# •. SHAMIM RAHMANI ETC v. STATE OF U.P

- **Citation:** [1975] Supp. 1 S.C.R. 315
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1975-04-28
- **Case number:** Criminal Appeals Nos. 1211.23 of 1973
- **Bench:** N. L. UNTWALIA ANDS. M. FAzAL ALI
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/shamim-rahmani-etc-v-state-of-u-p-6521
- **Pages:** 13

## Headnote

B
Penal Code-S. 201-Ascertaining full facts before giving inforn1ation to
,po/ice--lf obligatory.
·
The appelJants were brother and sister and were living in different loc;llities
,of the city. The sister developed illicit intimacy with the deceased, but finding
that he was not giving her exclusive _ attenion, fired a shot at him when he
C
.came to her house.
On hearing about the incident the brother gave information to the police
that his younger brother had told him that he "did not know how his
sister took his (appellant's) gun outside and somehow a fire. was shot" and
that the bullet hit the deceased who bad fallen and was bleeding.
The trial court convicted the sister under s. 302, I.P.C·. The brother was
D
charged with an offence· under s. 201, I.P.C. and was convicted and sentenced
to three years' rigofOus imprisonment.
The High Court affirmed the con-
·victions but ·reduced the sentence against the brother to one year.
Dismissing the appeal of the sister and allowing the appeal of the brother,
HELD :· All the ingredients necessary to be established for bringing home
the charge under s. 201, to the appellant ·were not proved beyond reasonable
E
doubt.
He may have known or may have reason to believe that an offence
·of murder bad been committed by his sister.
But the other possibility that
be may" not have known or may have not reason to believe that the offence
of murder had' been committed by his sister could not be ruled out.
~ He
may have only suspected. More facts were yet to be known .. He. did nothing
wrong in rushing to the police station and giving the baieit information in
writing.
The prosecution could not unfold that the younger
brother had
iold anything further to the appeUant.
It was not obligatoiy or necessary
F
:for_ the appeUant to probe the matter any further on the spot before rushing
to the police station.
[326 GH 327-B-DJ

## Text

,
. y
-~.£~-
315
•.
SHAMIM RAHMANI ETC.
A
v.
STATE OF U.P.
April 28, 1975
[N. L. UNTWALIA ANDS. M. FAzAL ALI, JJ]
B
Penal Code-S. 201-Ascertaining full facts before giving inforn1ation to
,po/ice--lf obligatory.
·
The appelJants were brother and sister and were living in different loc;llities
,of the city. The sister developed illicit intimacy with the deceased, but finding
that he was not giving her exclusive _ attenion, fired a shot at him when he
C
.came to her house.
On hearing about the incident the brother gave information to the police
that his younger brother had told him that he "did not know how his
sister took his (appellant's) gun outside and somehow a fire. was shot" and
that the bullet hit the deceased who bad fallen and was bleeding.
The trial court convicted the sister under s. 302, I.P.C·. The brother was
D
charged with an offence· under s. 201, I.P.C. and was convicted and sentenced
to three years' rigofOus imprisonment.
The High Court affirmed the con-
·victions but ·reduced the sentence against the brother to one year.
Dismissing the appeal of the sister and allowing the appeal of the brother,
HELD :· All the ingredients necessary to be established for bringing home
the charge under s. 201, to the appellant ·were not proved beyond reasonable
E
doubt.
He may have known or may have reason to believe that an offence
·of murder bad been committed by his sister.
But the other possibility that
be may" not have known or may have not reason to believe that the offence
of murder had' been committed by his sister could not be ruled out.
~ He
may have only suspected. More facts were yet to be known .. He. did nothing
wrong in rushing to the police station and giving the baieit information in
writing.
The prosecution could not unfold that the younger
brother had
iold anything further to the appeUant.
It was not obligatoiy or necessary
F
:for_ the appeUant to probe the matter any further on the spot before rushing
to the police station.
[326 GH 327-B-DJ
Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction : Criminal Appeals Nos. 1211.23 of 1973 .
Appeal by special
leave from the judgment and
order dated
10-4-J 973 of the Allahabad High Court in Crl. Appeal Nos. 2224
G
,& 2228 of 1969 and Cr. M. P. No. 1547 of 1973.
Yogeshwar Prasad, Keshava Sahai, S. K. Bagga, S. Bagga, Rani
Arorrt and Meena Bhatia, for the appellants.
D. P. Uniyal and 0. P. Rana; for the respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
'
UNTWALIA, _J., These ar\' three appeals by special leave.
