Geetha
Vs. State of Karnataka [1999] INSC 412 (2 December 1999)
G.T.Nanavati,
S.N.Phukan
NANAVATI.
J The appellant and her husband were tried for the offence punishable under
Sections 302, 392 and 201 I.P.C.
In the
Court of the Additional Sessions Judge, Bangalore City in Sessions Case No. 175 of 1990.
The allegation against the appellant was that on 30.10.1989 between 4.30 and
7.30 p.m. she murdered Rajeshwarl, tOok away her ornaments worth Rs. 50,000/-
and thereafter, tried to cause d-iaappear"ance of the evidence by putting
the dead body in two gunny bags to dispose of the same.' :: -. . - ln order to
prove its case, the prosecution mainly relied upon certain circumstances which
according to the prosecution clearly indicated that it was the appellant (A-1)
who had committed the murder. The trial Court believed the evidence partly and
held that Rajeshwari died a homicidal death and that she was seen in the house
of the appellant. on 30.10.89 at about 4.00 p.m. It did not believe the evidence regarding recovery of the dead body,
the ornaments and clothes of the deceased from the house of the appellant. It
was of the view that time mentioned in the recovery mahazar created some
suspicion regarding its correctness and there was also inconsistency between
the evidence of P.Ws. 1, 2 and 3 on one hand and the evidence of P.W. 6 on the
other as regards the manner in which those articles were seized from the house
of the appellant. It then held that the evidence was -insufficient to lead to
the only conclusion that the appellant and her husband were guility of murder
and the other offences alleged to have been committed by them. Taking this view
the the trial .Court acquitted them. The State feeling aggreived thereby filed
an appeal before the High Court. After reappreciating the evidence the High
Court held that all the incriminating circumstancss have been satisfactorily
established and the chain of circumstances was so complete that it was
reasonable to conclude that accused No. 1 had committed the murder of Rajeshwari.
As. it did not find sufficient evidence against the husband of the appellant,
his acquittal was maintained. It convicted the appellant (A-1) under Sections
302, 392 and 201 IPC. The appellant has, therefore, filed this appeal
challenging her conviction and also the order of sentence passed against her.
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We have carefully gone through the evidence led by the prosecution and also the
reasons given by the trial Court and also by the High Court. We find that the
High Court was ri.ght in reversing the findings of the trial Court regarding
discovery of the dead body and some articles belonging to the deceased from the
house of the appellant.
We
find that High Court has given good reasons for reversing the order of
acquittal of the appellant. The prosecution had led evidence of P.Ws. 9,11 and
22 to prove that on 30.10.89 at about 4.00 p.m. the deceased had gone to the house of the appe'liant. P.W. 9 has stated
before the Court that she had seen Rajeshwari going towards the house of
accused No. 1 and she had inquired from her as to where she was going, she had
replied that she was going to the house of the appellant P.W. 11 had also seen
her passing by her house and going towards the house of the appellant.
P.W.
22 had not only seen her going towards the house of appellant but had also seen
her entering her house. This evidence was beliaved by the trial Court and it
has a'iso been believed by the High Court. The evidence of these three
witnesses clearly establishes that the deceased had gone to the house of the
appellant at about 4.00
p.m. on the date of
the incidence and she had many ornaments on her person at that time.
The
evidence of P.Ws. 2 and 3 further proves that at about 4.30 p.m. they had seen
the deceased sitting in the - 4 - house of the appellant. P.W. 2 while going to
the house of his uncle which was just opposite the house of the appe^ant had
seen the deceased sitting in the appellant's house. P.W. 2 who is an Advocate
and also a neighbour of the appellant:, had seen Rajeshwari sitting in the house
of the appellant talking with her. the evidence of these two witnesses was not
properly appreciated by the trial Court.
The
High Court has rightly held that their evidence is available and trustworthy.
P.W. 4
had good relations with the appellant. She has stated in her evidence that on
the date of the incidence at about 5.00 or 5.15 p.m. the appellant had come to her house along with her minor
daughter and requested her to keep her minor daughter for some time as she
wanted to go to bus stand to see off one relative. The appellant, did not
return till 7.15 p.m.. The appellant's daughter wanted to
go back to her house and as she was afraid of going back alone she had gone
with her. She had also taken her cousin P.W. 20 with her. They found the
appellant's house closed but the daughter of the appellant peeped through the
window and told her that her mother was inside. She again knocked the door and
after sometime the appellant had opened the door. Very strangely the appellant
allowed only her daughter to enter the house, asked her to wait and closed the
door. She was allowed to enter the house after about five minutes. P.W.4 and
P.W... 20 ,. 5 - had remained in the house for some time and during tth period
P.W. 20 hqd gone inside the bed room along with the appellant's daughter in
search of a ball for playing. The evidence of P.W. 20 is that when he was
searching for a ball he noticed a leg of some person lying below a cot. He
tried to find out what it was and then saw one dead body covered with a gunny
bag. He also deposed that while returning to their house he had told that fact
to P.W. 4. P.W. 4 has supported P.W. 20 on this point. The evidence of these
two witnesses was challenged as unbelievable by the ''earned counsel for the
appellant. But they had no reason to faisely involve the appellant. On the
contrary P.W. 4 was on good terms with the appellant.
