# RAGHUNANDAN v. STATE OF U.P. January JO, 1974

- **Citation:** [1974] 3 S.C.R. 92
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1974
- **Case number:** Criminal Appeal Nos. JO & II of 1973
- **Bench:** M. H. Beg, Y. V. Chandrachud
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/raghunandan-v-state-of-u-p-january-jo-1974-6117
- **Pages:** 9

## Headnote

Murder-Criminal Procedure Code-Ss.162, 428 and 540-Duty of co.urt to put
,e5Sential questions-Evidence Act, s. 165-SCfJpe of.
All the appellants were tried for various offences under the Penal Code. The
first appellant (Cr. A. 10 of 1973) was held guilty of th.e offence of murder of the deceased by shooting him with a gun while the other appellants Vi'Cre held guilty or
-0ffences under Ss. 147 and 148, I. P. C. All the appellants were held guilty of offences
punishable under Ss. 307 and 323 read withs. 149. The first appellant was sentenced
to death while the others to imprisonment for life. The High Court confirmed the
sentences.
Allowing the appeals in part and remitting the cases to the High Court for disposal,
HELD : Several material points escaped consideration by the High Court.
In a case of death sentence one would have expected a closer and a more critical
scrutiny and a fuller discussion by the High Court of the evidence in the case and of
the material questions arising for decision before it together with its decisions suppor·
ted by more than what could appear as perfunctory reasoning. [99E;lOOB]
(1) The more important questions emerging from a reading of the poSt~
1nortem report regarding the contents of the stomach of the deceased,
.-considered in the context of the alleged time of the murder have not
·been discussed at aU by the High Court. It is precisely questions of this
kind which, even if the prosecution or the defence counsel omitted to .put,
the trial court could and should have put to the doctor who conducted the
post mortem to clear up the position. If the trial Court had failed to consider
·their importance, the High Court itself could and should have taken furher expert
medical evidence under Ss. 540 and 428, Cr. P. C. on this question.
[9F]
(2) It is true that the ban imposed bys. 162, Cr. P. C. against the use of a state·
ment of a witness recorded by the police during investigation, appears sweeping and
wide. But at the same time, the powers of the court under s. 165 of the Evidence
Act to put any questions to a witness are also couched in very wide terms authoris.
ing the judge "in order to discover or to obtain proper proof of relevant facts" to
"ask any question he pleases, in any form, at any time, of any witness, or of the parties,
about any fact relevant or irrelevant". The first proviso to s. 165, Evidence Act,
enacting that, despite the powers of the court to put any question to a witness, the
judgment must be based upon facts declared by the Act to be relevant, only serves
to emphasise the width of the power of the court to question a witness.
The second proviso in this section preserves the privileges of witnesses to rerulic
to answer certain questions and prohibits only questions which would be considered
i1nproper under Ss. 148 and 149, Evidence Act. Statements of witnesses made to the
pOlice during the investigation do not fall under any prohibited category mentioned
ins. 165, Evidence Act. Ifs. 162 Cr. P. C. was meant to be so wide in its sweep it
could make a further in,road upon the powers of the judge to put questions under
s. J65, £\.'!dencc Act. If that was the correct position atJcasts. 162, Cr. P. C. would
l.1ave said so explicitly. Section 165, Evidence Act was .already on the stu!ute book
whens. 162, Cr. P. C. 'vas enacted.
A
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E
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G
It is certainly quite arguable thats. 162. Cr. P. C. docs an1ount to a prohibition
11
~gainst the use even by the court of statements mentioned there. Nevertheless, the
purpose of the prohibition of s. 162, Cr. P. C. being to prevent unfair use by the
prosecution of statements made by witnesses to the police during the course of in·
··vestigation, \Vhile the proviso is intended for the benefit of the defence, it could be
)
RAGHUNANDAN 1'. U. P. S'J'.ATE (Beg, J.)
93
A
urged that, in order to secure the ends of justice, the pr"hibition, by taking into account.
its purpase and the mischief it was designed to prevent as well as its context, must

## Text

92
RAGHUNANDAN
v.
STATE OF U.P.
