# • ' STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH v. K. VEN.KATA REDDY & OTHERS

- **Citation:** [1976] 3 S.C.R. 929
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1976
- **Bench:** R. S. Sarkarja, P. N. Shinghal
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/state-of-andhra-pradesh-v-k-ven-kata-reddy-others-6851
- **Pages:** 13

## Headnote

929
. Evidence Act (l of 1872), s. 9-ldentification of accused a: test identification parad(;:-Use of.
'
h Indian Penal Code (Act 45 of 1860), ss. 34 and 302-Conviction under
w en named co-accused are acqulfted-When permissible.
'
Whe1~ the bus in which the deceased and P.Ws. 1 to 3 were travelling,
alone with other passengers, halted at a bus stop, a number of persons surroun~ed. the bus, ~orced all the passengers out of the bus except the deceased,
and znfiicted multiple st!lbs on the
deceased
causing
his
death. Thirteen
persons were charged with offences under s. 302, 34 and 149 I.P.C. The trial
cc;>u-!1 convicted ~ome and acquitted the others.
In appeals against the conv1~tion and acqmttal, the High Court acquitted all the accused. In appeal to
this. Court against the acquittal of seven accused, including A-7,
HELD: Confirmihg the acquittal of others, A-7 is guilty of an offence
under s. 302, read with s. 34, I.P.C.
( 1) The evidence of the intereited eye-witnesses PWs 2 and 3 was sufficiently corroborated as against A-7 by the testimony of PWs 9 and 11 the
conductor and driver of the bus. They had identified A~7 at an identification
parade. It is true that while picking out this accused at the parade these
witbesses did not say anything w1th regard to the specific part played by
hin1 in the commission of the crime. That, however, does not render the
evidence of such idenofication inadmissible. From the fact that P\V 9 while
testifying as to the fact of identification was referring: to this ·accused as A-7
in1pEes that he had identified him in court. He had in that connectioh elucidated why he had picked out A-7 at the identification parade. The evidence
given by the witness in court was substantive testimony, while the identification made by him at the parade was confinnatory of that fact.
As regards
PvY' 11 his evidence was more clear. The Magistrate who held the parade
had mixed up 12 other persohs at this parade with the four accused, including A-7. It could not therefore be said that the number of other persons
mixed with the accused was inadequate. [936H; 937F; 938B-F, G-H; 939C]
A
B
c
D
E
(2) The result is that excepting A-7, the participation of the other 12
F
named accused in the commission of the crime has not been established. There
is also no evidence to show as to which of the assailants dealt the fatal blow
on the deceased. The medical evidence, however, shows that there were hot
less than 44 incised injuries including penetrating wounds upon the body of
the deceased. The extremelv large number of injuries on the body of the
-deceased lends assurance to the testimony of PWs 2 ahd 3 that the number of
assailants was more than 13 including some unnamed and unidentified persons.
Therefore, apart from the accused named in the charge, there \\''ere at least
one or n1ore unidehtified person who participated in the fatal assault on the
G
deceased conjointly with A.7.
A~7 can, therefore, be convicted under s. 302
read with s. 34, l.P.C. [940B, G-941B]
Maina Singh v. State of Rajasthan [1976] 3 SCR 651, followed.

## Text

•
'
STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH
v.
K. VEN.KATA REDDY & OTHERS
March 26. 1976
(R. S. SARKARJA AND P. N. SHINGHAL, JJ.]
929
. Evidence Act (l of 1872), s. 9-ldentification of accused a: test identification parad(;:-Use of.
'
h Indian Penal Code (Act 45 of 1860), ss. 34 and 302-Conviction under
w en named co-accused are acqulfted-When permissible.
'
Whe1~ the bus in which the deceased and P.Ws. 1 to 3 were travelling,
alone with other passengers, halted at a bus stop, a number of persons surroun~ed. the bus, ~orced all the passengers out of the bus except the deceased,
and znfiicted multiple st!lbs on the
deceased
causing
his
death. Thirteen
persons were charged with offences under s. 302, 34 and 149 I.P.C. The trial
cc;>u-!1 convicted ~ome and acquitted the others.
In appeals against the conv1~tion and acqmttal, the High Court acquitted all the accused. In appeal to
this. Court against the acquittal of seven accused, including A-7,
HELD: Confirmihg the acquittal of others, A-7 is guilty of an offence
under s. 302, read with s. 34, I.P.C.
( 1) The evidence of the intereited eye-witnesses PWs 2 and 3 was sufficiently corroborated as against A-7 by the testimony of PWs 9 and 11 the
conductor and driver of the bus. They had identified A~7 at an identification
parade. It is true that while picking out this accused at the parade these
witbesses did not say anything w1th regard to the specific part played by
hin1 in the commission of the crime. That, however, does not render the
evidence of such idenofication inadmissible. From the fact that P\V 9 while
testifying as to the fact of identification was referring: to this ·accused as A-7
in1pEes that he had identified him in court. He had in that connectioh elucidated why he had picked out A-7 at the identification parade. The evidence
given by the witness in court was substantive testimony, while the identification made by him at the parade was confinnatory of that fact.
