Holding

Only Aloke Nath was proved guilty of murder; the other accused were acquitted, and Aloke Nath's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

Summary

The case involved the murder of Biswanath Dutta, allegedly committed by his brother Aloke Nath Dutta to facilitate the sale of family property. Aloke Nath made an extra‑judicial confession admitting to the killing, while co‑accused Mrinal Dutta gave a judicial confession that was later retracted, alleging police torture. The trial court convicted all four accused based largely on circumstantial evidence and the confessions, sentencing Aloke Nath and two others to death and the fourth to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court held that only Aloke Nath's guilt was proved beyond doubt; the other accused could not be convicted on the basis of a retracted confession or mere participation in the property fraud. Consequently, Aloke Nath's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and the convictions of the other three appellants were set aside.

Issues considered

Whether the circumstantial evidence established a conspiracy among all accused to murder Biswanath Dutta.
Whether a retracted judicial confession of a co‑accused can be used to convict other accused under Section 30 of the Evidence Act.
The admissibility and evidentiary value of Aloke Nath's extra‑judicial confession.
Whether the procedural safeguards under Section 164 of the CrPC were complied with in recording the confession.
Whether the offence qualifies as a 'rarest of rare' case warranting the death penalty.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 164, s. 24, s. 311, s. 313
Indian Evidence Act, 1872s. 114, s. 24, s. 27, s. 30
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 120B, s. 201, s. 302, s. 34

Subjects

conspiracymurdercircumstantial evidenceextra‑judicial confessionretracted confessiondeath penaltyrarest of rareIndian Evidence ActSection 30 Evidence ActSection 164 CrPCSection 24 Evidence ActSection 311 CrPCSection 313 CrPC

Judgment

....
ALOKE NA TH DUITA AND ORS.
A
v..
STATE OF WEST BENGAL

DECEMBER 12, 2006

B [ S.B. SINHA AND DAL VEER BHANDARI, JJ.]

Penal Code, 1860:

ss. 120B/302 and 201134--Conspiracy and murder-Prosecution case
C against four accused based on circumstantial evidence-Second accused
impersonating as brother offirst accused and signing some papers for sale
of property-Other accused signing as witnesses-Dead body of brother of
first accused found concealed in a newly erected platform in his house-
Extra-judicial confession of first accused stating to have killed his brother
as deceased was not agreeable to the sale of ancestral property-He did not
D state other accused to have participated in the crime-Retracted judicial
confession of second accused involving other accused--But stating that
before taking to Magistrate for recordhg confession, he was taken to police
station, tortured and tutored-No other evidence suggesting participation of
other accused in crime-Held, there is no eye-witness of the incident-
£ Signing of certain documents by one accused impersonating deceased and
other accused signing as witnesses per se would not lead to conclusion that
other accused agreed with first accused to eliminate his brother-In absence
of any substantive evidence other accused cannot be convicted merely on
basis of retracted confession and are, therefore, acquitted-First accused
convicted u/s 302 and his sentence commuted to imprisonment for life-
F Retracted confession-Evidentiary value of-Circumstantial evidence.
Evidence Act, 1872:

Extra-judicial confession-Admissibility of in evidence-Held, law does
not envisage taking on record entire confession by making it an exhibit
G incorporating both admissible and inadmissible part thereof together-On
facts, only that part of confession which is admissible would be leading to
recovery of dead body and/or articles of deceased-Purported confession
proceeded to state even the mode and manner in which deceased was
allegedly killed-This part is not to be taken on record
662
H
ALO KE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL 663
Confession before Magistrate-Recording of-Factors, besides A
procedural safeguards, to be taken into consideration-Discussed-Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973-s.164.

s.24-Confession retracted stating that it was recorded after being
tortured and tutored by police-Evidentiary value of-Held, retracted
confession is a weak evidence-No judgment of conviction to be passed on B
an uncorroborated retracted confession-Factors to be taken into
consideration while testing veracity of a retracted confession-Discussed-
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973-Constitution of India, 1950-Articles
20(3) and 21.

s.30-Proved confession-Affecting person making it, and co-accused- C
Evidentiary value of

s.114-Presumption-Plea of accused that before taking to Magistrate
for recording his confession, he was taken to police station and tortured and
tutored-Application filed to call for jail records to prove this-Record not
produced-Trial court drawing inference that record had been destroyed- D
Held, no such inference could be drawn in /aw-Court should give benefit
of doubt to accused instead of prosecution.

Appellants A-1 to A-4 were prosecuted for offences punishable under
ss. 120B/302, 302/34 and 201134 IPC. The prosecution case was that A-1, E
who had vices of gambling and horse racing etc. took advance from PW-15
and PW-8, to whom he intended to sell the house property of which he was a
co-owner along with his other three elder brothers namely PWs 3,4 and
deceased 'B' and one sister(PW-5). His ~Ider brother 'B' was livi.ng in the
same hotise while his other two brothers were living separately. 'B' was not
in favour of sale of the property; other brothers were not even aware of it. F
The transactions with regard to sale of the property in favour of PW-15 and
PW-8 were being made as if 'B' was a party thereto. A-2 was said to have
been impersonating 'B' and signing several documents. A-1 to A-4 were
alleged to have committed murder of 'B' in the night between 22/23.1.1994
and concealed the dead body by erecting a platform in the room. A-1 made an
extra judicial confession before PWs-3, 4,6 and 15 and some tenants that he G
had throttled 'B' to death. When interrogated by police A-1 made a confession
that he had concealed the dead body of' B' in the newly constructed platform
· in the room. The platform was dismantled and a skeleton was recovered which
was identified to be of'B'. A-2 was also made a statement under s. 164 Cr.P.C.
H
664 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A before Metropolitan Magistrate on 31.3.1994 which he later retracted. The
trial court relied upon the circumstantial evidence and the confessions and
convicted A-1, A-2 and A-3 under ss. 302/1208, 302/34 IPC and sentenced
them to death. A-4 was found guilty under s.302/34 IPC and was sentenced
to imprisonment for life. All the four accused were also convicted under s.201/
B 34. The High Court found no ground to interfere with the judgment and order
of the trial court. Aggrieved, the accused filed the present appeals.

It was contended for the appellants, inter a/ia, that (1) the circumstantial
evidence brought on record was not sufficient to bring home the charge of
conspiracy against the appellants to commit the murder; (2) Courts below
C erred in not distinguishing between a larger conspiracy to commit a murder
and a relatively smaller conspiracy for impersonation of deceased by A-2 and
committing the offence of forgery and cheating; (3) that purported extra
judicial confession made by A-1 was confined to acceptance of his own guilt
and as such all the appellants could not have been convicted u/s 302/34 IPC;
(4) judgment of conviction could not have been arrived at on the basis of judicial
D confession made by A-2 which was retracted and was thus of a weak evidentiary
value especially when there was no corroboration thereof; and (5) the case
being based on circumstantial evidence and there being no eye-witness, the
prosecution could not be said to have established all the links in the chain so
as to prove commission of offence by appellants.

E On the question : Whether A-1 hatched a conspiracy with the other
appellants to do away with his brother and dispose of his dead body,

Allowing the appeals of A-2, A-3 and A-4, and partly allowing the appeal
of A-1, the Court

F HELD:l.1. There is no direct evidence to show that other appellants also
conspired with A-1 to kill his brother and dispose of his dead body. Their
presence had not been noticed by any of the witnesses. Nobody saw them
together in the house. Nobody saw A-2 coming to the house even once. It is
true that it is difficult to have direct evidence of conspiracy, but to prove
G conspiracy hatched to commit a heinous crime, circumstantial evidence
brought on record must be such which would have no loose ends to tie.
1681-E]

1.2. From the evidence of PWs 7,8,10,14,15 and 16, though it is
sufficiently clear that A-1 and A-2 conspired to sell the property, but their
H evidences taken in entirety, however, do not lead to the conclusion that they
ALO KE NATH DUTT Av. STATE OF WEST BENGAL 665

conspired to murder the deceased. (682-D) A
1.3. So far as A-1 is concerned, having regard to the charges framed,
both the circumstantial evidence as also the extra judicial confession made
by him are relevant. His further statements leading to the recovery of the
dead body as also recovery of articles belonging to his deceased brother are
also relevant. It has also been proved that he sold some ofthe articles belonging B
to the deceased. (691-H; 692-Al

2.1. The confession made by A-1 has not been brought on record in a
manner contemplated by law. Law does not envisage taking on record the
entire confession by marking it an exhibit incorporating both the admissible C
and inadmissible part thereof together. Only that part of confession which .is
admissible would be leading to the recovery of dead body and/or recovery of
articles of deceased. The purported confession proceeded to state even the
mode and manner in which deceased was allegedly killed. It should not have
been done. It may influence the mind of the court. (692~B]
D
State of Maharashtra v. Damu Slo Gopinath Shinde & Ors., (2000] 6
SCC 269; Anter Singh v State of Rajasthan, (2004) 10 SCC 657 and
Dhananjoy Chatterjee@ Dhana v. State of West Bengal, (1994) J SCC 220,
referred to.

2.2. Prosecution witnesses have deposed that A-1 made confession before E
them; and in view of the evidences on record, it has to be held that the same
was voluntary in nature. The confession having been spontaneous in the form
of natural response to a stressful stimulus made at the spur of the moment,
ther~ is no reason as to why t~e same should be discard~d. A-1 made extra
judicial confession not only in presence of his own elder brothers PW-3 and
PW-4, but also in the presence of his nephew (PW-6), the intending purchaser F
of the house (PW-15) as also the two tenants of the premises, PW-18 and
PW-19. The evidences of these witnesses are consistent and there is no reason
to disagree with findings of the courts below in this behalf. [694-F; 695-C]

Heramba Brahma and Anr. v. State of Assam, AIR (1982) SC 1595, G
distinguished.

State of Rajasthan v. Raja Ram, [2003] 8 SCC 180; Gagan Kanojia
and Anr. v. State ofPunjab Criminal Appeal Nos. 561-62, 563 of 2005, decided
on 24.11.2006; Nazir Khan & Ors, v. State of Delhi, [2003} 8 SCC 461; Ram
Khilari v. State of Rajasthan., [1999] 9 SCC 89; and Namala Subba Rao v. H
666 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A State ofA.P., [2006] (10) SCALE 253; State ofRajasthan v. Kashi Ram, (2006)
1J SCALE 440; and Ku/winder Singh v. State ofPunjab Criminal Appeal No.
675 of 2006 decided on 05.12.2006, relied on.

2.3. In his confession A-1 takes the entire blame on himself. The
courts below have not erred in opining that extra judicial confession of A-1 is
B not in any way doubtful. The circumstances enumerated by the trial Judge in
the light of the evidences brought on record and the extra judicial confession
made by A-1 lead to only one conclusion that the dead body recovered was that
of the deceased and it was A-1 who was responsible for his death. On the
evidence on record, the involvement of A-1 is proved beyond any shadow of
C doubt. He has, therefore, rightly been convicted of charges leveled against
him. [697-G; 694-C)

3.1. Appellants other than A-1, had not been seen by anybody else
immediately before or after the alleged occurrence. In fact, there is no eye-
witness to the alleged occurrence. The neighbours were also not examined to
D show that any untoward incident had taken place. There is furthermore no
evidence on record to show that any of A-2 to A-4 had even taken part in
concealment of the dead body. The prosecution did not examine any witness
· to establish the case as to how the other appellants had helped A-1 in procuring
bricks and cement or whether any other person had helped him in concealment
of the dead body. So far as extra-judicial confession of A-1 is concerned, he
E implicated only himself and did not implicate any other person in the
conspiracy. Thus, there is no evidence in regard to the meeting of mind witli
reference to the plot of murder. A-1 evidently was in a desperate situation.
He required money. Others did not. Motive on the part of other appellants
is not explicit. Therefore, others cannot be treated to be his accomplice. Even
p the statements made by him, leading to recovery of the dead body or other
articles belonging to the deceased, do not implicate the other appellants in
any manner whatsoever. [698-E, D, G, HJ

3.2. Assuming that other appellants conspired with A-1 for selling the
house. Signing of certain documents, impersonation of deceased by A-2 or
G the other appellants' signing the said documents as witnesses, per se would
not lead to the conclusion that at any point of time they had agreed with A-1
that deceased should be eliminated. There is no eye-witness to the occurrence.
Nobody has noticed any suspicious conduct on part of other appellants
indicating their role in committing murder or disposing the dead body. While
H dealing with a case of grave nature like the present one, there is always a
ALO KE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL 667
danger that conjectures and suspicion may take the place of legal truth. This A
court has laid down guidelines from time to time in regard to a finding of
guilt solely on the basis of circumstantial evidence in a number of cases.
(699-A-DJ

Hanumant Govind Nargundkar and Anr. v. State of Madhya Pradesh,
AIR (1952) SC 343; Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra, AIR B
(1984) SC 1622 = (1984) 4 SCC 116; Kashmira Singh v. State of MP., AIR
(1952) SC 159; Swaran Singh Rattan Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR (1957)
SC 637; Mousam Singha Roy and Ors. v. State of West Bengal, [2003) 12
SCC 377; Shankaria v. State of Rajasthan, (1978) 3 SCC 435 and Anil@
Raju Namdev Patil v. Administration of Daman and Diu, Daman and Anr., C
(2006) 12 SCALE 516, relied on.