January JO, 1974
(M. H. BEG AND Y. V. CHANDRACHUD, JJ.]
Murder-Criminal Procedure Code-Ss.162, 428 and 540-Duty of co.urt to put
,e5Sential questions-Evidence Act, s. 165-SCfJpe of.
All the appellants were tried for various offences under the Penal Code. The
first appellant (Cr. A. 10 of 1973) was held guilty of th.e offence of murder of the deceased by shooting him with a gun while the other appellants Vi'Cre held guilty or
-0ffences under Ss. 147 and 148, I. P. C. All the appellants were held guilty of offences
punishable under Ss. 307 and 323 read withs. 149. The first appellant was sentenced
to death while the others to imprisonment for life. The High Court confirmed the
sentences.
Allowing the appeals in part and remitting the cases to the High Court for disposal,
HELD : Several material points escaped consideration by the High Court.
In a case of death sentence one would have expected a closer and a more critical
scrutiny and a fuller discussion by the High Court of the evidence in the case and of
the material questions arising for decision before it together with its decisions suppor·
ted by more than what could appear as perfunctory reasoning. [99E;lOOB]
(1) The more important questions emerging from a reading of the poSt~
1nortem report regarding the contents of the stomach of the deceased,
.-considered in the context of the alleged time of the murder have not
·been discussed at aU by the High Court. It is precisely questions of this
kind which, even if the prosecution or the defence counsel omitted to .put,
the trial court could and should have put to the doctor who conducted the
post mortem to clear up the position. If the trial Court had failed to consider
·their importance, the High Court itself could and should have taken furher expert
medical evidence under Ss. 540 and 428, Cr. P. C. on this question.
[9F]
(2) It is true that the ban imposed bys. 162, Cr. P. C. against the use of a state·
ment of a witness recorded by the police during investigation, appears sweeping and
wide. But at the same time, the powers of the court under s. 165 of the Evidence
Act to put any questions to a witness are also couched in very wide terms authoris.
ing the judge "in order to discover or to obtain proper proof of relevant facts" to
"ask any question he pleases, in any form, at any time, of any witness, or of the parties,
about any fact relevant or irrelevant". The first proviso to s. 165, Evidence Act,
enacting that, despite the powers of the court to put any question to a witness, the
judgment must be based upon facts declared by the Act to be relevant, only serves
to emphasise the width of the power of the court to question a witness.
The second proviso in this section preserves the privileges of witnesses to rerulic
to answer certain questions and prohibits only questions which would be considered
i1nproper under Ss. 148 and 149, Evidence Act. Statements of witnesses made to the
pOlice during the investigation do not fall under any prohibited category mentioned
ins. 165, Evidence Act. Ifs. 162 Cr. P. C. was meant to be so wide in its sweep it
could make a further in,road upon the powers of the judge to put questions under
s. J65, £\.'!dencc Act. If that was the correct position atJcasts. 162, Cr. P. C. would
l.1ave said so explicitly. Section 165, Evidence Act was .already on the stu!ute book
whens. 162, Cr. P. C. 'vas enacted.
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
It is certainly quite arguable thats. 162. Cr. P. C. docs an1ount to a prohibition
11
~gainst the use even by the court of statements mentioned there. Nevertheless, the
purpose of the prohibition of s. 162, Cr. P. C. being to prevent unfair use by the
prosecution of statements made by witnesses to the police during the course of in·
··vestigation, \Vhile the proviso is intended for the benefit of the defence, it could be
)
RAGHUNANDAN 1'. U. P. S'J'.ATE (Beg, J.)
93
A
urged that, in order to secure the ends of justice, the pr"hibition, by taking into account.
its purpase and the mischief it was designed to prevent as well as its context, must
be confined in its scope to the use by parties only to a proceeding of statements mentioned therein,
B
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The language of s. 162, Cr. P. C., though wide, is not explicit or specific enough
to extend the prohibition to the use of the wide and special powers of the court to
question a witness, expressly and explicitly given bys. 165, Evidence Act in order to
secure the ends of justice. A narrow and restrictive construction put upon the prohibition in s, 162 Cr. P. C. so as to confine the ambit of it to the use of statements by
witnesses, by parties only to a proceeding before the court, would reconcile or harmonize the two provisions and also serve the ends of justice. Therefore s. 162, Cr.
