Hariprasad @ Kishan Sahu vs The State Of Chhattisgarh

2023 INSC 986 REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1182 OF 2012

HARIPRASAD @ KISHAN SAHU …APPELLANT(S)

VERSUS

STATE OF CHHATTISGARH …RESPONDENT(S)

JUDGMENT

BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.

1. The Appellant-accused by way of present appeal has assailed the

Judgment and Order dated 09.02.2011 passed by the High Court of

Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur, in Criminal Appeal No.324 of 2006, whereby

the High Court has confirmed the judgment of conviction and order of

sentence dated 09.03.2006 passed by the Special Judge, (Atrocities),

Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Trial Court’) in

Special Criminal Case No.19 of 2005. The Trial Court in the said case

Signature Not Verified while acquitting the appellant-accused from the charge under Section Digitally signed by SWETA BALODI

3(2)(5) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Date: 2023.11.07 16:45:40 IST Reason:

Atrocities) Act, 1989, (hereinafter referred to as the SC/ST Act), had

1 convicted him for the offence under Section 302 of IPC and sentenced

him to undergo imprisonment for life and pay a fine of Rs.1,000/-, in

default thereof, to further undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for one year.

2. The case of the prosecution as unfolded by it was that on 22.07.2003,

during the evening hours, Bisahu Singh (the deceased) had gone to the

forest for collecting woods, however he did not come back in the night.

The next day morning his wife Ganeshi Bai saw him lying in the

Verandah of his house in a semi-conscious state. At that time, some

wheezing sound, and pungent smell of liquor was coming from his

mouth. Ganeshi Bai and her daughter Anita tried to wake him up, but in

his slurred speech, he was trying to say that while he was going to the

forest, Hariprasad (the appellant-accused) called him at his home and

made him to drink two glasses of liquor and thereafter Hariprasad mixed

some jadi-buti (herb) in the third glass of liquor, and made him to drink

the third glass. Ganeshi Bai called her neighbours and took him to CIMS

Bilaspur, as the health of Bisahu Singh was deteriorating. During the

course of treatment, Bisahu Singh died on 23.07.2003 at about 03.30

P.M. The death was intimated to the police and Merg – Intimation (Ex.

P/4) was prepared. The dead body of Bisahu Singh was sent for autopsy

to CIMS Bilaspur. Dr. A.K. Shukla conducted the Post-mortem on

2 24.07.2003 and recorded in the Post-mortem Report (Ex. P/13) as

under: -

“Cause of death could be decided after Chemical examination of Viscera preserved.”

3. After the receipt of the report of Chemical examiner (Ex. P/14), the FIR

was registered on 03.11.2004. (Ex. P/11)

4. During the course of trial, the prosecution had examined nineteen

witnesses and led the documentary evidence. The Appellant-accused

who was examined under Section 313 of Cr.P.C. denied the allegations

levelled against him and pleaded innocence. He also examined DW-1

Pardesi Ram Gond, who had deposed that from 19.07.2003 to

23.07.2003 appellant was there in his house at Raipur. The Trial Court

after appreciating the evidence on record, convicted and sentenced the

appellant as stated hereinabove, which has been confirmed by the High

Court.

5. The learned Counsel for the Appellant placing heavy reliance on the

decision of Sharad Birdhichand Sarda vs. State of Maharashtra1

submitted that in case of the alleged death due to poisoning, the

prosecution was required to prove that there was clear motive of the

1 (1984) 4 SCC 116 3 accused to administer the poison to the deceased; that the accused had

the poison in his possession and that he had the opportunity to

administer the poison to the deceased. However, in the instant case

none of these circumstances were proved by the prosecution. He further

submitted that there was gross delay of one year occurred in filing the

FIR, in as much as the alleged incident had taken place on 22.07.2003,

however the FIR was lodged after more than one year i.e. on

03.11.2004. The so-called dying declarations of the deceased before the

family members were not believable. The most important incriminating

evidence i.e. FSL report (Ex. P/14) was not brought to the notice of the

appellant when he was examined under Section 313 of Cr.P.C.

According to him the entire story put forth by the prosecution was not

only highly improbable but was not proved beyond reasonable doubt.

