# STATE OF U.P v. DR. RAVINDRA PRAKASH MITTAL

- **Citation:** [1992] 2 S.C.R. 815
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1992-04-28
- **Case number:** Criminal Appeal No. 2;370 of 1972
- **Bench:** S. Ratnavel Pandian, M. Fathima Beevi
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/state-of-u-p-v-dr-ravindra-prakash-mittal-11522
- **Pages:** 22

## Headnote

Penal Code, J8(j()-Sections 302, 201-Appeal against acquittal by High
Court-Circumstantial evidence-Ingredients-Links of chain of circumstances established-Offences proved.
-
Penal Code, J8(j()-Sections 302, 201-Conviction of accused by Trial
f
Court-Acquittal by High Court-Appeal against High Court's judgment suffering from illegality-Delay in disposal of appeal-Whether a ground for
+...-- non-inteiference of the findings of High Court.
A
B
c
The prosecutions's case was that the accused-respondent was a D
private medical practitioner and the deceased was his second wife. He
married her on 30.7.1971, when his first marriage was dissolved by an ex
parte decree in a suit for dissolution filed by his first wife.
The respondent. and his widowed mother and his two married E
brothers and one unmarried younger brother were living under a common
roof having common mess, butin separate rooms in the first Door ortbeir
T
house.
The accused was a chronic alcoholic addict and he was having a large
circle of friends. He used to come to his house in odd hours in drunken F
state. This was resented by his wife, the deceased. She insisted the accused
to return home early. On account of this, there were frequent quarrels
between them. Accused, disliking bis wife's interference in his private
affairs, even started suspecting the fidelity of bis wife. It was said that the
accused had on more than one occasion unleashed threats to shoot and G
kill the deceased.
On the night of 11.10.1971 the accused and the deceased took their
bed inside their room. On the next morning, on seeing smoke ollt of the
bed room of the accused, a large number of people gathered at the house
of the accused.
H
815
816
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[199'2] 2 S.C.R.
J
A
At about 7.30 a.m., PW-2 and another, the two brothers of the
deceased arrived there With 'Ahoi Bayna' in baskets. Seeing the crowd in
_>.-
front of accused house, they entertained a sospidon. When they wre told
dlat .-.e a,t'usecl's wife~&. set fire to herself,. throwing the 'Bayna' baskets
· in the courtyard, th9- \Vent up to the first Door and saw the dead body of
B their sister lying OD the Door with extensive burns all over her body. When
they confronted the accused, the accused told them that when be had gone
~
tO" th~ latrine in the early morning, the deceased committed suidde, for no
visible reason. The deceased's brothers did not believe the version of the
accused. They shouted that the- accused murdered their sister. While they.
were quarrelling, PW-4, a Head Constable came to the scene found the -
c accused standing in his night-gown. P.W.4 was informed by the accused
~
that the deceased had bumt herself.
The S.P.(PW-3) was informed over telephone by the accused that his ~
wife committed suicide and he instructed the accused to inform the local
D
police. He come to the scene at about 9.15 a.m., after directing the local
police to come to the scene. After inspection, the S.P. left, giving instruc·
tions to the Investigating Officer.
The Investigating Officer (PW-4) examined the inmates of the house
and made an entry in the General Diary and registered a case against tl,le
E
accused~
The accused was charged u/ss.302 and 201, IPC for the committing
-~
the murder or his wife and for causing the evidence of the offence or murder
to disappear with an intention of screening himself from legal punishment,
by burning the dead body by sprinkling kerosene oil.
-
F
The Trial Court convicted the accused-respondent u/ss.302 and 201
IPC and sentenced him to suffer imprisonment for life and rigorous
imprisonment for a period of 3 years, respectively with a direction that the .'?'""
sentences were to run concurrently.
.G
"-·I
The High Court allowed the appeal and acquitted the accusedrespondent.
Against the acquittal passed by the High Court, the present appeal
.J...-..
was directed by the State, contending that the cumulative effect of all the·;
1H pieces of circums.tantial evidence brought on record by the prosecutioni

## Text

_Characters 0–39,639 of 51,449. This is a partial read: ask again with offset=39639 for what follows._

I
STATE OF U.P.
v.
DR. RAVINDRA PRAKASH MITTAL
APRIL 28, 1992
[S. RATNAVEL PANDIAN AND M. FATHIMA BEEVI, JJ.]
Penal Code, J8(j()-Sections 302, 201-Appeal against acquittal by High
Court-Circumstantial evidence-Ingredients-Links of chain of circumstances established-Offences proved.
-
Penal Code, J8(j()-Sections 302, 201-Conviction of accused by Trial
f
Court-Acquittal by High Court-Appeal against High Court's judgment suffering from illegality-Delay in disposal of appeal-Whether a ground for
+...-- non-inteiference of the findings of High Court.
A
B
c
The prosecutions's case was that the accused-respondent was a D
private medical practitioner and the deceased was his second wife. He
married her on 30.7.1971, when his first marriage was dissolved by an ex
parte decree in a suit for dissolution filed by his first wife.