Muthuswami v. State of Madras, AIR (1954) SC 4, referred to.

4.1. As regards retracted confession of A-2, considering the guarantee
under Article 20 (3) and also humanizing standards under Article 21 of the
Constitution of India, the Court need to tread cautiously while construing D
retracted confession. Although such caution is subject to some exceptions
such as per se evidence of the motivating factors of retraction or retraction
based on extraneous circumstances. To withdraw from what has been said
previously needs to be interpreted in the vein of right to remain silent as an
extension of this civil liberty. In similar vein the law on retracted confession E
must be judged in the context of each case. (7~4-G; 705-G, H; 706-AJ

Smt. Nandini Satpathy v. P.L. Dani and Anr., AIR (1978) SC 1025; State
(N.C. T. of Delhi) v. Navjot Sandhu @ Afsan Guru, [2005] 11 SCC 600;
Directorate of Enforcement v. Deepak Mahajan and Anr., [1994) 3 SCC 440
and Balkishan A. Devidayal v. State of Maharashtra, [1980] 4 SCC 600, p
referred to.

4.2. In a case, where confession is made in the presence of a Magistrate
conforming to the requirements of Section 164 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973, if it is retracted at a later stage, the court should probe
deeper into the matter. Judicial confession must be recorded in strict G
compliance of the provisions of Section 164 of the Code. It is to be borne in
mind that despite the fact that procedural safeguards contained in Section
164. may be satisfied, the courts must also look for truthfulness and
voluntariness thereof. Where there is no objective material available for
verifying the conditions in which the confession was retracted, the spirit of H
section 24 of the Evidence Act (irrelevance of confession caused by inducement)
668 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A may be extended to retracted confession. An inverse presumption must be
drawn from absence of materials. (707-B, D, F-H; 708-AJ

Babubhai Udesinh Parmar v. State of Gujarat, (2006] 12 SCALE 385,
relied on.

B 4.3. It is a well-known principle of law that a retracted confession is a
week evidence. In a case of retracted confession, the courts while arriving at
a finding of guilt would not ordinarily rely solely thereupon and would look
forward for corroboration of material particulars by independent and cogent
evidence. Such corroboration must not be referable in nature. Such
corroboration must be independent and conclusive in nature. Although
C retracted confession is admissible, the same should be looked with some
amount of suspicion - a stronger suspicion than that which is attached to
the confession of an approver who leads e''iuence to the court
[712-F; 708-B; 710-BJ

Sidharth and Ors v. State of Bihar, (2005] 12 SCC 545 and State of Tamil
D Nadu v. Kutty@ Lakshmi Narsimhan, (2001) 6 SCC 550, distinguished.

Bharat v. State of UP, [1971) 3 SCC 950; Kora Ghasi v. State, [1983) 2
SCC 251, Preetam v. State of MP, [1996) 10 SCC 432, and Bhagwan Singh v.
State ofMP, (2003) 3 SCC 21, referred to.

E· 4.4. No judgment of conviction shall be passed on an uncorroborated
retracted confession. The court shall consider the materials on record
objectively in regard to the reasons for retraction. It must arrive at a finding
that the confession was truthful and voluntary. Merit of the confession being
the voluntariness and truthfulness, the same, in no circumstances, should be
F compromised. (709-G)

4.5. In the instant case, it is true that sufficient time was given (two
days) to A-2 to confirm his willingness to confess and finalize the contents of
the confession. The reasons for which the confession had been retracted and
th~ subsequent events wherein the appellants intended to prove a certain state
G of affairs, namely, although A-2 was supposed to have been produced directly
from the jail to the Magistrate concerned but in fact he was taken out of jail
2 Y2 hours before the time fixed therefor, could be a pointer to the fact as to
whether the confession was a voluntary one. He was, as subsequently asserted
by him, first taken to the Police Station and was threatended and tortured
and was also tutored as to what he should tell the Magistrate in his confession.
H PW-48the1.0. was cross examined on this point and suggestions were also
ALOKENATHDUTTA v. STATE OF WEST BENGAL 669
given to him which he denied. (711-G-H; 714-E) A
4.6. The fact that the accused was produced from the police custody is
accepted. But it was considered in a routine manner. The Magistrate in his
evidence could not even state as to whether the appellants had any injury on
his person or whether there had been any tainted marks therefor. Further,
on 4. J0.2002, the lawyer appearing for appellant no. 2 made a submission B
that an application had been filed praying for calling of some records from
the Presidency Jail. No order had been passed thereupon. It was contended
that he had been taken from Jail at 10.00 a.m .. The records were directed to
be produced. However from the order sheet dated 14.11.2002 it appears that
the said records had not been produced. On 17.01.2003 a prayer had again C
been made on behalf of A-2 that steps would be taken for production of the
documents in terms of order dated 04.10.2002. [707-E; 710-C-D]

4. 7. It is expected in a situation of this nature that the court will issue
a suo motu direction to the authority to produce the records. There was
absolutely no reason as to why the records would not be produced by the Jail D
authorities for a period of two months. If the said records had not been
produced, it was obligatory on the part of the court to issue a suo motu notice.
If a public authority does not produce a document despite being called upon to
do so; an adverse inference is to be drawn. Converse is not the law. (711-Fl

4.8. There was no reason for the court to draw an adverse inference E
that the records had been destroyed. No such inference could be drawn in
law either in terms of Section 114 of the Evidence Act or any other law. The
period during which such documents are preserved under the provisions of
the jail manual have not been referred to. No evidence was brought on record
to show that the documents had in fact been destroyed. The least the jail
authorities could do was to produce the destruction register. (712-C] F
4.9. In the aforementioned backdrop, the court should give the benefit
of doubt to the accused instead of the prosecution. The trial Judge should not
have closed the case. He should have invoked his jurisdiction under Section
311 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the interest of justice and instead
of blaming the defence for non-examination of the Superintendent of Jail, the G
court itself should have called upon authorities to produce the document The
presumption raised by the court in this behalf is wholly misconceived.
(712-D)

5.1. In the instant case, there is no independent evidence adduced on
behalf of the prosecution to prove conspiracy with regard to cheating and H
670 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A forgery of documents and impersonation. They had been sought to be proved
by the supplementary circumstantial evidences. The courts below have failed
to notice the legality of the judicial confession. There did not exist any
evidence against A-2. The courts apparently considered the confessions of
A-1 and then started connecting links therefrom and again came back to the
confession for completing the chain. (714-F-G-H]
B
5.2. The evidences merely established to defraud the intending
purchasers. At that point of time, A-1 thought it fit to do away with his brother
as he was proved to be an obstruction in his attempt to dispose of the property.
The other appellants might or might not have joined hands with him, but unless
there exist sufficient and cogent reasons to link them with the alleged crime
C committed by A-1, it may not be said that they are also guilty thereof.
. (715-B-C)

5.3. Furthermore, so far as the accusations against A-3 and A-4 are
concerned, the only evidence against them was the judicial confession of A-
2. The same was admissible against them only under Section 30 of the Evidence
D Act. It is not in dispute that apart from general evidence in regard to
commission of forgery etc., only evidence of involvement of A-3 and A-4 is
the judicial confession made by A~2. The extra judicial confession made by
A-1 before the prosecution witnesses does not implicate these appellants. Only
in his judicial confession, A-2 has assigned roles to these accused persons
as having common intention to commit the offence of murder of deceased with
E A-1. (715-D-F]

5.4. The expression 'the court may take into consideration such
confession' appearing in s.30 of Evident Act is significant. It signifies that
such confession by the maker as against the co-accused should be treated as
a piece of corroborative evidence. In absence of any substantive evidence, no
F judgment of conviction can be recorded only on the basis of confession of a
co-accused, be it extra judicial confession or a judicial confession and least
of all on the basis of retracted confession. What is furthermore required to
be considered is that if a retracted confession itself is weak evidence, the
question of conviction of a co-accused on the basis thereof would not arise.
Therefore, this part of the judgment of the trial judge cannot be sustained.
G (716-B-C)

Ram Parkash v. The State of Punjab, (1959) SCR 1219; Bhuboni Sahu
v. R., AIR (1949) PC 257; Hari Charan Kurmi and Jogia Hajam v. State of
Bihar, (1964) 6 SCR 623; Subramania Goundan v. The State of Madras,
AIR (1958) SC 66; Pyare Lal Bhargava v. State of Rajas than, AIR (1963) SC
H 1094; Puran v. The State of Punjab, AIR (1953) SC 459; Balbir Singh v. State
•'
ALO KE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL 671
of Punjab, AIR (1957) SC 216; Nand Kumar and Ors. v. State of Rajasthan, A .
(1963) Crl. Ll 702; State of Maharashtra v. Bharat Chaganlal Raghani and
Ors., (2001] 9 SCC I; Jameel Ahmed and Alir v. State of Rajasthan, (2003)
9 SCC 673 and Parmananda Pegu v. State ofAssam, AIR (2004) SC 4197,
referred to.

R.. v. Thompson, (1893), 2 QB 12, 18 ; R v. Babula/, 6 A 509, 542, 543, B
referred to.

Sarkar on Evidence, 15th Edn., Volume 1- page 466, referred to.

6.1. Sentencing indisputably is a part of criminal jurisprudence. More
importantly, in death penalty references sentencing issue requires serious C
deliberation. Cases of this nature warrant objective evaluation ofindicia and
legal thresholds. When a statute provides for death penalty, so long as the .
same is not ultra vires, application thereof cannot be altogether eliminated.
But keeping in view the decision of the Constitution Bench of this Court, the
juriStliction of the Court in this behalf is limited. Death penalty can be D
awarded only if in the opinion of the court, the case answers the description
of rarest of rare cases. What would constitute a rarest of rare cases must be
determined in the fact situation obtaining in each case. (726-F; 727-C)

Union ofIndia (UOI) and Ors. v. Devendra Rai, (2006) 2 SCC 243; State
of MP. through CBI and Ors. v. Pa/tan Mal/ah and Ors., (2005) 3 SCC 169; E
Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, [1980) 2 SCC 684 =AIR (1980) SCC 898;
Machhi Singh and Ors. v. State ofPunjab, (1983) 3 SCC 470; Sevaka Perumal
v. State of Tamil Nadu, AIR (1991) SC 1463; Devender Pal Singh v. State of
NCTof Delhi, AIR (2002) SC 1661; Dhananj~y Chatterjee@ Dhana v._State
of West Bengal & Ors., (2004) 9 SCC 759; Saibanna v. State of Karnataka,
JT (2005) 5 SC 564 = (2005) 4 SCC 165; Ram Anup Singh and Ors v. State F
of Bihar, [2002) 6 SCC 686, Bachittar Singh and Anr v. State of Punjab,
[2002) 8 SCC 125; Surendra Pal Shivbalakpal v. State ofGujarat, (2005) 3
SCC 127; State of Maharashtra v. Man Singh, [2005( 3 SCC 131; Rama
Subramanian v. State of Kera/a, AIR (2006) SC 639 ; State of Rajasthan v.
Kheraj Ram, (2003) 8 SCC 224; State of UP. v. Salish, (2005) 3 SCC 114; G
Holiram Bordoloi v. State ofAssam, 120051 3 SCC 793 and Pratap Singh v.
State of Jharkhand and Anr., (2005( 3 SCC 551, relied on.

Jaswant Gir v. State of Punjab, 12005] 12 SCC 438; Amrii Singh v. State
of Punjab, [2006) 11 SCALE 309; Major Singh and Anr. v. State of Punjab,
[2006) to SCALE 354; Renuka Bai@ Rinku@ Ratan & Anr. v. State of H
672 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A Maharashtra, 12006] 7 SCC 442, 12006] 8 SCALE 604; Gurmeet Singh v.
State of Uttar Pradesh, [2005] 12 SCC 107; Mithu v. State of Punjab, [19831
2 SCR 690; Sahdeo and Ors etc. v. State of UP., [2004] 10 SCC 682; Sheikh
/shaqe and Ors. v. State of Bihar, (1995] 3 SCC 392; Kishori v. State of
Delhi, 11999) 1SCC148; Ba/raj v. State of UP., 11994) 4 SCC 29; Jashubha
B Bharatsing Gohil and Ors., [1994) 4 SCC 353; and Union of India, (UOI)
and Ors. v. Devendra Rai, [2006) 2 SCC 243, referred to.

Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002); Reyes v. R ,(2002) UKPC 11 :
12 BHRC 219; Hughes, R v. (Saint Lucia), (2002) UKPC 12; Roper v. Simmons,
543 U.S. 551 (2005), referred to.
c 6.2. The facts of this case do not make out the case to be one of rarest
of rare cases. The manner of commission of offence may be gruesome.
Deceased was killed while he was in deep slumber, but the method applied
cannot be said to be cruel. The reason for commission of the murder is greed
of money on the part of A-1 which evidently arose out the result of his bad
D habits. He was pu~hed back to such a situation where he thought that he had
no other option but to kill his brother. The prosecution has not brought out
any material to show that A-1 had not been maintaining good relations with
his deceased brother. There might have been difference of opinion between
the brothers in regard to the question of sale of the house, but there is nothing
to say one way or the other in this behalf. Besides, in the facts and
E circumstances of the case, prosecution having failed to prove the case of
conspiracy against A-1 the case cannot be said to be one constituting rarest
of rare cases. There is no special reason for awarding death penalty which is
imperative. There are some precedents of this Court which are authorities
for the proposition that if the offence is proved by circumstantial evidence
F ordinarily death penalty should not be awarded. Following the said precedents
instead and, thus, in place of awarding the death penalty, sentence of rigorous
imprisonment for life is imposed as against A-1. Furthermore, there is no
special reason for awarding death penalty which is imperative.
1725-G; 727-F-G; 728-B)

G Sahdeo and Ors etc. v. State of UP., 12004110 SCC 682; Sheikh Ishaqe
and Ors v. State of Bihar, 11995) 3 SCC 392, relied on.

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal Nos. 8867-
868 of2005.

From the final Judmgnet and Order dated 4.3.2005 of the High Court of
H Calcutta at Calcutta in Death Reference No.2 of2003 and Crl. A. Nos. 396, 489/
ALO KE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL (S.B. SINHA, J.] 673
2003. A
WITH

Criminal Appeal No. 875 of2005.

Pradip Ghosh, Manohar Singh Bakshi (A.C.) Rauf Rahim and Mohd. B
Iqbal for the Appellants.

Altaf Ahmed, A vijit Bhattacharjee, Kaji Safiulla, Saumya Kundu and
Bikash Kargupta, for the Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
c
S.B. SINHA, J. INTRODUCTION :

Premise No.2C, a three storied building situate at Beadon Street situated
. in the town of Kolkata, belonged to one Jagannath Dutta. He transferred the
said property in favour of his wife Arunamoyee Dutta on certain terms and D
conditions wherewith we are not concerned. She had four sons and one
daughter. During her life time, tWo of the sons, namely, Biswanath Dutta
(deceased) and Aloke Nath Dutta, (appellant), were residing with her. Biswanath
used to stay at the second floor with some tenants occupying some portions
thereof; whereas Aloke Nath Dutta used to reside on the first floor. Her
daughter Anuradha Das was married and was residing at Jadavpore. Two E
other sons, namely, Amar Nath Dutta (PW-4) and Samar Nath Dutta (PW-3)
were residing in the towns of Chandannagore and Bararast respectively.

Arunamoyee Dutta died intestate in April, 1993. Aloke Nath was working
with Kolkata Police, whereas Biswanath was employed in the United Bank of
India. Biswanath was a bachelor, whereas Aloke Nath is married. Mamata F
one of the appellants herein, is Aloke Nath's wife. Sister of Mamata and
her husband Shib Sankar Roy @ Gobinda@ Babu Roy were also residing on
the first floor.

Appellants herein are alleged to have entered into a conspiracy to
commit the murder of Biswanath on 22.01.1994 at the first floor of the said G
premises, the details whereof, we would deal with hereinafter.

PROSECUTION CASE:

Aloke Nath had many vices. He was a spendthrift. He was a womanizer H
674 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. IO S.C.R.
. ~ !'"
A and spent a lot of money in gambling and horse racing etc. He intended to
sell the said house property, wherefor he entered into agreements for sale with
one Nandlal Singh as also with one Arunmoy Bose. Arunmoy Bose advanced
a sum of Rs.65,000/- to him. Nandlal Singh (PW-15) also had advanced
various sums of money to Aloke Nath from time to time. He on the advice
B of his advocate Bikash Pal (PW-14) refused to advance any further sum till
the time he was put in possession of the room of the second floor and the
Puja Room; which was promised to· be delivered on 23.01.1994.

Prosecution story is that the deceased was not in favour of sale of the
said property. The transactions with regard to the sale of the said property,
C in favour of the said Nandlal Singh and Arunmoy Bose, however, were being
conducted, as if Biswana<h was a party thereto. Appellant Mrinal Dutta is
said to have been impersonating Biswanath and singed several documents in
his name.

Aloke Nath absented himself from duty from 7.00 p.m. on 22.01.1994 to
D 28.01.1994, as disclosed by his colleagues Sahadev Monda! (PW-33), Ananta
KumarThanedar (PW-34), and Biman Ghosh Dastidar (PW-35).

Possession of Pooja Room and a room occupied by Biswanath was
delivered to Nandlal Singh on 23.0 I .1994. Nandlal Singh noticed a newly
constructed 'bedi' in the said room. He asked him the reasons therefor, and
E was informed that it was constructed for cooking purpose. He asked him to
remove the same; whereto Aloke Nath promised to do so after registration
of the sale deed. Nandlal Singh, as advised by his advocate, Bikash Pal,
issued an advertisement in the Newspaper 'Ananda Bazar Patrika', a Bengali
Daily, on 31.01.1994. Bikash Pal suspected that Aloke Nath might have other
F brothers and sisters and therefore advised issuance of such advertisement.
Amar Nath, Samar Nath and Anuradha Das (PWs. 4, 3 and 5 respectively)
informed Bikash Pal that they were also co-owners of the said property and
were not agreeable to sell the house.

In view of the aforementioned developments, Samar Nath (PW-3), Amar
G Nath (PW-4) and Avijit Dutta (PW-6) allegedly visited the Premises No. 2C,
Beadon Street on. 06.03 .1994. They enquired about whereabouts of Biswanath
and were informed that he had started living at Barasat. They visited the
house the address whereof was furnished by Aloke Nath. They found out the
same to be bogus as no person called Biswanath had been residing there.
They came back to Premises No.2C, Beadon Street. They insisted upon
H
ALOKENATHDUTTAv. STATEOFWESTBENGAL[S.B. SINHA,J.] 675

Aloke Nath to disclose the whereabouts of Biswanath, whereupon Aloke A
Nath allegedly broke down and made an extra judicial confession before them,
as also Nandlal Singh and some tenants, that he had throttled Biswanath to
death. While commotion was on, the officer in charge of the police station
was informed by some neighbour of Aloke Nath. While police was coming
to the said premises, they met Samar Nath on the way, who was going to B
inform them about the incident. The police officer came to the said house.
Aloke Nath was arrested in the afternoon of 06.03.1994. He was interrogated
in the Police Station and was brought back by the police personnel. The other
accused were arrested on the next day.

Aloke Nath is said to have made a confession at the police station that C
he had concealed the dead body in a platform (a kind of cistern made of sand
and bricks). He pointed towards the said platform, whereupon two labourers
and one mason were sent for; forensic experts were summoned. The said
cistern was broken and dismantled. Foul smell came out therefrom and a
human skeleton lying beneath the same was seen. The skeleton was said to
have been identified to be that of Biswanath by Aloke Nath himself, which D
was seized and sent to morgue. Cause of the death, according to the ~utopsy
report was asphyxia. Aloke Nath also made a confession leading to recovery
of certain articles belonging to the deceased Biswanath from the rented
premises which he had been occupying, as also a confession leading to
recovery of some of the household articles. E
Appellant Mrinal Dutta is also said to have made a statement under
Section 164 Cr. P.C. before T. Uddini, Metropolitan Magistrate, 3rd Court
Kolkata on21.03.1994. He, however, retracted therefrom on or about 16.06.1994.

Investigation was conducted by Sub Inspector Sukhendu Barick attached F
to Burtolla Police Station. However the case was transferred to the Detective
Department of Kolkata Police and from 08.03.1994, Sub Inspector Atanu
Banerjee (PW-48) took over the investigation of the case.

After having filed the charge-sheet, cognizance of the offence was
taken and the case was committed to the Court of Sessions. G
CHARGE :

All the accused were put to trial. Three different sets of charges were
framed against them, under Sections 120B/302/34 and 20l/34 IPC, in the
following terms : H
676 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A "First That you, all in the month of January, 1994 at 2/C, Beadon
Street, Calcutta, agreed to do and caused to be done an illegal act, to
wit, to cause the death of Biswanath Dutta by murdering him to enable
Aloke Dutta to sell the premises no. 2/C, Beadon Street, Calcutta and
that .such illegal act of murder was committed in pursuance to the
agreement and you all thereby committed an offence punishable under
B Section 120B/302 of the Indian Penal Code, and within the cognizance
of this Court of Sessions.

Secondly That you, all on about the night 22nd day of January
1994 at 2/C, Beadon Street, Calcutta, pursuant to the criminal conspiracy
mentioned in Court No.1 above and with the common intention of you
c all, did commit murder by causing the death of Biswanath Dutta, and
you are thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 302/
34 of the Indian Penal Code, and within the cognizance of this Court
of Sessions.

Thirdly That you, all on or about the night of 22nd day of January
D
1994, at 2/C, Beadon Street, Calcutta, with the common intention of
you all, to cause the evidence of murder to disappear and to screen
the offenders, concealed the dead body of Biswanath Dutta after he
was murdered, inside the cavity created on the wall shelf of the room
of Aloke Dutta and thereafter covered the same by bricks and cements
E and you all thereby committed an offence punishable under Section
20 l/34 Indian Penal Code and within the cognizance of this Court of
Sessions.

And I hereby direct that you be tried by the said Court on the said
charge."
F
NATURE OF EVIDENCE:

Before the learned Sessions Judge, as many as 48 witnesses were
examined on behalfofthe prosecution. The brothers of Appellant Aloke Nath,
viz. Amar Nath and Samar Nath, and Sister Anuradha examined themselves
G as PWs. 4, 3 and 5 respectively. Son of Amar Nath, Avijit, was examined
as PW-6.

Witnesses examined on behalf of the prosecution can be sub-divided
in three categories, namely, (i) Sale of house, (ii) Tenants at Premises No. 2C,
Beadon Street, and (iii) Witnesses who testified about Aloke's character and
H
ALOKENATHDUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA,J.] 677

conduct as also others like Photographer, labourers, Mason etc. A
We would deal with the depositions of the prosecution witnesses
hereafter at an appropriate stage.

SESSIONS JUDGE :
B
The learned Sessions Judge by reason of the judgment of conviction
and sentence dated 29.08.2003 convicted Aloke Nath, Mrinal Dutta and
Gobinda Roy under Sections 302/120B and 302/34 IPC and sentenced them to
death. Mamata Dutta was, however, sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life
under Section 302/34 IPC and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/-, in default to suffer
imprisonment of two more years. They were also convicted for commission C
of offence under Section 201/34 JPC and to pay a fine of Rs.3,000/- each, in
default to suffer imprisonment for one more year. No separate sentence was
awarded under Section 402/l 20B IPC.

Appellants preferred appeals before the High Court.
D
HIGHCOURT:

The High Court agreed with the findings of the learned Sessions Judge.
It was opined that all Appellants had hatched a conspiracy and the deceased
was killed when he was asleep. While considering the quantum of punishment,
the High Court sought to draw a balance between aggravating and mitigating E
circumstances and observed that the case comes within the category of rarest
of rare cases. It was observed that the learned Sessions Judge had rightly
exercised the option in favour of the capital punishment to Aloke Nath, Mrinal
Dutta and Shib Sankar Roy @ Gobinda @ Babu. The High Court refused to
differentiate the case of Aloke Nath from that of Mrinal Dutta and Gobinda F
@Babu, holding that all the three were part of the conspiracy to execute the
pre-planned murder of Biswanath. Upon screening of evidence, the High
Court dismissed the appeals preferred by them. The order of conviction and
sentence of the learned Trial Judge passed against Mamata was also upheld
by the High.
G
SUBMISSIONS:

Arguments on behalf of Appellants have been advanced principally by
Mr. Pradip Ghosh, the learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of Mrinal
Dutta.
H
678 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006) SUPP. 10 S.C.R. ~

A Submissions of the learned Senior Counsel are:

(i) The judgment of conviction being based on circumstantial
evidence and there being no eye-witness; the prosecution cannot
be said to have proved all the ·Jinks in the chain so as to prove
that Appellants were guilty of commission of the alleged offences.
B (ii) Circumstantial evidences brought on records by the prosecution
were not sufficient to bring home the charge of conspiracy against
Appellants to commit murder of Biswanath.
(iii) The courts below committed a serious error insofar as they failed
to distinguish between a larger conspiracy to commit a murder
c and a relatively smaller conspiracy for impersonation of Biswanath
by Mrinal Dutta, committing the offence of forgery or cheating
(iv) As the purported extra judicial confession made by Aloke Nath
was confined to acceptance of his own guilt, the courts below
could not have convicted all Appellants under Section 302/34
D IPC relying on or on the basis thereof.
(v) The purported confession made by Aloke Nath leading to
recovery of the dead body and certain articles belonging to
Biswanath which had been sold to Gobinda Sarkar (PW-26), did
not conclusively lead to the prosecution's case of conspiracy;
E and no judgment of conviction could have been arrived at solely
on the basis thereof, having not been corroborated in any manner
whatsoever.
(vi) Confession of an accused, even if accepted, must be considered
in its entirety and not in pieces
F
(vii) The judgment of conviction could not have been arrived at on
the basis of judicial confession made by Mrinal Dutta which has
since been retracted and was thus of weak evidentiary value,
especially when there was no corroboration thereof
(viii) Mrinal Dutta was not put to test identification parade, although
G
Aloke Nath was. His identification in court by the witnesses was
of weak evidentiary value ancl no reliance could have been
placed thereupon.