6. However, the learned Counsel for the Respondent State vehemently

submitted that both the courts below having recorded the findings of

conviction against the appellant for the offence under Section 302 and

imposed the sentence of life imprisonment accordingly, this Court in

exercise of the jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution should

not interfere with the same. He further submitted the delay caused in

obtaining the report of chemical analyzer had delayed the lodging of the

4 FIR, which explanation has been accepted by the Trial Court as well as

by the High Court, and hence the same should not be held to be fatal to

the case of prosecution, more particularly when all the witnesses had

duly supported the case of prosecution.

7. Having regard to the submissions made by the learned counsel for the

parties and having thoroughly gone through the oral as well as

documentary evidence on record, in our opinion three broad questions

arise for determination before this Court:

(i) Whether the delay of about more than one year occurred in

registering the FIR could be said to be fatal to the case of

prosecution?

(ii) Whether the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt

that the deceased had died due to administration of poison?

(iii) Whether the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt

that the appellant accused had administered the poison in the

liquor and made the deceased to drink it on 22.07.2003 i.e., on

the previous date of his death?

8. So far as the first issue with regard to the delay occurred in registering

the FIR is concerned, it is not disputed that though the incident in

5 question had taken place on 22.07.2003, and the deceased Bisahu

Singh had expired on 23.07.2003, the FIR (Ex. P/11) was registered

after more than one year i.e., on 03.11.2004 against the appellant-

accused alleging offence under Section 302 of IPC.

9. It cannot be gainsaid that the First Information Report in a criminal case

is an extremely vital and valuable piece of evidence for the purpose of

corroborating the oral evidence adduced during the course of the trial.

The object of insisting upon prompt lodging of the report to the police in

respect of the commission of an offence is to obtain early information

regarding the circumstances in which the crime was committed, the

names of actual culprits and the part played by them as well as names

of the eye witnesses present at the scene of occurrence2. It is also an

equally settled legal position that the receipt and recording of

information report by the police is not a condition precedent to set into

motion a criminal investigation3. The First Information Report under

Section 154 of Cr.PC, as such could not be treated as a substantive

piece of evidence. It can only be used to corroborate or contradict the

informant’s evidence in the Court. As held by three-Judge Bench of this

2 Thulia Kali vs. The State of Tamil Nadu; 1972 (3) SCC 393 3 The King Emperor vs. Khawaja Nazir Ahmad; AIR 1945 PC 18 6 Court4, FIR is very useful if recorded before there is time and opportunity

to embellish, or before the informant’s memory fades. Undue or

unreasonable delay in lodging the FIR, therefore, may give rise to

suspicion which put the Court on guard to look for the possible motive

and the explanation for the delay and consider its effect on the

trustworthiness or otherwise of the prosecution version.

10. Of course, the delay in lodging an FIR by itself cannot be regarded as

the sufficient ground to draw an adverse inference against the

prosecution case, nor could it be treated as fatal to the case of

prosecution. The Court has to ascertain the causes for the delay, having

regard to the facts and circumstances of the case. If the causes are not

attributable to any effort to concoct a version, mere delay by itself would

not be fatal to the case of prosecution.

11. In Ravinder Kumar and Another Vs. State of Punjab5, it has been

held that: -

“13. The attack on prosecution cases on the ground of delay in lodging FIR has almost bogged down as a stereotyped redundancy in criminal cases. It is a recurring feature in most of the criminal cases that there would be some delay in furnishing the first information to the police. It has to be remembered that law has not fixed any time for lodging the FIR. Hence a delayed FIR is not illegal. Of course a prompt and immediate lodging of the FIR is the ideal as that would

4 Apren Joseph alias current Kunjukunju & Ors. Vs. State of Kerela; 1973 (3) SCC 114 5 2001 (7) SCC 690 7 give the prosecution a twin advantage. First is that it affords commencement of the investigation without any time lapse. Second is that it expels the opportunity for any possible concoction of a false version. Barring these two plus points for a promptly lodged FIR the demerits of the delayed FIR cannot operate as fatal to any prosecution case. It cannot be overlooked that even a promptly lodged FIR is not an unreserved guarantee for the genuineness of the version incorporated therein.