The respondent. and his widowed mother and his two married E
brothers and one unmarried younger brother were living under a common
roof having common mess, butin separate rooms in the first Door ortbeir
T
house.
The accused was a chronic alcoholic addict and he was having a large
circle of friends. He used to come to his house in odd hours in drunken F
state. This was resented by his wife, the deceased. She insisted the accused
to return home early. On account of this, there were frequent quarrels
between them. Accused, disliking bis wife's interference in his private
affairs, even started suspecting the fidelity of bis wife. It was said that the
accused had on more than one occasion unleashed threats to shoot and G
kill the deceased.
On the night of 11.10.1971 the accused and the deceased took their
bed inside their room. On the next morning, on seeing smoke ollt of the
bed room of the accused, a large number of people gathered at the house
of the accused.
H
815
816
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[199'2] 2 S.C.R.
J
A
At about 7.30 a.m., PW-2 and another, the two brothers of the
deceased arrived there With 'Ahoi Bayna' in baskets. Seeing the crowd in
_>.-
front of accused house, they entertained a sospidon. When they wre told
dlat .-.e a,t'usecl's wife~&. set fire to herself,. throwing the 'Bayna' baskets
· in the courtyard, th9- \Vent up to the first Door and saw the dead body of
B their sister lying OD the Door with extensive burns all over her body. When
they confronted the accused, the accused told them that when be had gone
~
tO" th~ latrine in the early morning, the deceased committed suidde, for no
visible reason. The deceased's brothers did not believe the version of the
accused. They shouted that the- accused murdered their sister. While they.
were quarrelling, PW-4, a Head Constable came to the scene found the -
c accused standing in his night-gown. P.W.4 was informed by the accused
~
that the deceased had bumt herself.
The S.P.(PW-3) was informed over telephone by the accused that his ~
wife committed suicide and he instructed the accused to inform the local
D
police. He come to the scene at about 9.15 a.m., after directing the local
police to come to the scene. After inspection, the S.P. left, giving instruc·
tions to the Investigating Officer.
The Investigating Officer (PW-4) examined the inmates of the house
and made an entry in the General Diary and registered a case against tl,le
E
accused~
The accused was charged u/ss.302 and 201, IPC for the committing
-~
the murder or his wife and for causing the evidence of the offence or murder
to disappear with an intention of screening himself from legal punishment,
by burning the dead body by sprinkling kerosene oil.
-
F
The Trial Court convicted the accused-respondent u/ss.302 and 201
IPC and sentenced him to suffer imprisonment for life and rigorous
imprisonment for a period of 3 years, respectively with a direction that the .'?'""
sentences were to run concurrently.
.G
"-·I
The High Court allowed the appeal and acquitted the accusedrespondent.
Against the acquittal passed by the High Court, the present appeal
.J...-..
was directed by the State, contending that the cumulative effect of all the·;
1H pieces of circums.tantial evidence brought on record by the prosecutioni
I
ISTATE v. DR. MITI'AL
817
justified the conviction or the respondent.
A
The respondent submitted that the circumstances relied upon by t:Jie
prosecution were not clinching the issue; that the presence of the respon·
dent at. the scene house at the time of the occurrence was disproved by
CWs-1 and 2 and also by the evidence Qf PWs-6 and 9 did not support die
prosecution case; that iQ the early ~i.ul'$··or 12.10.1971 he at the reques't of · B
PW-9 paid a visit to one Sbashi's house as the latter was suffering from
some ailments and he returned at about ~.45 or 8.00 a.m. to his house and
.came to know about the incident; that the brothers of the dec~sed came
to his house only at 11.15 a.m. and' that too on his telephonic information
to them; that the deceased hers.~it had created a hell of her own iD the C
family and ultimately committed suicide by pouring kerosene on her and
setting fire; that on the advice and prescription given by a Doctor, the
deceased was put on medicine containing barbiturates, the traces of which
were found in her visra; that the symptoms found by PW-1, the Medical
Officer were not in support of the conclusion arrived at by PW-1, whose
opinion was only attributable to his inexperience or negligence; that t1'e D
bones could have been fractured due to excess heat and the death could
have been on account of she«;k due to the bum injuries; that the cause of
death could not have been due to strangulation, but it was due to suici4e
by pouring kerosene and setting herself on fire and the fractures of the
bones and other symptoms found on the body should have been due to the E
intensity of the heat and that the evidence of PW-1 supporting the prosec"·
tion version should not be accepted, as the Medical Officer gave false
e\oidence on account of some heated exchanges between him and PW-1 over
an election held among the medicos which took place about 2 or 3 da~
before occurrence;
F
Allowing the appeal of the State, this Court,
-.....-
HELD: 1.01. There is no direct evidence to connect the respondent
with this offence of murder and the prosecution entirely rests its case on
circumstantial evidence. [827 C]
G
1.02. The essential ingredients to prove guilt of an accused person
by circumstantial evidence are:
(1)
the circumstances from which the conclusion is drawn should
be fully proved;
H
1:1
818
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1992] 2 S.C.R.
