MD.ALI @ GUDDU Vs. STATE OF U.P.
Supreme Court of India (Division Bench (DB)- Two Judge)
Appeal (Crl.), 2238 of 2010, Judgment Date: Mar 10, 2015
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 2238 OF 2010
Md. Ali @ Guddu ... Appellant
Versus
State of U.P. ... Respondent
WITH
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.425 OF 2015
(@ SLP(Crl.) NO. 9896 of 2011)
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 636 OF 2012
J U D G M E N T
Dipak Misra, J.
Leave granted in SLP (Crl.) No. 9896 of 2011
2. The present appeals are directed against the common judgment and
order dated 25.03.2009 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
in Criminal Appeal No. 602 of 2006 and Criminal Appeal No. 863 of 2006
whereby the learned Single Judge has given the stamp of approval to the
judgment and order dated 30.01.2006 passed by the learned Additional
Sessions Judge/F.T.C., Hapur, District Ghaziabad whereunder he had
convicted the appellants under Section 363, 366 and 376 I.P.C. and
sentenced each of them to undergo three years rigorous imprisonment under
Section 363 IPC and to pay a fine of Rs.2,000/- with a default clause, five
years rigorous imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.3,000/- under Section
366 IPC and ten years rigorous imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/-
under Section 376 IPC with the default sequitur. All the sentences were
directed to run concurrently.
3. The prosecution case, as has been unfurled, is that a written report
was filed by the complainant, Smt. Aneesa, PW-2, on 3.12.1996 on the
allegation that on 22.11.1996, around midnight, her daughter, Gulistan, PW-
1, aged about 14 years, went out of her house to answer the call of nature
but did not return for a considerable time. Being anxious, she went in
search of her and at that time Ali Waris, one of the appellants herein,
informed her that he had left her daughter at his door. Thereafter, PW-2
and his son Abrar, PW-4, searched for her in the neighbourhood as well as
amongst the relatives but as it turned out to be an exercise in futility,
she sensed some foul play and eventually informed the police that Ali Waris
and Mohammad Ali @ Guddu had kidnapped her daughter. After the criminal
law was set in motion, the investigating agency commenced the search of the
victim. As the factual matrix would uncurtain, Abrar had along with co-
villagers, namely, Arif s/o Md. Rafi, Zulfi, Papat, Shafiq and others had
gone in search of his sister, they had reached village Loni and Arif s/o
Azam Khan brought Gulistan from a house and handed over to him. All of
them along with Gulistan went to the police station on 18.1.1997 and PW-2
and Gulistan, PW-1, submitted an application at the police station
Dhaulana. The statement of the victim was recorded under Section 164 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure. The investigating agency sent the victim
for medical examination, recorded the statements of seven witnesses,
prepared the site plan and after completing other formalities placed the
chargesheet against eight accused persons, namely, Ali Waris, Md. Ali,
Mehmood, Allahrakha, Sirajoo, Fazal, Shamshad and Sarfraz for the offences
punishable under Sections 363, 366, 368 and 376, IPC before the competent
Court which in turn committed the matter to the Court of Session.
4. The accused persons abjured their guilt and pleaded false implication
due to political rivalry relating to Gram Sabha Pradhan elections.
5. In course of trial, the prosecution, to bring home the charges,
examined seven witnesses, namely, Gulistan, PW-1, the prosecutrix, Anisha,
PW-2, the informant and the mother of the victim, Liyaqat Ali, PW-3, Abrar,
PW-4, the brother of the victim, Maqsood, PW-5, Mahavir Singh, PW-6 and Dr.
Rekha Singh, PW-7 who had examined the victim. Be it noted, PWs 3 and 5
have turned hostile.
6. The accused persons in their statements recorded under Section 313 of
CrPC denied their involvement in the occurrence. Their plea was that they
had supported Ali Waris in village Pradhan election and the rival party
Arif, a relative of PWs 1, 2 and 4 was defeated. The defence in order to
establish its plea examined one witness, namely, Jaggi Rana, DW-1.