One
·of them was directed from some interlocutory order of the High Court
and had become infructuous. Mr. Yogeshwar Prasad, learned counsel
for the appellants asked us to dismiss tha,t appeal as being infructuous. We accordingly do so. In one of the remaining two appeals
the appellant is Kumari Shamim Rahmani.
She has been convicted
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975] SUPP. S.C.R.
A under section 302 Indian Penal Code for committing the murder of
Dr. Hari Om Gautam.
A sentence of life imprisonment has been
awarded to her.
In the other appeal the appellant is Shri Amir
Ahmad Rahmani, elder brother· of Shamim. He is said to have lodged
a false information at the Police S1<1tion in connection with the said
murder with the intention of screening his sister from legal punishB ment. He has been convicted under section 201 of the Penal Code.
The Trial Judge imposed a sentence of three years' rigorous imprisonment on him but the High Court has reduced it to one year.
The murder of the Doctor was the culmination of the wrong and
vicious path of love and lust between him .a.nd appellant Shamim.
As is not uncommon in such type of love affairs, the girl found the
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arms of her lover getting loose and cold. It resulted in her frustration.
In a jealous and revengeful attitude she used her arms on a gun
and shot her lover dead.
Thus she landed herself in the long arms
of law and suffered the conviction for murder. We may observe at
the outset that in the conduct of the case on behalf of the appellants
in the Trial Court as also in the High Court there has been overD doing and too much hair splitting but all in vain. On reading the two·
judgments of the Courts below and on perusal of the relernnt materials and pieces of evidence in· the case and after hearing the fair
and able argument of Mr. Yogeshwar Prasad we have come to the
conclusion that not only Shamim's appeal is concluded by the concurrent findings of fact n:corded by the two courts below with which.
E
but for very strong reawns, this Court is loathe to interfere, the·
findings in our opinion, are absolutely
correct.
The
exhaustive
criticism of the prosecution case and the evidence adduced by it
has been fully dealt with by the High Court as also by the Trial
Court.
The appeal of appellli,nt Amir Ahmad, for the reasons to
be stated hereinafter, is fit to succeed.
F
We proceed to state the facts of the case very briefly. We also·
do not think it necessary to deal with, in any detail, all the points
urged on behalf of appclla,nt Shamim as almost all of them were
repetitions of the arguments advanced in the High Court and rightly
rejected by it. It will be hardly of any use to paraphrase the judgment of the High Court for the purpose of affirming it.
'
G
The appellants' father was one Azizur Rahman Khan since demeased.
Mostly he lived at a place outside the City of Lucknow.
fn a rented house at 23, Kandhari Lane, Police Station Kaiserbagh.
Lucknow lived Smt. Sikander Jahan, mother of the appellants, appellant Shamim, her elder sister Km. Naseem Rahmani and her younger
brother-a boy of tender age-named Mohammad Ahmad Rahmani
alias Sheikhu.
The appdla,nts have another brother named F.A.A.
Rahmani who at the relevant time was Personal
Assistant
to
a
H MiniSter of the Central Government and was living in Delhi. Appellant Amir Ahmad was living in .another house in the City of Lucknow
at No. 24, New Berry Road, Police Station Hazratganj, Lucknow.
He had a shop where he dealt in spare parts of tractors.
At the time of the occurence which took olace at about 11.00
or 11.15 p.m. on the
1 lth July, 1968 appellant Shamim
was a
:iHAMIM RAHMANI v. u. P. STATE ( Untwalia, .r.)
317
College going girl and was about 22 years of age.
Shortly before
in the year 1967 she had passed her B.Sc. examination. Dr. G,a.utam
was about 35 years of age at the time of occurrence.
He was a
married man and had his wife living.
There were three children
born of their wedlock. Dr. Gautam was attached to Balrampur hospital, Lucknow in the year 1966. Azizur Rahman had a paralytio
attack and was admitted in Balrampur hospital on 7-5-1966.
He
wa,s treated as an indoor patient in a special ward of the hospital
for about 20 days by Gautam under the supervision of senior Doctors.
The family members including Shamim were visiting Azizur Rahman
in the hospital and the love episode
sta.rted
there
between
the
voluptuous Doctor and the unscrupulous Shamim.
Azizur Rahman
after being discharged from the hospital lived in the Kandhari Lane
house with his family members namely his wife, the two daughters
and the voung boy, for sometime.
Dr. Gautam used to visit and
look afte~ Azizur Rahman at the house also.
The love affair of
Gau1<1m and Shamim went on progressing and reached a scandalous
height. Gautam started visiting Shamim at her house too frequentlyalmost daily-and sometimes more than once in a day.
He used
to take her for joy rides on his Scooter.
