Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12
1
IN THE HIGH COURT AT BOMBAY
APPELLATE SIDE, BENCH AT AURANGABAD
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 359 OF 2012
Sagar s/o. Mallikarjun Mehetre,
Age 20 years, Occu. Labour,
R/o. Juna Kumbhari Naka,
Adarsh Nagar, Solapur. ....Appellant.
(Ori.Accused No. 2)
Versus
1.
The State of Maharashtra
Through Police Station Officer,
Police Station, Omerga, Tq. Omerga,
Dist. Osmanabad.
2. Osman Mahmad Khan,
Age 61 years, Occu. Service as
driver, R/o. House No. 13/6/600,
Karkhan, Habib Nagar, Nampalli,
Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh). ....Respondents.
(R.No.1-Police Station
Officer, Police Station,
Omerga and R-2-orig.
complainant.)
Mr. S.S. Choudhary, Advocate for appellant.
Mr. D.V. Tele, APP for State/respondent No. 1.
WITH
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 389 OF 2012
Narendra s/o. Chandrakant Yelur,
Age 21 years, Occu. Labour,
R/o. Juna Kumbhari Naka,
Madhav Nagar, Solapur. ....Appellant.
Versus
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Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12
2
1. The State of Maharashtra ....Respondent.
Mr. Patel Shaikh Ashpak Taher, Advocate for appellant.
Mr. D.V. Tele, APP for State/respondent.
WITH
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 399 OF 2012
Amar s/o. Shivshankar Waghmare,
Age 29 years, Occu. Service,
R/o. Apegaon, Tq. South Solapur,
At present R/o. Juna Kumbhari Naka,
Adarsh Nagar, Solapur. ....Appellant.
(Ori. Accused No.1)
Versus
1. The State of Maharashtra
Through : The Police Station Officer,
Police Station, Omerga, Tq. Omerga,
Dist. Osmanabad.
2. Osman s/o. Mohd. Khan,
Age 61 years, Occu. Service as
Driver, R/o. H. No. 13/6/600,
Karkhan, Habib Nagar, Nampalli,
Hyderabad (AP). ....Respondents.
(No.2-Ori.Complainant)
Mr. C.K. Shinde, Advocate for appellant.
Mr. D.V. Tele, APP for State/respondent No. 1.
CORAM : T. V. NALAWADE, J.
DATED : 18th October 2013.
JUDGMENT :
1. The appeals are filed against judgment and order of ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 3 Sessions Case No. 19/2011, which was pending in the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, Omerga, District Osmanabad. All the appellants are convicted and sentenced for offence punishable under section 395 of Indian Penal Code and each of them is sentenced to suffer R.I. for seven years. Each appellant is also directed to pay fine of Rs. 2,000/- and in default of payment of fine, to undergo S.I. for one year. Both the sides are heard.
2. In short, the facts leading to the institution of the appeals, can be stated as follows :-
The original complainant - Usman Khan owns a jeep of Qualis company bearing AP-13/Q-7494 and at the relevant time, he was using this jeep as taxi. He is resident of Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and he used to collect passengers from Railway Station of Hyderabad.
3. On 2.6.2011 after 12.00 noon, five persons came to stop of tax and they were searching for taxi as they wanted to go to Gulbarga, Karnataka State. They first went to one Nasir Lahaji, but they did not agree with the hire charges of Rs. 4000/- claimed by Nasir and so, they went to complainant. They agreed to pay hire chares of Rs. 3800/- demanded by the complainant along with ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 4 allowances.
4. Five persons boarded jeep of complainant and then complainant started towards Gulbarga. On the way, at one toll post, one of the five persons, accused No. 1, introduced himself as the Police Officer of Karnataka State. As he showed the identity card, no toll tax was collected from him. They reached Gulbarga at 5.00 p.m. After reaching Gulbarga, the complainant demanded the fair charges. Five persons gave excuse that their Superior Officer will come there and they created a show of contacting on phone and then they asked the complainant to take the jeep towards Omerga, Maharashtra. When they crossed the distance of 60 k.m. from Gulbarga, the vehicle was stopped. At this point, severe beating was given by five persons to the complainant and they took away the jeep of the complainant in which there was mobile hand set of the complainant.
