi Nirmala dLo Raghavayya of Chilakaluripeta were met by me. I came to know that they live by prostitution. When I told them th:it I would join them in Cinema they believed me 608 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1976] 1 S.C.R. and came with me. On Sunday i.e. on 6-6-1971, in the morning we came to Nellore and stayed in Venkateswara Lodge till 3.30 p.m. Their demand came for the girls. I booked two males for these two girls. Afterwards dispute arose between me and the girls in respect of my brokerage, sharing of the money got by such prostitution out of the money collected. They scolded me in an angry tone and went away crying and weeping and saying that I took them away from their places promising to join them in Cinema, cheated them an.Q .committed rowdyism without giving them money due to them. They had only wearing apparel with them. Vijaya is short, stout and fair. Nirmala is_ lean, tall and fair. They did not come back. I waited for a long time. I searched for them at the railway station, bus stand and lodges. When I was inquiring at Atmakur Bus Stand I came to know that the girls went by Mypaud bus at 4.30 p.m. I went to Mypand and enquired. It was learnt that the two girls went towards north of Pattapulalem and entered the sea at 6 p.m. Having learnt that the body of Vijaya was washed ashore I went and saw the dead body. She had died and appears to have committed suicide. It was also learnt that the second girl also committed suicide but her dead body was not washed ashore. Other facts about them are not known. Sd/- N. Subbarao Tabn down by me, read over to the person and admitted by him to be correct. On this 7th day of June 1971 at 11-30. Sd/- B. Manoharan,, SJ., E-3, dt. 7-6-1971. H.C. 1212 Issue F.I.R. u/s 174, Cr.P.C. and send copy to me for investigation. Sd:/c B. Manoharan, SJ. E-3, Camp Mypaud dt. 7-6-1971." A B c D E The dead-body of the other girl, CT:tandrika Rani was not washed F ashore. But in the morning of 7-6-1971, P.W. 36, a fisherman saw the dead-body of a girl age4 16 or 17. years floating in the sea at a distance of about 2t or 3 miles from Pallipalem, P.W. 36 saw a piercing wound· on the left arm and black marks indicating throttling, on the neck of the deadbody. P.W. 36 removed a wrist watch, a ring and an ear-ring from the deadbody and allowed it to drift away. These articles were later handed over by P.W. 36 to the Investigating Officer G and were identified to be1 of Chandrika Rani. The disappearance of the deceased girls caused a sensation. The local-newspapers took up the matter. Representations were made to the Home Minister to get the matter investigated by the C.I.D. The Superintendent of Police directed P.W. 59, a Probationer D.S.P., to investigate the matter. On 18-6-1971, at the request of P.W. 59, the Tehsildar (P.W. 40) proceeded to exhume the deadbody of Kalarani. H The place was pointed out by P.W. 33. A-2 was also present there. On digging the bit only some clothes were found in it. But close to • A • B c • D E F G H K. P. RAO v. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR (Sarkaria. J.) 609 it, was found a skeleton. No marks of violence were detected on the skeleton by the Medical Officer, P.W. 45, who examined! it at .the spot. The skeleton was sent to P.W. 44, Professor of Forensic Medicine,, who opined that it was of a female aged between 18 to 25 years. Further investigation of the case was taken over by P.W. 60, the C.I.D. Inspector who, after completing it laid the charge-sheet against A-1, A-2 and on~ other person in. the court of the Magistrate. A-1 pleaded that he had been falsely implicated. He stated that he knew nothing about the d~ceased girls. He added that on 7-6-1971, he was in the Travellers' Bungalow at Mypad and went away frnm that place in the afternoon. He admitted that he had accompanied, P.W. 49, to the Police1 Station on 7-6-1971 to assist the latter in getting the car release, and from the Police Station both of thl<,m (A-1 and P.W. 49) on being asked by A-2, went with the latter in the car to the spot. He further admitted that he had slab-signed on a sheet of paper like others but he expressed ignoran~ if any inquest was held by A-2. The plea of A-2 was that he had duly made an inquiry as to the cause of the death and prepared the inquest report Ex. P-11. He denied that there were injuries on the dead body. Pleading alibi for the 5th and 6th June,. 1971, he said that on these dates he was away on casual leave to attend the marriage of a cousin at Chiraja which is at a distance of about 100 miles from Indukurpet. He said that he had proceeded to Chiraja in a car on the 5th morning, and after att¢nding the marria~ returned to Nellore on the 6th by 5-30 p.m. and then on the morning of the 7th June, resumed duty at Indukurpet Police Station. On receiviqg information about the corpse of a female washed ashore, he went to Mypad anc;I enquired about a person named Nathalapati Subba Rao. The latter gave the information, Ex. P.25, which he (A-2) reduced into writing and then held the inquest in the presence of this Subba Rao and other Panchaitdars at the spot. He did not know if Vijaya andNirmaJa mentioned in Ex. P. 25 and Ex. P. 11 were fictitious persons. He further admitted that he was unable to- produce this Subba Rao in response to the memo dated 15-6-1971, issued by the D.S.P. (P.W. 59) during the stipulated time of 48 hours. The Additional Sessions Judge held that the dead bodies found floating near the sea shore were of Kala Rani and Chandrika Rani. He further found that PW 18, who claimed to be an eye-witness of the occurrence, was not worthy of credit, and consequently, the charges of abduction, rape and murder had not been proved against the accused. Regarding the charge under S. 201, Penal Code, the trial Judge held that the prosecution had failed to'prove that an offence had been committed in respect of the deceased. While holding that the identity of the deceased was wrongly mentioned in Ex. P. 25 and Ex. P. 11 as Vijaya and Nirmala. prostitutes, he did not rule out the possibility of suicide. In the result, he acquitted the accused of all the charges. In appe.al j>y