# RAMNARAIN v. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

- **Citation:** [1973] 3 S.C.R. 463
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1973-01-31
- **Case number:** Criminal Appeal No. 105 of 1970
- **Bench:** A. Alag!Riswami, I. D. Dua, C. A. Vaidialingam
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/ramnarain-v-state-of-rajasthan-5830
- **Pages:** 14

## Headnote

Indian Penal Code-Accused convicted under s. 461
and
120BApplicalion under· s. 561·A of the Cr. P. C.
not considered-Whether
there was grave miscarriage of justice.
The appellant was &llesed to have eintered into a conspiracy
with
othero, to persuade membern of the public to part with money
for
purchasing residential plots. in a village, 'Khand Gawadi' and in furtherence of this conspiracy, they we're alleged to have
forged
sale
proceedings PGttas, and the signatures of othe<rs on such pattas and sale
proceedings. The appellant himself affixed his signatures as Sarpanch
and put the seal of the village pancbayat on the
forged
documents.
1he trial court held the appellant guilty of the offences of conspiracy
under s. 120-B and be was also found guilty of the offences
under
s. 467 I. P. C.
On appeal the High Court confirmed the· appellant's
cqirviction on both these counts, but reduced bis sentence. The appellant's grievance before this Court was that non-consideration of
his
application under s. 561-A Cr. P.C. dated April 7, 1970, which
was
filed on May 1, 1970, but neither listed nor heard and !ms resulted in
grave miscarriage of justice.
On 18th May 1970, the Hon'ble High
Court made an order as follows·: "Perused application dated 7·4-1970
a,nd 30-4-1970. I have decided the case on 17-4-1970 and there
is,
therefore, no question of saying anything on the merits
now". 'Ibe
second point strongly presented by the appellant is that the appellant's
conviction was based solely on the testimony of P.W. 1, the approver,
\Vhose evide:nce has not been corroborated In material part's.
Allowing the appeal,
HELD: (i) The application under s. 561-A Cr. P.C. should
have
been disposed of after hearing the appellant's counsel and its disposal
without such hea'ring was clearly \Vrong and unjust. The appellant bas
a just grievance against the manner in which this application was disposed of. He had a right to be afforded a reasonable opportuuity of
being heard in support of his application, and the disposal of this case
in the chamber of the learned judge without giving him such opportunity
cannot be appreciated [469H]
(ii) Section 133 of the ~ndian Evidence Act, expressly provides that
an accomplice is a competent witness and the conviction is not illegal
merely because it proceeds on uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. But this Section has to read along with illustration (b) to s. 114.
Section 114 empowers the court to presume the existence of
certaLr1
facts and the illustrations elucidate what the court may presume. Iliustration (b) in express tertDS says : 'that an accomplice is unworthy of
credit unless he is corroborated in material
particulars. The
statute
thus p.ermits the conviction of an accused person on the basis of uncorroborated testimony of a:n accomplice. But the rule
of prudence
embodied in Illustration (b) of s. 114 strikes a note of warning that tbe
court will not generally believe an accomplice unless he is corroborated
in material parts.
This rule is guided by long experience and
has become a rule of prudence for general applic'ation.
[470C.GJ
464
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 S.C.R.
(iii) So far as the charge u;nder s: 120-B, I.P.C. is concerned, in
almost every case of conspiracy, it is generally a matter of inference,
direct independent evidence being seldom. Inferences
are
normally
deduced from acts of patties in pursuance of apparent crimin"! purpo~e
in commo;n between them. In the present case, the only evidence is
of the approver and the trial court expressly observed that there
is
no other direct evidence of conspiracy. Therefore the charge of conspiracy cannot be sustained from the evidence available. [475G-476B]
In the pr.esent case, on the existing. evidence, the appellants.' convic·
tio;ri under s.467 I.P.C. was wholly unsustainable. Therefore,
the
appellants' conviction must be set aside. [475FJ

## Text

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RAMNARAIN
v.
STATE OF RAJASTHAN
January 31, 1973
[A. ALAG!RISWAMI, I. D. DUA AND C. A. VAIDIALINGAM, JJ.]
Indian Penal Code-Accused convicted under s. 461
and
120BApplicalion under· s. 561·A of the Cr. P. C.
not considered-Whether
there was grave miscarriage of justice.
The appellant was &llesed to have eintered into a conspiracy
with
othero, to persuade membern of the public to part with money
for
purchasing residential plots. in a village, 'Khand Gawadi' and in furtherence of this conspiracy, they we're alleged to have
forged
sale
proceedings PGttas, and the signatures of othe<rs on such pattas and sale
proceedings. The appellant himself affixed his signatures as Sarpanch
and put the seal of the village pancbayat on the
forged
documents.