14.When there is criticism on the ground that FIR in a case was delayed the court has to look at the reason why there was such a delay. There can be a variety of genuine causes for FIR lodgment to get delayed. Rural people might be ignorant of the need for informing the police of a crime without any lapse of time. This kind of unconversantness is not too uncommon among urban people also. They might not immediately think of going to the police station. Another possibility is due to lack of adequate transport facilities for the informers to reach the police station. The third, which is a quite common bearing, is that the kith and kin of the deceased might take some appreciable time to regain a certain level of tranquility of mind or sedativeness of temper for moving to the police station for the purpose of furnishing the requisite information. Yet another cause is, the persons who are supposed to give such information themselves could be so physically impaired that the police had to reach them on getting some nebulous information about the incident.

15. We are not providing an exhaustive catalogue of instances which could cause delay in lodging the FIR. Our effort is to try to point out that the stale demand made in the criminal courts to treat the FIR vitiated merely on the ground of delay in its lodgment cannot be approved as a legal corollary. In any case, where there is delay in making the FIR the court is to look at the causes for it and if such causes are not attributable to any effort to concoct a version no consequence shall be attached to the mere delay in lodging the FIR. (Vide Zahoor v. State of U.P. [1991 Supp (1) SCC 372 : 1991 SCC (Cri) 678] , Tara Singh v. State of Punjab [1991 Supp (1) SCC 536 : 1991 SCC (Cri) 710] and Jamna v. State of U.P. [1994 Supp (1) SCC 185 : 1994 SCC (Cri) 348] ) In Tara Singh [1991 Supp (1) SCC 536 : 1991 SCC (Cri) 710] the Court made the following observations:

(SCC p. 541, para 4)

8 “4. It is well settled that the delay in giving the FIR by itself cannot be a ground to doubt the prosecution case. Knowing the Indian conditions as they are we cannot expect these villagers to rush to the police station immediately after the occurrence. Human nature as it is, the kith and kin who have witnessed the occurrence cannot be expected to act mechanically with all the promptitude in giving the report to the police. At times being grief-stricken because of the calamity it may not immediately occur to them that they should give a report. After all it is but natural in these circumstances for them to take some time to go to the police station for giving the report.”

12. Keeping in view the aforestated settled legal position, let us examine as

to whether the delay of more than one year in the registration of the FIR

was fatal to the case of prosecution or the prosecution had sufficiently

explained the said delay?

13. As transpiring from the record, the deceased Bisahu Singh was the

husband of PW-2 Ganeshi Bai and father of PW-3 Anita Porte. They

both had stated in their respective evidence about the health condition

of Bisahu Singh, when he was found lying in the Verandah of their house

in the morning hours on 23.07.2003. As stated by the PW-6 Dr. Bhojraj

Hotchandani, on 23.07.2003 at 01.25 P.M. Bisahu Singh was brought to

the CIMS Hospital, Bilaspur. As per the evidence of PW-8 Dr. Anita

Bambethwar, Bisahu Singh was brought to her for treatment, however

9 he died at 3.30 PM on 23.07.2003. The said Dr. Anita has stated that

she had given the information about the death to the police station City

Kotwali, as per Ex. P/3. The PW-9 Kedarnath Kaushik who was the ward

boy in CIMS Hospital, Bilaspur had given the Merg Intimation (before

the police station City Kotwali) and PW-10 Mangal Das who was posted

as Head Constable in City Kotwali, Bilaspur had sent the dead body of

the deceased-Bisahu Singh along with the memorandum to CIMS

Hospital, Bilaspur for post-mortem on 24.06.2003. The PW-14 Basant

Kumar Singh who was posted as Sub-Inspector in police station City

Kotwali, Bilaspur had drawn the proceeding of the Inquest panchnama

(Ex. P/9), and had sent the dead body for post-mortem along with the

memorandum (Ex. P/5A).

14. PW-18 Dr. A.K. Shukla working at CIMS Hospital, Bilaspur had carried

out the post-mortem at about 12.50 hrs. on 24.07.2003. After carrying

out the external and internal examination of the dead body of Bisahu

Singh, he had opined (Ex. P/13) that “Cause of death could be decided

after Chemical examination of the Viscera preserved. Time since death,

less than 24 hours approx.”