Records of this case do
not disclose any resentment or protest on the part of the family
members of Shamim although being unmarried she was carrying on
almost openly with an elderly married person. But the mohalla people
did not like this drama of love affair being ena.cted in their locality
without any sense of shame or scrupules.
The various love letters
written by Gautam to Shamim and some chits written by the latter,
which were recovered from her possession after the occurrence showed
that their love h,ad reached the low level of sexual lust also. It appears
Gautam was a handsome looking man and Shamim was infatuated
in her love with him. She wanted his exclusive attention. And what
a curious manifestation of human psychology and se!fiishness it was,
that though Shamim had encroached on the exclusive region of Gautam's
wife, she was not prepared to tolerate any encroachment in the realm
of her love by any other girl. Materials in this case do indicate that
the Doctor was a free-lancer and a licentious man. He often used to
visit cinemas, theatres, rest,aurants and was always after pastures new.
At times Shamim used to resent and feel highly disgusted with the
free lancing habits of Gautam so much so that on one occasion in
Janua,ry, 1968 it is said that she slapped Gautam in front of Kwality
Restaurant situated at Hazratganj. For sometime before !he occurrance
Gautam endeavoured to be treacherous and wriggle out of her affairs
with Shamim. She wanted to keep him
tightly
in her
clutches.
Gautam was feeling it difficult to get himself released from her
clutches as she was in possession of his love letters. The frequency
of his visit~ to her house, however, lessened. On the 9th of July,
196.8 he was found going on scooter with another girl riding on its
u1lhon. The fact was reported to Shamim by Ganesh-a servant of
appellai:t Amir Ahmad. This a~ded sufficient quantity of fuel to the
fire of 1ealously and hatred which was already burning in the heart
of Shamim.
There were frequent quarrels between Shamim a.nd Gautam. On
the 10th July, 1968, Gautam visited Shamim's house in the evening,
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975] SUPP· S.C.R.
A although for 10 or 12 days before the occurrence, the frequency of
his visits had diminished. In that visit there was a quarrel between
them. On the '11th July, 1968 Gautam visited Shamim agajn in her
house at about 3.00 p.m.
There was an altercation between them.
When the Doctor was leaving the house, Shamim asked him to come
for the last time in the evening under the pretext of helping her in
B filling up her ,a,dmission form.
In the evening of the 11th July, Dr. Gautam first went with
his wife to the house of a Principal of a College for a social caR.
P.W. 17 Mohd. Sabir Khan was posted as Deputy. Superintendent
of Police, C.I.D: at Lucknow at the relevant time. He was a patient
and a friend of Dr. Gautam. He was suffering from a severe, headache
c and Dr. Gautam went to the house of the Dy. S.P. from the Principal's house._ Doctor gave him some medicine and had a cup of
tea at his place.
He left .his house on the pretext of going to the
Civil Hospita.J to which he had been transferred from Balrampur hos-
,
pita!; but instead be want to the house of Sbamim at about 10.30 p.m.
He rang call-bell. · Shamim came out and opened the western door
D of the drawing room. It bad three doors. The central a.nd the eastern
doors were closed.
To the east of the dra,wing room was a room
in which Shamim used to sleep. There is another room to the west of
the drawing room.
Gautam and Shamim talked about for 20 minutes in the drawing
room.
The former came out, went to the Scooter for going away.
E Bnt Shamim called him back. As soon a,s he stepped back and reached
inside the western door of the drawing room Shamim who had by then
brought a DBBL gun, fired a shot at Gautam. It seems he crouched
and the first short missed.
Shamim repeated the second shot intaneously and hit Gautam on the right side of his forehead.
He fell
down. The lower half of the body was inside the drawing room
and the upper half was outside the door in the verandah. P.W. 15
F
Kalika Prasad-the most important witness in this case and a,h immediate neighbour of Shamim. was lying on a cot outside his room.
He has deposed to several facts to supply various links in the chain
of 'the prosecution story. Ap~rt from other facts stated by him in
his deposition it is said that he and P.W. 18 Ram Krishna Tripathi
saw Shamim immediately after the gun fire going with a gun in
her right hand from the eastern side of the drawing room to the
G western room.
They went near the dead body of Ga.utam, peeped
into the drawing room but saw no one else there.
Sheikhu after the incident rushed to the house of appellant Amir
Ahmad on a cycle.
Amir Ahm11.d came to the house.