5. The complainant somehow contacted his family members and informed them about the incident. On 3.6.2011 nephew and sons of complainant reached Omerga. They first searched for the vehicle and when they could not find the vehicle, they went to Omerga Police Station and the complainant gave ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 5 report to concerned police station. The crime at C.R. No. 105/2011 came to be registered for aforesaid offence on the basis of this report. In the report, he gave the description of the jeep and also of the aforesaid five persons. As the complainant had sustained injuries, he was referred for medical examination.
6. Dilip Jadhav, one A.P.I. was attached to Omerga Police Station. He took over the investigation of the case. He sent the information to all police stations from Maharashtra with description of the jeep. After about one month of the incident, M.I.D.C. Police Station of Solapur (Maharashtra) informed Jadhav that they had seized the vehicle required by Omerga Police Station. R.T.O. number was found to be changed, but on the basis of engine number and chassis number, Jadhav identified the vehicle. In a case of theft, M.I.D.C. police of Solapur had already arrested the four accused from the present case and as the present offence also transpired during the interrogation, they were taken in custody by Jadhav in the present case. Jadhav took over the custody of the jeep from M.I.D.C. Police Station. Jadhav called complainant and after identification of the jeep and the accused in the police station by the complainant, the jeep was handed over to the complainant.
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7. A.P.I. Gundile of Omerga Police Station filed the chargesheet against the aforesaid four persons. The remaining accused Javed Ali Khan is shown as absconding accused and chargesheet is filed under section 299 of Cr.P.C. against him. In the Trial Court, all the accused pleaded not guilty. The accused took the defence of total denial. The Trial Court has believed the complainant and other driver and the Trial Court has held that the evidence of recovery of the jeep, mobile phone etc. has given necessary corroboration to the version of the complainant. Out of these four convicted accused, accused Nos. 1, 2 and 4 have filed the appeals. The points raised by their learned counsels are being discussed along with the evidence given by the State hereinafter.
8. The evidence of Usman Khan (PW 1) shows that his name was entered in R.C.T.C. book (Exh. 18) of the jeep and the Court also gave him interim custody of the vehicle. There is sufficient evidence to prove that the vehicle of the complainant was stolen and it was recovered by the M.I.D.C. Police Station, Solapur and the custody was given to PW 1.
9. PW 1 has given evidence that on the day of incident, ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 7 he was present with his aforesaid vehicle for using as a taxi at taxi stop of Nampelli Railway Station, Hyderabad. He has given evidence that accused Nos. 1 to 4 (accused who faced the trial) and one more person came to him at about 2.00 p.m. and they told that they wanted to go to Gulbarga and they wanted a taxi on hire basis. He has deposed that when the accused agreed to pay hire charges and Bhatta demanded by him, he took them in his taxi towards Gulbarga.
10. PW 1 has given evidence that they reached Gulbarga at about 5.00 p.m., but the accused did not pay the charges by giving some excuses and then they asked him to take jeep towards Omerga side. He has given evidence that when he reached at Kader Paty situated near Omerga, he stopped the jeep and demanded hire charges and allowances. He has deposed that the accused refused to pay taxi charges and they asked him to take the vehicle ahead. He has deposed that when he refused to do so, five persons gave severe beating to him and they kept him in dickie portion of the jeep. He has given evidence that when he tried to rescue himself, he fell from the jeep and after that also accused gave severe beating to him and then they took away his jeep. He was left near Kader Paty.
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11. PW 1 has given evidence that it was raining and he did not know anybody from that area. He has given evidence that he used mobile phone of pedestrian and he gave information about the incident to his family members. He has given evidence that he stayed near Kader Paty and there he was waiting for the relatives. He has given evidence that his children came there and then they went to Omerga Police Station. The report given by him is proved in his evidence as Exh. 19.
12. PW 1 has deposed that after one month of lodging F.I.R., Omerga police called him and informed him that they had recovered both jeep and handset. He has given evidence that the mobile handset was kept in the jeep by him and he identified both the jeep and the mobile handset. The mobile handset was produced in the Court as muddemal property and it was identified by PW 1. As already observed, there is the record of the jeep showing that the complainant is the owner of the jeep. In the Court, PW 1 identified all the accused as the same persons, who had given him beating and taken away the jeep from him. He has given evidence that he was in the company of these persons for eight hours and he had talk with them and so, he can identify ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 9 them. The incident took place on 2.6.2011 and the evidence of PW 1 was recorded on 1.3.2012, after about nine months. The test identification parade was not arranged.