7. The learned trial Judge on appreciation of evidence brought on record
came to hold that the prosecution had been able to establish the charges
against four accused persons, namely, Ali Waris, Mohd. Ali @ Guddu, Mehmood
and Fazal for the offences under Sections 366, 368 and 376 of I.P.C., but
had failed to bring home charges against other accused persons and on that
basis convicted and imposed the sentence as has been stated hereinbefore.
8. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid judgment of conviction and order of
sentence, Fazal Mohd. Ali and Mehmood preferred Criminal Appeal No. 602 of
2006 and Ali Waris preferred an independent Appeal being Criminal Appeal
No. 863 of 2006. It is worthy to state here that the State had not
assailed the judgment of acquittal of the four accused persons. The High
Court appreciated the evidence and by placing reliance on the testimony of
PWs 1, 2 and 4 had opined that the findings recorded by the learned trial
Judge was flawless. Being of the said view, it affirmed the judgment of
conviction and the order of sentence.
8. We have heard Mr. Lajja Ram, learned counsel for the appellants and
Mr. Ratnakar Dash, learned senior counsel for the State.
9. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the appellants that the
learned trial Judge as well as the High Court has absolutely gone wrong by
coming to hold that the age of the victim was less than eighteen years on
the date of occurrence. It is his further submission that the appreciation
of evidence by the trial Court and the High Court is totally perverse
inasmuch as in the obtaining factual matrix, the evidence of the
prosecution witnesses could not have been remotely given credence to.
Learned counsel has seriously criticized the delay in lodging of the FIR,
regard being had to the unnatural facet, for PW-2 had lodged the FIR after
11 days whereas any reasonable person would have immediately informed the
police about the missing of his/her daughter. It is canvassed by him that
the entire allegations of the prosecution are built on an unacceptable
plinth and regard being had to the evidence brought on record which is
completely sketchy, the conviction could not have been recorded. Mr. Lajja
Ram has submitted that the medical evidence does not support the
prosecution version and the present case being not one where the evidence
of the prosecutrix is so unmatchable that solely on the basis of her
testimony and the conviction can be recorded, said medical evidences gains
significance. Learned counsel would submit that the testimony of the
victim, the conduct of the mother and the nature of allegations made
against the accused persons lead to a definite conclusion that the entire
story put forth by the prosecution is wholly incredible and the learned
trial Judge has lent credence to the testimony on assumed reasoning and the
High Court has concurred with the same without proper appreciation of the
evidence which is the obligation of the appellate Court hearing a criminal
appeal.
9. Mr. Ratnakar Dash, learned senior counsel appearing for the State in
his turn would contend there has been a concurring finding of facts with
regard to the age and there is no justification or warrant to interfere
with the same. Learned senior counsel would submit that the prosecutrix
was under constant fear as has been stated by her and hence, under the
obtaining circumstances there is no reason not to believe her testimony and
unsettle the conviction. It is urged by him that findings recorded by the
trial Court which have been concurred with by the High Court, by no stretch
of imagination, can be called perverse warranting interference by this
Court.
10. To appreciate the rival submissions raised at the bar, we have
bestowed our anxious consideration to weigh and analyse the evidence
brought on record for the purpose whether testimony of the victim deserves
acceptance and ultimately the prosecution case deserves acceptation.
Though the learned counsel for the parties have urged the point with regard
to the age of the prosecutrix, the same need not be adverted to. Suffice
it to mention that PW-2, the mother of the victim, had alleged that her
daughter was fourteen years of age on 22.11.1996 when she was kidnapped.
The ossification test has pointed out that she was approximately eighteen
years of age. The learned trial Judge has opined that she was less than
eighteen years and the High Court has accepted the same. The said issue
would gain prominence, if the story set forth by the prosecution is
accepted to be credible, for then only the question of consent by the
prosecutrix for the offences would arise. If the entire prosecution story
is discarded as being incredulous, then the said aspect would certainly
melt into insignificance.
11. Having stated so, we shall proceed to deal with the pertinent facts
in this regard. Prior to that it is essential to address the issue of
propriety and the conceptual parameters or conceptions based on well
accepted norms and paradigms to exercise the power of this Court under
Article 136 of the Constitution.
