# LAXMAN AND OTHERS v. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

- **Citation:** [1974] 2 S.C.R. 505
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1973-11-28
- **Case number:** Crimi~al Appeal No. 122 H of 1970
- **Bench:** M.H. Beg, Y. V. Chandrachud
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/laxman-and-others-v-state-of-maharashtra-6157
- **Pages:** 9

## Headnote

505
Evidence Act, Section 145-lmPortant omissions by a witness iu tlie pl'erious
statements regarding participation of the accused in the crime-JVhether contradictions
within the meaning of the section-Law laid down in Tahsi/dar Singh and another
v. State of U. P.A. I. R. 1959 S. C. 1012 exp/ained-/lnpact of 0111issions 011 the pro-·
bari~·e value of the witnesses' evidence.
In the trial u/s 302 read withs. 341. P. c., one Sopan was convicted on the evi-·
dence of one Sudam, the only eye-witness. Sudam admitted in his cross-exan1ination that neither before the Executive Magistrate nor before the Committing Magistrate, he stated that Sopan had beaten the deceased with Rumana and that he had·
stated the fact for the first time before the trial Magistrate, . Sudam also admitted
that Sopan did nothing and was simply standing there. Sudan1 also stated that he·
could watch the incident for a very short time as he himself was threatened by the
accused and, therefore, ran away. The F.J.R. and dying declarations also did not
mention the part played by Sopan in the incident. The trial Court acquitted all
the accused but the High Court convicted them. As regards the omissions in
Sudam's evidence, the High Court held, following Tahsildar's case, that the omis.sions
do not amount to contradictions and cannot be proved to show that the witness was
making improvements. The High Court, therefore, ignored the omissions.
Allowing Sopan's appeal (but not of the other two accused),
HELD
(i) We do not think thats. 145 of the Evidence Act, en the very reason~
ing of Tahsildar Singh's case, cited by the High Court, was intended to exclude from
evidence what is relevant and admitted, and, therefore, a proved omission fron1
having its due effect in the assessment of probabilities. s. 145 of Evidence Act
applies only to 'contradiction!(.' If there are omissions in previous statemeuts
which do no~ amount to con!~adictions but throw some doubt on the veracity of
what was omitted, the uncertainty or doubt may be capable of removal by questions
in re-examination. There were no such questions put to Sudam. Neither proof
nor use of Such omissions, which do not amount to contradictions is barred by s.
145 of the Evicfence Act. The error the High Court had committed was that it
entirely excluded very important, relevant and material omissions, from duly
proved previous statements of the witness Sudam from consideration altogether as
though they were quite irrelevant and in-consequential. [51 OF]
It is not possible to Jay down a general rule as to what effect a particular omission
from previous statement should have on the probative value of what was so omitted
by a witness. The effect will depend upon the totality of proved facts and circums·
tances in which the omission ~ht have taken place. It will oflen be determined
by the importance of what was onutted. The Law of Evidence contains nothing more
than s. 3 and s. 114 of the Evidence Act to indicate and illustrate the standards and'
methods employed in assessing the evidence. [510H]
(ii) The High Court ought to have examined the evidence of Sudam, the only
eye-witness, in the light of the material omissions and found out how much Sudan}
actually saw with his own eyes and how much of what he said could be attributed to
his conjecture, sunnise or imagination. Sopan is entitled to benefit of the doubt
which emerges on an examination of the whole evidence in the case about the precisC
acts of participation by him. [513D]

## Text

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LAXMAN AND OTHERS
v.
STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
November 28, 1973
[M.H. BEG AND Y. V.
CHANDRACHUD, JJ.j
505
Evidence Act, Section 145-lmPortant omissions by a witness iu tlie pl'erious
statements regarding participation of the accused in the crime-JVhether contradictions
within the meaning of the section-Law laid down in Tahsi/dar Singh and another
v. State of U. P.A. I. R. 1959 S. C. 1012 exp/ained-/lnpact of 0111issions 011 the pro-·
bari~·e value of the witnesses' evidence.