He then
went and loged an information at Kaiserbagh Kotwali at 1.30 a.m.
on the 12th July, 1968. In short his information to the police was
H that Sheikhu had told him that it was not known how Shamim brought
out the gun arid how it got fired but the shot hit Gautam who was
·· lying bleeding in the verandah of the drawing room. Tn the meantime
Kalika is said to have heard the extr.a-.iudicial confession made by
Shamim before her mother sitting on a cot in the courtyard. Tripathi
claimed to have heard a similar extra-judicial confession made by
ShJ\lllim before her brother Amir Ahmad.
•
SHAMIM RAHMANI v. u. !'. STATE ( Untwalia, J.)
After receipt of the information at the Kotwali, the first to arrive
at the scene of occurrence was Sub-Inspector Dildar Raza, P.W. 28.
The various steps taken by him, the recovery of the licensed gun
(standing in the_ name of Sikander Jahan), the fired cartridges a,nd
certain live cartridges are all mentioned in the judgments of the
courts below.
The case naturally required a very prompt, intensive
and thorough investigation.
Services of 11 Ballistic Expert, Handwriting Expert, Photographers belonging to the Criminal Investigation
Department were requisitioned.
Under orders of P.W. 17 Mohd.
Sabir Khan later in the day the investigation was_ taken u_p by C.l.D.
Inspector P. N. Singh from P.W. 28 Dildar Raza. After a, few days
the investigation was taken up by P.W. 31 K. P. Tiwari who even-
.tually submitted the Charge-Sheet.
The defence of appellant Shamim was that she did not commit
the murder. Eventually it was ,a,dmitted on her behalf that she was
fa deep love with the Doctor. It was, however, denied ·that she had
developed any jealousy or hatred or had any quarrel or difference
with him. .Like a drowning man catching at the straw, wild suggestions were thrown tl\a.t there was a possibility of the murder of the
Doctor having been committed by her cousin Iqbal Uddin Khan,
P.W. 24, any of his family members or somebody else.
Appellant
Amir Ahmad in his defence asserted that on receiving the information
from Sheikh he did not go to Shamim's residence, first went to Hazratganj Police Station •and from there he went to Kaiserhagh Police
Station. He denied to have lodged a written report Ext. Ka-12 or
to have given deliberately any false information in order to screen
his sister.
The Trial Court believed the prosecution case and held it to have
been established against both the accused and convicted them.
The
High Court affirming the findings. of the Trial Court has maintained
their conviction.
A_s already stated it has reduced the quantum of
sentence imposed on appellant Amir Ahmad.
The High Court has
scanned the prosecution evidence very carefully.
It J,as left out of
·consideration the evidence of P.W. 18 Tripathi as a matter of abundant caution only on the ground of his having been examined late
by the Investigating Agency on 16-12-1966. Topic-wise it has discussed the evidence and has met the criticism of the defence witnesswise also. On consideration of the entire evidence it has recorded the
following conclusions of facts :
"1. that there was love affair between Km. Shamim Rahmani and Dr. Hari Om Gautam.
2. that after being assured of the love professed by Dr.
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Gautam, Km. Shamim Rahmani behaved as a loveH
Jorn girl.
3. that after seducing Km. Shamim, Dr. Gautam turned
unfaithful to her and in spite of his written promises
and the entreaties of Km. Shamim, he continued to
be un-faithful.
r
320
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975] SUPP· s.c.R.
4. that after Dr. Gautam had given written promises and
had broken them, Km. Shamim slapped him openly
and publicly in Kwality Restaurant.
5. that some 12-15 days before the murder Dr. Gautam
had stopped visiting Km. Shamim so frequently as
he had been doing earlier, and her entreaties had
also failed to have any effect on Dr. Gautam.
6. that Dr. Gautam was threatened by Km. Shamim on
occasions for being unfaithful.
7. that continuously for two deys before the murder,
there had been heated talks between the two.
8. that two days before the murd.er Km. Shamim had
been informed by Ganesh tha.t he had seen Dr.
Gautam going on his scooter with another girl like
her.
9. that this gave rise to the jealousy of Km. Shamim
D
Rahmani to the extent that she made enquiries about
the whereabouts of Dr. Gautam from his sister and
called Dr. Gautam at her house and under the pretext of her illness.
10. th.at a few nours before the murder Km. Shamim
Rahmani had told Dr. Gautam that he should come
E
m tbe e'!.cning to get her form filled no matter
whether he came afterwa.rds or not.
F
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11. that Dr. Gautam was found murdered at the house
of Km. Shamim Rahmani.
12. that the gun with which the murder had been committed was fired from inside the drawing room.
13. that after the murder no
one
except
Mohammad
Ahmad Rahmani alias Sheikhu was seen going out of
the house.·
14. that the gun with which the murder was committed
belonged to Smt. Sikander J ah an and was recovered
from the bed room of Km. Shamim R11hmani.