10

15. It appears that the Viscera of the deceased was collected and sealed in

two separate boxes by the PW-18 on 24.07.2003 and were sent for

chemical examination to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Chhattisgarh,

which received the same on 18.09.2003. Thereafter, the Senior

Scientific Officer, FSL, Raipur submitted the following Test result, vide

the letter dated 10.08.2004 (Ex. P/14):

TEST RESULT “Exhibit A and B contain Organophosphorus pesticide and Quinolphos.

Exhibit C does not contain any chemical poison.”

16. After the receipt of the afore-stated report from the Senior Scientific

Officer, the PW-15 Shyam Kori, SHO Bilha, District Bilaspur registered

the FIR being Crime No. 175/04 at police station Ratanpur on

03.11.2004 against the appellant-accused for the offence under Section

302 of IPC. He has stated in his evidence that the said FIR was

registered on the basis of the evidence collected during the investigation

in the Merg No. 43/03 under Section 174 of Cr.PC at police station

Ratanpur, and thereafter, he recorded the statements of witnesses. On

the completion of the investigation the chargesheet was filed by PW-19

I.H. Khan, SDO(P), Bilaspur in the Court.

11

17. From the afore-stated evidence on record, it is discernible that though

the FIR was registered against the appellant on 03.11.2004 in respect

of the incident which had taken place on 22.07.2003, a part of

investigation had already started on the death of Bisahu Singh and on

the Merg intimation no.43/03. Apparently, one may feel that there was a

delay of more than one year in registering the FIR, however the chain

of circumstances which took place during the said one year clearly

suggests that the deceased was taken to the CIMS Hospital, Bilaspur

immediately on 23.07.2003 in the morning, and he expired at about 3.30

PM on the same day. His post-mortem was carried out on the very next

day i.e., 24.07.2003 and the samples of Viscera of the deceased

collected by Dr. A.K. Shukla, were sent for Chemical examination to the

FSL, Raipur, on 18.09.2003. It was the report of Chemical examination

sent by the FSL Raipur, after one year, which caused the delay in the

registration of the FIR. Thus, the entire delay as such could be attributed

to the FSL, Raipur, which took almost one year in giving the report of

Chemical examination of Viscera of the deceased. As such, there is no

allegation on concoction of false version made against the prosecution.

18. It is true that the PW-2 Ganeshi Bai, wife of the deceased right from the

beginning having alleged that her husband Bisahu Singh when was

12 found lying in the verandah of her house in the morning hours on

22.07.2003, had told her in presence of her daughter PW-2 Anita Porte,

PW-7 Kotwar Bhagwati, and other witnesses that the appellant-accused

Hariprasad had called him at his place on the previous day evening and

had mixed jadi-buti in the liquor, and the appellant made him to drink it,

because of which the health of Bisahu Singh had deteriorated, she or

any other neighbours/relatives could have lodged a complaint against

the appellant-accused on that day itself. It is also true that when Bisahu

Singh was admitted and treated in the hospital with the history of alleged

administration of poison, and when he subsequently expired on the

same day at 3.30 P.M., which required post-mortem to be carried out,

the concerned SHO in the police station also could have registered the

FIR instead of registering the case with Merg number. However, the

explanation offered by the prosecution that the FIR was not registered

as the cause of death was not stated by the Doctor who carried out the

post-mortem and the report of Chemical examiner was awaited, seems

to be reasonable and acceptable. It appears that there was no mala fide

intention on the part of any of the witnesses or the police not to register

the FIR or to delay the registration of FIR. It was only when the report of

Chemical examiner was received, the FIR was registered on

13 03.11.2004. We are, therefore, inclined to hold that the FIR being only a

corroborative piece of evidence and not a substantive piece of evidence,

mere delay in registering the FIR could not be held to be a ground

adverse to the case of prosecution.

19. This takes us to the next issue as to whether the prosecution had proved

beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased had died due to the

administration of poison and that administration was by the appellant-

accused.