the State,, the learned Judge of the High Court, after au exhaus!Jve survey of the evidence, upheld the acquittal of the 610 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1976] 1 S.C.R. accused in respect of the charges of abduction, rape and murder, but reversed the findings of the trial Judge in regard to the charges under ss. 201, 218 and 468, Penal Code against Al and A2. In order to bring home an offence under s. 201, Penal Code the prosecution has to prove : A ( 1) that an offence has been committed; B (2) that the accused knew or had reason !o believe the commission of such offence ( 3) that with such knowledge or belief he (a) caused any evidence of the commission of that offence to disappear, or (b) gave any information respecting that 1offence which he then knew or believed to be false; ( 4) that he did so as aforesaid, with the intention of screening the offender from legal punishment. (5) If the charge be of an aggravated form, as in the present case, it must be proved further that the offence in respect of which the accused did as in (3) and ( 4), was punish·· able with death, or with impris.onment for life or imprisonment ex\ending to ten years . . The High Court has found that all these ingredients of s. 201, were established in the present case. Mr. Basi Reddy, learned Counsel for the appellant assails the finding of the High Court with particular reference to the first and the last ingredients enumerated above. Counsel contends that the conviction under s. 20 l, cannot be sustained as there 'is no credible evidence on reoord to show that an offence had been committed. It is maintained that the prosecution has been unable to prove that the two girls met a homicidal death. In all probability, proceeds the argument, the deceased girls committed suicide by jumping into the sea and were drowned. For reasons that follow we are unable to accept these conte;n. lions. c D E F The concurrent finding of the courts below that the dead body G washed ashore near Pallipalem was of Kala Rani deceased and that seen fl.oating in the sea, two miles· away was of Chandrika Rani de· ceased has not be~n disputed before us. It is also not controverted that these two girls died an unnatural death on the night between the 6th and 7th of June, 1971. sometime after 6.30 P.M. at Mypad. Only the cause of their death is in issue. In regard to such cause, there could be only three possibilities, the choice of any of which H would lead to the exclusion of the other two. First, the girls committed suicide by drowning. Sec the Travellers' Bungalow and were then last seen together at about 6-30 p.m. on the sea-shore. It is in evidence that the eveni1ng of the 6th June, was an occasion of Chann- ~dv washed ashore at about 9 P.M. on 6-6-71. The High Court found that the version of these witnesses in regard to the injuries and blood-marks on the deadbody was entirely reliable. No reason has been shown why we should take a different view 1of their evidence. A B c D E F G H 1' I l ) • • A • • c f D E F • G • -\ H K. P. RAO v. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR (Sarkaria, !.) 613It is further in the evidence of PWs. 23, 25, 26 and 49 that when. the blood-marks on the drawer pointed out to A2, the latter ignored it saying that the girl had been out of doors and was. in menstruation. Contrary to what he and the PWs. had observed at the spot, A2 wrote in the inquest report, P-11, Col. VII : "There are no injuries on the dead-body" . Having excluded the possibility of suicide, we may now consider, whether the deaths of these girls were accidental. It is no-body's cMe that on the 6th June, 1971, any sea craft, vessel •Or boat met with an accident off or near about Mypad resulting in loss of human life. No suggestion of accidental death of any person, much less a women, off/ or on the sea-shore near or far from Pallipalem was put to any of the prosecution witnesses. Nor such a plea has been put forward by the accused in their statements recorded under s. 342, Cr.P.C. Indeed, the learned Connsel for the appellants ha~ not pursued any such line of argument. We have, therefore, no hesitation in negating the possibility of acc;idental death. This p~ocess of elimination inevitably leads us to the conclusion that in alt probability the death of these girls, at any rate of Kala Rani, was due to culpable homicide. Now we come to the last but the most telling circumstance which not only confirms this conclusion and puts it beyond doubt, but also unerringly establishes, by inference, the other ingredients of the offence, including that the accused knew or had reason to believe that culpable homicide .of Kala Rani had been committed. This circumstance is the oonduct of A2, in intentionally preparing false records and its abetment by AL From its very start the investigation conducted by A2 was dishonest and fraudulent. He intentionally indulged in suppressio veri and suggestio falsi at every st~p. He had been informed by the Head Constable (PW 34) at about 8 or 8-45 A.M. in the Police Station that a report from the Sarpanch had been received about the dead-body of a girl bearing injuries, found washed ashore near Pallipalem. This information which was passed on to A-2 and on receiving which he proceeded from the Police Station for investigation, was the real F.I.R. It was the duty ;of A-2 to enter faithfully and truly the substance of this information in the Station Diary and to record further that he was proceeding for investigation on the basis thereof. Iristead of doing so, he intentionally suppressed the factum and substance of this first information and the real purpose of his departure from the Police Station in the records prepared by him or by his subordinates in his immediate presence or under his supervision. Instead of retrieving the written report that had been first received at 8 A.M. in the Police Station and· was returned by the Head..Constable to the Sarpanch, he fabricated the document Ex. P. 25, purporting to be the F.I.R. given to him at Mypad by one N. Subba Rao. The false story contained inthis document has been substantially repeated in the inquest report, Ex. P. 25.