(ix) Judicial confession purported to have been made by Mrinal Dutta
disclosed that he had been forced to join Aloke Nath and, thus,
H
- ALO KE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S. B. SINHA, J.] 679

the courts below ought to have held that he made confession as A
a repenter and his being a party to the larger conspiracy was,
thus, in serious doubt.
(x) In any view of the matter, extreme punishment of death could not
have been awarded having regard to the nature of the evidences
led by the prosecution. B
Submissions of Mr. Altaf Ahmad, the learned Senior Counsel appearing
on behalf of the State, on the other hand, were:

(i) That although there was no direct evidence as against Appellants,
the sixteen circumstances enumerated by the learned Trial Judge C
and affirmed by the High Court, were based on positive evidences
led on behalf of the prosecution.
(ii) Evidences, both oral and documentary, led by the prosecution
were sufficient to arrive at the finding of guilt as against all the
accused.
D
(iii) Extra judicial confession made by Appellant Aloke Nath having
not been retracted and the same having been proved by a large
number of witnesses including independent witnesses and it
being voluntary in nature was rightly relied upon by the courts
below.
E
(iv) Extra judicial confession made by Aloke Nath was made to his
elder brothers Samar Nath (PW-3) and Amar Nath (PW-4) in the
presence of his nephew Avij it Dutta (PW-6), the intending
purchaser of the house Nandlal Singh (PW-15) as also two tenants
of the premises, namely, Swapan Dutta (PW-18) and Bijoy Sharma
(PWl9) and their testimonies having not been shaken in cross- F
examination, the learned Trial Judge as also the High Court
committed no error in passing the judgment of conviction and
sentence as against all of them.

(v) A free and voluntary confession deserves due credit as it is
presumed to flow from the highest sense of guilt. G
(vi) Judicial confession might have been retracted, but the learned
Trial Judge and the High Court upon analysis of the material
brought on records came to the conclusion that the same was
true and had been voluntarily made, and there is no reason to
interfere with the said findings. It is not a rule cf law that a H
680 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006) SUPP. IO S.C.R. -
A judicial confession must be corroborated in materials produced
by independent witnesses. ..
(vii) Appellant Mrinal Dutta having retracted his confession only at
. a much later stage without specifying any reason therefor; no
importance thereto should be attached.
B (viii) In his examination under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure he alleged torture at the hands of PW-44, but PW-44
having not been cross-examined on the said point, the judicial
confession was admissible in evidence not only against the maker
thereof, but also against the co-accused in terms of Section 30
c of the Indian Evidence Act.
(ix) Enough materials by way of documentary and oral evidences of
the witnesses were brought on records to prove criminal
conspiracy showing not only that Mrinal Dutta but also Babu
Roy and Mamata Dutta signed various documents executed by
D Aloke Nath.
(x) Judicial confession made by Mrinal Dutta contained vivid
description of the manner in which the deceased Biswanath was
done to death and his dead body was put in the bedi (platform)
in the room occupied by Aloke Nath, the same was sufficient to
prove the charge of conspiracy. In any event, involvement of
E
all the accused persons in committing murder of Biswanath and
disposing of the dead body has amply been proved.

DISCUSSIONS :

The incident took place on the night of 22.0 l .1994. Biswanath was last
F seen alive by some of the tenants, who were examined viz. Swapan Dutta
(PW-18), Bijoy Sharma (PW-19), Albela Sukla (PW-20), and Raj Kishore Singh
(PW-23). According to PW-18, he had seen Biswanath alive on the said date.
He had also allegedly seen Biswanath being called by Appellant Aloke Nath
to his own room. He was not heard and seen thereafter.
G
Analysis of the evidences is required to be done keeping in view the
factual matrix involved herein.

Criminal Conspiracy :

H Criminal conspiracy, if any, arose out of the greed of Aloke Nath. He
ALO KE NATH DUTT Av. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 681
needed money to satisfy his bad habits. A situation came to such a pass A
that he had to negotiate with two persons for sale of the house simultaneously.
He had taken money from both the intending purchasers. Apparently, with
a view to extract money from the said two purchasers, he pretended, that he
and the deceased were the only owners of the house. The deceased might
not have been willing to sell the house, but he might not have also been
aware of the transactions. Aloke Nath might have intended to keep him in B
dark and swallow the entire amount of consideration. His other brothers and
sisters had also not been taken into confidence. Indisputably, they were on
litigating terms with the deceased and Appellant Aloke Nath. Assistance of
Mrinal Dutta in impersonating Biswanath was obtained by Aloke Nath. He
was paid a sum of Rs.5,000/- for the same. He was impersonating Biswanath C
and had been signing, executing documents and posing himself as such at
Aloke Nath's instance.

When Nandlal Singh (PW-15) pressurized Aloke Nath to hand over
possession of a few rooms to him on the advice of his lawyer Bikash Pal,
Aloke Nath apparently became desperate. Whether he hatched a conspiracy D
with the other Appellants at that point of time to do away with his brother
Biswanath and dispose of his dead body so as to get the entire amount of
consideration of the sale of the house, is the core question. Th;;:re is no direct
evidence to show that other Appellants also were part of the said conspiracy.
Their presence had not been noticed by any of the witnesses. Nobody saw E
them together in the house. Nobody saw Mrinal Dutta coming to the house
even once. We are not oblivious of the fact that it is difficult to have direct
evidence of conspiracy. But to prove conspiracy hatched to commit a heinous
crime, circumstantial evidence brought on records must be such which would
have no loose ends to tie.
F
Circumstances :

With the aforementioned principles in mind, we may now notice the
various circumstances found to be existing against Appellants as enumerated
by the learned Trial Judge and accepted by the High Court.
G
For the aforementioned purpose we may, at the outset notice, the
.statements of the witnesses whom we have categorized in Category (i).

PW-7, Shanker Dey is an attesting witness to the agreement for sale of
the house in question with Arunmoy Bose (PW-8). He proved passing of an
advance amounting to Rs.65,000/- to Aloke Nath. Arunmoy Bose who was H
682 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A the intending purchaser and with whom Aloke Nath had entered into an
agreement also proved passing of the said consideration to Aloke Nath. Both
Shanker Dey (PW-7) and Arunmoy Bose (PW-8) also stated in details the
negotiations leading to execution of the said agreement for sale.

Sudhakar Singh (PW-10) and Nawratan Singh (PW-16) were brokers,
B They were employed by Nandlal Singh (PW-15). They have also deposed as
to how the transactions relating to sale of the house by Aloke Nath in favour
of Nandlal Singh proceeded. They have also proved passing of the amount
of advance from time to time by Nandlal Singh in favour of Aloke Nath.
Bikash Pal, who examined himself as PW-14 is again a witness who was a
C witness to the said transaction. It was only at his instance Nandlal Singh
refused to give further advance to Aloke Nath unless he had been put in
possession of a part of the said property. Bikash Pal advised Nandlal Singh
to publish an advertisement in the Anand Bazar Patrika as he suspected that
there might be other owners of the property. He identified the accused in
court. Other witness also identified them. Their evidences taken in entirety
D however do not lead to the conclusion that they conspired to murder Biswanath.
But it is sufficiently clear that they conspired to sell the property. We would
deal with this question a little later at some depth.

We would hereinafter notice the alleged sixteen circumstances
enumerated by the learned trial judge in his judgment and the evidences
E available in regard thereto :

l. Since the death of his mother, Aloke Nath tried to sell the house
surreptitiously without informing his other brothers and sister,
and as he was not supported by Biswanath, he endeavuored to
sell the house secretly.
F
2. Prior to the said incident, Aloke Nath entered into an agreement
with Arunmoy Bose (PW-8) and received a sum of Rs.65,000/-
where Aloke Nath had put his signature and Mrinal Dutta had
signed as Biswanath.

G 3. To earn more money and to grab the property of his brothers,
· Aloke Nath entered into an agreement with one Nandlal Singh
(PW-15). He introduced Mrinal Dutta as Biswanath and delivered
possession of the two rooms on the 2nd floor. He was asked to .,.
dismantle the kaccha ·bedi to he replied that the same would be
dismantled later on. Payment of advances was made from time
H to time.
ALOKE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J;J 683

4. Possession of the first floor was delivered in the month of A
February 1994, whereupon it was noticed that the 'bedi' had not
been dismantled, instead it was made more stronger by fully
plastering it with red colour cement.

5. As per advice of Bikash Pal (PW-14) an advertisement was
published in Ananda Bazar Patrika for sale of the house. B
6. Bikash Pal received three objections (Ex. 24 collectively). He in
tum wrote two letters to PWs-3 and 4 (Ex. 25). When he informed
thereabout Aloke Nath told that he was trying for settlement with
them.
7. Possession of the first floor was delivered to PW-15 on 14.02.1994 c
~y Aloke Nath and he told that Babu Roy would stay in the

- 8.
covered verandah for a couple of days.
In the morning of 06.03.1994, PWs-3, 4 and 6 reached the place
of occurrence and found PW-15 in occupation. On being asked,
Aloke Nath replied that Biswanath had left for Barasat and was D
staying at l l/l, Jhawtola Lane, near Barasat Chowrasta, whereafter
they left for the said place.
9. PWs-3, 4 and 6 returned to Premises 2C, Beadon Street and as
they did not find existence of the address, they charged Aloke
Nath to speak the truth in presence of tenants, local people etc. E
Aloke Nath then confessed that he had throttled Biswanath to

. death in the midnight of 22.01.1994 and kept the dead body
concealed inside the hosue .
.JO. On 06.03.1994, Ole Burtolla Police Station received a telephonic
message from an anonymous caller about the disturbance in front F
of the said premises. Police recorded the statement of PW-3,
Samar Nath and arrested Aloke Nath.

11. On the basis of the said confession, the bedi was dismantled by
mason and labourers PWs-9, 30 and 31 and a human skeletonized
body was found, which was identified by Aloke Nath to be of G
the deceased Biswanath. This fact has been proved by the PWs-
3, 4, 6, 9, 15, 18, 19, 23, 30, 46 and 47.

12. PWs-3, 4 and 6 also disclosed about the special identification
mark(s) of Biswanath. The doctor on examination of the
skeletonised body opined that the same was homicidal in nature H
684 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A and the death was due to throttling.
13. Skeletonised body had been subjected to the superimpos1t10n
test conducted by expert PW-41, who opined the examined skeleton
to be that of a human male, 5'-6" feet tall, aged 40-50 years.

14. Biswanath was seen alive on 22.01.1994 as he went to the office
B which has been proved by Ex.64 and 64/1. Accused Mrinal Dutta
in his confessional statement which is believable, remarked that
Aloke Nath and Biswanath were seen together on 22.01.1994
between l 0- I 0.30 p.m. at 2C, Beadon Street. Biswanath was
goaded to sleep in the verandah on the l st floor, near Aloke
c Nath's bedroom on the plea that Biswanath's room on 2nd floor
was under repair.
15. Accused Mrinal Dutta came to the premises and found Aloke
Nath, Babu Roy, Mamata Dutta and her two daughters present
there. Thereafter, in the midnight of 22.01.1994, Aloke Nath had
D first entered into the covered verandah where Biswanath was
sleeping and having found Biswanath in sound sleep, called
Babu Roy, Mrinal Dutta and Mamata Dutta. Mamata gave one
blanket to Aloke Nath who then covered the head and face of
Biswanath with the blanket, Mrinal Dutta caught hold of the
hands of Biswanath and Babu Roy held his legs. The accused
E Aloke Nath then pressed the neck of Biswanath and killed him.
16. After delivery of the possession of the first floor of the premises
to PW- I 5, Aloke Nath shifted his residence to the tenanted
premises. On the basis of his confessional statement (Ex. I 08)
and on being identified and pointed out by him, the Investigating
F Officer on l 0.03.1994 recovered and seized the personal belongings
ofBiswanath. On some articles the name ofBiswanath appeared.

Evidences accepted by the Trial Judge :

Re: Circumstnaces Nos. I & 2 :
G
PW-7 Shankar Dey, is the attesting witness to the agreement made by
Aloke Nath with Arunmoy Bose to sell the house. He, as noticed hereinbefore,
identified Mrinal Dutta as impersonating Biswanath. Arunmoy Bose (PW-8)
has also proved the said fact.