1he trial court held the appellant guilty of the offences of conspiracy
under s. 120-B and be was also found guilty of the offences
under
s. 467 I. P. C.
On appeal the High Court confirmed the· appellant's
cqirviction on both these counts, but reduced bis sentence. The appellant's grievance before this Court was that non-consideration of
his
application under s. 561-A Cr. P.C. dated April 7, 1970, which
was
filed on May 1, 1970, but neither listed nor heard and !ms resulted in
grave miscarriage of justice.
On 18th May 1970, the Hon'ble High
Court made an order as follows·: "Perused application dated 7·4-1970
a,nd 30-4-1970. I have decided the case on 17-4-1970 and there
is,
therefore, no question of saying anything on the merits
now". 'Ibe
second point strongly presented by the appellant is that the appellant's
conviction was based solely on the testimony of P.W. 1, the approver,
\Vhose evide:nce has not been corroborated In material part's.
Allowing the appeal,
HELD: (i) The application under s. 561-A Cr. P.C. should
have
been disposed of after hearing the appellant's counsel and its disposal
without such hea'ring was clearly \Vrong and unjust. The appellant bas
a just grievance against the manner in which this application was disposed of. He had a right to be afforded a reasonable opportuuity of
being heard in support of his application, and the disposal of this case
in the chamber of the learned judge without giving him such opportunity
cannot be appreciated [469H]
(ii) Section 133 of the ~ndian Evidence Act, expressly provides that
an accomplice is a competent witness and the conviction is not illegal
merely because it proceeds on uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. But this Section has to read along with illustration (b) to s. 114.
Section 114 empowers the court to presume the existence of
certaLr1
facts and the illustrations elucidate what the court may presume. Iliustration (b) in express tertDS says : 'that an accomplice is unworthy of
credit unless he is corroborated in material
particulars. The
statute
thus p.ermits the conviction of an accused person on the basis of uncorroborated testimony of a:n accomplice. But the rule
of prudence
embodied in Illustration (b) of s. 114 strikes a note of warning that tbe
court will not generally believe an accomplice unless he is corroborated
in material parts.
This rule is guided by long experience and
has become a rule of prudence for general applic'ation.
[470C.GJ
464
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 S.C.R.
(iii) So far as the charge u;nder s: 120-B, I.P.C. is concerned, in
almost every case of conspiracy, it is generally a matter of inference,
direct independent evidence being seldom. Inferences
are
normally
deduced from acts of patties in pursuance of apparent crimin"! purpo~e
in commo;n between them. In the present case, the only evidence is
of the approver and the trial court expressly observed that there
is
no other direct evidence of conspiracy. Therefore the charge of conspiracy cannot be sustained from the evidence available. [475G-476B]
In the pr.esent case, on the existing. evidence, the appellants.' convic·
tio;ri under s.467 I.P.C. was wholly unsustainable. Therefore,
the
appellants' conviction must be set aside. [475FJ
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No.
105 of 1970.
Appeal by special leave from tl!e judgment and order dated
April 17, 1970 of the Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur in S. B.
Cr. Appeal No. 283 of 1967.
Nuruddin Ahmad V. S. Dave and Subhag Mal Jain, for the
appellant.
K. Baldev Mehta, for the respQildent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
DuA, J.-In this appeal by special leave from the judgment of
the Rajasthan High Court Ram Narain, appellant, challenges his
conviction for the offences under ss. 467 and 120B, I.P.C. He,
along with three others, had been committed for trial in the court
of Sessions Judge, Kota on ten charges for offences under ss. 467,
468, 420 and 120B, I.P.C. It is not necessary to reproduce all the
charges and it would suffice if we set out the charges under s. iJ67
and 120B, I.P.C., because by the impugned judgment of the High
Court the appellant's conviction was sustained only on charges
under these two sections. Those charges are :
"1. That you between the months of November,
1959 to January, 1960, at your house at Dadvada enter-
•l
ed into a conspiracy with Sarvashri Madan Mohan,
· Badriprasad and Bakshi Qajpatsingh and others, to com-
. mit offences of forgery using forged documents as
genuine and of cheating the public, Municipal Board
and the Government in respect of the sale of some pieces
of land belonging earlier to the G.ram Panchayat Khand-'
· gawari in favour of Moolsingh, Mukatbeharilal and
· Surajsingh and that you did some act to wit forged the
proceedings of the Pattas in favour of the above said
persons and the signatures and the thumb impressions
of the Panchas of the defunct Gram Panchayat and made
false entries in the Cash Book· of the said Panchayat of
\he; rear ~957-~8 at pages 42 and 45 and affixed the
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RAMNARAIN v."RAJASTHAN (Dua, J.)