12. In Arunachalam v. P.S.R. Sadhanatha and Anr.[1] it has been expressed
thus:
"The power is plenary in the sense that there are no words in Article 136
itself qualifying that power. But, the very nature of the power has led the
court to set limits to itself within which to exercise such power. It is
now the well-established practice of this Court to permit the invocation of
the power under Article 136 only in very exceptional circumstances, as when
a question of law of general public importance arises or a decision shocks
the conscience of the court. But, within the restrictions imposed by
itself, this Court has the undoubted power to interfere even with findings
of fact, making no distinction between judgments of acquittal and
conviction, if the High Court, in arriving at those findings, has acted
'perversely or otherwise improperly'."
[emphasis supplied]
13. In State of U.P. v. Babul Nath[2], a two Judge Bench has laid down
thus:
"At the very outset we may mention that in an appeal under Article 136 of
the Constitution this Court does not normally reappraise the evidence by
itself and go into the question of credibility of the witnesses and the
assessment of the evidence by the High Court is accepted by the Supreme
Court as final unless, of course, the appreciation of evidence and finding
is vitiated by any error of law of procedure or found contrary to the
principles of natural justice, errors of record and misreading of the
evidence, or where the conclusions of the High Court are manifestly
perverse and unsupportable from the evidence on record."
14. In Ganga Kumar Srivastava v. State of Bihar[3], the Court after
referring to series of decisions on exercise of the power of this Court
under Article 136 of the Constitution culled out following principles:
"(i) The powers of this Court under Article 136 of the Constitution are
very wide but in criminal appeals this Court does not interfere with the
concurrent findings of fact save in exceptional circumstances.
(ii) It is open to this Court to interfere with the findings of fact given
by the High Court, if the High Court has acted perversely or otherwise
improperly.
(iii) It is open to this Court to invoke the power under Article 136 only
in very exceptional circumstances as and when a question of law of general
public importance arises or a decision shocks the conscience of the Court.
(iv) When the evidence adduced by the prosecution fell short of the test of
reliability and acceptability and as such it is highly unsafe to act upon
it.
(v) Where the appreciation of evidence and finding is vitiated by any error
of law of procedure or found contrary to the principles of natural justice,
errors of record and misreading of the evidence, or where the conclusions
of the High Court are manifestly perverse and unsupportable from the
evidence on record."
15. In Alamelu and Another v. State, represented y Inspector of
Police[4], it has been stated that even though the powers of this Court
under Article 136 of the Constitution are very wide, but in criminal
appeals, this Court would not interfere with the concurrent findings of
fact save in very exceptional cases. In an appeal under Article 136 of the
Constitution, this Court does not normally appreciate the evidence by
itself and go into the question of credibility of witness. Elaborating
further, the Court has opined that the assessment of the evidence by the
High Court is accepted as final except where the conclusions recorded by
the High Court are manifestly perverse and unsupportable by the evidence on
record.
16. Keeping the aforesaid principles in view, we shall proceed to
scrutinize the materials on record, for we are convinced that the
conclusions arrived at by the High Court are totally unsupportable on the
basis of the evidence on record. For the aforesaid purpose, first we shall
advert to the issue of lodging of the First Information Report. As is
demonstrated, the victim missed from the house on 22.11.1996 but the mother
lodged the FIR on 3.12.1996 almost after expiry of eleven days alleging the
factum of kidnapping by the accused persons, namely, Ali Waris and Md. Ali
@ Guddu. It is interesting to note that the mother, had alleged that Ali
Waris had left the girl at her door steps. In such a circumstance, if
nothing else, the PW-2, the mother, who is expected to have necessitous
concern, could have gone to the police station to lodge a missing report
which could have prompted the investigation officer to act. It baffles the
commonsense that the mother after searching in the neighbourhood as well as
amongst the relatives still, for some unfathomable reason that defeats the
basic human prudence approached the police station quite belatedly. It is
apt to mention here that in rapes cases the delay in filing the FIR by the
prosecutrix or by the parents in all circumstance is not of significance.