13. The F.I.R. at Exh. 19 is consistent on the material points with the aforesaid version given by PW 1 in respect of the incident dated 2.6.2011. In the F.I.R., the chassis number and engine number of the vehicle was given by PW 1 and he had also given sufficient description of five persons, who had robbed him.
In the F.I.R., it was informed that his mobile handset was taken away as it was present in the jeep. The F.I.R. gives necessary corroboration to the version of PW 1 on material points. The supplementary statement of PW 1 was recorded on 11.7.2011 when he identified jeep.
14. In the cross examination of PW 1, it is brought on the record that from the appearance, it can be said that the age of the accused No. 1 is around 40 to 45 years. The complainant has given the age of the accused No. 1 as around 50 years in the F.I.R.
The age was approximately given and in view of the specific evidence given by the complainant and the points which are being discussed afterwards, this Court holds that this discrepancy ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 10 cannot go to the root of the case and the evidence given by PW 1 cannot be discarded. Some cross examination was made by the defence counsel on the point of delay caused in giving F.I.R. The crime came to be registered at about 14.20 hours on 4.6.2011 when the incident of robbing took place after 7.30 p.m. of 2.6.2011.
15. The evidence shows that the jeep reached near Kader Paty at about 7.45 p.m. The evidence shows that it was raining, the complainant was not knowing anybody and he was required to request somebody to allow him to use his mobile handset and the complainant then contacted the relatives. The evidence shows that he collected information from pedestrian about the police station and he walked towards that side for some time and then he again returned to Kader Paty. The distance of police station from Kader Paty is around 23 K.M. as per the suggestions given by the defence. The evidence shows that complainant had required eight hours to reach Kader Paty after starting from Hyderabad. He did not know Marathi. In view of these circumstances and as there is other convincing evidence to corroborate the version of the complainant, not much can be made in favour of the defence due to delay caused in filing of the F.I.R. The evidence on record is ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 11 sufficient to prove that the incident of robbing the complainant took place on 2.6.2011 after 7.30 p.m. The accused persons were not known to the complainant prior to 2.6.2011 and there was no reason for him to falsely implicate them in the case. The material on the record is sufficient to prove that the jeep was stolen, it was recovered by the police and it was returned to the complainant.
16. Nasir (PW 4), another taxi driver of Hydrabad has given evidence that on 2.6.2011 when he was present at aforesaid taxi stop, two persons approached him to take his taxi on hire basis. He has given evidence that two persons wanted to go to Gulbarga. He has given evidence that they did not agree to pay the charges demanded by him and so, they went to other driver. He has given evidence that those two persons approached one Musa driver and then the complainant. Nasir has identified the accused Nos. 1 and 4 in the Court as the same two persons.
Though the evidence of the complainant shows that five persons had come to him, the evidence is on actual carrying of five persons to Gulbarga side and so, not much can be made out due to this discrepancy. The evidence of Nasir shows that these two accused were shown to him in Omerga Police Station and he had identified them. As per the record, his statement was recorded on ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 12 5.6.2011 and supplementary statement was recorded on 11.7.2011. Nothing is brought on the record to create doubt about his version. His evidence was recorded on 4.4.2012 and that is consistent with the evidence of complainant (PW 1). Even if, it is presumed that the evidence of Nasir is not believable, there is other evidence which is convincing in nature.
17. Dr. Patil (PW 5) has given evidence that he examined PW 1 on 4.6.2011 and he found injuries like abrasions and contusions on right side forehead, right leg and right arm. He has deposed that the age of the injury was between 24 hours and 48 hours. There is some inconsistency in the certificate, which is produced at Exh. 25. But, it appears that extract of M.L.C. register was brought by him in the Court and the evidence was given on the basis of M.L.C. register. The evidence of this witness is not much disputed and that can be seen from the tenor of cross examination.