15. that Km. Shamim alone had a strong motive to commit
the murder of Dr. Gautam to the exclusion of any
other meinber of the family or outsider.
H
16. that except Km. Shamim Rahmani there was no othe1
person present in the drawing room shortly before
a.nd after the shooting.
17. that Km. Shamim Rahmani was seen going in the
drawing room from east to west with the gun in
her right hand soon after the murder.
J..
•
;
-'
SHAMIM RAHMANI v. u. p. STATE ( u ntwalia' J.)
18. that Km. Shamim Rahmani made an extra-judicial confession to her mother of her having shot at Dr. Gautam
shortly after his murder."
It ha/; also opined that even if the last two facts were left out of
consideration the other sixteen were conclusive to irresistibly lead
to the conclusion that it was Shamim and Shamim alone who was
responsible for the murder of Gauta,m by gun fire.
While endorsing
the view of the High Court in this regard we find no justillcation
for leaving the last two facts out of consideration for finding the
guilt of appellant Shamim.
We now proceed to briefly refer to the various topic-wise and
witness-wise discussion of the case by the High Court.
Since we
find ourselves in complete agreement with the judgment of the High
Court, we do not propose, as it is not necessary to do so, to mention
or discuss the va,rious ·aspects of the case in any detail.
The High
Court has first pin-pointed its attention on the topography of the
place of occurrence.
Thereafter it has directed its attention to the
evidence of Dr. Suri who had performed the autopsy on the dead
body of Gautam.
From the statement of Dildar Raza a,s well as
from the copies of the various photographs exhibited in the case
the position in which the dead body was found was fixed up. The
various matters mentioned in the judgment of the High Court on
the question "WHETHER THE SHOTS WERE FIRED FROM
INSIDE 11IE DRAWING-ROOM OR FROM OUTSIDE" are so
convincing that one could not but come to the conclusion thAt the
shots were fired from inside the drawing room and not from outside.
The various findings of bullet marks on the wall, the calendar, the
door parie in the light of the evidence of the Ballistic Expert did
not leave any scope for even a shadow of doubt that the Doctor
wa,s hit by a gun fired from inside the drawing room. The assailant
at the time of firing was not and could not be visible to persons
outside as the shots were fired from a place inside the drawing-room
which was south east of the western door.
And that is the reason
that Kalika did not say tha,t he saw Shamim firing the shots ·at
Gantam.
He merely deposed to the facts of the former proceeding
to the western room immediately after the firing.
It may also be
added that the fact that the shots were fired from inside the dr~wing
room was neither disputed in the High Court nor before us.
For the reasons stated by the High Court in its judgment, we
unhesitatinglv endorse its View that the shots were fired from the
20 Bore DBBL gun which was recovered from the eastern room and
the licence of which was in the name of Sikander Jahan. Stress was
laid before us that P.W. 14 Siya Ram Gupta. the Ballistic Expert
hed deposed with reference to the two empty cartridges found at
the spot that the shots could have l)een fired from the 20 Bore DBBL
gun of Sikander Jahan ; the expert was not definite about it. We
fif">IJ n0 f0rcc in this :irwn1ent. Even the t\vo fire<l emptv c;:irtrfrl('es
were T'ecovered from the eastern roon1 and keening in vie\v the fact
that Guota's evidence was not a direct evidence but an opinion evidence of the Expert and on appreciation of his evidence as a whole
'
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975] SUPP· s.c.R.
A in the background of the other facts and circumstances there could
not be any shadow of doubt that it was the DBBL gun of Sikander
Jahan which was used in firing the shots at Oa,utam. Learned counsel
for the appellant Shamim further submitted that Gupta had found
some finger prints on the gun but the prosecution suppressed the
Expert's report presumably because it did not bear the finger prints
B
of Shamim.
We think it has rightly been pointed out by the High
Court that the gun in all proba,bility was handled by other members
of the family and the prosecution could not be, therefore, certain
about the finger prints.
Although we do ·not consider it necessary,
'as we have repeatedly said in this judgment, to repeat all that was
argued before us, as it wa,s a mere repetitio9 of the argument before
c
the High Court, out of deference _to the pains-taking arguments of
Mr. Yogeswar Prasad, just at times, we mention one or two matters.
It was argued that in the recovery memo Ext. Ka-239 Raza did not
mention that
fro~1 the smell of the barrels it appeared
that the
gun had been recently fired as deposed to by him in court. He did
say so with reference to the case diary.