As regards
PvY' 11 his evidence was more clear. The Magistrate who held the parade
had mixed up 12 other persohs at this parade with the four accused, including A-7. It could not therefore be said that the number of other persons
mixed with the accused was inadequate. [936H; 937F; 938B-F, G-H; 939C]
A
B
c
D
E
(2) The result is that excepting A-7, the participation of the other 12
F
named accused in the commission of the crime has not been established. There
is also no evidence to show as to which of the assailants dealt the fatal blow
on the deceased. The medical evidence, however, shows that there were hot
less than 44 incised injuries including penetrating wounds upon the body of
the deceased. The extremelv large number of injuries on the body of the
-deceased lends assurance to the testimony of PWs 2 ahd 3 that the number of
assailants was more than 13 including some unnamed and unidentified persons.
Therefore, apart from the accused named in the charge, there \\''ere at least
one or n1ore unidehtified person who participated in the fatal assault on the
G
deceased conjointly with A.7.
A~7 can, therefore, be convicted under s. 302
read with s. 34, l.P.C. [940B, G-941B]
Maina Singh v. State of Rajasthan [1976] 3 SCR 651, followed.
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 155
()f 1971.
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated
31-7-70 of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Criminal Appeal No.
45/69 and Criminal Revision Case No. 391/ 69.
H
930
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1976] 3 S.C.R.
•
A
P. Ram Reddy and P. P. Rao for the Appellants.
Govind Das, Mrs. Sunanda Bhandare, A. K. Mathur, A. K. Sharma
"- ,.
and M. S. Narasimhan for the Respondents.
B
c
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
SARKARIA, J .-This appeal by special leave is directed against a
judgment of acquittal rendered by the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.
The facts may now be stated.
There are three villages, Konda Kala Vatala, Konda Papaya Palli
and Govinda Palli situated at a short· distance from each other There
were warring factions in these villages One was led by Vellugoti
Pedda Eswara Reddy deceased and Mumagala Narayana Reddy, the
Sarpanch of Konda Kala-Vatala.
The rival faction was headed by
Akkanunareddigari Venkata Kondareddy, Accused No. 1 (for short, -1
A-1)_. There was bad bloq_d between the two factions. Both the factions were proceeded against under ss. 107 /151, Cr.P.C., also
The deceased was a resident of Konda Papayapalli village. On May
D
16, 1968, the deceased accompanied by PW 1, K. Venkatareddy, went
to Jammalamadugu and stayed for the night there in the hotel of
PW 12 (Dastagiri).
On the following morning at about 8-30 a.m.,
they boarded bus No. APD 2083 for proceeding to their village. L.
Venkata Ramanna (PW 14) was checking tickets on that bus. When
the bus stopped at Sanjamalavari House, Accused 2, 3, 5 to 8 (for
short, A-2, A-3, A-5 to A-8) boarded it. On seeing the accused, who
E
belonged to his opposite faction, the deceased got apprehensive of his
safety. He therefore alighted from the bus, and, accompanied by PW !,
returned to the hotel of Dastagiri. After remaining at the hotel for
some time they returned to the bus stan.d, and boarded bus No. APD
2276, at about 9-30 a.m. for going to their village. P.W. 11 (E. Solomon) was the driver and P.W. 9 (V. Bala Subbanna), the conductor
of that bus. There were about 30 passengers, including PW 2, PW 3
F
and PW 4, in the bus. At about 10-30 a.m., the bus halted at Nossam
near the hotel of Rangappa, PW 10. This bus-stop is at a distance of
about 60 or 65 yards from the ·Police Outpost and is located in a populated quarter of the town which has a population of 3,000 souls. The
conductor, the driver and some of those passengers got down to take
refreshments in the nearby hotel.
Some passengers
including
the
deceased .and P.Ws. 1, 2 and 4, however, remained inside the vehicle.
G
A-4 then came there. He peeped into the bus through the door and
went away towards the house of one Yerikala Reddy, situated at a distance of 200 feet from the bus towards the north. Soon thereafter, A-1
and A-2, armed with revolvers, and A-3 to A-13, all armed with
daggers, came there from Yerikala Reddy's house, encircled the bus,
~d at the point of daggers forced the passengers including PWs 1 and
4, to get out of the bus. The deceased also tried to get away but the
H
accused·prevented him from doing so.
A-1 and A-2 took positions
in the doors of the vehicle. They fired revolvers in the air wh;Je their
companions immediately entered the bus and there, stabbed the deceased to death causing no less than 44 injuries. The assailants were
•
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A
A. P. STATE v. K. v. REDDY (Sarkaria, !.)
931
yelling : "Stab! kill!" P.Ws. 1 to 4 witnessed the occurrence P.W. 1
A
while raising an alarm proceeded towards the Police Outpost, but the
accused obstructed and chased him over a short distance. P.W. 1 took
to his heels, went away from the village and concealed himself somewhere. After abont two hours he came out of his hiding and returned
to the spot at about 12-30 p.m.