In the trial u/s 302 read withs. 341. P. c., one Sopan was convicted on the evi-·
dence of one Sudam, the only eye-witness. Sudam admitted in his cross-exan1ination that neither before the Executive Magistrate nor before the Committing Magistrate, he stated that Sopan had beaten the deceased with Rumana and that he had·
stated the fact for the first time before the trial Magistrate, . Sudam also admitted
that Sopan did nothing and was simply standing there. Sudan1 also stated that he·
could watch the incident for a very short time as he himself was threatened by the
accused and, therefore, ran away. The F.J.R. and dying declarations also did not
mention the part played by Sopan in the incident. The trial Court acquitted all
the accused but the High Court convicted them. As regards the omissions in
Sudam's evidence, the High Court held, following Tahsildar's case, that the omis.sions
do not amount to contradictions and cannot be proved to show that the witness was
making improvements. The High Court, therefore, ignored the omissions.
Allowing Sopan's appeal (but not of the other two accused),
HELD
(i) We do not think thats. 145 of the Evidence Act, en the very reason~
ing of Tahsildar Singh's case, cited by the High Court, was intended to exclude from
evidence what is relevant and admitted, and, therefore, a proved omission fron1
having its due effect in the assessment of probabilities. s. 145 of Evidence Act
applies only to 'contradiction!(.' If there are omissions in previous statemeuts
which do no~ amount to con!~adictions but throw some doubt on the veracity of
what was omitted, the uncertainty or doubt may be capable of removal by questions
in re-examination. There were no such questions put to Sudam. Neither proof
nor use of Such omissions, which do not amount to contradictions is barred by s.
145 of the Evicfence Act. The error the High Court had committed was that it
entirely excluded very important, relevant and material omissions, from duly
proved previous statements of the witness Sudam from consideration altogether as
though they were quite irrelevant and in-consequential. [51 OF]
It is not possible to Jay down a general rule as to what effect a particular omission
from previous statement should have on the probative value of what was so omitted
by a witness. The effect will depend upon the totality of proved facts and circums·
tances in which the omission ~ht have taken place. It will oflen be determined
by the importance of what was onutted. The Law of Evidence contains nothing more
than s. 3 and s. 114 of the Evidence Act to indicate and illustrate the standards and'
methods employed in assessing the evidence. [510H]
(ii) The High Court ought to have examined the evidence of Sudam, the only
eye-witness, in the light of the material omissions and found out how much Sudan}
actually saw with his own eyes and how much of what he said could be attributed to
his conjecture, sunnise or imagination. Sopan is entitled to benefit of the doubt
which emerges on an examination of the whole evidence in the case about the precisC
acts of participation by him. [513D]
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION :
Crimi~al Appeal No. 122
H
of 1970.
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated 24/
25th September 1968 of the Bombay High Court in Crimina'l Appeal
1731 of 1965.
506
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1974] 2 s.C.R.
M. C. Bhandare and P. H. Parekh, for the appellants.
H. R. Khanna and S. P. Nayar, for the respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
BEG, J.-The three appellants Laxman (aged 30 at the time
·of trial). Sopan (aged 18 at the time of trial), and Sakharam (aged
40 years at the time of trial), residents of village Walana were acquit·
.ted of charges under section 302 read with section 34 I.P.C. by the
learned Sessions Judge of Parbhani. The trial court had declared the
testimony of the only eye witness, Sudam Sakharam, P.S. 17, to be
unworthy of credence. Neither the several dying declarations of the
deceased Narain Rao, in which he gave out the names of the three
appellants as his assailants nor other facts and circumstances, such
as the recovery on a pointing out by Sopan of the "Rumna" said to
have been used for the murderous attack, were held by the trial Court
to be sufficient to corroborate the version of the eye witness.