There was nothing shown
either in the Trial Court or the High Court to contradict the stateD ment. The recovery memo of the two fired cartridges i.s Ext. Ka-240.
E
They were of "twenty bore coloured brown Eley Kynoch which arc
giving the odour of freshly used gun-powder".
We may in passing
refer to the recovery memo Ext. Ka-241 which showed recovery of
five numbers of live cartridges of "twenty bore coloured brown of
Eley Kynoch".
On consideration of the entire. submissions made
on behalf of the appellant, we are fully satisfied that the gun used
in the occurrence was the gun the licence of which stood in the
name of the mother of appellant Shamim.
The time and place of occurrence was not disputed.
Nor was
it disputed that "ihere wa,s a love affair between Shamim and Dr.
F
Gautam and that they had physical intimacy as well." One has simply
to pity the lot of Sharnim who surrendered to the Doctor her virginity
and thereafter felt frustrated.
It must have completely upset her
mental ha.lance. Relying on the evidence of P.W. 10 Gyani Mahendra
Singh it has rightly been held by the High Court that the slapping
incident in the Kwality Restaurant as deposed by him was trne.
There were several letters in the handwriting of Dr. Gautam Ext.
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Ka-21 is dated 17-1-1968 containing~ show of promise by him that
thenceforward he would not witness any cinema show or go to any
restaurant, coffee house or club.
Before that is a letter Ext. Ka-20
dt. 27-7-1967 containin~ promise of Gautam that he would not talk
about any girl.
All these letters were addressed to Shamim and
were recovered from the eastern room in which she used to reside.
ff
The High Court has rightly believed _the evidence of P.W. J.9
Ganesh Prasad.
All criticisms levelled against his testimony were
fruitless and rightly ·so.
Shamim was so much infatuated in her
love with' the Doctor that at one time she tola her mother when
there was a talk of Dr. Gautam's transfer from Lucknow that she
would embrace Hinduism and go with him to his place of transfer.
The mother consoled her that attempts would be made to get his
).... "
'
SIIAMIM RAHMANI v. L'. P. STATE ( Untwalia, J.)
323
tr.a,nsfer cancelled.
It appears that the attempts did succeed and
i\
Dr. Gautam was eventually transferred from one hospital. to the
other in the City of Lucknow.
Ganesh deposed about the mformation given by him. to Shami!!'. on 9:7-1968 that. he had seen_ the
Doctor going on bis scooter with a girl like Sham1m.
'f.lus mc1dent
seems to have completely unnerved the infatuated Sham!ID and put
hcr~t~~.
B
The evidence of Dr. S. N. Rav, P.W. 20-another close neighbour
of Shamim Shushila Kumari, P.W. 21-a college friend of Shamim
and Kunia:i Shashi Kanta Gautam, P.W. 23-sister of Dr. Gaμtam
amply proves some of the facts found by th~ !'Iigh Court in its ultima~e
conclusions.
Unnecessary and pointless cnt1c1sm was made of their
C
evidence in the High Court with no result.
The appraisal of the
evidence of these witnesses by the High Court was so very right that
it was only hoping against hope to get a different result in this Court.
On the point of the breaches which had been caused by the Doctor
in bis affairs with his beloved the prosecution could place on record
a letter Ext. ka-29 deciphered with the help of an Expert. It does
not bear any date. But jt has been proved to be a, writing of Shamim .
to Dr. Gautam. It reads thus :
"Do not commit fraud with the girl otherwise in your
life too such a time could come sometimes."
To resume the story of the last two days of the tragic love
drama, it may be pointed out that Kalika saw Dr. Gautam going
to the House Shamim on 10-7-1968.
He heard their altercation.
Again ou 11-7-1968 Kalika saw the Doctor cori\Tn]l to Shamim's
house at about 3 .00 p.m. There was a heated altercation between
E
the two but he could not catch the words as it was going on in
F
the drawing room. After 15 minutes when bofh came out in the
verandah then he could hear Shamim asking Gautam to get her
work done.
Gautam w11.nted to evade but Shamim sternly told him
"that she had already heard such · provocative words but further
requested hill1 that her form be filled up that night and after that he
might come or not."
G
Before we refer to the criticism levelled a11;ainst the testimony of
the most important prosecution. witness Ka!ika,, we may point out
that Iqbal Uddin Khan was examined as a ,prosecntion witness. He
was in the house of Shamim for a few days prior to· the occurrence
but left the house af about 3.00 p.m. for going to Barielly by Punjab
Ma,il. His evidence completely negatives the suggestion that he could
have been responsible for the murder of the Doctor. We may also
H
dispose of the point which' was sought to be vehemently pressed
before us that the police investigation in this case was not fair and
proper. It was argued that P.W. 17 Mohammad Sabir Khan being
a friend of the Doctor took an unusual interest in the investigation
and he was responsible for asking P. N. Singh to take up the investigation from Dildar Raza. It was further submitted that Crime
-~,.._.,._,,,_ __
324
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[J 975] SUPP· S.C.R.