After murdering the deceased, the miscreants went away towards
the north taking their weapons with them.
Thereafter, P.Ws. 2, 3
and 4 entered the bus and found the deceased lying dead in a pool of
blood. P.W. 2 then went to Papayapalli, five mHes away, and infoimecl
the wife and the relations of the deceased about the occurrence. He
returned to the scene of the crime in the company of those relations
at about 4 p.m.
In the meantime, the village Munsiff (P.W. 15) on learning about
this incident, also came there. At the dictation of P.W.l, the Munsiff
recorded the complaint, Ex. P-3, and then prepared an ihjury statement
c
of the deceased. At about 3 p.m., he sent the complaint together with
other documents prepared by him, through the Talyari to the Police
Station, Vuyyalawada. A copy of the complaint was sent to the Judicial Magistrate Koilkuntla.
Prior to the making of this complaint, Head Constable Abdul
Khadar, PW 16, of the Police Out-Post had sent an oral information to
the Police Inspector about this murder. The Head Constable had heard
the reports of revolver"fite at about.10-30 a.m. Thereupon, he alongwith a Constable went out to the bus stand. At the spot, he heard from
the by-standers that the deceased had been killed inside the bus. But,
despite inquiries, no one told him about the identity or particulars of
the culprits. He looked for the complainant, if any. No one came forward to make a complaint.
The driver and the conductor of the bus
were abo found absent. He therefore sent an oral information to the
Inspector through the Talari, Pollana.
On receiving the information, Inspector Santhoji Rao (P.W. 25)
reached the place of the murder at 6 p.m. He examined P.Ws. 1, 15,
16 and 19 and recorded their statements under s. 161, Cr.P.C. Thereafter, he held an inquest over the dead-body from 2-30 a.m. to 6 a.m.
on May 18, 1968. During the inquest he examined P.Ws. 2, 9 and 11.
Ile Inspector searched for the accused but could not find them. A-4
to A-8 surrendered on May 22, 1968 and were taken into custody. A-2,
A-3, A-9, A-10, A-11 and A-13 were arrested by the police on June
24, 1968. Thereafter, on some date before August 10, 1968, A-1, A-6
and A-12 were arrested.
All the accused persons were not previously known to the eyewitnesses. They were put up for test identification at three parades
held by Mr. Johnson, Magistrate '1st Class (P.W. 20) on June 7, 1968,
July 18, .1968 and August 10, 1968.
E
F
G
After completing the investigation the police sent 13 accused
persons under a charge-sheet before the Magistrate for preliminary
enquiry. The Magistrate committed all the 13 accused for trial to the
H
court of Session. The Sessions Judge acquitted A-5, A-6, A-8, A-9
an4 A-11, but convicted the remaining seven under s. 302, Penal Code
and sentenced each of them to imprisonment for life.
A
B
c
D
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F
G
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932
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1976] 3 S.C.R
Against that judgment, two appeals were preferred to the High
Court, one by the State against the acquittal of A-5, A-6 and A-8, and
the other by the co,nvicted accused against their conviction. The High
Court dismissed the appeal preferred by the State but accepted the
other filed by the accused and acquitted all of them.
Aggrieved, the State made a petition in this Court under Article 136
of the Constitution seeking leave to appeal against the acquittal of A-1
to A-9 and A-12. This Court however granted special leave to appeal
against the acquittal of A-1 to A-4, A-7, A-9 and A-12 only and refused
it against A-5, A-6 and A-8.
Mr. Ram Reddy appearing for the appellant-State contends that
the judgment of the: High Court acquitting all the accused persons is
perverse in law and has occasioned gross failure of justice. It is
maintained that the reasons given by the High Court for wholesale
rejection of the evidence of P.Ws. 1, 2, 3, :9 and 11 are manifestly
erroneous and contrary to the fundamental canons of appraiSing
evidence.
As ·against this, Mr. Govind Das maintains that the reasons given
by the High Court for rejecting the evidence of these witnesses are
quite sound and cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be branded
as 'perverse'. According to the Counsel since the view taken by the
High Court is also reasonably possible, this Court should not, in
deference to the well-established ruler of practice, interfere with the
order of acquittal.
To appreciate the rival contentions, it is necessary to examine the
reasons given by the High Court for not accepting the evidence of
these five witnesses.
·
P.W. 1 is the prime-mover of the gear. The case was registered
on his complaint (Ex. P-3) lodged with the village Mnnsiff (P.W. 15)
at 12-30 p.m. At the trial, he narrated more or less the same story
which has been set out at the commencement of this judgment. The
High Court found his evidence unworthy of credit for these reasons :
(i) P.W. 1 is a confirmed partisan of the deceased.