Their
evidence appears to be true and in our opinion, the High Court was right in
placing reliance upon it and in holding that it establishes the circumstance
that at about 7.30 p.m. P.W. 20 had noticed a dead body
lying below a cot in the bed room of the appellant.
The
prosecution evidence further establishes that the deceased after going to the
house of the appellant was found missing. The evidence of her husband is that
when his wife did not return till about 8.30 p.m. he became suspicious and went in search of her. He had also gone to the
house of Geetha ( the appellant ) and inquired if his wife had come there. Geetha
told him that the deceased had not come to her house. After some time he lodged
a report with the police.
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The prosecution also led evidence to prove that on the next day the husband of
the deceased was again -informed by P.W. 2 and P.W. 3 that on the previous day
they had in fact seen the deceased in the house of the appellant and therefore
the husband of the deceased had gone to the police station and informed the
police about the same. On the basis of his statement and the suspicion the
police took the appellant to the police station and there she was interrogated.
She then expressed her desire to make a statement. Therefore, two panch
witnesses were called and in their presence the appellant made a statement that
the dead body, some ornaments and clothes of the deceased were in her house and
that she would point them out. The investigating Officer along with panch
witness and P.W. 3 (a neighbour and an advocate ) went to the house of the
appellant and in their presence the appellant had recovered the dead body, some
ornaments, a wrist watch and clothes of the deceased. This evidence regarding
discovery of the dead body was disbelieved by the tria^ Court on the ground
that according to the panchnama, the disclosure statement was made at 10.15 p.m. and recording of it could not have lasted till 11.15 p.m. Therefore in all probability the panchnama was not
prepared correctly and everything was Written in the police station itself. As
regards the find of ornaments from the house, the trial Court held that
evidence of P.Ws. 1,2 ana 3 was not consistent with the evidence of P.W. 6 and
therefore also it created a doubt as to whether the ornaments were really found
from the house of the appellant. The High Court on reappreciation of the
evidence found that the trial Court was not right intaking this view. It a'iso
found that there was really no inconsistcy in the evidence regarding sealing of
the articles seized from .the house. Having gone through his evidence we find
that the panch witness had not stated that the seal was kept with him. The Investigating
Officer has also in clear terms stated that the seal had remained with him and
that he had not parted with the same. What was given to. P,Ws. 1 and 2 was the
impression of the seal so as to enable them later on to compare the seat for
the purpose of identification of the articles. The High Court has also rightly
pointed out that there is no inconsistency between the evidence of P.W.s. 1, 2
and 3 on ^he one hand and P.W. 6 on the other hand. ATI these. witnesses have
clearly stated that accused No. 1 ( the appellant ) had taken out the ornaments
from a tin which was kept in the bath room. P.Ws. 1, 2 and 3 have deposed that
the appellant had taken the panch witness and the .., Investigating Officer to
the bath room and from a tin which was lying on the ventilator of the bath
room, she had taken out the ornaments after removing coir under which they were
-8- concealed. What P.W. 6 has stated is that the appellant had taken out
ornaments from that tin. He did not give further details. For that reason on^y
the evidence of P.Ws. 1, 2 and 3 cannot be regarded as inconsistent with the ev'.tience
of P.W. 6. Therefore, the evidence of these witnesses inc'luding tbe evidence
of P.W. 3 who is an Advocate, a neighbour establishes beyond doubt that the
dead body and some artic'tes belonging to the deceased were found from the
house of the appellant.
When
all these incriminating circumstances were put to the appellant in her
examination u/s 313 Cr.P.C. she merely stated that they were false and failed
to give any other explanation. The prosecution evidence which has been found
reliable proves that the answers given by the appellant in her 313 statement
were really false. The appellant did not explain how the dead body and articles
belonging to the deceased were found from her house. She denied that they.
were
found from her house. This being the case of circumstantial evidence, this
false denial assumes importance as it would supply a missing link in the chain
of circumstances.
'» In
our opinion, the High Court was right in holding that all the incriminating
circumstances were established beyond doubt and they were sufficient to come
to- "the.
conclusion
that it. was the appellant who had committed the murder of the deceased. The appeal.is.,there'ore
dismissed.
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