20. Before delving into the evidence adduced by the prosecution, it may be

noted that this Court way back in 1984, in Sharad BirdhiChand Sarda

vs. State of Maharashtra (supra), which has been followed in catena

of decisions, had observed that in the case of murder by poison, the

prosecution must prove following four circumstances: -

“(1) there is a clear motive for an accused to administer poison to the deceased,

(2) that the deceased died of poison said to have been administered,

(3) that the accused had the poison in his possession,

(4) that he had an opportunity to administer the poison to the deceased.”

21. Hence, let us see whether the prosecution had proved the said four

circumstances in the instant case. So far as the motive part is

14 concerned, there is hardly any evidence adduced by the prosecution to

show that there was any motive for the appellant to administer poison

to the deceased. Though, the PW-2 Ganeshi Bai and PW-3 her daughter

Anita had stated that there was some land dispute going on between

the accused and the deceased, except their bare version there was no

other evidence produced to substantiate that allegation. That apart, if

there was enmity between the accused and the deceased, the deceased

would not have gone to the house of the accused for consuming liquor.

22. The second circumstance that the deceased died of poison also does

not seem to have been proved by the prosecution. The PW-1 Dr. Sudesh

Verma, who was called by the wife of the deceased Bisahu Singh when

he was found lying in the Verandah on 23.07.2003, had stated that the

patient i.e. Bisahu Singh was in semi-conscious state of mind and was

not in a position to speak properly. Wheezing sound and pungent smell

of liquor was coming from his mouth. According to him, Bisahu Singh

told him that he consumed small quantity of liquor along with some of

his mates. PW-2 Ganeshi Bai, wife of the deceased Bisahu Singh had

stated that in the evening hours of 22.07.2003, her husband Bisahu had

gone to the forest to bring woods, however he did not come back in the

night. At 7 O’clock on the next day morning, she saw that Bisahu was

15 sleeping in the Verandah and some wheezing sound was coming from

his neck. She and her daughter Anita Bai tried to wake him up but his

condition was very serious. He spoke in a low voice to call the Kotwar.

The Kotwar having come, her husband told that Hari Ram had given two

glasses of liquor to him, and then he mixed something in the third glass.

He further told them that upon his asking, Hari Ram told him that he was

mixing medicine to subside the effect of the liquor. PW-3 Ms. Anita Porte,

the daughter of the deceased also stated the same version as stated by

her mother. PW-7, the Kotwar Bhagwati also supported the version of

PW-2 Ganeshi Bai. Similarly, PW-4 Ms. Sukwara Bai, PW-5 Rajesh

Kumar, younger brother of the deceased also stated the same thing as

stated by the PW-2 and others.

23. Having regard to the said evidence, it appears that though all the

witnesses have stated the same story, none of the witnesses had any

personal knowledge about the alleged incident and about the cause of

the deteriorating health condition of Bisahu Singh. Even if the said

version of the deceased before his wife, his daughter, his brother, the

Kotwar and others is treated as his dying declaration, it would be very

risky to convict the accused on such a weak piece of evidence.

16

24. As per the settled law, though a statement made by a person who is

dying is made exception to the rule of hearsay and has been made

admissible in evidence under Section 32 of the Evidence Act, it would

not be prudent to base conviction, relying upon such dying declaration

alone. In the instant case, even if that so-called dying declaration of the

deceased is believed, at the most it could be said that the deceased on

22.07.2003 had consumed liquor along with Hari Ram and others, and

that in the third glass of liquor, Hari Ram had mixed some herb, and

made the deceased to drink it. It may be noted that there is no evidence

on record to show as to what kind of herb was allegedly mixed by Hari

Ram, and whether such herb was poisonous or not. The PW-18 Dr. A.K.