(ii)
(iii)
He was unable to 'give a consistent and satisfactory
account of the purpose of his going to Jammalamagdu on
May 16, 1968.
.
.
In the First Information Ex. P-3, he did not state manv
material facts.
For instance, . he did not mention there
that, in the first instance, he and .the deceased had boarded the Nandyal-Koilkuntla bus at 8-30 a.m. and thereafter alighted from it on seeing the accused getting into
t]le bus.
(iv) If P.W. ·1 was really in the ill-fated bus, at the time of
the occurrence, he could uot have been left unharmed;
(v) The conduct of P.W. 1 was so unnatural that it improbablises his presence at the time and place of the incident:
·
(a) If he had really seen A-4 peeping into the bus ancJ
going back to the house of Erikala Reddy, 60 or 70
.....
r
A. P. STATE v. K. v. REDDY (Sarkaria, !.)
933
(b)
yards away, to inform the other accused, it was unlikely that P.W. 1 and the deceased ·would have
remained sitting in the bus. P.W. 1 knew that A-4
was a partisan of the other accused:
The conduct of P.W. 1 after the occurrence, was
also artificial, unnatural and strange.
He did not
go to the Police Outpost which was at a stone's
throw.
His explanation that he was prevented by
the accused from going there and had to remaiin in
hiding at some unspecified place towards the West
for two hours till he returned to
tho bus-stand at
12-30 p.m., was incredible. Although he had ample
opportunity and time to go to his village and inform
the co-villagers about the incident, he did nothing
of the kind.
(vi) No bus-ticket was found with P.W. 1.
(vii) The evidence of the witnesses produced to corroborate the
version of P.W. 1 was also unsatisfactory.
P.W. 14, Ticket-Checker of bus No. APO 2083 which the deceas-
. ed and P.W. 1 are said to have boarded earlier at Jamalamae1ugu,
, admittedly did not know P.W. 1 prior to that date. P.W. 14 was not
. asked to identify P.W. 1 at any test identification or even in court.
Moreover, P.W. 14 was examined by the investigating Police Officer
about a week after the occurrence.
The evidence of Dastgiri, P.W. 12, owner of the hotel at Jamala-
. madugu was no better. He had no record to show that P.W. 1 and
the deceased had spent the night between the 16th and 17th May at
his hotel. His testimony was at variance with his statement recorded
·under s. 164, Cr.P.C. In that statement, he did not say that the sons
(i.e. A-2, A-3 and A-6) of Kalavatala Reddy were also reported by
·the deceased to be in the bus. He had simply stated there, that Kalavatala (Reddy) and his men were in the bus. At the trial, ·he stated
that the deceased had informed him about the presence of A-2, A-3
· and A-6, also, in the bus.
P.W. 12 was not a disinterested witness.
Admittedly, the deceased had helped him in getting assignment
of
· 1and for raising a building, before the revenue authorities. His state-
. ment was also recorded by the police several days after the occur-
: rence.
A
B
c
D
E
(viii) There was unexplained delay in registration of the case.
G
The Police Statioin Vuyyalawada is 12 miles from Nos-
. sam.
The complaint, Ex. P-3, was received there at 8 p.m.
Copy of the complaint reached the Magistrate Koi!akuntla, 16 miles away, at 6 1p.m.
There was a bus leaving
Nossam at 4-30 p.m. for Koilakuntla. It was more likely
that the copy of the complaint was sent to the Magistrate
by that bus at 4-39 p.m., and not at 3 p.m. as the Munsiff
H
P-W. 15, wanted to have it believed. This inordinate delay in registering the FJ.R. shows that the First Information was lodged after confabulation with other persons
A
B
934
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1976] 3 S.C.R.
who had come from the village of the deceased. In these
circumstances, the F.I.R. had little value .as a 'corroborative piece of evidence.
These reasons given by the High Court for not relying on the
evidence of P.W. 1, cannot, by any standard be said to be unsound
or puerile. There is a good deal of force in them.
We will now take up P.W. 2. Mr. P. Ram Reddy contends that
the High Court was in error in dubbing this. witness ,as an interested
witness. It is maintained that his relationship or affinity with the
deceased or his party had not been established. It is argued that his
evidence was ahnost impeccable.
C
The High Court has found that P.W. 2 is closely related to ~he·
deceased. This is an iuference drawn from the conduct of the witness
in not denying a suggestion of such relationship put to him in crossexamination by the defence.
The pointed suggestion was, whether· -1
the son of his junior paternal uncle was married to the daughter of
the deceased. The witness replied that he did not know.
The relationship suggested was so near that the witness could not be unaware·
D
of it. If the suggestion was wrong, he ought to have registered a
categorical denial.
The High Court was therefore justified in prcsumjng that the wilness was ~he first cousin of the son-in-law of the.
deceased.