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an appeal against the acquittal, a Division Bench of the High Court
of Bombay had elaborately discussed each one of the reasons given
by the learned sessions judge for discarding the testimony of Sudam,
corroborated by other facts and circumstances, and found the logic
behind the trial court's reasoning to be unsound. The High Court
had also criticised the learned Session's Judge in treating certain
omissions from the previous statements of Sudam as damaging contradictions without complying with the provisions of section 145 of
Evidence Act. It had relied on Tahsildar Singh and anr. v. State of
U.P.,(1) to support its views on the requirements ofs. 145 of Evidence
Act. The High Court set aside the acquittal of the three appellants
and convicted them under section 302 I.P.C. read with s. 34 IPC
and sentenced them to imprisonment for life.
In the appeal by sp>cial leave, now before us, the learned counsel
for the app,l\ants has criticised the approach of the High Court, its
findings on individual items of evidence, and its view that the omissions from previous statements of the alleged eye witness Sudam could
not affect his credibility. After having examined the judgments of
the trial court and the High Court and relevant pieces of evidence in
the case and listening to the arguments o[ the learned counsel for the
appellants, who said all that could be urged to support this appeal,
and learned counsel for the respondent State, we think that the appreciation of the evidence by the High Court was undoubtedly far superior and that interference with the trial Court's judgment of acquittal
was justified. Nevertheless, we find that there is an aspect of the
case relating to Sopan, who was a student aged about 18 years at the
time of the alleged offence, which has not been· given due importance
by the High Court so as to determine whether this appellant was entitled, as we think he is, to the benefit of doubt as regards his alleged
participation in the actual commission of an offence. ·
. (I} AIR 1959 S.C. 1012.
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LAXMAN V. MAHAR,ASHTRA (Beg, /.)
507
The account of the occurrence given by Sudam, P.W. 17 may be
summarised as follows :-
The witness, who knew Narainrao, Sarpanch of Walana, had
been engaged by the Sarpanch to assist him in the supervising the
construction of a road under a contract. The Sarpanch got a.com·
mission and the witness got Rs. 3 per day. He left Walana with the
Sarpanch at 8 · 00 A.M. for village Mannas Pimpri to pay the wages
of the labourers on 30th April, 1966, which was a Saturday. Wages
used to be paid on Saturdays. Laxman, appellant, met and followed
them on the way saying that he too had to go to Mannas Pimpri. As
the party reached Mahboob's field, Laxman lifted and tucked in his
Dhoti like a wrestler. Then, Laxman suddenly caught hold of Nara·
yan's right leg, and, putting his left hand on his back, felled Narainrao
011 the ground face downwards. Narainrao's hands were under his
body. Laxman caught and then sat on Narainrao's neck. Narainrao
raised a hue and cry.
When the witness tried to restrain Laxman
and caught his hand, he was warned that he would be killed if he inter·
fered. Just then, the witness saw Sopan and Sakharam, brother an·a
cousin of Laxman, emerging from a mango grove and running towards them. Sakharam carried a 'Ramna'. The witness let go the
hand of Laxman. While Laxman sat on the neck of Narainrao and
pressed it down, Sakharam rained blows with the 'Ramna' on the back
of Narainrao. Sopan stood watching nearby· After Sakharam had
finished beating Narainrao, Sopan took the same Ramna and started
beating him while Narain shouted : 'I am dead'. Finally, Laxman
took a big stone and threw it on the neck of Narainrao. As Laxman
saw the witness watching from a distance, while escaping he said :
"Catch this Mang". The witness ran towards Walana. He met
Bhika Kotwal of Walana on the way and informed him that Narain·
rao was being beaten by the three accused. At Walana, he informed
Abhiman, the brother of Narainrao, that the accused were beating up
Narainrao. He then went to his sister's house and drank some water.
He was about to go back to the scene of occurrence when Laxman
and Sopan came there. Laxman said : 'Take care Mang ! If you
testify in favour of the Sarpanch, you would be murdered'. The
witness was, however, not deterred from going back to the scene of
occurrence where other villagers had collected.