465
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seal of that Gram Panchayat and put your signatures on
the Pattas so forged, all in the capacity of the Surpanc.h
of that Gram Panchayat besides agreement to commit
the offences under sections 457, 468 and 420, of the
l.P.C. punishable with rigorous imprisonment for over
two years and thereby committed an offence punishable
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under section 120B of the I.P.C. and within my cognizance.
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(2) That during the same period, you forged Patta
proceedings in antedates in respect of the sale of land
30'X35' belonging earlier to the defunct Gram Panchayat Kandgaoilri in favour of Shri Surajsingh and put
your own signatures on the forged document purporting
to be valuable security to wit, the patta in favour of
Surajsingh and gave it to Shri Surajsingh and that you
thereby committed an offence punishable under section
467, of the l.P.C. and within my cognizance.
( 5) That during the same period, you forged patta
proc~gs in antedates in respect of the sale of land
50'X 50' belonging earlier to the defunct Gram Panchayat Khandgaonri in favour of Mukat Behari and put
your si~atures on the forged document purporting to be
a valuaijle secm;ity.,to wit.the patta in favour of Mukat
Beharilal and gave it to Shri Mukat Behari and that you
thereby committed an offence punishable under section
467 of the Indian Peiμ! Code and within my cognizance.
.
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( 8) That during the same period you forged patta
proceedings in antedates in respect of the sale of land
30'X30' belonging earlier to the defunct Gram Panchayat Khandgaonri, in favour of Shri Moolsingh and
put your own signatures on the forged document purporting to be valuable security to with the patta in favour of
Shri Moolsingh and gave it to Shri Moolsingh and that
you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 467 of the I.P.C. and within my cognizance."
Village Khand Gawadi had before October, 1958 a panchayat
of which Gangaram (P.W. 3) was the Sarpanch and the aopellant
its Up-Sarpanch. In the months of April and May,
1S'58 the
appellant officiated for the Sarpanch because the latter (Gangaram) was busy in connection with his daughter's marriai;e. B:t:
means of a gazette notification (No. 11288/F.l(a) 48L 59/A/55
dated 16-10-58) the Rajasthan Government extended the limits of
the municipal council, Kota, amongst other villages, to Khand
466
SUPREME COURT REJl'"ORTS
[1973] 3 S.C.R.
Gawadi also. The Municipal Council took over charge from the
Gram Panchayat of this village on January 7, 1959. According
to the prosecution version during the months of November, 1959
to January, 1960, long after the village panchayat had ceased to
exist, the appellant entered into a conspiracy with the other accused
persons (tried along with him in the sessions court) and Bhanwarlal son of Bapulal (who became an approver and appeared as P.W.
1 in the case) to cheat the members of the public, the Municipal
Council, Kota and the Government. The modus operandi for
carrying out the object of this conspiracy was to persuade such
members of the public as were amenable to their persuasion to part
with money for purchasing residential plots in village Khand
Gawadi; and in furtherance of this conspiracy they forged sale
proceedings and pattas_ by ante-dating them and forging signatures
of the other Panchas on such pattas and sale proceedings. The
appellant himself affixed his signatures as Sarpanch .and put the
seal of the village Panchayat on the forged documents. The trial,
as is obvious, from the charges reproduced above, was confined to
the sale proceedings and pattas in the names of Moo! Singh, Mukat
Beharilal and Suraj Singh. Bhanwarlal (P.W, 1), who was also
stated to have been a party to this conspiracy was granted pardon
and having become an approver appeared as a witness in support
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of the prosecution. The Sessions Judge, after considering the prosecution evidence and the evidence of the defence witnesses, produced by the appellant, upheld the prosecution case against the
appellant holding that he and the approver, Bhanwarlal, had joined
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hands in forging the sale proceedings and pattas mentioned in the
charges and also in forging thereon the signatures of the other
Panchas. In fact, according to the trial court, it was the appellant
who had dragged Bhanwarlal into the conspiracy and their activities were motivated by a desire to cheat the Municipal Council,
Kota, the members of the public and the Government of Rajasthan
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by making them part with possession of their valuable land in
village Khand Gawadi for nominal price. · On this finding the
offence of conspiracy under s. 120B was held proved against the
appellant. He was also held guilty of the offence under s. 467,
I.P.C. Charges under the other sections were held not proved The
appellant was accordingly sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for
three years and a fine of Rs. 200 under s. 120B and to rigorous
imorisonment for two years and a fine of Rs. 200 under s. 467,
I.P.C. In default of payment of fine the appellant was directed to
undergo six months' further rigorous im1>risonment in each case.