A
.(2)
the circumstances should be conclusive in nature;
~
(3)
all the facts so established should be consistent only with the
hypothesis or (!Uilt and inconsistent with innocence;
(4)
the circumstances should, to a moral certainty, exclude the
B
possibility or guilt of any person other than the accused.
(827 D·F]
1.03. The circumstanees which are established as having closely
linked up with one a~ther are as follows:
(1)
The motive for the occurrence.
-
c
~
(2)
Th~ room in which this tragic and pathetic incident took place
-I
was in the exclusive possession and occupation or the respondent and the deceased.
D
(3)
The occurrence had happened in the wee hours or 12th October
1971 when nobody would have got an ingress into the r:oom
wherein the husband and wife admittedly slepL
(4)
The evidence of PW-2, swearing that the respondent was found
in the scene house at 7.15 a.m.
E
(5)
The presence of the respondent inside the room wearing night·
~
gown when PW-4 went to the scene room.
(6)
The position or the dead body lying on the ground within a cot
F
frame with extensive bums except on the back and lumbar
regions.
(7)
The presence of the traditional external visible features of
strangulation as well as the internal injuries establish the use
?"'""
of violence.
'
G
._
(8)
The positive opinion of PW-1 who conducted the autopsy on
the dead body or the deceased, stating that the death was due
to strangulation and the bums were post mortem.
(9)
False plea of alibi and the conduct of the respondent feigning
A
H
innocence.
-
......
f
r
STATE~DR.MITTAL
819
(10) The intrinsic value of the inviolable and impregnable evidence A
let in by the prosecution completely and conclusively establishing the links of the entire chain of circumstances as a whole
and not in fragments proving the guilt of the respondent/~c-·
cosed. (828 B-H]
1.04. The conclusion arrived at by the Trial Court is logical, tenable,
and reasonably sustainable and that the High Court after holding that the
death of the deceased was homicidal has gone wrong in recording the i~
pugned order of acquittal on erroneous and incredulous reasons~
(835 G-H]
Rama Nand v. State of Himach,al Pradesh, (1981] 1 SCC 511; Gambir
v. State of Maharashtra, [1982] · 2 ·sec 351; Earabhadrappa v. State of
Kamataka, (1983] 2 SCC 330; Ram Avtar v. State of Delhi Administration,
[19851. (Supp.) SCC 410 and Chandra Mohan Tiwari v. State of Madhya
Pradesh, JT (1992) 1 SC 258, followed.
Modi's Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology, 21st Edition at page 23;
Taylor's Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence, referred to.
2.01. The plea of the respondent that since the occurrence took place
B
c
D
in the year 1971 and that more than 14 years have now elapsed since the E
delivery of the judgment by the High Court in October 1977, this ·court be
pleased not to disturb the finding the acquittal at this length of time has
to be summarily rejected when the facts and the impelling circumstances
surrounding the present case cry for justice which in turn demands for
awarding proper punishment according to law, is fervent andinexorable.
(836 A-B]
F
2.02. If the High Court's judgment of acquittal reversing the well
reasoned judgment of the Trial Court, convicting the respondent is affirmed, it will be nothing but a mockery of justice and will also amount to
perpetration of gross and irreparable injustice. Moreover, when a judgment appealed against, suffers from illegality or manifest error or perver- G
sity, warranting an interference at the bands of an Appellate Court in the
interest of justice on substantial and compelling reasons, the mere delay
in the disposal of the appeal will never serve as a ground for non-interference and on the other hand, the Appellate Court is duty bound to set
at naught the miscarriage of justice. (836 C-D]
H
820
· SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1992] 2 S.C.R.-
A
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No.
124 of .1979.
From the Judgment and Order dated 11.10.1977 of the Allahabad
High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 2;370 of 1972.
B
R.K. Singh and A.S. Pundir for the· Appellant.
R.L. Kohli and J.M. Khanna for the Respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
c
S. RATNAVEL PANDIAN, J. This appeal is preferred by the State
of U.P. on being aggrieved-by tbe judgment dated 11.10.1977 rendered by
the High Court of Allahabad in Criminal Appeal No.2370 of 1972 whereby
the High Court has allowed the appeal, preferred by the respondent/accused, namely, Dr. Ravindra Prakash Mittal.
D
The respondent took his trial on the allegations that on the intervening night of 11/12th October 1971 inside the house in Mohalla Moreganj
Police Station Kotwali, Saharanpur committed the murder of his wife Smt. ·
Kamlesh; ·burnt the dead body by sprinkling the kerosene oil and thereby
caused the evid~nce of the offence of murder to disappear with an intention of screening himself from legal punishment. On the above allegations,
E · he stood charged under two ~eads, that is under Sections 302 and 201 IPC.