H Re: Circumstances Nos. 3 & 4 :
ALOKENATHDUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA,J.] 685
Sudhakar Singh (PW-IO) and Nawratan Singh (PW-16) who worked as A
brokers on behalf of Nandlal Singh (PW-15). They were witnesses to the
said transaction. Sudhakar Singh, Nawratan Singh and Nandlal Singh allegedly
. saw the kacha bedi, as also the objection on the part of Nandlal Singh in
regard thereto, to which Aloke Nath responded by promising to dismantle the
same, when the sale deed was registered.
B
Re: Circumstances Nos. 5 & 6:

Publication of advertisement in Anand Bazar Patrika on 31.01.1994 in
respect of the transfer of Premise No.2C, Beadon Street, Kolkata (Ex.61) has
been proved by Bikash Pal (PW-14), Nandlal Singh (PW-15), intending C
purchaser; as also Bijit Kumar Basu, General Manager (Law), Anand Bazar
Patrika (PW-28). Amar Nath (PW-4), brother of Appellant Aloke Nath, in
his evidence stated that he with his brother and sister filed objections before
Bikash Pal in respect of the proposed sale. From the evidence of Bikash Pal
(PW-14), it further appears that he confronted Aloke Nath with objections of
his brothers and sister. Aloke Nath allegedly assured that he would settle D
the matter with them. Bikash Pal in his deposition further stated that according
to Aloke Nath, there was a deed of family dispute. He has also proved that
on earlier occasion Aloke Nath had mentioned only about his one brother and
sister but the sister was never brought in picture; and only having become
suspicious as regards correction of the said statement he advised Nandlal
Singh for publication of the notice in the said newspaper. E
Re : Circumstance No. 7 :

Sudhakar Singh (PW-10), Nandlal Singh (PW-15) and Nawratan Singh
(PW-16) were witnesses to the delivery of possession of the room which had
been occupied by Aloke Nath. They stated that Aloke Nath represented that F
his brother in law and family would stay in the covered verandah, for a couple
of days. He further represented that the 'bedi' would be dismantled immediately
after registration. The evidence of the said witnesses also show that apparently
Aloke Nath had contacted his brothers and sister and only on that basis he
had asked Nandlal Singh (PW-15) to be present in the premises at 2C Beadon G
Street on I 0.03.1994, as his elder brothers and nephew PWs 3, 4 and 6 would
visit.

Re: Circumstance No.8 :

The visit of PWs 3, 4 and 6 at the premises stood proved by their H
686 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006) SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A evidences. They further stated that when asked about the whereabouts of
Biswanath, they were told that he was staying at 11/1, Jhawtola Lane, near
Barasat Chowrasta; whereupon they visited that place and came back after
they failed to ascertain the said address,

Re: Circumstance No.9 :
B
Circumstance No.9 has been proved by PWs 3, 4 and 6 as also PWs
15, 18 and 19. The purported confession of Aloke Nath was made in presence
of the said witnesses. The purported confession was made when PWs 3, 4
and 6 came back after search of the deceased at Barasat Chowrasta and
accosted Aloke Nath with regard to the whereabouts ofBiswanath. ·Evidently
C they suspected some foul play. It is at that point of time, Aloke Nath was
said to have broken down and made the confession before the said witnesses.

Re: Circumstance No. 10 :

It would appear from the evidences of Sukhendu Barick, Sub Inspector
D of Police (PW47) and Samar Nath (PW-3) that when the police, having received
information that some untoward incident had happened at 2C, Beadon Street,
was going to the said place, Samar Nah met them on the way who was going
to the police station to lodge an F.l.R. The police came to the said premises
and recorded his statement. Aloke Nath was arrested. The said circumstance
E has been proved by Samar Nath (PW-3) and Amar Nath (PW-4), brothers of
Appellant Aloke Nath, Avijit Dutta son of Amar Nath (PW-6), Nandlal Singh
(PW-15), Swapan Dutta (PW-18) and Bijoy Sharma (PW-19), tenants <?fthe
said house. Thereafter Aloke Nath made confession.

Aloke Nath made three confessions : (i) confession stating the manner
F in which the deceased was killed as also burial of his dead body; (ii) confession
leading to the recovery of the dead body; and (iii) confession relating to the
disposal of the belongings of Biswanath.

Relevant portions of the second confession are as under:

G "On the night of22.0l.1994, after strangulating my elder brother
Biswanath Dutta to death, I built up kind of a cistern with bricks, sand
and cement underneath the cupboard on the southern side of a first
floor room of our ancestral home, in which I used to live, and hid the
dead body of my elder brother inside it and sealed the cistern, giving
it the shape of a masory platform. If I am taken along there I can show
H
ALO KE NATH DUTTA v. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.) 687

that room and the masory platform built inside it. A
After having buried the dead body of my elder brother Biswanath
Dutta into the cistern. The excess brick, sand and cement had been
kept under a cot in our house. If I am taken along, I can show them
as well.
B
Recorded by me, read-over explained and admitted to be correct."

"After killing my elder brother Biswanath Dutta, I hid his valuable
belongings like record player, tape, radio, wall clock, amplifier, suitcase,
shirts, trousers, bag, three trunks etc. and many other articles in my
bedroom at my present address at J/F/6/1, Ashwini Nagar, Bidhan C
Palli, Baguihati, Calcutta-59. If I am taken along there I can show that
room and the belongings of my elder brother.

The police interrogated me and recorded my statement.

Recorded by me, read-over explained and admitted to be correct." D
Relevant portions of the third confession is as under :

"After killing my elder brother Biswanath Dutta,I sold the wooden
almirah in his room, mirror and many other articles including our
domestic pump set etc. to Gobind Sarkar a resident of Nimtala for
seven thousand rupees. If I am taken along, I can identify Gobinda E
Sarkar, his residence and those articles.

Selling of those articles (partly tom) and I got the money from
Gobind Sarkar and give him a receipt for the same.

The police interrogated me and recorded my statement. F
Recorded by me, read over, explained and Bengali and admitted
to be correct."

Re : Circumstance No. 11 :
G
His confession lead to the recovery of the dead body, PW-3, PW-4, PW-
6, PW-9, PW-15, PW-18, PW-19, PW-23, PW-30, PW-46 and PW-47 were
witnesses to the said recovery. Sukhendu Barick, Sub-Inspector (PW-47)
allegedly sent for masons for demolishing the Bedi; whereupon Jatin Singh
(PW-9) and Gopal Pramanik (PW-30) masons, came and demolished the Bedi.
A human body in form of skeleton was noticed, which was taken out and H
688 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006) SUPP. IO S.C.R.

A identified to be that of Biswanath. Ashok Kumar Banerjee, Inspector of
Kolkata Police (PW-47) is also a witness to the said occurrence.

Re: Circumstances Nos. I 2 and I 3 :

Circumstances Nos. 12 and 13 relate to the identification of the dead
B body and its autopsy. Biswanath was to have an extra tooth. It was proved
by his brothers PW-3 and PW-4 as also his nephew PW-6. It was found to
be an identification mark. The ante-mortem injuries on the dead body and the
opinion of Dr. Nandy (PW-39), Autopsy Surgeon ,are as under :

" ... There was 4" x 3" area of extravasation of blood on the surface of
c trachea and surrounding soft tissue along with hyoid and thyroid.
There was fracture hyoid bone on the right comue with evidence of
extravasation on the margins. Evidence of extravasation on the
posterior aspect of oesophaeal 2" x 114" size against 3rd, 4th and 5th
cordial vert. Extravasation are more on the right side of midline for
D both trachea and oesophagus and also other tissue. The extravasation
were blaki~h red in colour. No other injury could be detected ever
after careful examination. The right femur was 17.8", the 12.3" and the
rig~t ulna 11. l ". The changes in symphyseal surfact were at part with
the mentioned age of 43 years. I preserved stomach with contents
both kidneys and liver insaturated solution of common salt. Sample
E
of preservative was preserved. Scalp hair heart were preserved without
any preservative, nail cutting preserved tissue from extravagated area
preserved. Both preserved. There was no blood of neck for example
throttling ante-mortem and homicidal in nature. This is the report
which bears my signature."
F
The dead body was also examined by Dr. V.K. Kashyap (PW-41). In his
evidence, he opined that the dead body was of a human male, aged about 40-
45 years and his height would be around 5' and 6".

Re: Circumstance No.14 :
G
Swapan Dutta (PW-18) was a tenant of the second floor of the premises
(pages 109-113). He saw Biswanath at 10-10.30 p.m. on the night of22.0l.1994.
According to the said witness, he was taken to the first floor of the house
by Aloke Nath on the pretext that his room was under repairs. He had
H testified that Biswanath was not seen thereafter. Kartick Chandra Sinha, (PW-
29) who was the Chief Manager of the United Bank of India, also proved that
ALOKENATHDUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B.SINHA,J.) 689
from 23rd January, 1994 onwards Biswanath did not attend his office. A
Re: Circumstance No.15 :

There is no independent witness to prove the said fact except the
purported confessional statement of the accused Mrinal Dutta. His purported
confession before the Magistrate is as under: B
"My wife's brother Gobindo Roy used to stay on rent at the
house of Alok Nath Dutta at (2/C) Beadon Street, I was introduced
to Alok through Gobindo. Alok and me used to visit each other's
house. Alok did not bear a good character. He used to have stakes
in horses, Satta (a sort of numbers game played for gambling) and also C
used to go to at prostitutes. Alok's elder brother Biswanath Dutta
also used to stay at the same house. They did not have good relation
among them. Alok told me during the Puja of 1993 that he would sell
his house and also tried hard for that. On tile last November he told
me that he wanted to sell the house but since his elder brother was D
not agree to sign, I had to sign in the name of Biswanath Dutta. At
first I did not agree. Then he told that he would give me money. "You
sign it". I was in need of money, so I agreed with that. Then he took
my signature in the name of Biswanath Dutta in quite a few sheets
of paper. He gave me Rs.5000/- (five thousand rupees only) in
instalments. After that he told me to sign in a quite a few sheets of E
papers. In date 19/20 on the last January month of 1994 he came to
my house and said, I think the house cannot be sold "Dada" (Elder
brother) is not agreeing to put his signature. It is better to eliminate
'dada' (elder brother). He said, "I am thinking of murdering my 'Dada'

- (Elder brother)". I said him, "I cannot do this". He said, 'You had F
put fake signature. So, if we get caught, we will not spare you either."
Mamata Dutta is the wife of Alok Dutta. Gobinda Roy signed some
of the papers while Mamata signed some others. Gobindo is the
brother of my wife. He is also the husband of my wife's sister. He
left after we stopped and on the following I went to Alok's place. He
told me further that he would pay me Rs. I 0,000/- more. I said, if I am G
spared for this, then I am agree to do this". I found Gobindo, Alok,
Mamnata the three were sitting at his house. They closed the door
after they took me to the room at first floor. Then he, Gobindo, Alok
and Mamata said to me, on 22nd January, at night, you will come.
Gobindo and Alok will make all the arrangements". While leaving H
690 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R. ,.

A they said, if you don't come, we shall harm you". As usual I came
to Alok's house on 22nd January at 10.00 p.m. and saw that Alok,
Gobindo, Mamata and two daughters of Alok talking. As I went they
let me in and shut the door. As I entered in the room I saw that there
was a little brick wall under the cupboard (wall Almirah). There were
some cement, sand and bricks on the floor. Just at I 0.30 p.m. Biswanath
B Dutta came to the house. Alok said to Biswanath, the work is going
on at the room of second floor. "You lie down on the wooden cot
at the veranda on the first floor". Biswanath lied down on the
veranda. We were sitting inside the room. At about 12/12.30 p.m. two
daughters of Aloke were slept. Then Alok came outside. After some
c time came inside the room and said, Dada (elder brother) had slept.
Then Mamata gave Alok a rug. Gobindo, Alok and I came outside.
At once Gobinda held two legs of Biswanath. I held two hands. Alok
suffocated Biswanath on placing the rug on his face and neck, after
7/8 minutes Alok took the rug from the face of Biswanath. Then he
pulled the hairs of Biswanath and on turning the eye lids he saw and
D said, "the work has been done. Immediately four of us took the dead
body inside the room and laid the dead body inside the brick-structure
after folding two legs. Then all of us filled up the rest of the sand
and bricks which were kept aside over the dead body. Mamata
handed down the water and the bricks. By the time we finished it had
E dawned. After that at about 5.30/6 Alok left for his own home, while
going Alok said "you have to come again at noon-time." Again at
noon time .I came to his house. He then told me to sign in a paper.
After signing that I went to my house. 3/4 days after that I met Alok
at his place. He said, "I cannot give you any money now" .. I will see
it after some time. I could not sleep well after returning home. I used
F to move in fear I stayed outside from my house for some days. On
the last 07.03.1994 (Eng) police arrested me from my house."

T. Uddini (PW-43) was the Magistrate, before whom the purported
confession was made by Mrinal Dutta. He had issued a certificate as is
G required under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. He testified
that he had satisfied himself that confession made by Mrinal Dutta was
voluntary.