Attempts were made by cross-examination to discredit the testi·
many of this witness. Firstly, it was suggested to him that two chits
(Ex. 31 and 32), showing that the witness was demanding Rs. 30/·
to spoil the prosecution case, were sent by him. But, as the High
Court had rightly pointed out, the connection of this witness with
writing on these chits could not be established. The trial Court had
obviously erred in using these chits to doubt the credibility of the
witness. Secondly, it was urged that this witness had denied his can·
viction for an offence under s. 12 of the Gambling Act. The learned
Sessions ·Judge had, in our opinion, attached too much importance
to this denial. The High Court, on the other hand, had examined
the certified copy of the criminal case register (Ex. 42) filed to can·
tradict the statement of this witness denying a conviction and had
508
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1974] 2 s.c.a.
held that, although one Sudam Sakharam of Bahar Jahagir was
shown to be one of two accused persons mentioned in the copy filed,
yet, the entries in the relevant columns did not show anything beyond
a fine of Rs. 5/- on Laxman, the co-accused. The High Court also
held that the identity of the particular Sudam Sakharam mentioned
in this copy was not established as that of Sudam P.W. 17 and that
there could be other persons of that name in the village. The High
Court had also adversely commented on the fact that the copy was
not of a document kept in proper form.. It had been only signed by a
clerk. No judgment and order cf the Court was filed. The High Court
doubted the bona fides of the defence in producing what it considered
to be a suspicious copy to contradict one of the statements of the
witness. Even if we do not question the bona fides of the defence in
finding it, the technical defect of want of proof of the exact identity
of Sudam mentioned in the copy was certainly there. We agree with the
High Court that the trial court had made too much out of this alleged contradiction in the testimony ofSudam. Thirdly, it was sought to
be shown that Sudam had improved the account of the incident given
by him at earlier stages by introducing, in his statement at the trial,
what he had not said earlier. The High Court held that these omissions were not "contradictions". Alternatively, it held that, even.
if an omission here could be viewed as a 'contradiction', it could not
be used at all without_ complying with s. 145 of the Evidence Act.
In Tahsi/dar's case (supra) the majority view of this Court given
by Subba Rao, J., was (at p. 1023) :-
"Contradict according to the Oxford Dictionary
meant to affirm to the contrary. Section 145 of the Evidence Act indicates the manner in which contradiction
is brought out. The cross-examining counsel shall put
the part or parts of the statement which affirms the conrary to what is stated in evidence. This indicates that
there is something in writing which can be set against
another statement made in evidence. If the statement
before the police officer in the sense we have indicatedand the statement in the evidence before the Court are
so inconsistent or irreconcilable with each other that both
of them cannot·co-exist, it may be said that one contradicts
the other.
It is broadly contended that a statement includes all
omissions which are material and are such as a witness is
expected to say in the normal course. This contention
ignores the intention of legislature expressed in s. 162 of
the Code and the nature of the non-evidentiary value of
such a statement, except for the limited purpose of contradiction. Unrecorded statement is completely excluded.
But recorded one is used for a specified purpose. The
record of a statement, however perfunctory, is assumed to
give a sufficient guarantee to the correctness of the statement made but if words not recorded are brought in by
s0111e fiction, the objection of the section would be defeated.
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LAXMAN V. MAHAl\ASHTRA (Beg, /.)
By that process, if a part of a statement is recorded, what
was not stated could go in on the sly in the nan:e of con·
tradiction, whereas if the entire statement was not
recorded, it would be excluded. BY doing so, we would l:e
circumventing the sectio,1 by ignoring the only safeguard
imposed by the legislature, viz., that the statement should
have been recorded".