E
F
G
The next infirmity in his evidence noted by the High Court, is .
that his conduct in not trying to go to the Police Outpost or in not
reporting the matter to the village Munsiff, was not the natural conduct of an eye-witness of the murder.
The third weakness in his
~
evidence noted by the High Court, is, that he was not examined by
'
the investigator on the 17th May, although he claimed to be present at
the spot at that time.
Another reason given by the High Court for
doubting his veracity was, that there was no necessity for him to go·
to Proddutur to ascertain the price of castor-oil cake because the same
inquiry could be conveniently made telephonically. The Court further
found that he could not give a satisfactory account as to why he
adopted the circuitous route via Nossam when buses starting at 6-30 ·
and 7-30 a.m. from Jammalamadugu and plying directly to Allagaddi
were available. We need only add that this witness also was unable -
to produce any bus ticket.
·
·
We agree with the High Court that in view of the infirmities enumerated above, the evidence of P.W. 2 could not be safely acted upon· ./
without corroboration from independent sources.
This takes us to the evidence of P.W. 3.
The High Court found that P.W. 3, also, was not an independent·
H
witness.
He stood surety for five partisans of the deceased in security
proceedings under s. 107, Cr.P.C.
This fact was borne out by the·
documentary evidence furnished by the copies of the surety bonds,
Exh. D-1 O to D-14, although the witness had the temerity to deny it ..
•
A. P. STATE v. K. v. REDDY (Sarkaria, J.)
935
Mr. Ram Reddy laid great stress on the fact that the evidence of
this witness with regard to his being among the passengers in the illfate<l bus at the time of occurrence, stands corroborated from
the
testimony of an independent witness, the bus conductor (P.W.9). It
is further maintained that this witness (P.W. 3) was examined dming the inquest held on the night between the 17th and 18th May.
Reference on this point has been made to the inquest report Ex. P.6.
These twin circumstances-proceeds the argument-were sui!icient to
lend assurance to the interested testimony of this witness so as to make
it acceptable against A-1 and A-2, if not against the other accused respondents. These circumstances were noticed by the High Court. In
its opinion, they did not furnish adequate confirmation of the testimony of P.W. 3. In this connection, the High Court observed :
"We do not think much assurance can be taken from the
evidence of P.W. 9 about the presence of P.W. 3 on that day
;n that bus. It is true that the name of P.W. 3 was mentioned as a,n eye-witness in the inquest report. Even though
the inquest according to P.W. 25 was held in the early
hours of the morning of 18-5-1968 and the inquest report
was said to be ready on that morning, the inquest report was
ieceiYed in Court at 6 P.M. on 19-5-1968. As
provided
under sec. 174(2) Cr.P.C. the inquest report shall be forthwith forwarded to the Court.
P.W. 3 was examined on
19-5-68 only.
With regard to the inquest report no othet
:ndependent panchayatdar was examined apart from P.W.
J 5, the village Munsiff.
Having regard. to these
circum-
' tances we do not think much can be taken from the fact
1hat the !lame of P.W. 3 finds a place in the inquest report."
Another infirmity in the teflimony of PW 3, according to the High
Court. was that documentary evidence of the sales allegedly made by
the witness at the Shandy (periodical market) and the receipts
of
the fecs/cess paid on such sales to the Panchayat, was not forthcoming rmd that the explanation given by the witness for non-production
A
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of such documentary evidence was unsatisfactory.
F
; c will be seen from the synopsis of the reasoning of the High
Court. gi,en above, that whereas the evidence of P.W.1 was considered to be wholly unreliable, the possibility of P.Ws. 2 and 3 being
witnesses of the occurrence was not positively ruled out. The conclusion reached in respect of these two witnesses was that their evidence
suffered from several infirmities and, as such in the absence of corroG-
borutioa from independent sources, it could not be accepted as a safe
basis for qJnvicting the accused.
We are also of the opinion that as
a matter of prudence, it was not safe to convict any of the accuseu
respondents merely 'on the basis of the testimony of P.Ws. 2 and :i
We, however, do not agree with the High Court that the evidence of
P.Wo.9 and 11 did not furnish reliable corroboration of the testimony
of the interested witnesses (P.Ws. 2 and 3) against
any
of
the
H
accused-respondents whatever.
The sum and substance of the testimony rendered by P.W.9, the
Omduclor of the bus, was that when the bus halted at Nossam at
A
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936
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
. [1976] 3 S.C.R.
about 10-30 a.m., the witness accompanied by the Driver (P.W. 11),
got down and both of them· went to the nearby hospital for getting an
injury on his leg (P.W 9's) dressed up. They however, did not find
the Doctor there. Consequently, both of them returned to the hotel
of Rangappa which is hardly 18 ft. from the scene of occurrence.
While the witness was standing in the verandah of the hotel, the driver
took his meals inside and then came out and went to the adjacent
hotel of Pullayya to take coffee. The witness asked Rangappa's wife
to give him some water.