F
G
Adumberated in brief, the facts of the prosecution case can be
summarised as follows:
The respondent Dr. Ravindra Prakash Mittal aged about 29 years in
1971 was a private medical practitioner at Saharanpur city. He married one
Smt. Mithlesh, but the marriage was dissolved by an ex-parte decree in a
suit for disso.lution filed by the wife. The respondent thereafter married on
30th July1971 th~ deceased Smt. Kamlesh, aged about 20 ye~s who was
a . r.e5ident of lagadhri. The family of the respondent consisted of his
· wi~oWed niqth¢r Smt. Darshnadevi (CW-1), and three brothers, namely,
Bhupendra Prakash (CW-2), Narendra Prakash and Vrrendra Prakash, of
whom the first two brothers were married while Virendra Prakash was
unmarried. It is stated that his father had died of heart ~ttack a few months
. before his second marriage. They all lived under cominon roof, having
oo~on mess but in separate rooms in the first floor of their house with
H ~their respective wives and children. Smt. Darshnadevi and her younger son·
,.·'
.
>--. -
~-
.......
A~
-I
-
STATE v. DR. MITTAL [PANDIAN, J.J
821
'"""
Virendra Prakash had occupied a separate room. The respondent had his A
clinic in the ground floor. PW-6, by name, Mohd. Aslam alias Chini was
working as a Compounder in the clinic, occasionally doing domestic wm:k.
Smt. Kamlesh had two brothers, by name, Mamchand and Suresh
Chand (PW-2). Her elder sister's husband is one Nagesh Agarwal (PW-1). B
It transpires from the evidence that after her mother's death she had mostly
lived in her elder sister's house till her marriage. After the marriage, sl,e
visited her parents and brother-in-law twiee or thrice in quick succession
and wrote some letters, two of which are marked as Exts. Ka-3 dated
-
18.9.1971 and Ka-4 dated 19.9.1971. The case of the prosecution is that
I
some time after the marriage the relationship between the deceased and c
the respondent became strained. It is said that the respondent had on mo~e
' ~
than one occasion unleashed threats to shoot and kill the deceased. While
it was so, on the fateful night the respondent and the deceased after taking
their dinner slept in a. room which was in their exclusive possession. In the
inorning the dead body of the deceased Smt. Kamlesh smelling of kerosene D
was found by the inmates of the house inside the bed room lying within a
cot frame of the floor. The.respondent and his family members came out
with a statement that deceased had committed suicide by sprinkling
kerosene and setting herself on fire. The respondent telephoned to ·the
Superintendent of Police, Saharanpur (PW-3) and informed that his wife E
Smt. Kamlesb had committed suicide. PW-3 asked the respondent to
r
inf onn the local police and told that be would himself soon reach the spot.
Meanwhile, PW -4, Ram Krishan, a Head Constable attached to the outpost
Mali· Gate came to the scene place on his way to K.otwali. He on receipt
of the information about the death of Kamlesh telephoned to Kotwali
Police Station and informed PW-13, another Head Constable about the F
in<?ident. This piece of information passed on by PW -4 was entered in the
General Diary (Ext. Ka-28) at 8.00 a.m. reading that PW-4 had informed
--.or
over telephone that the wife of the respondent had died of bums. The Sub
.,...
Inspector of Police, Ganga Ram Nagar (PW-10) in whose presence the
tefophonic message from PW -4 had been received at Kotwali, immediately G
proceeded to the scene accompanied by another S.I. Asthan and Inspector
"'-·
Wajid Ali Khan (PW-14). They all.'reached the scene at about 8.30 A.M.
. and found a crowd of about 150 to 200 persons at the scene house. On
reaching the scene house, PW-10 found a basket with some .snacks and
sweets lying scattered in the court-yard. The police party went to the
upstairs and found the respondent and other members of the family H
SUPREME COURTREPORTS
[1992} 2 S.C.R.
A
present. Insides the bed room the dead body of the deceased was found
lying on the floor within the frame of the cot with extensive burns. An
inquest was held over the dead body. Certain photographs (Exts. A-D, F
and G) were caused to be taken with the help of PW-11, a photographer.
The inquest report is filed as Ext, Ka-8. After sending the dead body for
B
post-mortem, PW-10 inspected the scene place and prepared the site plan
(Ext. Ka-10). The room in which the dead body was lying had its door
opening to the inner balcony towards east. Adjacent to this room there was
a sniall kitchen containing utensils and other articles. The wooden frame
of the cot was scorched. About two steps away from the dead body a match
box containing a large number of burnt match sticks was found lying. A
C thin layer of smoke was present on the walls and ceiling of the room. A
plastic bucket with water was found two or three steps away from the dead
body, but there were no signs of water having been poured either on the
dead body or in the scene room. A medicine box was found inside the room
with an injection syringe fitted with a needle. A five litre kerose~e oil tin
D Was in the room containing about a litre of kerosene. All the articles (Exts.
4 to 22) which were found inside the room were recovered under Memos
(Exts. Ka-11 to Ka-17). Meanwhile, the Superintendent of Police (PW-3)
reached the spot by about 9.15 a.m. He also inspected the place of incident
and left the scene· after giving instructions to the Investigating Officer. The
Investigation Officer after examining the inmates of the house came to the
E
station; made an entry in the General Diary (Ext. Ka-18) and registered a
case against the · respondent under Section 302 IPC on entertaining a
suspicion against him on the materials that he had collected.