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In the case before u~· we find that no qrestion was put at all to
Sudam, in his cross-examination, al:out wtat te had stat<d or emit·
tcd to state to the police during the course of investi&aticn. Cross·
examination of the witness had, however, brought out two material
omissions from statements before the Executive Magistrate ard the
Committing Court. The witness said :
"I have not stated before the Executhe Magistrate, nor
before the committing court that accused nos. 2 and 3 had
obstructed me, when I took to my heels. Sopan (accused
no. 2) had beaten Narainrao with Rumna, after taking
the same from accused. no. 3. I have not stated hf ore the
Executive Magistrate that accused no. 2 had l:eaten Narain·
rao with Rumna •.•. I have not stated before the ccrr.mit·
ting Magistrate that the accused no. 2 (Sopan) )lad l:eaten
Narainrao. I have stated before the Committing Magis·
trate that al the time of the Incident, accused no. 2, did
nothing and he was simply standing there".
The High Court itself observed :
"It is true that the witness bad not made any statement before the Committing Magistrate regarding the part
played by accused no. 2 in the assault on Narainrao but
that may be because he was not questioned on that point
at that time. The same can be said about the statement
before the Executive Magistrate."
It then went on to say :
"It cannot, however, be said that he had not made
any statement on the point before the Police. As we will
presently point out, it is not possible to any !hat the witness
had not made any statement on the point tefore the Police,
but, assuming for. the present that he had not ma~e any
·such statement, it would be only an omission presurably
due to his not being questioned on the point. That cannot be of any help to the defence to suggest that the witness
was making intelligent improvements as assumed by the
learned Judge. The omission, if at all it is thae, is
not such as would amount to
contrcdi<ticn t~d car.r.ot,
therefore, be proved to show that the .witness was making
improvements."
In so far as the High Co1at wES p1m n:irg, fH m 1te failure
of the d.efence to cross·eXEmir.e the witness al:o-ut any statcrrent tefore
the pohce, that ttere was no such omission. in his stat<rrrnt l:cfcre
V-M602SuliCI/74
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1974] 2 S.C.R.
the police, the High Court was assuming the existence .of something
which cou)d not have been .used by the prosecution to corroborate
its case even if it existed. The High Court had then, proceeding on
the assumption that there was such an omission from the statement
of the witness before the police, explained an assumed infirmity in it
by holding that this constituted neither a contradiction nor was it
inexplicable by a failure to question the witness on the point during
the investigation as though it was no part of the duty of the police to
elicit or ascertain what part was played by each accused in the occurrence before prosecuting him.
If we were to assume that the witness had revealed to the police
the part alleged by him at the trial to have been played by Sopan, it
would make it all the more incumbent on the prosecution to bring
out this part when the witness was making his statement in his examination-in-chief before ·the Magistrates. The statements before the
magistrates could be used both to contradict and to corroborate.
The prosecution had performed its duty in questioning the witness,
when he was deposing at the trial, about the part played by Sopan.
It should not b.ave gone to sleep at earlier .stages and then tried to fill
up the possible gaps in the evidence on this part of the case at the
trial. If it does this, so that an important prosecution witness
appears to be introducing new allegations which are vital for determining the liability of an accused, the. new statements are bound to
arouse suspicion and doubt.
It may not be out. of place to mention here that the I Ith Report
of the Criminal Law Revision Committee in England, has recom·
mended the abrogation of several artificial rules of evidence which
may result in the exclusion of what is logically relevant (See : Criminal
Law Review, June, 1973, p. 329). So far as our law goes, we do not
think thats. 145 of the Evidence Act, on the very reasoning of Tahsil·
dar Stngh's case (supra), cited by the High Court, was intended to
exclude from evidence what is relevant and admitted, and, therefore;
a proved omission from having its due effect fo the assessment of
probabilities. Section 145, Evidence Act applies only to 'contradictions'. If there are omissions in previous statements which do
not amount to contradictions but throw some doubt on the veracity
of what was omitted~ the uncertainty or doubt may be capable of
removal by questions in re-examination. There were no such questions put to Sudarn in the case before us. Neither proof nor use of
such omissions, -which do not amount to contradictions, is barred by
Sec. 145 Evidence Act.