Both the substantive sentences were directed to be concurrent. The
other accused persons Bakshi Gajpat Singh, Madan Mohan and
l'ladri Prasad were acquitted.
On ao!>eal the Hie:h Court affirmed the a1>1>ellant's conviction
on both these counts but reduced his sentence to rigorous imprisonG
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RAMNARAIN v. RAJASTHAN (Dua, /,)
+67
ment for 15 months and a fine of Rs. 200 on each count. The
sentences of imprisonment were directed to be concurrent. In default of payment of fine the appellant was directed to undergo
further rigorous imprisonment for three months on each count.
In this Court Shri N uruddin Ahmad, the learned counsel for
the appellant at the outset pointed out that in the High Court an
application had been made on behalf of the appellant on April 7,
1970 to recall Gangaram (P.W. 1) for cross-examining him and
also for examining Mukat Beharilal and M. L. Parekh Deputy
Superintendent of Police in charge, as court witnesses, but although
arguments were addressed on that application at some length the
High Court did not care to deal with the matter or even to refer
to it in its judgment. In this connection our attention was drawn
to Annexure D to the petition for special leave in this Court. Annexure D is said to be a copy of the application filed in the High
Court by Shri V. S. Dave, Advocate for the appellant, under s.
540, Cr. P.C. The material part of Annexure D reads :
"1. That in the above noted appeal prosecution examined Ganga Ram P.W. 3 as a witness.
2. That Gangaram besides the present complaint
Ex. P-19 also lodged a complaint against appellant for
offence under sections 409,- 477, l.P.C. and the accused
appellant has been acquitted in the said case.
3. That the judgment in case under sections 4~9 l!lld
477, I.P.C. was delivered subsequent to the eicammation
of Gangaram as P.W. 3 and as such he could not be
cross-examined in respect of his earlier cpmplaints and
fact of enmity and false concention of cases -against the
appellant could not be put to him.
4. That appellant has also been convicted for forging
the patta alleged to have been given to Mukat Beharilal.
5. That Mukat Behari Lal has been withheld by the
prosecution.
6. That the appellant has learnt that Mukat Behari
Lal filed a writ petition in this Hon'ble Court in respect
of the said patta and- same is said to have been decided
in his favour.
7. That since the subject matter of patta of Mukat
Behari Lal has been adjudicated upon by this Hon'ble
Court his examination in this Hon'ble Court as a witness is essential to the just decision of this case and as
also the production of judgment will have important
bearing in the case.
468
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 s.c.R.
8. That the Deputy S. P. who conducted the investigation of this case has also not been produced and same
has caused great prejudice to the case of the appellant
as the appellant could not bring on record as to from
whose custody the documents Ex. P-5, P-6, P-9 and P-12
and Ex. P-1 has been recovered.
9. That the examination of aforesaid three witnesses
is essential to the just decision of the case.
It is, therefore, prayed that your lordships would be
pleased to accept this application recall Gangaram P .W.
3 for further cross-examination and also. cal.I Mukat
Behari Lal and the Investigating Officer as Court witnesses or grant permission to appellant to summon them."
Our attention was also invited to Annexures E and F to the Special
Leave Petition. Annexure E is a certified copy of a slip of the
Court Reader in single Bench Cr. A. No. 283 of 67, Ramnarain v.
State in the High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan at Jodhpur.
That slip reads :
"This application was found lying in the Chamber of
Hon'ble Gattani J. How this application was placed and
who placed this application there.
B.C.
Sd/- Bansidhar
Reader
27-4-70"
Annexure F a certified copy of the order dated April 29, 1970 of
Deputy Registrar of the High Court in the saia Criminal Appeal,
which was also brought to our notice, reads :
"The application has been shown to Hon'ble Gattani
J. and according to the direction of his Lordship the
application be kept on the file.
Sd/- G. K. Sharma
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Dy. Registrar"
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On April 30, 1970 an application was presented on behalf of the
appellant in the High Court under s. 561-A, Cr. P.C. This application, according to the appellant, was filed on May 1, 1970 but
it was neither listed nor heard in court. The following order dated
May 18, 1970 (as translated into English) was recorded by the
learned Judge in Hindi :-
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"Perused the applications dated 7-4-70 and 30--4-70
presented on behalf of the appellant.
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RAMNARAIN v. RAJASTHAN (Dua,!.)