P. C. does not impair the special powers of the court under s. 165 Evidence Act
(98A-H]
In the instant case a person who was said to be an eye witness was not examined
by the prosecution. But this witne1S was considered so important that the trial court
examined hi.nl as a court witness. While some of the prosecution witn~ stated
that this witness was present at the time and _place of occurrence, the witness himself
stated to the police that he was not an eye witness to the occurrence but came there
Jater. This witness ought to have been confronted by the trial court itself with his
previous statement to the police and that statement could have been proved by the
investigating officer. After that, a better appraisal of the other evidence in the ca!!ie
than was possible now could take place. The High Court, without considering or
disc~ing the significance of the presence or absence of this witness at the house at
the time of the occurrence, had merely observed that he also sup~ed the prosecution. If this witness was not really present the evidence of witnesses who were prepared to state that be was present, though not necessarily false about the occurrence
has to be appraised Jess uncritically.
Emptror v. Lal Mian A. I. R. 1943 Cat. 521, approved.
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal Nos. JO &
II of 1973.
Appeals by special leave from the judgment and order dated the
28th October, 1971 of the Allahabad High Court in Criminal Appeal
No. 351 of 1971 and Referred No. 31 of 1971.
Frank Anthony, E. C. Agrawala, M. M. L. Srivasta1•a and A.T.M.
Sampath, for the appellants.
O. P. Rana. for the respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
BEG. J,-The appellants Raghunandan, Ganga Sahai, Ghalendra,
Khem Singh, and Sohan Singh, in the two Criminal Appeals ·now
before us by special leave, were tried by a Civil & Sessions Judge·
of Moradabad tor various offences punishable under Sections 147,
148, 302, 307, 323 and 452 read with section 149 Indian Penal Code.
Raghunandan was held guilty of the offence of murder by shooting
one Sriram with a gun on 12-12-1969, at about I p. m., while the
deceased was sitting in front of his cattle shed in his outer court yard
and talking to Hari Singh, a neighbour, who was also injured by gun
shots. The appellants Ganga Sahai and Sohan Singh were held
guilty. of Offences punishable under section 148 Indian Penal Code
while
Khem Singh and Ghalendra were found guilty punishable
under Section 147 Indian Penal Code. All the appellants were held
guilty of Offences punishable under Section 30 I and 323 read with
Section 149 Indian Penal Code and Section 452 Indian Penal Code.
SUPREl'vlE COURT REPORTS
[J 974] 3 S.C.R.
But,. no separate sentences were passed against any of the accused
persons for these Offences as Raghunandan was sentenced to death
under section 302 Indian Penal Code and the other four appellants
w~rc sentenced to life in1prison1nent under section 302 read \Vith
section 149 Indian Penal Court. The High Court of Allahabad had
accepted the death reference, arnl, dismissing the appeals of all the
appellants, had confirmed their se11tences.
The Trial Court as well as the High Court had recorded concurrent findings of fact that the appellants formed themselves into an
unlawful assembly armed with a gun, bal!ams, and lathis, and shot
SririJ.m and Hari Singh, and, also injured Smt. Brahma, P. W. 2, the
wife of Hari Singh, who is said to have covered her husband Hari
Singh during the attack, and, Durga Prasad, P.W .6, the brother of
murdered man. The prosecution case is also supported by Bhai
Singh, P.W.J, a brother of Raghunandan, and by Rameshwar, P.W. 5,
a resident of Village Karimpur, who was said to be passing by at the
time of the occurrence.
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The appellants pleaded that they had been falsely implicated due to
enmity.