PW-1, the Medical Officer attached to the District Hospital,
F
Saharanpur, conducted necropsy on the dea,j body of the deceased on the
following day i.e. 13.10.1971. The dead body with blaclcening of the skin
was smelling kerosene. The hands of the deceased were clenched. The eyes
were congested and the eye-balls'were prominent. The tongue was swollen
and protruding out and also compressed between the teeth. Blood mixed
with froth was coming out through nostrils. On internal examinaton, the
G Medical Officer found the 6th and 7th ribs fractured. The right cornua of
the Hyoid bone was also fractured. The brain was congested; the thorax
had extensive burns in the upper region. There was a contused area
measuring 5 cm. x 4 cm. on the side of the fracture. On the right side of
the neck there was clotted blood in an area of 4 cm. x 3 cm. and the
H muscles at that place were lacerated. The larynx and trachea arid both the
-
STAIB v. DR. MITI'AL [PANDIAN, J.]
823
lungs were all congested and they contained dark fluid blood. The inner A
.J,
layers of the right carotid artery was congested. The bladder was empty.
The Medical Officer is of the opinion that death was due to strangulation
and that the fractures on the body were ante-mortem. His report is marked
as Ext. Ka-1. In the cross-examination, the Medical Officer has stated that
the deceased could have died on 12.10.1971 between 7.00 a.m. and 8.00 B
,.
a.m. in the morning, which he has clarified in his re-examination stating
~
that this opinion is subject to a margin of 2 to 4 hours on either side. He
gave a supplementary report, stating th~t the fractures of the bones were
ante-mortem but the burns were.post-mortem. The supplementary report
is marked as Ext. Ka-2. The report of the Chemical Examiner (Ext. Ka-38)
-
revealed traces of barbiturates in the portions of the viscera of the c
f
deceased.
).-
The Investigating Officer searched for the respondent/accused, but he
,. could not secure him as he was not available. He examined the inmates of the
house, and the compounder (PW-6) and some others. Further investigatfon D
was taken up by the Inspector of Police (PW-14) on 14.10.1971. PW-14
received the two letters (Exts. Ka-3 and Ka-4) on being handed over by PW-7.
At about 11.00 p.m. on that day the respondent was arrested when the latter
_ was proceeding in a car towards Dehradun and interrogated. After completillg the investigation the charge sheet (Ext. Ka-33) was laid.
E
r
The respondent denied his complicity with the offence in question and
gave a lengthy statement. According to him, he was having cordial relation-
. ship with his wife and he did not cause the death of his wife or he sprinkled
kerosene on her dead body. On the early morning of the date of the occurrence he, leaving his wife in the kitchen, went outside to examine a patient F
accompanied by one Jageshwar (PW-9) and returned only at about 7.45 or 8
a.m. ·and found his wife lying dead. He further adds that he immediately
informed the Superintendent of Police (PW-3) about this tragic incident.
~
There is no direct evidence to prove to charges levelle<;I against the · G
respondent and the prosecution endeavours to establish the· guilt of the
respondent only on the circumstantial evidence - both oral and documentary. 14 witnesses were examined on the side of the prosecution of whom
PW-6 (the Compounder) and PW-9 (Jageshwar) were aeclared as hostile
witnesses. In addition to the prosecution witnesse~ the Trial Court examined the mother· and a brother of the respondent as Court Witnesses 1 H
824
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1992] 2 S.C.R.
A
and 2. The substance of the evidence oft.he Court Witnesses is to the effect
that the deceased was found dead inside the room; that they both threw
water evidently to extinguish the fire and that the repondent was not in the
house in the early morning. The Trial Court. after analysing the evidence
in extenso found thus:
B
c
D
E
F
H
"In any case, the circumstances established are so patent and
most of them are even accepted by the accused, that latches of
the Investigation, if any, have little bearing on their proof. The
truthfulness of the evidence leading to ihem cannot, therefore,
be questioned for any such reason ...................................... .
In the background of their strained relations and the suspicion
lurking on the mind of the accused, it may be that on the
deceased uttering something to his dislike, he suddenly jumped
upon her and throttled her to death. Such an opportunity could
' scarcely be available to anyone else in the house with the result·
that the possibility of anyone else committing the murder can
on the established facts and circumstances, be reasonably excluded in this case ......................................................................•
In the circumstances, the chain of evidence, to my mind, can
be considered to be so complete against mm as to show that
within all human probability the murder of Kamlesh must have
been committed by him and none else. He can, therefore, be
safely held guilty on the basis of these circumstances alone."
On the basis of the above fmdings, the Trial Court convicted the
respondent under Sections 302 and 201 IPC_ and sentenced him to suffer
imprisonment for life and rigorous imprisonment for a period of 3 years
respectively with a direction that the sentences are to run concurrently.