469
I have decided the case on 17-4-70 and there is
therefore no question of saying anything on the merits
now. As far as IreJnember Shri Chiranjilal Agarwal did
mention during the course of the arguments on 7-4-70
that he wanted to present an application. Then I had
told him that if the application is presented it will also be
taken into consideration. Thereafter during the course
of the arguments no application was presented before
me.
I never saw the application dated 7-4-70 in my
Chan1ber, nor anyone said anything to me on 29-4-70
about this application.
Sd/- H. D. GATTANI J."
The appellant's grievance before us is that non-consideratior
of his application dated April 7, 1970 has resulted in grave miscarriage of justice. Developing this point it has been contended
that the manner in which this part of the case was dealt with suggests non-application of judicial mind by the High Court to the
case as a whole.
The second point strongly pressed by Shri Nuruddin Ahmed
is that the appellant's conviction is based solely on the testimony
of Banwari Lal (P.W. 1), the approver, whose evidenee has not
been corroborated in material paruculars, connecting the appellant
with the alleged offence in question. The appellant's conviction is;
therefore, unsustainable.
P.W. 1, according to the appellant's
submission, is a wholly unreliable witness and his ,.evidence is so
seriously discrepant and unconvincing on vital points that it is
highly dangerous to place any reliance on it. The sustenance of
the appellant's conviction on the approver's evidence in this case
would be a travesty of justice, said the counsel. We were taken
througll the relevant record of the evidence by the counsel for both
sides on this part of the case.
Now so far as the first grievance is concerned, the appellant's
submission cannot be summarily brushed aside as we feel there is
pri'."'1 facie_ material calling for a further probe into the matter. But
~s m our view even if the first contention were to prevail the quesuon of recording additional evidence, as requested on behalf of the
appellant, would have to be considered and since, in our opinion,
the appeal has to be allowed on the second point, we deem it unnecessary to express any considered opinion on the first ooint. We
would, however, like to point out that the application under
s. 561-A, Cr. P.C. should have been disposed of after hearing
the appellant's counsel and its disposal without such hearing
w~ clearly wrong and unjust. The appellant has a just grievance
against the manner in which this application was disposed of. He
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1973] 3 S.C.R.
had a right to be afforded a reasonable opportunity of being
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heard in support of his application and we are unable to appre-
,ciate the disposal of this application in the chambers without
_giving him· such opportunity. The counsel for the State was also
unable to explain the divergence between the order of the Deputy
.Registrar dated April 29, 1970 and the learned Judge's oblerva·
tion in his order dated May 18, 1970 that no one had said any8
thing to him on April 29, 1970 about the application dated, April
7, 1970. This divergence has also left "Oii our minds a somewhat
unhappy impression with respect to the whole matter. We need
say nothing more on. this point.
Turning to the second point we may first state the legal position
relating to the testimony of an approver. Section 133, Indian
Evidence Act, which falls in Ch. IX dealing generally with wit-
.nesses, expressly provides that an accomplice is a competen:t witness and the conviction is not illegal merely because it proceeds on
.uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. In other words, this
·section renders admissible such uncorroborated testimony. But this
·section has to be read along with illustration (b) to s. 114 which
:falls in Ch. VII, dealing with Burden of Proof. Section 114 em-
;powers the court to presu)lle the existence of certain facts and the
illustrations elucidate what the court may presume and make clear
:by means of examples as to what facts the court shall have regard
in considering whether or not the maxims illustrated apply to a
given case before it. Illustration (b) in express terms says that-an
accomplice is unworthy of credit unless he is corroborated in mate-
·rial particulars : two examples ate also given to f1,1rther explain
this subject. The statute thus permits the conviction of an il.ccused
person on the basis of uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice
·but the rule of prudence embodied in illustration (b) of s. 114
strikes a note of warning cautioning the court that an accomplice
·does not generally deserve to be believed unless corrborated in
material particulars. This rule of caution is traceable to the fact
that an accomplice witness from the very nature of his position is
a suspec_t. This rule is guided by long human experience and has
become a rule of prudence of general application. The courts,
therefore, consider it i;>rudent to look for corroboration in material
particulars for sustainmg the conviction of an accused person. An
approver who is admittedly guilty of the crime is an accomplice
who has betrayed his associates and has apparently sought pardon
for saving his own skin. In other words he has purchased complete
immunity for his prosecution at the expense of his associated by
agreeing to give evidence against them for the prosecution. He is,
therefore, presumed not to be a man of hi~h character or a fair
witness. His pardon being conditional, to pleased the prosecution
he may well weave some false detail into the true details of the
prosecution story and may also falsely involve some innocent perc
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RAMNARAIN v. RAJASTHAN (Dua, J.)