The~ produced Gokul, D. W. !, who deposed about an
occurrence which was alleged to have taken place at the house of
Hari Singh in the early hours of the morning presumably of 12th of
December, 1969. He stated that the cause of the occurrence was that
Rohan, the brother of Hari Singh, had abducted Stnt. Rukia of
Naurangabad and brought her to village Karimpur where she was
living. He asserted that her husband and other residents of Naurangabad forming a party of ten to twelve, had come to take her away. its
members were said to have been armed with a Gun, Ballams, and
Lathis, which they were alleged to have used against Hari Singh and the
deceased Srirams and Durga Prasad. He deposed that Sriram, Hari
Singh, and Durga Prasad were fired at. He stated thatthe Naurangabad party caught hold of Smt. Brahma and that her husband, Hari
Singh, had tried to save her. GoJ.."UI alleged that Srira111 was struck
by gun shots. He suggested that Hari Singh may also ha\'e bcrn
similarly injured. He stated that Durga Prasad was not hit.
E
The Trial Court, which had the advantage of seeing the witne;sos
<lepose, accepted the evidence of the four eye witnesses, who included
two injured persons. It rejected the story put forward
by Gokul
in defence as incre.dible.
Apart from the fact that the defence version
·did not clearly explain the Ballam injury on Durga Prasad, the c~pla
nation for the gun shot wounds on . the· chest, stomach, and forcann of
Sriram, which had resulted in his death, suggesting that he was the
principal target of the attack, did not quite fit in with the defence
-version. The Trial Court had also observed that the accused had
reserved their defence up to the last stage and had not revealed it
~arlier either in the Committing Magisuate's Court or at the time of
applying for bail.
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It is true that what seems to be the principal 111otivc set up by the
W:
11rosecution helps the defence more than it assists the prosecution case.
This was that there was rivalry for election to the office of the Pradhan
.of the Gram Sabha between Sriram deceased and Ganga Sahai,
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!!AGHUNANDAN V. U. P. STATE (Beg,/.)
95
appellant, who was Pradhan of the village at the time of the murder.
According to the prosecution version, Sriram, who had been a Pradhan
of the village for about 8 to I 0 years, was threatened with dire consequences by Ganga Sahai if he stood again for the office. Bhai Singh,
P. W. I, had stated that, out of fear, Sriram did not stand for election
so that Ganga Sahai won an uncontested election and became the
Pradhan. If that was so, Ganga Sahai should have felt obliged to
Sriram for not contesting the election. There was no suggestion that
another election was near at the time of the occurrence or that Sriram
was conspiring to get Ganga Sahai unseated.
Other motives were also set up. Ganga Sahai and other accused
persons were said to have demolished the mend of Bhai Singh's field
and taken his land under cultivation so that Bhai Singh had complained
about it to people of his own village and other villages. It was alleged
that the accused persons formed one set and used to threaten the
family of Bhai Singh and Sriram and Durga Prasad who were said
to be joint in cultivation and mess.
It was also all~ged that Sriram
had gone with a friend of his, named Sahi Ram, to Police Station
Bejoi to lodge a report relating to the beating up of Sabi Ram by Sohan
Singh and Raghunandan appellants. Furthermore, Brahma, P. W. 2,
had deposed that her husband Hari Singh, who had sustained gun
shot injuries at the occurrence under consideration but had survived
was threatened by the accused persons that, if he gave evidence against
them, he would be killed.
Hari Singh had actually been murdered
about 7 months before Smt. Brahma gave evidence in Court on 11.1 J.70.
The prosecution, therefore, suggested that the appellants formed
a. set of bullies and thought that they could do what they liked to
the family of Sriram, deceased, and its property. 'Enmity, as it has
been often observed, is a double edged weapon.
We, therefore,
refrain from saying more than that there should be an attempt to
determine, in such a case, the direction in which enmities set up were
more likely·to operate.
If the eye witnesses could be believed it was really not necessary
to support the .prosecution case by giving satisfactory evidence of
the motive to murder. The real and more important question to decide
here was whether the four alleged eye witnesses produced, out of
whom twd were brothers o'r the deceased Sriram, one a chance witness,
and the fourth, the injured wife of a close friend of the deceased, who
was also injured, were sufficiently reliable.
The alleged eye witnesses
no doubt seem to have impressed the Trial Court which bad the advantage of seeing them depose.
There are, however, atleast two
features of this case which could provide serious grounds for suspecting the prosecution version.
We now proceed to examine these
two features.
It was repeatedly emphasised by the1earned counsel for the ·appellant that the post-mortem examination report disclosed that the small
intestine as well as the large intestine of' the deceased contained
faecal matter and were distended with gas whereas the stomach was
found empty.