Challenging the judgement of the Trial Court, the respondent filed
criminal Appeal No. 2370 of 1972 before the High. Court which for the
reasons mentioned in its judgement allowed the appeal, set aside the
gi!nvic;tion and sentences awarded by the Trial Court and acquitted the
respondent holding that:
"The prosecution has, therefore, not been able to establish the
chain of circumstances. The circumstances as proved are not
-
-{'
-....J
\
STA1E v. DR. MHTAL [PANDl.AN, J.]
825
mcompatible with the innocence of the appellant."
The present appeal is directed by the State on being aggrieved with
the judgment ·of the High Court.
A
Before adverting to the rival contentions, adduced by th~ respective
parties, we shall give a prelude to this incidence which in our opinion has :S
--{
become necessary to narrate since it serves· as a strong motive for this '
heinous crime executed in an extremely cruel manner. ·
r
~··
The father of the deceased had married thrice. His third wife was
the deceased's mother, who died about 4 years before the occurrenfo. The C
deceased's father was working at Karatpur Sahab in Punjab. The
deceased's sister Urmila is given in marriage to PW-7 and she had two
brothers, namely, PW-2 and Mamchand. As Urmila had loved. the
deceased, Kamlesh, too much she brought Kamlesh with her while Kamlesh
was 10 years old and educated her. At that time, the parents of the
deceased were in Calcutta.
D
The respondent previously married one Mithlesh, daughter of ~ne ·
Ram Kishan, resident of Shain.all. 'This marital tie .did ·not serve long and
ended in a divorce. The respondent married· the deceased Kamlesh on
30.7.1971 and the marriage was celebrated in the house of PW-7 at JagadE
.- hari; After the marriage, the deceased Kamlesh was living with her husband, respondent, occupying a separate room in the first floor of their
house allotted to them.
The respondent, . his widowed mother and three brothers were all
living under a common roof having common mess. It is stafed by PW-2 F
that the respondent was a chronic alcoholic addict and used to come to his
house in odd hours in drunken mood. The respondent was· also having a
large circle of friends inclusive ,6f one Mahesh Goyal, an En:gi.neer with
whom he used to spend his evenings: This was resented by the deceased
\
who insisted the respondent to return home 'early. On account of this, there G
used to be frequent quarrels between the spouses.
PW-5, who is an independent and disinterested witness has testified
to the· fact that while he was in service_· as--a bearer in "Victoria Bar a~
Saharanpur serving liquor to the customers, he had seen the res1>9ndent ·
often visiting that bar and taking wine. He further states that on the. H
826
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1992] 2 S.C.R.
A previous night, that is oil the· night of 11th October 1971 the respondent
~-
came to the Bar at about 8 or. 9 p.m. and was there for half an hour drinking
wine served by him and on the next early morning he heard about the
occurrence. It is the evidence of PW-7 that after the marriage, the deceased
used to visit his house and also sent letters. As per the evidence of PWs 2
B and 7 some time after the marriage, the relationship between the deceased
and the respondent became strained and discordant and on account of
~-
that, the deceased was separately cooking her food on being compelled by
the respondent.
The prosecution has marked two letters written by the deceased Exts.
c Ka-3 and Ka-4. dated 18.9.71 and 19.9.71 through PW-i. In both these
-
letters, the deceased had given a brief note of the circumstances which
~
ultimately led to her death stating that the respondent used to come to the
-I
house in odd hours in sozzled condition and threaten her life; that she
woufd not resort to do anything to her life whatever the harassment might
D be at the hands of her husband and that if at all anything wol,ld happen to
her life, it would be only at the hands of her husband. Of the two letters,
Ext. Ka-3 was addressed to PW-2 and Ext. Ka-4 was addressed to PW-7.
Besides, the respondent disliking the interference of his wife in his private
activities and affairs, went to the extent of even suspecting the fidelity of
. his wife.
E
It was only in the above tragic circumstances, this shocking and
~
horrifying incident took place in the wee hours of 12th October 1971.
Admittedly, on the night of 11.10.1971 both the husband and wife (i.e. the
respondent and the deceased) took their bed inside the room, allotted to
_.
F
them in tht< first floor of the house. On the next morning, on seeing smoke
coming out of the bed room in the scene house a large number of
neighbours and passers-by had gathered at the scene house. At about 7.30
a.m. PW-2 and his brother Mamchand arrived there with 'Ahoi Bayna' in
baskets from Jagadhri. PW-2 and his brother on seeing the crowd in the
~
G
courtyard entertained a suspicion. They were told that the respondent's
wife had set fire to herself. Thereupon PW-2 and his brother threw the
'bayna' in the courtyard, went up to the first floor and found the respondent
standing inside the room and the dead body of their sister lying on the floor
with extensive burns all over her body .. When they confronted the respon-
,
dent as to what had happened, the respondent stated that they both had
~
'.H slept well on the previous night and that when he had gone to the latrine
STATE v. DR. MITTAL [PANDIAN, J.]