A number was given to the case after 4.00 p.m. on the 12th July although investigation started earlier.
Then it wii,s argued that Ext.
ka-230 the typed letter asking P. N. Singh to take up the investigation bore the crime number although P. N. Singh took up the investigation at about 3 .00 p.m. on the 12th July. It was, therefor~,
submitted that the letter was a fabricated a.nd anti-timed document.
B The learned Additional Sessions Judge and the learned Judges of
the High Court have given a complete answer to all the· criticism.
The last point was repelled with reference to the handwritten letter
Ext. Ka-254 which bore the endorsement of Dildar Raza also. We
have no doubt that. the investigation was conducted promptly and
faithfully and could not be subjected to any due criticism.
c
The High Court has excluded even the remote possibility of the
murder having been committed by Sikander Jahan, Naseem, Sheikhu
or Sughara, their maid servant.
ln our opinion, hinting upon the
possibility of the murder having been committed by any of them was
an attempt in desperation to catch in air something to save Shamim.
Then comes the evidence of Kalika.
As already stated his testiD
mony is in support of many facts which make the· cover of circumstances full-proof against Shamim.
Having considered his evidence in the light of the criticism, we see no justification to reject
it in disagreement with the two courts below.
Apart from being
a witness to the love affairs of the Doctor and Shamim, the visits
of the former to the latter, he was also a witness to the fa.ct that
Gautam was not visiting Shamim's house so frequently as he had
E
been doing earlier shortly before the occurrence.
He was a direct
witness to his visits to Shamim's house on the 10th and twice on the
1 lth. His evidence that he had seen Sh:\Illim going in the drawing
rooiu from east to west with the gun in her hand immediately after
the shooting was quite trustworthy.
Even though the eastern plank
of the western room of the drawing room was shut, through the
F remaining open space of the western door Kalika could very well
see Shamim pa,ssing in the drawing room with a gun in her hand.
There was sufficient light. His evidence as to the extra-judicial confession made by Shamim to her mother seems to be quite natural
and convincing. On query by the mother the reply given by Shamim
was that she had done nothing wrong in shooting Dr. Gautam when
he went hack from his promises a.nd was proving unfaithful.
From
G the view point of common ethics or morality one may say that
Shamim committed no sin in shooting dead a man like Gautam, although she was contributory in the act of Gau tam's lust for her. But
in the eye of law, she surely committed the crime of murder punishable under section 302 of the Penal Code.
Even if we wished, we
could not reduce the sentence of life imprisonment imposed on her
as that is the minimum sentence provided under section 302 of the
H
Penal Code.
Her mercy appeal for remission of any part of her
sentence lies elsewhere.
The
criticism
1eve1Jed against the prosecution \Vitness KaHka
are:
( 1) That he was examined late by the police in the
evening of the 12th July, 1968.
•
... .
SIIAMIM RAHMANI v. u. P. STATE (Untwa/ia, J.)
325
(2) That the parchas containing his statement were sent
to the office of ·the Superintendent of Police on the
15th July.
( 3) That there are material contradictions in his evidence.
(4) That there is an interpolation in the case diary where
Kalika's statement has been recorded.
(5) That he was inimical to Shamim's family.
(6) That he deposed in court as admitted by him from
his fits of imagina.tion and not on facts from his
occular observations.
( 7) That he could not see Shamim passing in the drawing
room with a gun in her hand.
(8) That his· evidence as to the alleged extra-judicial confession made by Shamim before her mother is untrustworthy.
We find no substance in a,ny of the criticisms made on behalf of
appellant Shamim. Some of them have already been alluded to.
On the facts explained by him, his examination by the police was
not late. High Court has found a plusiblc reason for the receipt of
the parchas in the S.P.'s Office on the 15th.
There is no such
interpolation in his statement in the case diary which could cause any
dcmbt in respect of it.
He was not inimical to Shamim's family.
His
statement in the deposition at times that whatever came in his mind
he had !lated means in the context that whatever he conld recollect
he had stated. It is just a figment of imagination to suggest that his
statements were the products of his imagination. We have already
reiterated the view of the High Court that he could very well see
Shamim going in the drawing room with a gun in her hand and
that his evidence as respects her extra-judicial confession is trustworthy.