4 71
son. There is thus a real danger of·his telling a story true in
general outline but containing some untruth which he can easily
work into the story. It is for this reason that the courts as a matter
of prudence and caution anxiously look for some corroboration to
satisfy their conscience that 'the approver's testimony which is
clearly admissible is also worthy of belief. One can of course visualise an accomplice who is genuinely repentant for the commission
of his crime" and truly desires to make a clean breast of the whole
affair by way of pcnetance. But even in such cases the court has
to judicially determine the extent to which his uncorroborated testimony can be considered as trustworthy by looking to the other relevant material and the attending circumstances on the basis of
which the accused can be safely convicted. The rule which seems
to emerge from the foregoing discussion and judicial decisions is
that the necessity of corroboration as a matter of prudence except
when it is safe to dispense with such corroboration mus' be clearly
present to the mind of the judge.
It is in this background that the court is required to determine
the nature and extent of corroboration of an approver's evidence
nc<:essaey in a given case for sustaining the conviction of the .accused. The corroborating evidence, broadly stated, must connect
or tend to connect the accused with the crime charged. This is so
because of the danger of the approver introducing some innocent
person or persons into an otherwise true prosecution story. Such
evidence, however, need not by itself be sufficient for sustaining the
conviction of the accuse<r for in that case the evidence of the
approver would be wholly unnecessary and mere surplusage.
Before considering the evidence on the record it may be borne
in mind that. the court should evaluate the evidence of an approver
de hors the corroborating pieces of evidence for if his testimony is
it!clf uninspiring and unacceptable justifying its rej~tion outright,
then, it would be futile and wh6lly unnecessary to look for corroborating evidence. It is only when the approver's evidence is considered otherwise acceptable that the court applies its mind to the
rule that his testimony needs corroboration in material particulars
connecting or tending to connect each one of the accused with the
crime charged. The offences for which the appellant has been
convicted, it may be recalled, are of conspiracy with the approver
(P.W. 1) as conremplated bys. 120-B, I.P.C., and forgery of valuable security as contemplated by s. 467, l.P.C. Before us the
counsel for the State clearly confined his contention to the forgery
of valuable security as. the real gravamen of the charge against the
appellant, of course, in addition to the charge of conspiracy. We
have, therefore, to consider the evidence bearing in mind the ingredients of these two offences.
472
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 S.C.R,
So far as the charge under s. 120-B, I.P.C. is concerned the
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only evidence is of the approver and the trial court expressly observed that there was no other direct evidence of conspiracy. After
considering the case with respect to the offence under s. 467, l.P.C.
we will tum to the charge of the substanti.ve offence of conspiracy.
Before dealing with the evidence on the offence under s. 467 it
may be recalled that the present case was initiated at the instance
of Ganga Ram, ex-Sarpanch, (P.W. 3) and SPme others when they
presented a complaint (Ex. P-19) on March 18, 1961 to the
Collector, Kota, long after the charge of the Panchayat had ~
tal::en over by the Municipal Council. Ganga Ram appears also
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to have earlier made some complaints to the other officers but as
nothing had come out of those complaints the Collector was apC
proached with an allegation of misappropriation against Ram
Narain in March, 1961. The Municipal Council, it is noteworthy,
did not care to initiate the prosecution.
Bhanwar Lal, the approver, appearing as P. W. I has deposed
that in June, 1958 he wanted to buy a plot of land for building his
own house at Kota where he had been transferred from Udaipur as
Train Clerk, Ko ta Junction. He was introduced to the appellant
through one Kanhaiyalal. He gave to the appellant an application
for that purpOSe and also paid Rs. 40 towards the price of the
land and the appellant gave him a patta for a piece of land measuring 30'X45' without showing him its exact location. Inspite of repeate<I requests the appellant .did not show him the plot on certain
pretexts for about four or five months. And then he showed him
a plot measuring only 30'X35'. On objection being raised the
appellant promised to give to P.W. l some more land elsewhere.
It appears that the approver and the appellant had by then become
quite intimate. The approver gave to the appellant a contract for
filling up the foundation for a house and also paid him about Rs. 8
or 9 hundred for which he took no receipt The approver also
started teaching the appellant's children as a private tutor without
charging anything. It was due to this intimacy that the appellant
is said to have asked the approver to help him in completing the
proceedings of some incomplete patta cases of the Gram l'anchayat. Bhanwar Lal, approver, who ultimately agreed to do this work
went to the appellant's house where he found one Mehta, secretary
of the Mandi Committee, Madan Mohan Vijay and Badri Prasad.