Re: Circumstance No. 16 :

Subhas Mazumdar (PW-11) and Nripen Chandra Das (PW-12) are
H
ALO KE NATH DUTT Av. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 69 l

witnesses to Aloke Nath's entering into an agreement of tenancy and shifting A
to Premises at JF-6/1, Aswini Nagar, Bidhan Pally, Baguihati and recovery of
goods. Atanu Banerjee, Sub Inspector of Police (PW-48), also testified as
regards recovery of goods from the said premises.

FINDINGS:
B
We may now consider the evidences available on records for analyzing
the reasonings of the courts below vis-a-vis involvement of each of Appellants
before us.

Aloke Nath :
c
Title in respect of the property in question is not in dispute. The fact
that Aloke Nath and his three brothers and one sister inherited the said
property from their mother also stands admitted. A faint attempt has been
made by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of Appellants to convey
the possibility of the brothers of Aloke Nath implicating him owing to the D
property, but we can safely ignore the same.

The events began from November 1993. It was only Aloke Nath who
had asked Mrinal Dutta to sign some blank papers impersonating Biswanath.
He was paid a sum of Rs.5,000/- therefor. On the basis thereof, agreements
for sale were executed by and between Aloke Nath and Biswanath with E
Nandlal Singh. Out of the agreed amount of consideration of Rs.2,60,000/-
, a sum of Rs.60,000/- was paid to him. A sum amounting to Rs.30,000/-,
Rs.20,000/- and Rs.10,000/-were paid on 11.11.1993, 12.12.1993 and 25.12.1993
respectively by Nandlal Singh to him. Although Aloke Nath received a
substantial amount, his greed did not end there. He, as noticed hereinbefore,
.entered into another agreement for sale with Arunmoy Bose (PW-8) who had F
also paid a sum of Rs.65,000/- by cheque. He must have spent the entire
amount or at least a substantial part of it.

Biswanath was allegedly killed on 22.01.1994. The second floor of the
house which was in occupation of Biswanath was handed over to Nandlal
Singh on 23.01.1994 upon receipt of further advance. The first floor was G
handed over on 14.02.1994, after Aloke Nath shifted to his new residence.
So far as Aloke Nath is concerned, having regard to the charges framed, both
the circumstantial evidence as also the extra judicial confession made by him
are relevant. His further statements leading to the recovery of the dead body
as also recovery of articles belonging to Biswanath are also relevant. It has H
692 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. JO S.C.R.

A also been proved that he sold some of the articles belonging to the deceased.
It is, however, disturbing to note that a confession has not been brought
on records in a manner contemplated by law. Law does not envisage taking
on record the entire confession by marking it an exhibit incorporating both
the admissible and inadmissible part thereof together. We intend to point out
B that only that part of confession which is admissible would be leading to the
recovery of dead body and/or recovery of articles of Biswanath, the purported
confession proceeded to state even the mode and manner in which Biswanath
was allegedly killed. It should not have been done. It may influence the mind
of the court.

C [See State of Maharashtra v. Damu Slo Gopinath Shinde & Ors., [2000] 6 ·
sec 269 at p. 282 para 35)
In Anter Singh v. State of Rajasthan, [2004) 10 SCC 657, it was stated

D "11. The scope and ambit of Section 27 of the Evidence Act were
illuminatingly stated in Pu/ukuri Kottaya v. Emperor in the following
words, which have become locus classicus: (AIR p. 70, para 10)

"It is fallacious to treat the fact discovered within the section as
equivalent to the object produced; the fact discovered embraces the
E place from which the object is produced and the knowledge of the
accused as to this, and the information given must relate distinctly to
this fact. Information as to past user, or the past history, of the object
produced is not related to its discovery in the setting in which it is
discovered. Information supplied by a person in custody that I will
F produce a knife concealeq in the roof of my house does not lead to
the discovery of a knife; knives were discovered many years ago. It
leads to the discovery of the fa::t that a knife is concealed in the
house of the informant to his knowledge, and if the knife is proved
to have been used in the commission of the offence, the fact discovered
is very relevant. But if to the statement the words be added with
G which I stabbed A these words are inadl:!lissible since they do not
relate to the discovery of the knife in the house of the informant.""

[But see Dhananjoy Chatterjee@ Dhana v. State of West Bengal, [1994] 2
SCC.220 at p.234-235]
H
ALO KE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 693
Therefore, we would take note of only that portion of the confession A
which is admissible in evidence.

Apart from raising a contention that the extra judicial confession had
not been recorded in the exact words of the maker thereof, no serious argument
has been advanced with regard to its truthfulness or otherwise thereof. It was
an oral confession. Evidently, the two brothers of Appellant Aloke Nath, B
namely, Samar Nath (PW-3) and Amar Nath (PW-4) as well as his nephew
Avijit Dutta (PW-6) became highly agitated after being misled by Aloke Nath
as he had made wrong statements as regards the whereabouts of Bishwanath.
They were also perturbed as the house property was sought to be sold
without taking them into confidence. C
In this context, it is important to revisit the events which took place on
and after 31.01.94. Before meeting further demands of Aloke Nath, Nandlal on
advice of his advocate Bikash Pal p,ublished an advertisement in Anand Bazar
Patrika on 31.01.94 inviting objectiohs against the proposed registration of the
property. D
In response to said advertisement, Aloke Nath's two elder brothers,
Amar Nath and Samar Nath with sister Anuradha raised objections. Aloke
Nath wanted to settle the matter with his co-owners. Presumably with that
end in view he thought to invite his brothers for discussion at the premises
No. 2C, Beadon Street on 06.03.1994. E
The incident which had taken place on that day may be divided in two
parts: (i) the manner in whiCh PWs 3, 4 and 6 visited the place whereabout
they were wrongly informed as regards Biswanath's new address; and (ii)
when they came back after a futile search and confronted Aloke Nath as to
why they were misled and again demanded information in regard thereto. F
Identification of the dead body has not been seriously disputed before
us. Although in a given situation, the court might have scrutinized the issue
more closely, in view of the overwhelming evidence, it is not necessary for
us to do so. Identification of the skeleton as that of Biswanath by Aloke Nath G
has not been disputed. It is accepted that he had an extra tooth is also not
in question. The height of the deceased and his age again has also not been
disputed.

The fact that a platform was newly constructed is amply borne out from
the materials on record. Nandlal Singh (PW-15), his brothers PW-3 and PW- H
694 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. IO S.C.R.

A 4 and the brokers PW-17 and PW-18 stated, in no uncertain terms, that not
only despite having been asked Aloke N~th did not dismantle the same, but
in fact the same was re-enforced and painted with red colour. Evidence as
regards Aloke Nath's reply to the query regarding the construction of 'bedi'
that the same was meant for cooking purpose, is also not in much dispute.

B The fact that Aloke Nath had disposed of the belongings of the deceased
and other household materials is also not in much dispute. It is not necessary
for us to notice evidences of other witnesses who had testified about his
character and misconduct, namely, Biswanth Basak (PW-21), Soumitra Nayak
(PW-22), Subir Mullick (PW-25), Gobinda Sarkar (PWs-26) and Bebashish Kar
C (PW-27). The circumstances enumerated by the learned Trial Judge in the
light of the evidences brought on record and the extra judicial confession
made by Aloke Nath, in our opinion, lead to only one conclusion that the
dead body recovered was that of Biswanath and it was Aloke Nath who was
responsible for his death.

D He does not dispute that he was a party to the transactions with
Nandlal Singh and Arunmoy Bose. His many vices are amply borne out from
the materials. His absence from duty 11.01.1994 to 28.01.1994 has also been
proved by his colleagues PW-33, PW-34 and PW-35 .

. EXTRA JUDICIAL CONFESSION:
E
If the prosecution witnesses are to be believed that Aloke Nath made
an extra judicial confession and furthermore in view of the evidences on
record, it has to be held that the same was voluntary in nature. The same
having been spontaneous in the form of natural response to a stressful
stimulus made at the spur of the moment, we, for the reasons stated hereinafter,
F do not see as to why the same should be discarded. He was understandably
reeling under a great mental strain. He might have killed his own brother, with
a view to satisfy his greed of money, but the circumstances clearly demonstrate
that he had been pushed to the wall. He knew that his brothers and sister
would definitely ask for an explanation as to why without consulting them he
G tried to sell the house. A 'bedi' was constructed in his own bedroom which
one day or the other, was bound to be dismantled and the fact that a dead
body buried therein would come out. He had delivered possession of
bedroom which was occupied by his brother Biswanath, as also the premises
which was in his occupation. He, therefore, was not in a position to dismantle
the bedi and remove the dead body clandestinely. It is not that he was under
H
ALOKE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL (S.B. SINHA, J.) 695

any threat even by his brothers. He was required to give a satisfactory A
explanation and he made a false statement on the morning of 06.03.1994 as
regards the address of Biswanath. He was caught on the wrong foot. Events
which took place immediately thereafter also assume great significance. His
confession was made before a large number of persons. Each one of them
would not have been able to remember the words used by him in his confession. B
But then there was absolutely no reason as to why the tenants of the
premises would tell a lie. PW-18 and PW-19, were tenants of the premises.
It had not been suggested, that they were in any way inimically disposed
towards him.

Aloke Nath made extra judicial confession not only in presence of his C
own elder brothers PW-3 and PW-4 but also in the presence of his nephew
(PW-6), the intending purchaser of the house (PW-15) as also the two tenants
of the premises PW-18 and PW-19. The evidences of these witnesses are
consistent and we do not see any reason as to why we should disagree with
findings of the courts below in this behalf.
D
Our attention has been drawn to a decision of this Court in Heramba
Brahma and Anr. v. State ofAssam, AIR (1982) SC 1595, wherein this Court
opined:

"18. We are at a loss to understand how the High Court accepted
the evidence of this extra-judicial confession without examining the E
credentials of PW 2 Bistiram; without ascertaining the words used;
without referring to the decision of this Court to be presently mentioned
wherein it is succinctly stated that extra-judicial confession to afford
a piece of reliable evidence .must pass the test of reproduction of exact
words, the reason or motive for confession and person selected in F
whom confidence is reposed"

The said decision was rendered on its own facts. A purported
confession was made by the Appellant therein to another undertrial prisoner
in jail. They were not known to each other. There had been no previous
association between the witness and the other accused person. The court G
in the said factual backdrop, opined that it was highly improbable that such
confession would be made. Heramba Brahma (supra) is not an authority for
the proposition that extra judicial confession must pass the test of reproduction
of the exact words. The tests laid therein are cumulative in nature. What is
necessary for the court is to arrive at the conclusion as to whether such
confession has been retracted or not. No suggestion had been given to the H
696 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006) SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A witnesses that confession had not been made. No circumstances had been
brought out in cross-examination or by examination of independent witnesses
that the statements of witnesses proving such confession are not correct.

In State of Rajasthan v. Raja Ram, [2003] 8 SCC 180, it was held:

B "19. An extra-judicial confession, if voluntary and true and made
in a fit state of mind, can be relied upon by the court. The confession
will have to be proved like any other fact. The value of the evidence
as to confession, like any other evidence, depends upon the veracity
of the witness to whom it has been made. The value of the evidence
as to the confession depends on the reliability of the witness who
c gives the evidence. It is not open to any court to start with a
presumption that extra-judicial confession is a weak type of evidence.
It would depend on the nature of the circumstances, the time when
the confession was made and the credibility of the witnesses who
speak to such a confession. Such a confession can be relied upon and
D conviction can be founded thereon if the evidence about the confession
comes from the mouth of witnesses who appear to be unbiased, not
even remotely inimical to the accused, and in respect of whom nothing
is brought out which may tend to indicate that he may have a motive
of attributing an untruthfu 1statement to the accused, the words spoken
to by the witness are clear, unambiguous and unmistakably convey
E that the accused is the perpetrator of the crime and nothing is omitted
by the witness which may militate against it. After subjecting the
evidence of the witness to a rigorous test on the touchstone of
credibility, the extra-judicial confession can be accepted and can be
the basis of a conviction if it passes the test of credibility.
F It was further observed :

"20. If the evidence relating to extra-judicial confession is found
credible after being tested on the touchstone of credibility and
acceptability, it can solely fonn the basis of conviction. The requirement
of corroboration as rightly submitted by the learned counsel for the
G respondent-accused, is a matter of prudence and not an invariable rule
of law"

In the case of Gagan Kanojia and Anr. v. State of Punjab, [Criminal :
Appeal Nos. 561-62 and 563 of2005, decided on 24.11.2006, this Court opined:
H
ALOKE NATH DUTTAv. ST ATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 697

"Extra-judicial confession, as is well-known, can form the basis of a A
conviction. By way of abundant caution, however, the court may look
for some corroboration. Extra-judicial confession cannot ipso facto be ·
termed to be tainted. An extra-judicial confession, if made voluntarily
and proved can be relied upon by the courts."

In Nazir Khan & Ors. v. State of Delhi, [2003] 8 SCC 461, this Court B
held:

" .... A free and voluntary confession is deserving of the highest credit,
because it is presumed to flow from the highest sense of guilty ..."