827
in the early morning, the deceased had committed suicide for no visible A
........(
reason and that she by such act not only ruined herself but also spoiled his
\
life. PW-2 and his brother did not believe the version of the respondent
·and shouted that the respondent had killed their sister. A quarrel ensued
between them. By that time PW-4 who came to the u~~tairs found the
respondent standing in his night-gown; PW-4 was informed by the responB
--{
dent that the deceased had burnt herself.
PW-3 who was the S.P. of that District came to ~e scene spot at
about 9.15 a\m., after directing th.e local police to come to the scene and
found the respondent. at the scene.
---
c
)-
As pointed out supra, ·there is no direct evidence to connect the·
respondent with thls offence of murder and the prosecution entirely rests
~
its case only on circumstantial evidence. There is a series of decisions of
this Court so eloquently and ardently propounding the cardinal principle
to be followed in cases in which the evidence is purely of circumstantial
nature. We think, it is not necessary to recapitulate all those decisions D
except stating that the essential ingredients to prove guilt of an accused
person by circumstantial evidence are:
(1) · The circumstances from which the conclusion is drawn should
be fully proved;
E
r
(2)
the circumstances should be conclusive in nature.
(3)
all the facts so established should be consistent only with the
hypothesis of guilt and inconsistent with innocence;
..,,.
F
(4)
the circumstances should, to a moral certainty, exclude the
possibility of guilt of any person other than the accused.
Vide Rama Nand v. State of Himachal Pradesh, (1981) 1 SCC 511;
~
Gambir v. State of Maharashtra, (1982) 2 SCC 351; Earabhadrappa v. State
of Kamataka, (1983) 2 SCC 330 and Ram Avtar v. State of Delhi Administra- G
tion, [1985] (Supp.) sec 410.
Now let us formulate the impelling circumstances attending the case
•
and examine whether the cumulative effect of those circumstances nega-
:e ...... ,>\
tives the innocence of the respondent and serves as a definite pointer
..
towards his guilt and unerringly leads to the conclusion that within all H
828
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1992] 2 S.C.R.
A
human probability the offence was committed by the respondent alone and
none else.
>-
The circumstances which are established as having closely linked up
with one another are as follows:
B
{1)
The motive for the occurrence.
(2)
The room in which this tragic and pathetic incident took place ~
was in the exclusive possession and occupation of the respondent and the deceased:
c
(3)
The occurrence had happened in the wee hours of 12th Oc- -
tober 1971 when no body would have got an ingress into the
-(
room wherein the husband and wife admittedly slept.
(4)
The evidence of PW-2, swearing that the respondent was f~und -I
in the scene house at 7 .15 a.m.
D
(5)
The presence of the respondent inside the room wearing nightgown when PW-4 went to the scene room.
(6)
The position of the dead body lying on the ground within a cot
:
frame with extensive burns except· on the back and lumbar
E
regions.
(7). The presence of the traditional external visible features of ---,
strangulation as well as the internal injuries establish the use
, of violence.
F
-.:
(8)
The positive opinion of PW-1 who conducted the autopsy on
the dead body of the deceased, stating that the death was due
to strangulation and the burns were post-mortem.
(9)
False plea of alibi and the conduct of the respondent feigning
~
G
innocence.
(10) The intrinsic value of the inviolable and impergnable evidence
let in by the prosecution completely and conclusively esta~
fishing the links of the entire chain of circumstances as a whole
and not in fragments proving the guilt of the respondent/ac-
/~
H
cused.
STAIB v. DR. MITTAL (PANDIAN, J.]
829
.........
While the learned counsel appearing for the appellant strenuously A
\
contended that the cumulative effect of all the pieces of circumstantial
evidence brought on record by the prosecution justifies the conviction of
the respondent, Mr. R.L. Kohli, the learned senior counsel appearing for
the respondent took much pain in advancing his argument that the circumstances relied upon by the prosecution are not clinching the issue; that B
-(
the presence of the respondent at the. scene house at the time of the
occurrence is disproved by CWs 1 and 2 and also by the evidence of PWs
6 and 9 who have not supported the prosecution case and that the
symptoms found by PW-1, the Medical Officer are not in support of the
conclusion arrived at by PW-1, whose opinion is ohly attributabl~ to his
.....
inexperience or negligence. In support of his subillission, with regard to the c
'
medical evidence, the learned co~f
die~ odr attention to some passages
)---
from the test book of Taylor's Medical Jurispurdence and Modi's Medical
Jurisprudence, about which we will deal infra.
We have already elaborately discussed the evidence relating to the D
motive part of the occurrence and found that the respondent who had
married the deceased as his second wife had not only entertained a
suspicion about her fidelity, but also was repelling the condu'ct of the
deceased for her finding fault with his activities, affairs and a5sociation with
his friends.
E
It is not in dispute that on the ill fated night both the husband and
wife (that is the respondent and the deceased) took their bed in the room,
which was in their exclusive use and that barring the duo no one was in
their room and that the deceased was found dead in the early morning
....
notwithStanding the reasons for her death. The case of the prosecution is F
that the respondent caused several anti-mortem injuries to the deceased
and ultimately strangulated her resulting in her death. It was only thereafter
the respondent sprillkled kerosene on the dead body and burnt it to cause
--,..···
disappearance of the evidence of the offence of murder in order to screen
himself from the legal punishment and that all the burn injuries were only G
post-mortem injuries.