18. Shivaji (PW 8), a panch witness on the panchanama of seizure of jeep has given evidence that on 2.7.2011 he acted as a panch witness for M.I.D.C. Solapur police. He has deposed that police seized the jeep from the possession of one Salim Shaikh of ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 13 Dhanlaxmi Nagar, Raichur. The panchanama at Exh. 31 is proved in his evidence. The evidence of the witness and Exh. 31 show that Solapur police were searching for a stolen tempo from C.R.
No. 120/2011 registered in their police station and they recovered the jeep from Salim Shaikh by chance. The other evidence given by panch witness regarding the persons, who had given the jeep (accused Sagar and Amar) to Salim cannot be used, but the fact remains that the evidence shows that the jeep of the complainant was recovered from one Salim Shaikh of Dhanlaxmi Nagar, Raichur. This evidence gives corroboration to the version of PW 1 and it shows that the jeep was recovered by Solapur police by chance on 2.7.2011. It can be said that in such a case, it was desirable for the Investigating Officer of the present case to record the statement of Investigating Officer from Solapur Police Station and it was also desirable to examine Salim Shaikh as a witness. Thus, the evidence could have been specific as against two accused named by the panch witness.
19. Jadhav (PW 9), the Investigating Officer, has given evidence that during investigation he received information from Solapur M.I.D.C. police that they had arrested accused Nos. 1 to 4 in one offence of theft and they had recovered stolen jeep ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 14 required by Omerga Police. He has given evidence that he took the accused Nos. 1 to 4 in custody from Solapur police and he also took the custody of jeep.
20. PW 9 has deposed that during investigation, he realised that accused No. 1 had committed theft of mobile handset. He has deposed that he recovered mobile handset under panchanama at Exh. 33. It can be said that the evidence of PW 9 is not strictly as per the requirements of provisions of section 27 of the Evidence Act. No specific substantive evidence is given on the statement made by accused No. 1 and the memorandum of it prepared by Jadhav. Exh. 33, contains both the memorandum of statement of accused No. 1 and panchanama of seizure of mobile handset. In such a case, it is also the duty of the Trial Court to see that the evidence is properly tendered by the prosecution. It is always desirable that two incidents mentioned in Exh. 33 viz.
giving of the statement by the accused and the recovery of things on the basis of statement, are separately proved and recorded in the evidence. This document was prepared on 10.7.2011. The panch witness of this document has turned hostile. However, handset is identified by PW 1 in the Court. Though, this evidence cannot be used specifically as against accused No.1, in view of ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 15 the aforesaid circumstances, this circumstance gives corroboration to the version of complainant that his mobile handset was present in the jeep and it was also stolen.
21. One Sayyed (PW 3), nephew of PW 1 is examined to prove that on 2.6.2011 at about 10.30 to 11 p.m. PW 1 contacted him and informed him about the incident. His evidence shows that he and other relatives of PW 1 went to Kader Paty and there they met the complainant. He has given evidence that he acted as a panch witness when police prepare the spot panchanama at Exh.
22. Nothing incriminating was found on the spot. The evidence of this witness can be used only to show that the complainant was waiting at Kader Paty and the incident had taken place at Kader Paty.
22. The aforesaid circumstances and evidence show that the prosecution has proved that the complainant was robbed of his mobile handset and the jeep by five persons. The complainant has identified the accused, who were available for trial in the Court. The learned defence counsel submitted that the circumstance like not holding of T.I. parade needs to be used against the prosecution and the benefit of this lacuna needs to be ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 16 given to the defence. On this point, the learned APP placed reliance on the case reported as AIR 2003 SUPREME COURT 2669 [Malkhansingh and Ors. Vs. State of M.P.]. The Apex Court has made following observations :-
"7. It is trite to say that the substantive evidence is the evidence of identification in court. Apart from the clear provisions of section 9 of the Evidence Act, the position in law is well settled by a catena of decisions of this Court. The facts, which establish the identity of the accused persons, are relevant under section 9 of the Evidence Act. As a general rule, the substantive evidence of a witness is the statement made in court. The evidence of mere identification of the accused person at the trial for the first time is from its very nature inherently of a weak character. The purpose of a prior test identification, therefore, is to test and strengthen the trustworthiness of that evidence. It is accordingly considered a safe rule of prudence to generally look for corroboration of the sworn testimony of witnesses in court as to the identity of the accused who are strangers to them, in the form of earlier identification proceedings. This rule of prudence, however, is subject to exceptions, when, for example, the court is impressed by a particular witness on whose testimony it can ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 17 safely rely, without such or other corroboration.