The appellant introduced the approver to Mehta and Madan
Mohan and asked them to complete the Panchayat records according to his directions. According to the approver he had prepared
about 200 pattas and order sheets in about eight or ten days' time.
It is unnecessary to go into the remaining evidence of the approver
at this stage. Suffice it to say that from his evidence it is not at
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RAMNARAIN v. RAJASTHAN (Dua, !.)
473
!ant in what is described as the forgery of the various documents.
His evidence, therefore, seems, prima facie, to be unimpressive and
hardly trustworthy. The charge under s. 467, as already observed,
is confined to four pattas issu¢. in favour of Suraj Singh, ~fool
Singh and Mukat Behari. Two pattas issued in favour of Suraj
Singh are Exs. P5 and P6 and one ptil'ta each in favour of Moo!
Singh and Mukat Behari are Exs. P 9 and P 12 respectively. Before
taking up these instances and scrutinising this evidence we may
point out that there is no evidence worth the name and no argument was urged before us to attempt to show that in the case of the
patta in question either the consideration received was less than
th.e market value or the amount realised had been misappropriated
and not duly deposited and credited in the appropriate account.
There is thus no question of unlawful gain or loss by cheating anybody. Now s. 467 provides for punishment for forging a document which purports to be a v.aluable security or a will etc. We
are concerned with the offence of forging a valuable security.
Forgery is defined ins. 463, I.P.C. according to which whoever
makes a false document or part of a document with intent to cause
damage or injury to the public or to any person or. to support any
claim or title or to cause any person to part with property or to
enter into any express or implied contract or with intent to commit
fraud or that fraud may be committed, commits forgery. SCction
30, I.P.C., defines "valuable security" to be a document which purports to be a document whereby any legal right is created, extended, transferred, restricted, extinguished or released or whereby any
person acknowledges that he lies under legal liability or has not
a certain legal right. We are, therefore, concerned only With forgery of valuable security. The fact that the pattas were granted
in favour of the three persons mentioned above irregularly or contrary to any rules or direCtions applicable to such pattas would be
wholly immaterial except to the extent it supports the case of forgery against the appellant.
In so far as the case of Suraj Singh is concerned there are two
pattas Exs. P S and P 6, both dated May 5, 1958. The two plots
measuring about 100 sq. yds. each were allotted to Suraj Singh for
a consideration of Rs. 37.50 each with an additional sum of Rs. 2
each as plan fee. The consideration money has been described in
these pattas to be "Bhaint". It is expressly recited in these pattas
that the requisite fee of Rs. 30.50 has been deposited vide Rokarpanna. These pat/as are signed by the appellant and clearly there
can be no question of forging anybody's signatures, so far as these
two documents are concerned. Exhibit P-4 is the order-sheet With
'espect to Suraj Singh. According to tl1e approver he, the appellant
and Badri Prasad, had fabricated the signatures of Ghasi and
Babula! and the thumb impression of Panch Bhanwarlal (P.W. 8)
on Ex. P-4. Except for the approver's bald statement there is no
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 s.c.R.
other evidence in support of this· assertion. Babula! who was produced as P.W. 5 expressed his inability to say either way wh~ther
Ex. P-4 bore his signatures. He is illiterate and, according to his
own evidence, can only put his signatures which also he is unable
to identify. Ghasi was not produced by the prosecution. He was,
however, produced in defence as D.W. 2 for admitting hfs signafures on Ex. P-11, the order sheet relating to Mukat Behari's case.
But when he appeared as a defence witness neither the prosecution
nor the defence asked him any questions with respect to Ex. P-4.
The omission on the part of the prosecution to question him about
Ex. P-4 in the absence of any cogent explanation is, in our opinion.
quite significant. Some evidence has been led with respect to
entries in Ex. P-1, the cash bpok of the Gram Panchayat but since
the charges we are concerned with are under s. 467, and 120B,
I.P.C. it is unnecessary, as indeed, irrelevant, to refer to that evi-·
dence. Before us the counsel for the State expressly confined his
case to the forgery of the patws which, according to him, c0nstitute
valuable security within the contemplation of s. 467. With respect
to Suraj Singh, therefore, we do not have any reliable evidenc•:
which can be said to corroborate the approver, assuming the approver's evidence to be acceptable which we are not inclined to hold.
We now turn to Moo! Singh's patta Ex. P-9. This patta relates
to an area measuring 100 sq. yds. and the consideration is stated
to be Rs. 30 with an additional sum of Rs. 2 as plan fee.