[See also Ram Khilari v. State of Rajasthan [1999] 9 SCC 89; and Namala C
Subba Rao v. State of A.P., (2006) 10 SCALE 253].

It will also be relevant to consider State ofRajasthan v. Kashi Ram [2006
(l I) SCALE 440], wherein this court observed :

"There was nothing to show that he had reasons to confide in them. D
The evidence appeared to be unnatural and unbelievable. The High
Court observed that evidence of extra-judicial confession is a weak
piece of evidence and though it is possible to base a conviction on
the basis of an extra- judicial confession, the confessional evidence
must be proved like any other fact and the value thereof depended
upon the veracity of the witnesses to whom it was made." E
Recently, this Court held in the case of Ku/winder Singh v. State of
Punjab [Criminal Appeal No. 675 of2006], decided on 05.12.2006, this Court
held:

"the evidentiary value of an extra-judicial confession must be judged F
in the fact situation obtaining in each case. It would depend not only
on the nature of the circumstances but also the time when the
confession had been made and the credibility of the witness who
testifies thereto."

In his confession Aloke Nath takes the entire blame on himself. We G
are not persuaded to hold that the courts below erred in opining that extra
judicial confession of Aloke Nath is in any way doubtful.

On the aforementioned evidence, the involvement of Aloke Nath, in our
opinion, is proved beyond any shadow of doubt. We, therefore, hold that H
698 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A he has rightly been convicted of charges leveled against him.
OTHER APPELLANTS:

Circumstantial Evidence

B We have analyzed the evidences adduced by the prosecution to-establish
sixteen purported circumstances which had been relied upon by the prosecution
in order to bring home the guilt of the other Appellants herein. Circumstances
Nos. 14 and 15 enumerated by the learned Trial Judge directly relate to the
manner in which Biswanath was allegedly murdered.

C We will hereafter proceed on the basis that Circumstance No. I to 13
had also been proved against them also. The question which would, however,
arise is as to whether the circumstances leading to establishment of the guilt
of the murder of Biswanath can be said to have been proved by reason of
the purported circumstantial evidence as also the retracted confession of
Mrinal Dutta and extra judicial confession of Aloke Nath. So far as extra
D judicial confession of Aloke Nath is concerned, he implicated only himself
and did not implicate any other person in the conspiracy.

Circumstances nos. I to 13 are considered to be part of the same
transactions but Circumstances nos. 14 to 16 relate to distinct and different
E charges. Appellants other than Aloke Nath, had not been seen by anybody
else immediately before or after the alleged occurrence. In fact there is no
eye-witness to the alleged occurrence. The neighbours were also not examined
to show that any untoward incident had taken place. There is furthermore
no evidence on record to show that any of Appellants had even taken part
in concealment of the dead body. The prosecution did not examine any
F witness to establish the case as to how the other Appellants had helped
Aloke Nath in procuring bricks and cement or whether any other person had
helped him in concealment of the dead body.

As A Joke Nath had taken the entire blame on himself and did not speak
anything in regard to involvement of the other appellants, there is no evidence
G in_ regard to the meeting of mind with reference to the plot of murder. Aloke
Nath evidently was in a desperate situation. He required money. Others did
not. Motive on the part of other Appellants is not explicit. Therefore, others
cannot be treated to be his accomplice. Even the statements made by him,
leading to recovery of the dead body or other articles belonging to the
H deceased, do not implicate the other Appellants in any manner whatsoever. _
ALO KE NA TH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 699

We may assume that other Appellants conspired with Aloke Nath for A
selling the house. Mrinal Dutta evidently had signed the blank papers. He
purported to have executed some documents impersonating Biswanath. But
the question which must be posed and answered would be as to whether they
were parties to a bigger conspiracy of murder. Signing of certain documents,
impersonation of Biswanath by Mrinal Dutta or the other Appellants' signing
the said documents as witnesses, per se would not lead to the conclusion B
that at any point of time they had agreed with Aloke Nath that Biswanath
should be eliminated.

There is no eye-witness to the occurrence. Nobody has noticed -
any suspicious conduct on part of the Appellants indicating their role in C
committing murder or disposing the dead body. While dealing with a case
of grave nature like the present one, there is always a danger that conjectures
and suspicion may take the place of legal truth. This court has laid down
guidelines from time to time in regard to a finding of guilt solely on the basis
of circumstantial evidence in a number of cases. The process started with
Hanumant Govind Nargundkar and Anr. v. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR D
(1952) SC 343 wherein the law was laid down in the following terms:

"It is well to remember that in cases where the evidence is of a
circumstantial nature, the circumstances from which the conclusion of
guilt is to be drawn should in the first instance be fully established,
and all the facts so established should be consistent only with the E
hypothesis of the guilt of the accused. Again, the circumstances
should be of a conclusive nature and tendency and they should be
such as to exclude every hypothesis but the one proposed to be
proved. In other words, there must be a chain of evidence so far
complete as not to leave any reasonable ground for a conclusion F
consistent with the innocence of the accused and it must be such as
to show that within all human probability the act must have been done
by the accused. In spite of the forceful arguments addressed to us by
the learned Advocate-General on behalf of the State we have not been
able to discover any such evidence either intrinsic within Exhibit P-
3-A or outside and we are constrained to observe that the courts G
below have just fallen into the error against which warning was
uttered by Baron Alderson in the above mentioned, case."

Yet again in Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra, AIR
(1984) SC 1622 = [1984] 4 SCC 116, this Court laid down the Jaw in the
H
700 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A following terms:

"153. A close analysis of this decision would show that the following
conditions must be fulfilled before a case against an accused can be
said to be fully established:

B (1) the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be
drawn should be fully established.

It may be noted here that this Court indicated that the circumstances
concerned "must or should" and not "may be" established. There is
not only a grammatical but a legal distinction between "may be proved"
C and "must be or should be proved" as was held by this Court in
Shivaji Sahabrao Bobade v. State of Maharashtra, where the
observations were made: [SCC para 19, p. 807: SCC (Cri) p. 1047]

"Certainly, it is a primary principle that the accused must be and
not merely may be guilty before a court can convict and the
D mental distance between 'may be' and 'must be' is long and
divides vague conjectures from sure conclusions."

(2) the facts so established should be consistent only with the
hypothesis of the guilt of the accused, that is to say, they should not
be explainable on any other hypothesis except that the accused is
E guilty,

(3) the circumstances should be of a conclusive nature and
tendency,

(4) they should exclude every possible hypothe~is except the one
to be proved, and
F
(5) there must be a chain of evidence so complete as not to leave
any reasonable ground for the conclusion consistent with the
innocence of the accused and must show that in all human probability
the act must have been done by the accused."

G It was further observed :

"179. We can fully understand that though the case superficially
viewed bears an ugly look so as to prima facie shock the conscience
of any court yet suspicion, however great it may be, canr.ot take the
place of legal proof. A moral conviction however strong or genuine
H
ALOKENATHDUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA,J.] 701
cannot amount to a legal conviction supportable in law. A
180. It must be recalled that the well established rule of criminal
justice is that "fouler the crime higher the proof'. In the instant case,
the life and liberty of a subject was at stake. As the accused was
given a capital sentence, a very careful, cautious and meticulous
approach was necessary to be made." B
The murder might have been committed in a very cruel and revolting
manner but that may itself be a reason for scrutinizing the evidence a bit more
closely.

In Kashmira Singh v. State of MP., AIR (1952) SC 159, it was observed: C
"2. The murder was a particularly cruel and revolting one and for
that reason it will be necessary to examine the evidence with more
than ordinary care lest the shocking nature of the crime induce an
instinctive reaction against a dispassionate judicial scrutiny of the
facts and law." D
In Swaran Singh Rattan Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR (1957) SC 637,
this Court observed :

"Considered as a whole, the prosecution story may be true; but
between 'may be true' and 'must be true' there is inevitably a long E
distance to travel and the whole of this distance must be covered by
legal, reliable and unimpeachable evidence before an accused can be
convicted."

In Mousam Singha Roy and Ors. v. State of West Bengal [(2003) 12 SCC
377], this Court held : F
"27. Before we conclude, we must place on record the fact that
we are not unaware of the degree of agony and frustration that may
be caused to the society in general and the families of the victims in
particular, by the fact that a heinous crime like this goes unpunished,
but then the law does not permit the courts to punish the accused on G
the basis of moral conviction or on suspicion alone. The burden of
proof in a criminal trial never shifts, and it is a' Iways the burden of
the prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt on the
basis of acceptable evidence ...."
H
702 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A It was furthennore observed :

"28. It is also a settled principle of criminal jurisprudence that the more
serious the offence, the stricter the degree of proof, since a higher
degree of assurance is required to convict the accused."

B CONFESSION GENERALLY:

Confession ordinarily is admissible in evidence. It is a relevant fact. It
can be acted upon. Confession may under certain circumstances and subject
to law laid down by the superior judiciary from time to time fonn the basis
for conviction. It is, however, trite that for the said purpose the court has
C to satisfy itself in regard to: (i) voluntariness of the confession; (ii) truthfulness
of the confession; (iii) corroboration.

This Court in Shankaria v. State of Rajasthan, [1978] 3 SCC 435 stated
the law thus :

D "22. This confession was retracted by the appellant when he was
examined at the trial Under Section 3 I 3 Cr. P.C. on June 14, 1975. It
is well settled that a confession, if voluntarily and truthfully made, is
an efficacious proof of guilt. Therefore, when in a capital case the
prosecution demands a conviction of the accused, primarily on the
basis of his confession recorded Under Section 164 Cr. P.C, the Court
E must apply a double test:

(I) Whether the confession was perfectly voluntary?

(2) If so, whether it is true and trustworthy ?

F Satisfaction of the first test is a sine quo non for its admissibility in
evidence. If the confession appears to the Court to have been caused
by any inducement, threat or promise such as is mentioned in Section
24, Evidence Act, it must be excluded and rejected brevi manu. In such
a case, the question of proceeding further to apply the second test
does not arise. If the first test is satisfied, the Court must before
G· acting upon the confession reach the finding that what is stated
therein is true and reliable. For judging the reliability of such a
confession, or for that matter of any substantive piece of evidence
there is no rigid canon of universal application. Even so, one broad
method which may be useful in most cases for evaluating a confession,
H may be indicated. The Court should carefully examine the confession
ALO KE NA TH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 703
and compare it with the rest of the evidence, in the light of the A
surrounding circumstances and probabilities of the case. If on such
examination and comparison, the confession appears to be a probable
catalogue of events and naturally fits in with the rest of the evidence
and the surrounding circumstances, it may be taken to have satisfied
the second test."
B
[Also see Anil@ Raju Namdev Patil v. Administration of Daman and Diu,
Daman and Anr., (2006) 12 SCALES 16].

A detailed confession which would otherwise be within the special
knowledge of the accused may itself be not sufficient to raise a presumption
that confession is a truthful one. Main features of a confession are required C
to be verified. If it is not done, no conviction can be based only on the sole
basis thereof.

In Muthuswami v. State of Madras, AIR (1954) SC 4, this Court opined:

"8. The only reason the High Court give for accepting the confession D
is because the learned Judges considered there was intrinsic material
to indicate its genuineness. But the only feature the learned Judges
specify is that it contains a wealth of detail which could not have
been invented. But the point overlooked is that none of this detail has
been tested. The confession is a long and rambling one which could E
have been invented by an agile mind or pieced together after tutoring.
What would have been difficult is to have set out a true set of facts
in that manner. But unless the main features of thP. story are shown
to be true, it is, in our opinion, unsafe to regard mere wealth of
uncorroborated detail as a safeguard of truth."
F
RETRACTED JUDICIAL CONFESSION:

We may notice that till the purported judicial confession of Mrinal Dutta
was recorded by PW-43, evidences collected during investigation were only
suggestive of the fact that some person(s) had executed documents
impersonating Biswanath. In fact the witnesses did not recognize Mrina\ G
Dutta to be impersonating Biswanath. It was expected of the Investigating
Authority to put Mrinal Dutta on test identification parade to prove the
charge of impersonation of Biswanath. Mrinal Dutta was arrested along with
other accused on 07 .03.1994. An application for test identification parade for
Aloke Nath was filed on 09.03.1994. No such prayer was made by the H
704 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A prosecution for Mrinal Dutta.
On 16.03.1994 he had been remanded to police custody. A prayer was
made by the Investigating Officer for further police custody before the ACM
on 16.03.1994. Consequently he had been remanded till 19.03.1994.

B Before we examine the legal implications in regard to recording the
judicial confession, we may notice the following facts. He had been produced
before the Magistrate (PW-43) straightaway from police custody. He was
asked to be sent to judicial custody for self introspection. He, however, was
taken out from Presidency Jail <lt 10.30 A.M .. on 21.03.1994. Admittedly, he
C had been produced before the Magistrate at 1.00 p.m. Albeit a little later,
a complaint was made by Mrinal Dutta, that before he had been produced
before the Magistrate he was taken to the Alipore Police Station and tortured.
lt is true, as has been submitted by Mr. Ahmad, that although he had named
the Police Inspector who allegedly tortured him, as would appear from his
examination under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, but the said
D Police Inspector has not been cross-examined on the said point, but the fact
remains that the confession stood retracted and, thus, we have no option but
to consider the legal aspect thereof having regard to the fact situation obtaining
herein.