He was waiting in the doorway when he saw
some persons coming from the northern side and going to the bus
and encircling it.
Some of them were armed with daggers.
The
witness heard the sound "dama dama" of the firing of a revolver.
The witness heard cries from the bus-"kill ! stab !".
After the disturbance had subsided, the witness went ollt and saw the deceased
lying dead inside the bus in a pool of:blood. Due to fear, the witness
and the driver (P.W.11) went into the nearby Vaisya's house and
remained there till 7-30 or 8 p.m. when they came out on learning
-..,
that the Police Inspector had. come to the spot.
At the test identification parades,
the witness
had identified
Accused 2 and 7. He stated that P.W. 3 was one of the passengers
who travelled in the ill-fated bus.
The driver (P.W.11) substantially corroborated P.W.9. He stated
that he had seen five or six persons carrying white think like daggers
in their ha·nds going behind the bus.
The witness was· then taking
coffee at the hotel of Pullayya. He then heard the "dum dum" sound
from the bus. At the test identification parades held before the
Magistrate, the witness had identified A-7 and A-11.
The High Court while conceding that P.Ws. 9 and 11 were the
"\
"proper persons to have spoken about the occurrence", brushed aside
their evidence even against the accused identified by them at the test
identifications, mainly on the ground that they were "unwilling witnesses" and were not prepared to speak the whole truth.
The High
Court noticed that there was a discrepancy with regard to the receipt
~F
of injury by P.W. 9 between his statement before the police and the
subsequent statement recorded under s. 164,
Cr.P.C.
Before the
police, P.W.9 had stated that he had received an injury. But in his
statement recorded under s. 164, Cr.P.C. he said that he had a boil on
his leg. It appears to us that this discrepancy was of no consequence.
P.Ws.9 and 11 were the conductor and the driver of the bus. It is
undisputed that the bus was parked close to the hotels of Rangappa
. .(;
(P.W.10) and Pullayya.
Their presence near the bus at the hotels
was a highly probable fact.
Even if the reason for their going to the
J
nearby hospital was disbelieved, it could not affect their being eye-
/
witnesses of the incident. Might be that they did not disclose all that
they had seen and had not identified all the culprits whom they could
identify; but that is no ground to hold that their evidence could not
furnish valuable corroboration of the testimony of the interested wit-
.H
nesses (P.Ws. 2 and 3) even ag~inst the accused whom they identified at the test ide·ntifications and later in court.
The statements of P.Ws. 2, 9 and 11 were recorded bv the Investigating Officer during the night between the 17th and 18th May 1968
A. P. STATE v. K. v. REDDY (Sarkaria, J.)
93 7
from 2-30 a.m. to 6 a.m. There was thus no good reason for wholesale rejection of the evidence of P .W s. 9 and 11. It therefore remains
"
~ to be seen to what extent the independent testimony of P.Ws. 9 and
11 lends corrobation to the statements of the interested witnesses
(P.Ws. 2 and 3).
At the test identification parade held on June 7, 1968, A-4, A-5,
A-7 and A-8 were paraded along with 12 other prisoners. P.Ws. 2, 3,
9 and 11 were called upon to identify the accused at this parade.
P.W. 2 while identifying A-7 at the parade, said : "I saw him while
killing the deceased in the bus" P.W. 3 also identified A-7 as
Konda Kalavatalavadu.
He also identified A-4 and A-8 by touching
their hands. P .W .9 identified A-7 saying : "I suspect this man". He
could not identify others. P.W.11 also at this parade picked out A-7
who was then standing at No. 15 in the parade and said that he had
seen him.
tThe second batch of the accused persons consisting of A-2, A-3,
A-9, A-10, A-11 and A-13 was arrested on June 24, 1968. These
six accused persons were paraded at the test identification on July 18,
1968. P.Ws. 1, 2, 3 and 9 were called upon to identify them at the
parade. P.W. 3 picked out A-2, A-3, A-9 and A-10 at the parade.
P.W. 9 similarly identified A-2 by touching his hand. A-2 objected
that in 1962 or 1963 P.W. 9 had served him as driver of his bus for
10 days.
The third test identification parade was held on August 10, 1968.
At this parade, nine accused persons A-1 to A-3, A-6, A-9 to A-13
were paraded. P.Ws. 1, 2, 3 and 11 were called upou to identify.
P.W. 2 identified A-8, while P.W.11 identified A-11 only. He could
i' not identify A-2 or the other accused who were in this parade.
)
'
Thus the net result is that at the test identifications, P.Ws. 9 and
11 had correctly identified A-7, P.W 9 had identified A-2, also. But
P.W. 11 could not identify him.
The question is, whether the evidence of P.Ws.9 and 11 can be
safely relied upon as against A-7 and A-2.
In our opinion, so far
as A-7 is concerned, chances of mistake in identification by these witnesses were extremely remote.