It was submitted before us that it was quite unnatural
96
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[19741 3 S.C.R.
that a healthy villager, even though bis age was estimated by the Doctor
as 60 years (found erroneously mentioned as 80 in the judgment of
the High Court before us), would not eat until I p.m. during the day,
or, in any case, that be would not defecate until that time during the
day when there was nothing in evidence to show that he was suffering
from constipation.
It was contended that the Trial Court had
uncritically and too easily accepted the explanation given by the prosecution witnesses that the deceased alone bad not eaten up to 1 p:m.
as he bad a stream of visitors that morning.
It is apparent from
the testimony of Durga Prasad that he and his brother-in-law Jailal,
C.W. J, who was not produced by the prosecution (although examined
as a Court witness),
was
also
said
to
be
staying) at
the house, and to have taken his food with Durga Prasad before 1. p.m.
We find that although Dr. J.P. Chaturvedi, P. W. 8, who performed
the post-mortem examination, and Dr. D. P. Manchanda, who bad
admitt<d Hari Singh into the hospital on 13-12-1969 at 11-40 a.m.,
were examined at the Trial, no question was pui by either side to elicidate wbtther the contents of the small intestine and the large intestine
could remain in that condition until 1 p.m. during the day assuming
that Sriram was quite healthy.
The post-mortem examination took
place at 2-40 p.m. on 13-12-1969, and the intestines were then·found
distended with gas.
We do. not know whether this could be their
condition at 1 p.m. on 12-12-1969 or its effect. It is precisely questions of
this kind which, even it the prosecution or the defence counsel omit to
put them, the Trial Court could and should have put to doctors to clear
up the position. If the Trial Court had failed to consider their importance, the High Court could have and should·have taken further evidence on this matter under Section 540 Criminal Procedure Code.
In a criminal case, the fate of the proceeding cannot always be left
entirely in the bands of the parties.
The Court has also a duty
to see that essential questions are not, so far as reasonably possible,
left unanswered, We are surprised to find, from the judgment of the
High Court, that the questions mentioned above, arising out of the
post-mcrtfm report, were not, for some reason, even mentioned
there.
We find it very difficult to believe that, in a case with a death
sentence a matter of such significance, which was noticed by the Trial
Court, was not raised at all by Counsel fQ,r the appellants.
In any
event, it ought to have been dealt with by t1ie High Court after taling
appropriate ad\litional expert medical evidence under Section 540
read with Section 428 Criminal Pt0cedure Code if that was considered
necessary before deciding it.
Another question raised by the learned Counsel for the appellant
relates to the testimony of Jailal, the brother-in-law of Sriram; He
\Vas said to be an eye witness.
But, he \\'as neither mentioned in
the F I. R., although he was said t.o be present at the Police Station
when the F. f. R. was lodged at 5 p.m., nor was he produced by the
pro,secution.
Indeed, Rameshwar, P. W. 5. had stated that be bad
ni>t seen Jailal at all there. Jaila!'''was considered so important a
witness by the Trial Court that he was examined as a Court witne5'.
He denied having made any statement to the Police althoush it is
in evidence that he did make a statement to the Police. The Trial
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RAGHUNANDAN V. U. P. STATB (Beg, /.)
97
Court bad not permitted the contents of that statement, which indicated
that Jailal was not an eye witness but .came there at a time when the
Corpse of Sriram was being removed, to be used to contradict his version
as a Court witness.
Smt. Brahma, P. W. 2, as well as Du1ga Prasad,
P. W. 6, the injured eye witnesse•, as well as Bhai Singh, P. W. I, stated
that Jailal was present at the time of the occurrence.
Learned Counsel for the appellant submitted that Jailal's statement
before the Police suggested that he had come in the morning, Jong
before I p.m., and had found that Sriram had already been murdered.
This, it is urged indicates that Sriram must have been murdered
either by Naurangabad people or by unknown persons during the night.