Shukla who carried out the post-mortem of the deceased on 24.07.2003

had also not given any opinion on the cause of death. He had stated in

the Post-mortem report (Ex. P/13) that the cause of death could be

decided only after the Chemical examination of the preserved parts was

received. The Chemical examination report of the Senior Scientific

Officer, FSL Raipur (Ex. P/14) stated that the Viscera of the deceased

contained Organophosphorous insecticide and Quinolphos. After the

receipt of the said report of the Chemical examiner, the investigating

officer had failed to obtain any opinion either from the doctor who carried

17 out the post-mortem or from any other doctor about the actual cause of

death of the deceased. There is nothing on record to suggest about the

effect of mixture of liquor with Organophosphorous insecticide and

Quinolphos, the substances found contained in the Viscera of the

deceased. Under the circumstances, the Court is of the opinion that the

prosecution had failed to conclusively prove that the substances found

in the Viscera of the deceased were poisonous and the final cause of

death of the deceased was due to the administration of poison to the

deceased. Though it may be a matter of common knowledge that the

Organophosphorous insecticides and Quinolphos are considered to be

poisonous substances, nonetheless the Court would be loathe in

imputing personal knowledge and conclude that such poisonous

substances found in the Viscera of the deceased was the cause of death

of the deceased, more so when the said opinion of Chemical analyzer

was received after more than one year of sending the Viscera of the

deceased to the FSL, Raipur. In absence of final opinion obtained from

any medical expert, on the report of Chemical analyzer as to the cause

of death, it could not be said that prosecution had proved beyond

reasonable doubt that the cause of death of the deceased was due to

administration of poison.

18

25. If the versions of the PW-2 Ganeshi Bai and Others, who were present

at the house of the deceased in the morning hours on 23.07.2003 are

believed, it may be presumed that the deceased Bisahu Singh had told

them that the appellant Hari Prasad had made him to drink two glasses

of liquor and in the third glass he had mixed some jadi-buti i.e. herb to

subside the effect of liquor, however the prosecution had failed to bring

on record as to which jadi-buti was mixed in the liquor and had failed to

show whether the said jadi-buti or herb was poisonous. Of course, since

the investigation had started after one year of the alleged incident, there

was no possibility of any such jadi-buti or substance being found from

the house of the accused. A faint attempt was made by the prosecution

by examining PW-12 Assistant Sub Inspector, Rama Pratap Singh who

had stated that an information was sought from CIMS, Bilaspur through

the memorandum (Ex. P/7), whether the jadi-buti would contain

Organophosphorous Quinolphos, however he did not say anything

further whether any such report was received from CIMS, Bilaspur or

not. The PW-18 Dr. A.K. Shukla had stated in his evidence that an

inquiry was made by the concerned SHO on one insecticide-

Quinolphos, manufactured by Hikal limited, G.I.D.C. Bharuch, Gujarat,

marketed by S. India Limited Mumbai, whether such insecticides were

19 found in the jadi-buti or not, but he opined that he did not know whether

such poison would be contained in the herbs or not. He also stated that

he did not know whether mixing of such herbs in any solution would

result into Quinolphos.

26. Having regard to such scanty evidence, it is difficult to hold that the

prosecution had proved the four important propositions laid down by this

Court in case of allegation of murder by poisoning namely (1) the

accused had a clear motive to administer poison to the deceased; (2)

the deceased died of poison said to have been administered; (3) the

accused had the poison in his possession and that (4) the accused had

an opportunity to administer the poison to the deceased. It is also

pertinent to note that the Chemical examination report (Ex. P/14) though

was an incriminating piece of evidence, was not brought to the notice of

the appellant during the course of his examination under Section 313 of

Cr.P.C. All these circumstances put together, have made the case of

prosecution very vulnerable.

27. It cannot be gainsaid that this Court should be slow in reappreciating the

evidence and in upsetting the findings recorded by the two courts below,

particularly while exercising the jurisdiction under Article 136, however

20 such exercise of jurisdiction is not prohibited, when the Court finds that

such findings are afflicted with ex-facie infirmities.

28. In that view of the matter, the findings recorded by the Trial Court as

confirmed by the High Court against the appellant-accused for his

conviction under Section 302 IPC deserve to be set aside and the

appellant deserves to be set free. The Judgment of Conviction and

Order of Sentence passed by the Trial Court, as confirmed by the High

Court are set aside. The appellant is acquitted from the charges levelled

against him. Since the appellant is on bail, his bail bonds shall stand

cancelled forthwith.

29. The Appeal stands allowed accordingly.

…………………………. J.

[BELA M. TRIVEDI]

…………………………. J.

[DIPANKAR DATTA]

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 7th, 2023

21