Here
again, the consideration is described as "Bliaint". Exhibit P-9 also
contains an assertion that the requisite amount of Rs. 32 had been
deposited vide Rokarpf!!!a. This patta is also signed by Ram
Narain and there is no question of forging any one else's signatures.
The order sheet relating to this patta is Ex. P-8 which is signed by
the appellant and also purports to be signed by Onkar and Ghasi.
The position of this patta is no better than that of Ex. P-5 which is
in favour of Suraj Singh.
Mukat Behari's patta is Ex. P-12 and is for an area measuring
227 sq. yds. and 7 sq. ft.
The consideration is stated to be Rs.
100, inclusive of Rs. 2 as plan fee. Here also the amount is statt:<l
to have been deposited as per Rokarpana and the receipt is signed
by one M. B. Sharma. The order sheet relating to this patta is Ex.
P-11 which purports t6 bear the signatures of Ghasi and Madan
Lal, Ghasi (D.W. 2) has deposed about his signatures on Ex. P11, as already noticed.
Mukat Behari's case, if anything, becomes more doubtful because of the evidence of Ghasi.
Su raj Singli was produced as P. W. 2 but he did not support
the prosecution and was allowea to be cross-examined by the public
prosecutor. Quite clearly his evidence does not show that he was
in any way cheated by the appellant. Shri Ganga Ram, the original complainant, has appeared as P.W. 3.
According to him he
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RAMNARAIN v. RAJASTHAN (Dua, J.)
475
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had taken over charge from the appellant on August 31, 1958 and
continued to work as Sarpanch till the charge was hal!ded over to
the Municipal Council or the Municipal Board. When he want to
the office of the Municipal Board to hand over charge, according
to his own statement, the appellant had .also gone with him, . It
was after the abolition of the.Panchayat that he learnt that the
appellant was selling land and issuing pattas and it was then that he
made the complaint Ex. P-19. Before handing over charge also
he had made certain complaints against the appellant on which
Shri Mehta, the Division Panchayat Officer had made enquiries but
those complaints were not substantiated. From his evidence it
seems clear that the relations between him and the appellant were
far from cordial. Indeed, the appellant had also complained
against this witness of keeping some money belonging to the Pan·
charat. Even otherwise his evidence is wholly unimpressive and
is d1filcult to accept on its face value.
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Again, .when we consider the evidence of Madan Lal (D. W. 1)
and Ghasi son of Ramlal (D.W. 2) both Panchas of the Panchayat
in question upto 1958 and the evidence of Ganesh Ram (P.W. 4)
the evidence of the approver becomes still more unacceptable.
Madan Lal has stated that he was a Panch of Khand Gawarl
Panchayat upto 1959 and a piece of land was sold to Mukat Behari
in 1958 when he was present in the me~ting of the Panchayat.
Signatures on Ex. P-11 were identified. by him. The Panchayat
alsn sold pieces of land to Moo! Singh and Suraj Singh. On his
evidence Ex. P· 11 is clearly a genuine document. Ghasi (D.W.
2) also admits his signatures on Ex. P-11. In face of his evidence
it is not understood how his signatures can be held to be forged.
Ganga Ram (P.W. 4) has deposed that he was not literate and
could only sign his name. After so deposing he expressTy stated
that he was unable to identify his own signatures. His evidence,
therefore, also losses its importance. In face of this materia~ we
find that the appellant's conviction under s. 467. I.P.C. is wholly
unsustainable on the existing evidence. The approver's testimony
is most uninspiring and there is no corroboration worth the name.
We now turn to the charge of criminal conspiracy under s.
120-B, I.P.C. as a separate and distinct offence independent of the
offience under s. 467, l.P.C. No doubt in almost every case of
co~piracy it is generally a matter of inference, direct independent
· evidence being soldom, if ever, forthcoming.
But inferences are
nonnally deduced from a\)ts of parties in pursuance of apparent
criminal purpose in common between them. Of such criminal acts
the evidence in the case under appeal has not been accepted by us.
The evidence of tile approver (P.W. 1) who would of course.be
competent to prove the substantive charge of conspiracy, which has
n6t been believed by us with respect to forgery is not easy to accept
with respect to the charge of conspiracy. His version with regard
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476
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 s.c.R.
to it is far from convincing. Though he claims to have prepared
200 pattas and "roer sheets, evidence regarding only four was led
and that too not trustworthy. For the first time he disclosed the
story to the police after arrest in expectation of help from them. On
his evidence uncorroborated as it is, the charge of conspiracy as
framed cannot be sustained. We have, therefore, no option but to
allow this appeal, quash the appellant's conviction and acquit him.
G.C.
Appeal allowed.
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