We do not find material on record to support the suggestion that Jailal
must have reached the house in the morning at a time when Sriram's
murder had been already committed. The Trial Court had discussed
the evidence of Jailal at some length and had opined that his name was
not mentioned in the F.I.R. as be w11s related to the accused persons
also. That may be the reason why Jailal was distrusted. If, however, Rameshwar, P.W.5, a chance witness, who claimed to be present
at the time of the alleged occurrence and to have seen it, is to be believed,
Jailal was not to be seen at all at that time at the house. If Jailal was
really not p1csent, the evidence of witnesses who were prepared to
state, for some oblique reason, that he was present, though not necessarily false about the whole occurrence, has to be appraised less uncritically. The High Court, \Vithout considering or discussing the
significance of the presence or absence of Jailal at the house at the time
of the
occurrence, had merely o!)scrved that Jailal, C.W. I, also
supported the prosecution version.
Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the testimony of
Jailal could not have been accepted by the High Court because Jailal
had not been confronted with his previous statement.before the police.
He urged, relying upon Emperor v. Lal Mian (I). that, even if the
statement of a witness, recorded by tho Police during the investigation,
cannot be used for "any purpose" other than the ones mentioned in
Section I 62 Criminal Procedure Code, yet this prohobition applies
only to the parties to the proceedings and does not operate against the
powers of the Court itself when it considers the testimony of a witness
to be necessary. Although, the Trial Court considered Jailal's evidence
important enough to examine him under Section 540 Criminal Procedure Code, yet it
disabled itself from testing its worth by
putting an alleged contradiction to the witness on a matter of some
importance in the case.
11 is urged by learned counsel for the appellants that the powers of
the Court to question a witness are regulated by the special provisions
of Section 165 of the Evidence Act exclusively, so that a previous statement of the witness, who is called as a Court witness, can be used by the
Court to contradict him even if it was made to the police during the
investigation. This, it is submitted, is the effect of the special powers
of the Court under Section I 65 Evidence Act.
(t) AJ.R. 1943 Cal. 521.
8-852SCI/n
98
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[19741 3 S.C.R.
It is true that the ban, imposed by section 162 Criminal Procedure
Oodc, against the use of a statement of a witness recorded by the Police
during investigation, appears sweeping and wide. But, at the same
time, we and that the powers of the Court, under section 165 of the
Evidence Act, to put any question to a witness. are also couched in
very wide terms authorising the Judge "in order to discover or to
obtain proper procf of relevant facts" to "ask any question he pleases,
in any form, at any time, of any witness, or of the parties, about any
fact relevant or irrelevant". The first proviso to section 165 Evidence
Act, enacting that, despite the powen of the Court to put any
question to a witness, the judgment must be based upon facts declared
by the Act to be relevant, only serves to emphasize the width of the
power of the Court to question a witness. The seC8nd proviso is
this section preserves the privileges of witnesses to refuse to answer
certain questions and prohibits only questions which would be considered improper under section 148 and 149 of th• Evidence Act. Statements
of witnesses made to the police during the investigation do not fall
under any' prohibited category mentioned in Section 165 Evidence
Act. If Section 162 Criminal Procedure Code was meant to be so
wide in its sweep as the Trial Court thought it to be, it would make a
further inroad upon the powers of the Judge to put questions under
Section 165 Evidence Act. If that was the correct position, atleast
Section 162 Criminal Procedure Code would have said so explicitly.
Section 165 of the Evidence Act was already there when section 162
Criminal Procedure Code was enacted,
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It is certainly quite arguable that Section 162 Criminal Proceaure
Code does amount to a prohibition against the use even by the Court
of statements mentioned there. Nevertheless, the purpose of the
E
prohibition of Section 162 Criminal Procedure Code being to prevent
unfair use by the prosecution of statements made by witnesses to the
Police during the course of investigation, while the proviso is intended
for the benefit of the defence, it could also be urged that, in order to
secure the ends of Justice, which all procedural law is meant to subserve,
the prohibition, by taking into account its purpose and the mischief
it was designed to prevent as well as its context, must be confined
F
in its scope to the use by parties only to a proceeding of statements
mentioned there.
We are inclined to accept the argument of the appellant that the
language
of Section 162 Criminal Procedure Code, though wide,
is not explicit or specific enough to extend the prohibit on to the use
of the wide and special powers of the Court IC> question a witness,
G
expressly and explicitly given by Section 165 of the India~ Evidence
Act in order to secme the ends of jmtice.