·
It is not possible to lay down a general rule as to what effect a
particular omission from a previous statement should have on the
probative value of what was so omitted by a witness. The effect will
depend upon the totality of proved facts and circumstances in which
the omission might have taken place. It will often be determined by
the importance. of what was omitted. Our enacted law of evidence
contains nothing more than. sections 3 and 114 of the Evidence Act
to in1icate and illustrate the standards and methods employed in
assessing the evidence. The error the High Court had committed in
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LAXMAN V, MAHAR,ASHTRA (Beg, /,)
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the case before us was that it entirely excluded very.important, relevant,
and material omissions, from· duly proved previous statements of the
witness Sudam ·from consideration altogether as though they were
quite irrelevant and inconsequential.
Quite apar.t from the error of the High Court in assuming that a
material omission from a previous statement, even if it is not to be
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treated strictly as a contradiction, must be ignored in evaluating the
testimony of the only eye witness on so important a matter, for determining the liability of Sopan, we think that what Sudam P.W. 17
had omitted to state before the Magistrates ought also to have been
more critically examined and tested by the High Court in the light
of probabilities and the natural course of human conduct. The
important question which arose for determination on facts and cirC
cumstances disclosed by Sudam himself was :
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How much did Sudam actually see with his ow11 eyes and
how much of what he said could be not unreasonably attri-·
buted to conjecture, surmise, or imagination on his part·?
Before we discuss the evidence further, we may observe that Professor Munsterberg, in a book called "On the Witness Stand'' (p. 51),
cited by Judge Jerome Frank in his "Law and the Modern Mind"
(see: 1949 ed. p. 106), gives instances of experiments conducted by
enacting sudden unexpected preplanned episodes before persons who
were then asked to ·write down, soon afterwards, what they had seen
and heard. The astounding result was :
"Words were put into the mouths of men who had been
silent spectators during the whole short episode; actions
were attributed to the chief participants of which not the
slightest trace existed; ~nd essential parts of the tragi-comedy were completely eliminated from the memory of a ·
number of witnesses".
Hence, the Professor concluded : "We never know whether we re·.
member, perceive, or imagine". Witnesses cannot, therefore·, be
branded as liars in toto and their testimony rejected outright even if
parts of their statements are demonstrably incorrect or doubtful.
The astute judge can separate the grains of acceptable truth from
the chaff of exaggerations and improbabilities which cannot be safely
or prudently accepted and acted upon. It is sound commonsense to
refuse to apply mechanically, in assessing the worth of necessarily
imperfect human testimony, the maxim : "Jalsus in uno falsus in omnibus.''
Reverting to the evidence in the case, we find that. Sudam was, as
is quite natural, in a hurry to get back to the village because, apart
from the fear of the accused (Laxman had actually threatened to kill
him and the other two had also been alleged by him to have attempted
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to prevent bis escape), he had .to inform the relations of Narainrao
soon about what he had seen. And, he deposed that he told both
Bhika Kotwal and Abhiman (P.W. 2) when he met them, that Narainrao was "being" beaten, or, in other words, the beating had not come
512
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1974] 2 S.C.R.
to an end when he ran away from the scene of occurrence. More·
over, he ·was quite far when Sopan is alleged by him, apparently for
the first time at the trial, to have taken his turn to beat the deceased
with the Rumna. Even the last act attributed by him to Laxman
who is said to have hurled a big stone at the neck of Narainrao lying
on the ground, is not corroborated by medical evidence. Moreover, it was not possible for Sudam to have observed from a distance
that the stone hurled by Laxman actually hit Narain on his neck.
He could have mistaken some act of Sopan, such as throwing away
of the Rumna, for an assault with it claimed by him to have been seen
from a distance as he turned his head back to see whilst escaping. We,
therefore, conclude that, although Sudam was there to witness how the
attack began, he had probably drawn upon his imagination to some
extent to give the details of how it ended.