Seriously opposing the prosecution version, the respondent has abjured his guilt stating that he and his wife were having a happy marital life
~'
occupying and using the room allotted to them in the first floor and that
the deceased who was a woman of an arrogant, obstinate and irritable H
830
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1992] 2 S.C.R.
A
temperament with frequent fluctuations of mood was displeased with their
mother-in-law, that is respondent's mother, who did not like her independent way of moving in the family and frequently visiting cinema halls.
The deceased had made complaints not only against his mother-in-law, but
also against her unmarried brother-in-law stating that her brother-in-law
B misbehaved with her, .and that she was writing letters to PWs 2 and 7 at
the instance of PW-7, who had once in his letter addressed her as 'Dear
Kamlesh' and incited her to write letters accusing the respondent. It is the
further case of the respondent that in the early hours of 12.10.1971 he at
the request of PW-9 paid a visitto one Shashi's house as the latter was
suffering from some ailments and that he returned at about 7.45 or 8.00
C a.m. to his house and came to know about this incident. According to him,
his brothers poured water into the room to extinguish the fire. It is his
further case that the brothers of the deceased came. to his house only at
11.15 a.m., that too on his telephonic information to them. He continues
to state that the deceased used to feel pain during the period of menses,
D that he took her on 6.10.1971 to Dr. Mrs. Anstin and that on the advice
and prescription given by the Doctor Ext. Ka-9 the deceased was put on
medicine containing barbiturates, the traces of which were found in her
visra. As regards the medical evidence he has given an explanation that the
bones could have been fractured due to excess heat and the death could
have been on account of shock due to the burn injuries and that PW-1, the
E Medical Officer has given false evidence on account of some heated
exchanges between him ~d PW-rover an election held among the medicos
which took place about 2 or 3 days before the occurrence. The totality of
the defence of the respondent is that the deceased herself had created a
hell of her own in the family and ultimately committed suicide by pouring
F
kerosene on her and setting fire.
The above defence version of the respondent is clearly borne out
from his statement given ·before the Trial Court on 6.10.1972. ·
We shall at the threshold proceed to <Jeal with rival contentions of
G the parties regarding the cause of death which is a vital link in the chain
of circumstances serving as a definite pointer tending to prove the guilt or
otherwise of the respondent. PW-1 who conducted necropsy on the body
of the deceased has found the positive symptoms of suicide and the fracture
. ....,,
of the 6th and 7th ribs and the right cornua of the hyoid bone as well as
~
; H the presence of clotted blood on the right side of the neck in· an area of
y
I
STAIB v. DR. MITTAL [PANDIAN, J.}
831
4cms. x 3cms. He also found the congestion of larynx, trachea and both A
the lungs. It is his definite opinion that the death was due to strangulation
and the fractures on the bo~y were ante-mortem. In the supplementary
report (Ext. Ka 2), he has given his opinion that the burns yre post-mortem. As regards the· time of death he has stated in the cross-examination
that the death could have occurred on U.10.1971 between 7.00 A.M. and B
8.00 A.M .. However, on re-examination he clarifies his answer stating that
the probable time of death was subject to a margin of 2 to 4 hours on either
side. Though we have extracted the evidence of the Medical Officer in the
preceding part of this judgment, we would like, at the risk of repetition to
reproduce the evidence of PW-1 hereunder for better appreciation of his
opinion with regard to the cause of death:
C.
"Hands were clenched.- Eyes and conjunctive were congested
and eye-balls were prominent. Blood mixed forth was coming
out from nostrils. Tongue was swollen and protruding and was
compressed between the teeth..................................................... D
Sixth and seventh ribs were fractured. The right cornua of hyoid
bone was fractured."
Though PW-1 has been subjected to incisive and searching crossexamination and questioned with reference to various Text Books on E
Medical Jurisprudence, nothing tangible has been brought out to .discredit
the testimony of PW-1. The cross-examination was directed suggesting that
the fracture of the hyoid bone and the fracture of the ribs eould have been
due to the intensive heat of the fire and by mishandling of the body when
it was taken to downstairs. In fact, PW-1 has withstood the cross-e~naF
tion and affirmed his conclusion that the death was only due to strangulation and the bum injuries were post-mortem. He based his opinion on the
innumerable symptoms found on the dead body, such as the internal
contusions, nori-vomitting which is usually the symptom in a case of burning
of a victim while alive and the involuntary non-movements of the deceased G
.even under the agony of fire etc. etc. The learned defence counsel drew
our attention to certain hypothetical opinions, given by PW-1 in the cross-
· examination, the report of the Chemical examiner, revealing the presence
of the traces of barbiturates in the visra and the pugilistic posture of the
dead body as revealed from the photographs of the dead body marked as
Exts.