Mr. Gobind Das, Counsel for the respondents, contends that the
evidence of test identification is not substantive evidence. It can be
the Magistrate holding the parade did not mix up with the accused
adequate 1number of other prisoners and did
not hold
separate
parades for individual accused; (b) at the time of picking out A-7
and A-2 at the parade, the identifying witnesses did not say as to in
what connection they were identifying them.
It is stressed that the
evidence of test identification is not substantive evidence. It can be
used only to corroborate or lend assurance to the identification made
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by the same witness in court.
If at the time of picking out a particular accused at the parade, a witness _does not say anything about the He
role of the person, thus identified, in the commission of the crime,
such test identification little evidentiary value.
Further, it is
pointed out that P.W. 9 was not called upon to identify A-2 and A-7
A
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[ 197 6] 3 S.C.R.
in couFt at the time of his examination as a witness.
Reference has
made to a number of decisions including Kamal Cope v. State of
Bihar,( 1) Kanta Prasad v. Delhi Administration(') and Sampat Tatyada Shinde v. State of Maharashtra(').
In our opinion, so far as the identification of A-7 by P.Ws. 9 and
11 is concerned it can safely be relied npon as confirmatory of their
evidence in court. A-7 was identified by P.Ws, 9 and n at the test
identification parade held on June 7, 1968. It is true that while
picking out this accused at the parade these witnesses did not say
anything with regard to the specific part played by him in the commission of the crime.
That however does not render the evidence of
such identification inadmissible. The Magistrate (P.W. 20) who held
the parade had mixed up 12 other persons at this parade witJ1
the
four accused, including A-7. It could not therefore be said that the
number of other persons mixed with the accused was indequate.
The
very fact that both P.Ws. 9 and 11 commonly identified A-7, dispels
any suspicion of such identification being a chance identification. In ~
.the witness-box, at the trial, however, P.W. 9 specifically stated: "I
.could identify only accused 2 and 7 among those persons who came
to the bus from the northern side armed with daggers".
Referring to
the test identification parade, the witness added :
"I identified A-7 as one of the persons who came with
dagger to the bus".
In cross-examination, the witness reaffirmed :
"It is not true ........ that A-2 and A-7 were
not
among the persons who came to the bus ...... It is not true
that I have identified A-2 and A-7 at the parades not because they were seen near the bus but because Police showed
them to me earlier to facilitate identification".
From the very fact that the witness while testifying as to the fact
of identification was referring to this accused as A-7 implies that he
.had identified him in court, also, and had, in that connection, elucidatf
ed why he had picked out A-7 at the identification parade. The
evidence given by the witness in court was substantive testimony,
while the identification made by him at the parade was confirmatory of
that fact.
This proposition is well established and it is not necessary
to discuss the rulings cited at the bar on this point.
No capital can be made out of the fact that the trial judge recordG
ed the evidence of the witness with regard to identification of A-7, in
court, in an inartistic, laconic manner.
In the case of P.W. 11, however, the trial Judge recorded this fact
more clearly.
The witness stated :
"I can identify 2 persons among the 5 or 6 persons who
were seen going behind. the bus with
white things
like
daggers.
They are accused 7 and 11
(witness identified
accused 7 and 11) ."
(l) Cr. Appeal No. 45 of 1965 decided on 23-11-1967.
(2) [1958] SCR 1218.
(3) [19741 4 sec 213.
'
•
A. P. STATE v. K. V. REDDY (Sarkaria, !.)
939
With reference to the test identification, the witness stated :
A
"I identified A-7 in the 1st parade and A-11
in
the
second parade".
In cross-examination, he refuted a suggestion made by the defence
· that he had identified accused 7 at the parade because the police had
shown him to the witness, earlier.
For these reasons we think that the High Court was clearly in
. error in discarding the evidence of these independent witnesses (P.Ws.
9 and 11) so far as the participation of A-7 in the commission of the
crime was concerned.
The evidence of the interested witnesses (P.Ws. 2 and 3) was
sufficiently corroborated as against A-7 by the credible testimony of
P.Ws. 9 and 11. It could therefore be safely acted upon for convicting A-7 as one of the participants in the commission of the murder of
P. Eswara Reddy, deceased.
~ As regards A-2, it is to be noted that neither PW 9 nor P.W. 11
. stated that this accused was armed with a revolver.
Neither of these
witnesses has stated that any of the five or six persons who were seeu
by them going to the bus and encircling it, was armed with a revolver.
They only say that those persons were carrying daggers.
The prosecution case however is that A-2 was armed with
a revolver only,
which he fired in the air.
Further when P.W. 9 picked out A-2 at
the identification parade, the latter had objected thaL P.W. 9 was
. already known to him because he had served him as a driver for about
10 days. It is true that this suggession was not repeated in the crossexamination of P.W. 9; but we have also to keep in mind in this con_nection that P.W. 11 had failed to identify A-2 at the test identification
/
parade although both these witnesses had seen the culprits more or
Jess from the same situation and distance.