We next turn to the several dying declarations put forward to
corroborate the statement of Sudam. These show that the three
appellants were present at the attack upon Narainrao and were thought
by Narainrao to have participated in beating him. These dying
declarations, however, do not mention the particular part assigned by
Sudam to Sopan in his deposition at the trial. This is natural as
Narainrao was not in a position to see the actual assailant after he
was pinned down to the ground with his face downwards and Laxman
sitting on his "neck". He could only guess who was striking him on
the back.
The first dying declaration, made to Mahboob, P.W. 10, did not
impress the High Court. The second was made to Piraji P.W. 9,
the third to Laxmanramji P.W. 2
and the 4th to Datarao P.W. 3,
the Sarpanch of Mannas Pimpri. The High Court had rightly observed that the last three dying declarations made to villagers, who had
assembled at the scene of occurrence before Narainrao died, could
not be held to be false as the medical evidence indicated that he could
remain conscious for some time after the attack. The more important question for determination, therefore, was :
"To what extent do the dying declarations corporate
Sudam ?"
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Neither the dying declarations nor the F.I.R. lodged at the police
station by Abhiman P.W. 12, the brother of Narainrao, on 30-4-1966
at 12 ·30 p.m. disclose the parts played by each of the three accused.
The report sent by Abhiman is actually signed by Sudam P.W. 17.
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It is true that, at that time, it was not knoVt'n that Narainrao \vould die.
But, both Sudam and Abhiman knew that a very severe beating had
been given to Narainrao. We think that it is unlikely that, if Sudam
had seen the details of the way in which the beating of Narainrao
ended, no details of it whatsoever would be given in the report sent by
Abhiman to the police which was signed by Sudam. Thus, the proved
omission of the last part of Sudam's version from the F.I.R. as well
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as from his proved previous statements before the Executive and the
Committing Magistrates, combined with the unlikelihood that he could
either stay Jong enough at the scene to see how the beatina; ended or
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LAXMAN v, MAllA:R.ASHTaA (Beg, I.)
513
would be able to see this well enough when he turned his head back
while running away and his own admitted statements to other wit·
nesses throw that part of the story in which Sopan appellant is said
to have taken his turn in beating of Narainrao in the region of reasonable doubt.
Sopan, appellant, a young man, may have accompanied his elder
br<>ther, laXlnan, and his. cousin, Sakbaram, out of curiosity. He
may have watched the beating .. Sudam's own statement before the ·
committing magistrate quoted above, was that this is all that Sopan did
there, although the High Court thought fit to explain it away by believing that this assertion was confined to the earlier stage of the beating. According to the High Court's finding, Sopan was only standing
at least when Sakharam was giving the beating with the 'Rumna'. He
must have accompanied his elder brothe• and cousin back to the
village. Sopan may have even taken and thrown the 'Rumna' or
known where it was lying. The fact that he indicated the place from
where it could be reeovered would not be sufli'cient to establish his
participation in the incident. beyond reasonable do.ubt. Therefore,
we are of the opinion that Sopan, appellant, is entitled to the benefit
of the doubt which emerges on an examination of the whole evidence
in the case about the precise acts of participation by him. As resards
laXlnan and Sakhara.m there is no room for doubt that they actually
attacked Narainrao deceased as stated by Sudam. The manner in
which Narainrao was said to be beaten, corroborated by medical
evidence, makes it impossible for the beating to have been given by a
single individual. The participation of Laxman and Sakharam in the
actual commission of the offence is, therefore, establis);od beyond any
reasonable doubt. The medical evidence also leaves no doubt that the
beating was such that, in the ordinary course of nature, it would
cause the death of Narainrao.
We, therefore, think that Laxman and Sakharam appellants have
been rightly convicted under section 302 read with s. 34 I.P.C. and
sentenced to life imprisonment. Hence, we dismiss the appeal of
Laxman and Sakharam and affirm their convictions and sentences.
We allow the appeal of Sopan appellant and set aside his conviction
and sentence. We order that Sopan be set at liberty forthwith unless
wanted in some other connection.
S.B.W.
Appeal allowed in part.
' .