The identification parades belong to the stage of investigation, and there is no provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure, which obliges the investigating agency to hold, or confers a right upon the accused to claim, a test identification parade. They do not constitute substantive evidence and these parades are essentially governed by section 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Failure to hold a test identification parade would not make inadmissible the evidence of identification in court. The weight to be attached to such identification should be a matter for the courts of fact. In appropriate cases it may accept the evidence of identification even without insisting on corroboration. (See Kanta Prashad vs. Delhi Administration, AIR 1958 SC 350; Vaikuntam Chandrappa and others vs. State of Andhra Pradesh: AIR 1960 SC 1340 ; Budhsen and another vs. State of U.P., AIR 1970 SC 1321 and Rameshwar Singh vs. State of Jammu and Kashmir : (1971) 2 SCC 715."
23. In the present case, the evidence is sufficient to show that the complainant had negotiations with the accused when they settled the hire charges and allowances. The evidence shows that complainant took the convicted accused from Hydrabad to ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 18 Kader Paty and they were in the company of the complainant for about eight hours. The evidence shows that the complainant and accused were talking with each other during this period. The evidence shows that the incident of giving beating to the complainant also took place at about 7.30 p.m. The evidence on record shows that accused No. 1 was posing himself as a Police Officer of Karnataka State. The evidence shows that there was sufficient opportunity to PW 1 to observe accused Nos. 1 to 4 and also to remember them. Though the evidence was recorded after about 9 months of the incident, this Court holds that due to these circumstances the evidence of complainant cannot be discarded.
This Court holds that PW 1 needs to be believed. The Trial Court has believed him.
24. The facts and circumstances of the present case and the observations made by the Apex Court in the case cited supra, show that what matters is the substantive evidence given in the Court. It can be said that at the time of appreciation of evidence of such a witness, the Court is required to take into consideration the factors like the opportunity, which the witness had to observe the accused, the ability of the witnesses to observe and remember the things, the necessity to observe and remember ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 19 things due to peculiar occupation, the specific overtacts of the accused due to which there was reason to remember a particular accused by the witness and the description of the persons, which was given by the witness before the police immediately after the incident. The facts and circumstances of each and every case are always different and it is the duty of the Court to come to the conclusion as to whether such witness needs to be believed even when no test identification parade was held. The Court may use the other relevant circumstances in such a case which can give corroboration to the version of such witness. In view of peculiar facts of the case, this Court holds that PW 1 needs to be believed.
25. The discussion made above shows that the Trial Court has not committed error in convicting the accused Nos. 1 to 4 for the offence punishable under section 395 of I.P.C. Only thing in favour of accused/appellants is that they did not cause serious injuries to the complainant. The Trial Court has sentenced them to suffer R.I. for seven years. The appellants are behind bars since July 2011 and that period is around two years. In view of the facts and circumstances of this case and also the nature of evidence given in the case against the accused, this Court holds that the sentence of imprisonment already undergone is just and sufficient ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 ::: Cri. Appeal 359, 389 & 399/12 20 as substantive sentence and they can be made to pay fine.
Considering the fact that they are behind bars for long period, this Court holds that a lenient view can be taken and the sentence of imprisonment given in default of payment of fine cab be reduced.
In the result, the following order :-
ORDER (I) The appeals are partly allowed.
(II)
The substantive sentence given to the
appellants is reduced and they are to suffer the imprisonment of the period already undergone and they are to pay fine amount of Rs. 2000/- each. In default of payment of fine, each of them is to undergo S.I. for one month.
(III) If the fine amount is deposited, they are to be released, if not required in any other crime.
(IV) The Trial Court is expected to preserve the record as one accused is shown as absconding accused.
[ T. V. NALAWADE, J. ] ssc/ ::: Downloaded on - 27/11/2013 20:27:39 :::