Although the learned Additiona.l Sessions Judge was not unjustified
in relying upon the evidence of P.W. 18 Tripathi, the High Court
also seems to be justifiably cautious when it thought it proper to
exclude his evidence from consideration. There was some .iustification
for it because he was examined late by the police. The exclusion of
his evidence from consideration, however, as we shall presently show,
goes a long way to help ;ippellant Amir Ahmad.
For the reasons stated above we see no substance in the appeal
filed by appellant Shamim Rahmani and dismiss it.
Coming to the appeal of appellant Amir Ahmad, we would first
like to quote the translation of the written report given by him at
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
326
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975] SUPP· S.C.R.
A the police 'station, from the judgment of the Trial Court. It reads as -
follows :
B
c
"Sir,
I . beg to state that I reside along with my family in
24/1, New Berry Road. My mother along with two sisters
reside in my younger brother's house No.
23,
Kandhari
Lane.
Today at night about 11.30 my younger brother
Mohammad Ahmad Rahmani came to my house and started
knocking the main gate with great force on which I opened
the door. Mohamma,d Ahmad told me that a strange thing
has happened in the house. On my asking, he told that he
did not know how his ;;ister Shamim took his gun outside
and somehow a fire was shot. The bullet hit Dr. Gautam
and he has fallen and is bleeding. After writing my report
the necessary action may be taken. Applicant Amir Rahmani
s/o Azizur Rahman Khan resident of 24/1 New Bery Road,
Lucknow 12th July, 1968."
D
We do not doubt in the least that this was the written report
given by this appellant at Kaiserbagh Kotwali.
The attempt made
on his behalf to show that he-had not gone to the place of occurrence before going to the Thana or that he had not given this
written report at 1.30 a.m. on the 12th of July has rightly failed in
the courts below. But the question for consideration is whether withE
out the aid of the evidence of P. W. Tripathi it could be held that
the requirements of section 201 of the Penal Code have been fulfilled
against him.
The evidence of Tripathi was as respects the extrajudicial confession said to have been made by Shamim before this
appellant. If that could be taken into consideration then one could
say that he knew that the offence of murder had been committed by
his sister.
On tha,t basis it could be held that the written report as
F
given by him was with the intention of screening the offender from
legal punishment and he kne'w the information to be false.
But
once that goes out then we are left with what he learnt from
Sheikhu and what was told to him by Kalika. We believe the testimony of Kalika to the effect that Amir Ahmad had gone to the
place of occurrence on a motor-cycle or a scooter and- he had told
him everything. But then, what follows ?
Kalika had not stat·ed
( that he had seen Shamim firing a.t the Doctor.
The facts narrated
by him must be, more or less, in brief those as told by him in
court.
On these facts Amir Ahmad could neither know nor could
have reason to believe that Shamim had committed the murder of
the Doctor. More facts were yet to be known. He did nothing wrong
in rushing to the Police Station . and giving the barest infor111ation in
writing. No other part of the statement is .said to be false except the
H following :
"Mohammad Ahmad told me that a strange thing has
happened in the house. On my asking, he told that he did not
know how his sister Shamim took his imn outside and
somehow a fire was shot. · The bullet hit Dr. Gautam and
he has fallen and is bleeding."
•
i
SHAMIM RAHMANI v. u. P. STATE (Untwalia, J.)
327
Prosecution could not unfold that Mohammad Ahmad alias Sheikhu
A
had told anything further to Amir Ahmad. The fact that his sister
Shamim took out the gun was true.
That shot was fired was also
true. It was a fact that the bullet hit the
Doctor. That he had
fallen and was bleeding was not untrue. Amir Ahmad may not be
sure whether the Doctor was dead or alive. It was not obligatory or
necessary for him to probe the matter any further at the spot before
B
rushing to the police station.
In our judgment, therefore, after exclusion of the' evidence of P, W. Tripathi from considera.tion all the
ingredients necessary to be established for bringing home the charge
under section 201 of the Penal Code to appellant Amir Ahmad were
not proved beyond reasonable doubt. He may have known or may
have reason to believe tlrat a.n offence of murder bad been committed
by his sister Shamim. But the other possibility that he may not have
C
known or may not have reason to believe, he may have only sus-
~ected that the offence of murder .had been committed by Shamim,
cannot be ruled out. That being so, we think the benefit of doubt
must go to appellant Amir Ahmad. We accordingly allow his appeal,
set aside his conviction and sentence under section 201 of the Penal
Code and acquit him of that charge.
D
Cr. As. Nos. 121-122/73 dismissed .
Cr. A. No. 123/73 allowed.
P. B. R.
I
10 SC/75-22