The authorities of this Court have granted adequate protection/allowance in
that aspect regard being had to the trauma suffered, the agony and anguish
that creates the turbulence in the mind of the victim, to muster the
courage to expose oneself in a conservative social milieu. Sometimes the
fear of social stigma and on occasions the availability of medical
treatment to gain normalcy and above all the psychological inner strength
to undertake such a legal battle. But, a pregnant one, applying all these
allowances, in this context, it is apt to refer to the pronouncement in
Rajesh Patel v. State of Jharkhand[5] wherein in the facts and
circumstances of the said delay of 11 days in lodging the FIR with the
jurisdictional police was treated as fatal as the explanation offered was
regarded as totally untenable. This Court did not accept the reasoning
ascribed by the High Court in accepting the explanation as same was
fundamentally erroneous.
17. Coming to the case at hand, after the mother lodged the FIR
implicating Ali Waris and Md. Ali, the brother, PW-2, with his friends
recovered the prosecutrix from village Loni and she was examined under
Section 164, CrPC. As is evident, she had left home on 22.11.1996. As
alleged, she was fourteen years of age. The trial court on the basis of
radiological test has opined that she was below eighteen years of age and
the High Court has accepted the same. The factum of age only if the
findings recorded by the trial court and High Court are accepted, for as we
find, there is no proper appreciation of evidence by trial court and
definitely the High Court has failed to exercise its appellate jurisdiction
in proper perspective as is expected from it in law. In Kamlesh Prabhudas
Tanna v. State of Gujarat[6] dealing with the duty of the appellate court,
this Court observed:-
"At this juncture, we are obliged to state that though it may be difficult
to state that the judgment suffers from sans reasons, yet it is not at all
difficult to say that the reasons ascribed are really apology for reasons.
If we allow ourselves to say so, one may ascribe certain reasons which seem
to be reasons but the litmus test is to give seemly and condign reasons
either to sustain or overturn the judgment. The filament of reasoning must
logically flow from requisite analysis, but, unfortunately, the said
exercise has not been carried out. In this context, we may refer with
profit to the decision in Padam Singh v. State of U.P.[7], wherein a two-
Judge Bench, while dealing with the duty of the appellate court, has
expressed thus:
"2. ... It is the duty of an appellate court to look into the evidence
adduced in the case and arrive at an independent conclusion as to whether
the said evidence can be relied upon or not and even if it can be relied
upon, then whether the prosecution can be said to have been proved beyond
reasonable doubt on the said evidence. The credibility of a witness has to
be adjudged by the appellate court in drawing inference from proved and
admitted facts. It must be remembered that the appellate court, like the
trial court, has to be satisfied affirmatively that the prosecution case is
substantially true and the guilt of the accused has been proved beyond all
reasonable doubt as the presumption of innocence with which the accused
starts, continues right through until he is held guilty by the final Court
of Appeal and that presumption is neither strengthened by an acquittal nor
weakened by a conviction in the trial court."
18. In Rama v. State of Rajasthan[8] the Court has expressed about the
duty of the appellate court thus:
"4. ... It is well settled that in a criminal appeal, a duty is enjoined
upon the appellate court to reappraise the evidence itself and it cannot
proceed to dispose of the appeal upon appraisal of evidence by the trial
court alone especially when the appeal has been already admitted and placed
for final hearing. Upholding such a procedure would amount to negation of
valuable right of appeal of an accused, which cannot be permitted under
law."
Similar principles have been reiterated in Iqbal Abdul Samiya Malek
v. State of Gujarat[9], Padam Singh v. State of U.P.[10] and Bani Singh v.
State of U.P.[11]
19. A three-Judge Bench in Majjal v. State of Haryana[12] has ruled thus:
"It was necessary for the High Court to consider whether the trial court's
assessment of the evidence and its opinion that the appellant must [pic]be
convicted deserve to be confirmed. This exercise is necessary because the
personal liberty of an accused is curtailed because of the conviction. The
High Court must state its reasons why it is accepting the evidence on
record. The High Court's concurrence with the trial court's view would be
acceptable only if it is supported by reasons. In such appeals it is a
court of first appeal. Reasons cannot be cryptic. By this, we do not mean
that the High Court is expected to write an unduly long treatise. The
judgment may be short but must reflect proper application of mind to vital
evidence and important submissions which go to the root of the matter."