We think tb.t a narrow
and restrictive construction put upon the prohibition in Sect on 162
Criminal Procedure Code, so as to . confine the ambit of it to the u•e
of statements by witnesses by parties only to a proceeding before
the Court, would reconcile or harmonize the two provisions considered
by us and also serve the ends of justice.
Therefore, we hold that
H
Section 162 Criminal Procedure Code does not impair the special
powers of the Court under Section 165 Indian Evidence Act.
Consequently, we think that the Trial Court could and should have itself
,
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RAGHUNANDAN v. U. P. STATE (Beg,'!.)
99
made use of the statement made by Jailal during the course of the
investigation.
If that had been done, it is possible that it may have
affected appraisal of evidence of other prosecution witnesses.
We also find that the Trial Co11rt as well as the High Court had
brushed aside the objection that the blood recovered from the place
of occurrence was not sent for chemical examination. We thinl:: that
a failure of the police to send the blooj for chemioal examination ina
serious case of murder, such as the one before us, is to be deprecated.
In such cases, the place of occurrence is often disputed.
In the instant
case, it was actually disputed.
However, such an omission need
not jeopardise the success of the prosecution case where there is
other reliable evidence to fix the scene of occurrence.
The High Court had dealt with the contention that there was some
conftict between medical evideace and the evidence about the distances
from which shootings are said to have taken place. It held that, if
correctly interpreted, medical evidence corroborated the accounts
of eye witnesses.
But, the High Court had not 'imilarly discussed
or dealt with the infirmities in the statements of prosecution witnesses,
which were placed before us, such as the denial by Smt. Brahma, P. W. 2
that she went to the police station to lodge a report in respect of the
murder of Hari Singh.
It was urged on behalf of the appellants
that this deliberately mendacious denial by her was made to conceal
the fact that her report was untrue.
Matters which may shake the
credibility of a witness must be taken into account although they may
not be enough to discard the whole statement of a witness.
We have indicated a number of points on which, in a case of a
death sentence, one would have expected a closer and a more critical
scrutiny and a fuller discussion by the High Cowt of the evidence
in the case· and cf the material questions arising for decision before
it together with its decisions on these supported by more· than what
could appear as perfunctory reasoning.
We have also indicated
the rather important question which was, surprisingly, not discussed
at all by the High Court, emerging from a reading of the post-mortem
report considered in the context of the alleged time of the murder.
We think that the High Court itself could and should have taken
further expert medical evidence, under Sections 540 and 428 Criminal
Procedure Code, on this question.
For the reasons already given,
we also think that Jailal, C. W. I, ought to have been confronted by
the Court itself with his previous statement before the police and that
statement could be proved by the Jnve>tigating officer.
After that,
a better appraisal of other evidence in the case than is possible now,
on the present state of the record, could take place.
We have anxiously considered the question whether this is a case
in which we should consider the merits of the whole case ourselves on
the evidence on record or send it back for further consideration
and decision in accordance with the law, as laid down above, either
by the High Court or by the Trial Court.
We do not think that
in a serious case of murder such as the one before us, persons who
were, if the prosecution case is true, acting as utterly irresponsible
and callous bullies, should be judged on the evidence as it stands
100
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1974] 3 S.C.R.
without the additional evidence mentioned above by us. We m~st
emphasise that, whatever may be the nature of the offence or the actions
of the accused, as revealed by evidence, the accused, are entitkd to
a fair trial which a well considered judgment, dealing satisfactorily
with the material points in the case, evidences.
For the reasons
given above, we think that several material points ~ave escaped con-
;ideration by the High Court.
Consequently, we allow this appeal to the extent that we set aside
the judgnu:nt and orders of the High Court and sent back the case
to it for reconsideration and decision in accordance with Jaw as explained by us.
No opinion which may have been expressed unwittingly by us on questions of. fact would bind the Court or affect
an untettered consideration of the merits of the respective cases of
the two sides by the High Court in accordance with the law as laid
do\vn by us.
Appeal
rartly
allowed,
P.B.R.
A
B
c