As a matter of abundant
• '
· caution, while hearing this appeal, we do not consider the identification
of A-2 at the test identification parade by P.W. 9, can lend sufficient
assurance to the testimony of P.Ws. 2 and 3 so as to justify the con-
. version of his acquittal into conviction.
Thus, the position that emerges is that the evidence of P.Ws.
2
. and 3 has been adequately confirmed by the reliable and independent
testimony of P.Ws. 9 and 11 as against A-7, while no such corroboration is forthcoming against any of the other accused-respondents. The
High Court was therefore not justified in acquitting A-7 .
The only question that remains to be considered is : What offence
ha.s been made out _against ~-7 ? The charge-sheet by the police in
; this case was submitted agamst 13 named persons
including A-7
The charge under s. 302 read with s. 34, Penal Code was also framed
by the ~essions Judge against all the 13
named accused.
In the
charge, it was. not _mentioned that besides these named accused, there
were some umdentified or un-named persons who acted conjointly with
the charged accused, A-1 to A-13.
But there was positive evidence
·on the r~cord. that besides the 13 named accused, there were four or
more umden!Ified persons who participated in the commission of the
·crime.
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940
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1976] 3 s.c.R.
A
Now the position which emerges is that excepting A-7, the parti-
" ..
cipation of the other 12 named accused in the commission of the
crime has not been established. · The effect of their acquittal is that
they would be deemed to have never participated in the criminal
enterprise which resulted in the death of the deceased. There is
nothing on the record to show as to who out of these persons dealt
the fatal blows to the deceased. The question that falls to be deterB. mined is : Can A-7, in such circumstances, be held vicariously liable
by invoking s. 149 or s. 34, Penal Code for the inurder in question'/ In
Maina Singh v. State of Rajasthan(') after reviewing earlier decisions
viz., Dalip Singh v. State. of Punjab(2); Bharwad Mepa Dana and Anr.
v. State of Bombay('), Kartar Singh v. State of Punjab('); Kri5lma
Govind Patil v. State of Maharashtra('); Mohan Singh v.
State of
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Punjab(6); Yeshwant v. State of Maharashtra('); on this point this
Court speaking through Shinghal J. reiterated the law, thus.:
"It would thus appear that even if, in a given case, the
charge discloses only the named persons as co-accused and
the prosecution witnesses confine their testimony to them,
even then it would be permissible to come to the. conclusion
that others named or unnamed, besides those mentioned in
the charge or the evidence of the prosecution witnesses,
acted conjointly with one of the charged accused if there was
other evidence to lead to the conclusion, but not otherwise."
(emphasis supplied)
Let us now have another look at the case in hand, in the light of
the above enunciation.
In the F.l.R., it was alleged by the informant that 8 named per- "
sons and 10 unnamed persons who were not known to the informant,
had conjointly committed the crime.
At the trial, P.W. 2 te8tified
that the total number of culprits who had participated in the commission of the murder was 20. At the trial, he named A-2 to A-5 and
identified A-7, A-10, and A-12 as 8 out of those 20 culprits who had
committed the crime.
The evidence of P.W. 3 on this point was that
the number of the culprits who committed the murder, while acting in
concert, was 17. This means according to the evidc~nce, there were
acting conjointly with A· 7 at least 4 or 7 more persons in addition to
the 13 who were charged by the Committing Magistrate. The medical evidence shows that there were no less than 44 incised injuries,
including penetrating wounds, apart from one lacerated wound, two
contusions and one abrasion on the body of the deceased. Practically,
he was .made minced meat.
The extremely large number of injuries
f
on the body of the deceased lends· assurance to the testimony of /
P.Ws. 2 and 3 that the number of assailants was more than 13 includ- ·
ing some unnamed and unidentified persons. This evidence on the
record is thus sufficient to base a firm finding that apart from the
(!) [1976j 3 S.C.R. 651.
(3) [1960j 2 SCR 172.
(5) [1964] 1 SCR 678.
(7) [1973] I, SCR 291.
(21 {1954j SCR 145.
(4) {1962] 2 SCR 395.
(6) {1962] Supp 3, SCR 818.
•
•
'
A. P. STATE v. K. v. REDDY (Sarkaria. J.)
941
accused named in the charge, there were at least one or more unidenti·
lied persons who participated in the criminal action against the deceased con-jointly with A-7. While the precise number of those unidentified persons, other than the 13 named in the charge, cannot be
ascertained with certitude, it can safely be said that apart from 13
named in the charge, there were some more confederates of A-7 and
all of them participated in the fatal assault on the deceased in the
manner alleged ·by the prosecution. A-7 can therefore be safely convicted under s. 302 read with s. 34, Penal Code.
According, we
allow this appeal against A-7, reverse his acquittal, convict him -under
s. 302 read with s. 34, Penal Code and sentence him to imprisonment
for life.
V.P.S.
Appeal allowed .
l0---725SCl/76
A
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