20. The obtaining factual matrix has to be appreciated on the touchstone
of the aforesaid parameters. Be it clearly stated here delay in lodging
FIR in cases under Section 376 IPC would depend upon facts of each case and
this Court has given immense allowance to such delay, regard being had to
the trauma suffered by the prosecutrix and various other factors, but a
significant one, in the present case, it has to be appreciated from a
different perspective. The prosecutrix was missing from home. In such a
situation, it was a normal expectation that either the mother or the
brother would have lodged a missing report at the police station. The same
was not done. This action of PW-2 really throws a great challenge to
common sense. No explanation has been offered for such delay. The learned
trial Judge has adverted to this facet on an unacceptable backdrop by
referring to the principle that prosecutrix suffered from trauma and the
constraint of the social stigma. The prosecutrix at that time was nowhere
on the scene. It is the mother who was required to inform the police about
missing of her grown up daughter. In the absence of any explanation, it
gives rise to a sense of doubt. That apart, the factum that the appellant
informed the mother of the victim that he had left the prosecutirx at the
door of her house also does not command acceptance. The recovery of the
prosecutrix by the brother and her friends also creates a cloud of
suspicion. We are not inclined to believe the prosecution version as has
been projected that one Arif had informed the brother of the prosecutirx
that his sister was at his place but for reasons best known to the
prosecution, Arif has not been examined. That apart, the persons who were
accompanying the brother have also not been examined by the prosecution.
Thus, the manner of recovery of the prosecutrix from the house of Arif
remains a mystery.
21. Be it noted, there can be no iota of doubt that on the basis of the
sole testimony of the prosecutrix, if it is unimpeachable and beyond
reproach, a conviction can be based. In the case at hand, the learned
trial Judge as well as the High Court have persuaded themselves away with
this principle without appreciating the acceptability and reliability of
the testimony of the witness. In fact, it would not be inappropriate to
say that whatever the analysis in the impugned judgment, it would only
indicate an impropriety of approach. The prosecutrix has deposed that she
was taken from one place to the other and remained at various houses for
almost two months. The only explanation given by her is that she was
threatened by the accused persons. It is not in her testimony that she was
confined to one place. In fact, it has been borne out from the material on
record that she had travelled from place to place and she was ravished
number of times. Under these circumstances, the medical evidence gains
significance, for the examining doctor has categorically deposed that there
are no injuries on the private parts. The delay in FIR, the non-
examination of the witnesses, the testimony of the prosecutrix, the
associated circumstances and the medical evidence, leave a mark of doubt to
treat the testimony of the prosecutrix as so natural and truthful to
inspire confidence. It can be stated with certitude that the evidence of
the prosecutrix is not of such quality which can be placed reliance upon.
True it is, the grammar of law permits the testimony of a prosecutrix can
be accepted without any corroboration without material particulars, for she
has to be placed on a higher pedestal than an injured witness, but, a
pregnant one, when a Court, on studied scrutiny of the evidence finds it
difficult to accept the version of the prosecutrix, because it is not
unreproachable, there is requirement for search of such direct or
circumstantial evidence which would lend assurance to her testimony. As
the present case would show, her testimony does not inspire confidence, and
the circumstantial evidence remotely do not lend any support to the same.
In the absence of both, we are compelled to hold that the learned trial
Judge has erroneously convicted the accused-appellants for the alleged
offences and the High Court has fallen into error, without re-appreciating
the material on record, by giving the stamp of approval to the same.
22. Resultantly, the appeals are allowed, judgment of conviction and
order of sentence are set aside and as the appellants are on bail, they be
discharged of their bail bonds.
........................................J.
[DIPAK MISRA]
........................................J.
[N.V. RAMANA]
NEW DELHI
MARCH 10, 2015.
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[1] (1979) 2 SCC 297
[2] (1994) 6 SCC 29
[3] (2005) 6 SCC 211
[4] (2011) 2 SCC 385
[5] (2013) 3 SCC 791
[6] (2013) 15 SCC 263
[7] (2000) 1 SCC 621
[8] (2002) 4 SCC 571
[9] (2012) 11 SCC 312
[10] (2000) 1 SCC 621
[11] (1996) 4 SCC 720
[12] (2013) 6 SCC 798
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