The court's scrutiny in regard- to the acceptability of a judicial confession
E would not stop only because there was a failure on the part of the defence
counsel to cross-examine the said witness, more so when the offence is said
to be a grave one.

Constitutional Postulates and Retracted confession

F Article 20(3) of the Constitution oflndia provides that no person accused
of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself. The right
to remain silent is an extension of the rule of civil liberty enjoined by our
Constitution.

Considering the guarantee under Article 20 (3) and also humanizing
G standards under Article 21 we need to tread cautiously while construing
retracted confession. Although such caution is subject to some exceptions
such as per se evidence of the motivating factors of retraction or retraction
based on extraneous circumstances.

In this regard it is important to address the scope and ambit of Article
H
ALOKE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 705
20(3) i.e. at which stage of criminal process the safeguard becomes operative. A
In Smt. Nandini Satpathy v. P.L. Dani and Anr., AIR (1978) SC 1025, this

- Court stated the law thus :

"57. We hold that Section 161 enables the police to examine the
accused during investigation. The prohibitive sweep of Article 20(3)
goes back to the stage of police interrogation not, as contended, B
commencing in court only. In our judgment, the provisions of Article
20(3) and Section 161 (l) substantially cover the same area, so far as
police investigations are concerned. The ban on self-accusation and
the right to silence, while one investigation or trial is under way, goes
beyond that case and protects the accused in regard to other offences C
pending or imminent, which may deter him from voluntary disclosure
of criminatory matter."

In this context, it will be useful to refer to the following passage from
the decision of this Court in State (N.C. T. of Delhi) v. Navjot Sandhu @
Afsan Guru, [2005] I I SCC 600 : D
"This Court rejected the contention advanced on behalf of the State
that the two provisions, namely, Article 20(3) and Section 161, did not
operate at the anterior stages before the case came to Court and the
incriminating utterance of the accused, previously recorded, was
attempted to be introduced. Noting that the landmark decision in E
Miranda v. Arizona, (1966), 384 US 436) did extend the embargo to
police investigation also, the Court observed that there was no warrant
to truncate the constitutional protection underlying Article 20(3). It
was held that even the .investigation at the police level is embraced
by Article 20(3) and this is what precisely Section 161 means."
F
[See also Directorate of Enforcement v. Deepak Mahajan and Anr., [ 1994] 3
SCC 440, and Balkishan A. Devidayal v. State of Maharashtra, [l 980] 4 SCC
600).

To withdraw from what has been said previously needs to be interpreted
in the vein of right to remain silent as an extension of this civil liberty. The G
quality or merit of confession, in no uncertain terms, is in voluntary narration
by the accused. At the same time we are equally in know of the troubled times
the judiciary is plagued with. The issue of evidentiary standards is a very
delicate one and has a great bearing on the outcome of cases. But be it as
it may, basic tenets of criminal Jaw can not be lost sight of. In similar vein H
706 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A the law on retracted confession must be judged in the context of each case.

Legislative paradigm on retracted confession:

In this regard it is important to consider the retracted confession within
the legislative paradigm laid down under Sections 24 to 26 of the Indian
B Evidence Act and Section 162(1) and Section 164 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973.

Also it will be in the fitness of the case to appraise the value of
retracted confession for the co-accused under section 30 of The Indian
Evidence Act a little later.
c
Sections 24 to 30 deal with confession. Section 24 speaks of the effect
of a confession made by an accused through inducement, threat or promise
proceeding from a 'person in authority'. Whereas section 25 and section 26
deal with situations where such 'person in authority' is police. It is an
institutionalized presumption against confession extracted by police or in .'

D police custody. In that frame of reference, Section 24 is the genus and
sections 25 and 26 are its species. In other words, section 25 and section
26 are simple corollaries flowing out of the axiomatic and generalized proposition
(confession caused by inducement where inducement proceeds from a person
in authority, is bad in law) contained in section 24. They are directed towards
E assessing the value of a confession made to a police officer or in police
custody.

The policy underlying behind Sections 25 and 26 is to make· it a
substantive rule of law that confessions whenever and wherever made to the
police, or while in the custody of the police unless made in the immediate
F presence of a magistrate, shall be presumed to have been obtained under the
circumstances mentioned in Section 24 and, therefore, inadmissible, exce:>t so
far as is provided by Section 27 of the Act.

Section 164, however, makes the confession before a Magistrate
admissible in evidence. The manner in which such confession is to be
G recorded by the Magistrate is provided under Section 164 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure. The said provision, inter alia, seeks to protect an
accused from making a confession, which may include a confession before
a Magistrate, still as may be under influence, threat or promise from a person
in authority. It takes into its embrace the right of an accused flowing from
H Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India as also Article 21 thereof. Although,
ALO KE NATH DUTIAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 707

Section 164 provides for safeguards, the same cannot be said to be exhaustive A
in nature. The Magistrate putting the questions to an accused brought
before him from police custody, should some time, in our opinion, be more
intrusive than what is required in law. [See Babubhai Udesinh Parmar v.
State o/Gujarat, (200~) 12 SCALE 385].

Jn a case, where confession is made in the presence of a Magistrate B
conforming the requirements of Section 164, if it is retracted at a later stage,
the court in our opinion, should probe deeper into the matter. Despite
procedural safeguards contained in the said provision, in our opinion, the
learned Magistrate should satisfy himself that whether the confession was of
voluntary nature. It has to be appreciated that there can be times where C
despite such procedural safeguards, confessions are made for unknown
reasons and in fact made out of fear of police.

Judicial confession must be recorded in strict compliance of the
provisions of Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. While doing
so, the court shall not go by the black letter of law as contained in the D
aforementioned provision; but must make further probe so as to satisfy itself
that the confession is truly voluntary and had not been by rea5on of any
inducement, threat or torture.

The fact that the accused was produced from the police custody is
accepted. But it was considered in a routine manner. The learned Magistrate E
in his evidence could not even state as to whether the appellants had any
injury on his person or whether there had been any tainted marks therefor.

The courts while applying the law mus~ give due regard to its past
· experience. The past experience of the courts as also the decisions rendered
by the superior courts should be taken as a wholesome guide. We must F
remind ourselves that despite the fact that procedural safeguards contained
in Section 164 of the Cr. P.C. may be satisfied, but the courts must look for
truthfulness and voluntariness thereof. It must, however, be remembered that
it may be retracted subsequently. The court must, thus, take adequate
precaution. Affirmative indication of external pressure will render the retracted G
confession nugatory in effect. The court must play a proactive role in unearthing
objective evidence forming the backdrop of retraction and later the examination
of such evidence of retraction. However in cases where none exists, the court
must give the benefit of doubt to the accused. Where there is no objective
material available for verifying the conditions in which the confession was
retracted, the spirit of section 24 of the Evidence Act (irrelevance of confession H
708 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. JO S.C.R.

A caused by inducement) may be extended to retracted confession. An inverse
presumption must be drawn from absence of materials.

In a case of retracted confession, the courts while arriving at a finding
of guilt would not ordinarily rely solely thereupon and would look forward
for 'corroboration of material particulars. Such corroboration must not be
B referable in nature. Such corroboration must be independent and conclusive
in nature.

Evidentiary value of retracted confession:

A retracted confession of a co-accused cannot be relied upon for the
C purpose of finding corroboration for the retracted confession of an accused.
It was so held in Bhuboni Sahu v. R., AIR (1949) PC 257, stating :

"The court may take the confession into consideration and thereby
no doubt, makes its evidence on which the court may act; but the
section does not say that the confession is to amount. to proof.
D Clearly there must be other evidence. The confession is only one
element in the consideration of all the facts proved in the case; it can
be put into the scale and weighed with the other evidence."

[See Hari Charan Kurmi and Jogia Hajam v. State of Bihar, [1964] 6 SCR ,.
E 623]

However, we are not unmindful ofthe fact that in this country, retractions
are as plentiful as confessions. In a case of retracted confession, the courts
should evidently be a little slow in accepting the confession, although the
accused may not be able to fully justify the reasons for his retraction.

F It is interesting to note that in R. v. Thompson, (1893), 2 QB 12, 18, Cave,
J. stated the law thus:

"I would add that for my part I always suspect these confessions
which are supposed to be the offspring of penitence .and remorse and
which nevertheless are repudiated by the prisoner at the trial. It is
G remarkable that it is of very rare occurrence. for evidence of a confession
to be given when the proof of the prisoner's guilt is otherwise. clear,
and satisfactory, but when it is not clear and satisfactory, the prisoner
is not frequently alleged to have been seized with a desire, born of
penitence and remorse; to supplement it with a confession a desire
H which vanishes as soon as he appears in a court of justice."
- ALO KE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 709

Straight J, observed in R. v. Babula/, 6 A 509, 542, 543 A
"An endless source of anxiety and difficulty to those who have to see
that justice is properly administered I have said, and repeat now, it is
incredible that the extraordinarily large number of confessions, which
come before us in the criminal cases disposed of by this court, either
in appeal or revision, should have been voluntarily and freely made B
in every instance as represented the retraction follows almost invariably
as a matter of course"

[See SARKAR ON EVIDENCE, 15th Edn. Volume 1 - page 466]

The value of a retracted confession is now well-known. The court must C
be satisfied that the confession at the first instance is true and voluntary.
[See Subramania Goundan v. The State of Madras, AIR (1958) SC 66 and
Pyare Lal Bhargava v. State of Rajasthan, AIR (1963) SC 1094.

Caution and prudence in accepting a retracted confession is an ordinary
rule. [See Puran v. The State of Punjab, AIR (1953) SC 459]. Although if a D
retracted confession is found to be corroborative in material particulars, it may
be the basis of conviction. [Balbir Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR ( 1957) SC
216].

We may notice that in 1950's and 1960's corroborative evidence in
"material particulars" was the rule. [See Puran (supra), Balbir Singh (supra), E
Nand Kumar and Ors. v. State of Rajasthan, (1963) Cr!. LJ 702. A
distinctiveness was made in later years in favour of "general corroboration"
or "broad corroboration". [See for General Corroboration - _State of
Maharashtra v. Bharat Chaganlal Raghani and Ors., [200-1] 9 SCC l];
"General trend of Corroboration" - Jameel Ahmed and Anr. v. State of F
Rajasthan, [2003] 9 SCC 673; and "Broad Corroboration" - Parmananda
Pegu v. State of Assam, AIR (2004) SC 4197]

Whatever be the tenninology used, one rule is almost certain that no
judgment of conviction shall be passed on an uncorroborated retracted
confession. The court shall consider the materials on record objectively in G
regard to the reasons for retraction. It must arrive at a finding that the
confession was truthful and voluntary. Merit of the confession being the
voluntariness and truthfulness, the same, in no circumstances, should be
compromised. We are not oblivious of some of the decisions of this Court
which proceeded on the basis that conviction of an accused on the basis of H
710 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A a retracted confession is permissible but only if it is found that retraction
made by the accused was wholly on a false premise. [See Balbir Singh
(supra)].

There cannot, however, be any doubt or dispute that although retracted
confession is admissible, the same should be looked with some amount of
B suspicion - a stronger suspicion than that which is attached to the
confession of an approver who leads evidence to the court.

Why we should not rely on the confession :

Coming to the facts of this case, on 04.10.2002, the lawyer appearing for
C Mrinal Dutta made a submission that an application had been filed praying
for calling of some records from the Presidency Jail. No order had been
passed thereupon. It was contended that he had been taken from Jail at 10.00
a.m.. The records were directed to be produced. However from the order
sheet dated 14.11.2002 it appears that the said records had not been produced.
D On 17.0 l .2003 a prayer had again been made on behalf of Mrinal Dutta that
steps would be taken for production of the documents in terms of order dated
04. l 0.2002. The learned Judge recorded :

"The order No.265 goes to show that th~ Court passed order
regarding production of Jail Register ofPresidency Jail dated 21.3 ;94.
E The report of the Superintendent, Presidency Correctional Home dated
14.11.02 shows that the same was not available. It was further stated
in the said letter that if the said register is available, the same will be
sent to this Court at once.

As the said Register has not been produced, the Court is duty
F bound to take presumption that the said Register could not be traced
out.

It should be stated here that the cease work was withdrawn long
ago and during this period, the defence lawyer for accused Mina!
Dutta did not take any step to compel the superintendent Presidency
G Correctional Home to appear in person and to produce the document.
As today is fixed for D.W. and as no petition has been fifed the case
is closed, considering the fact that the case is pending for trial since
1994."

The court, with respect, misdirected itself. It had no such duty. It was
H in fact the other way found .
- ALOKE NATH DUTTA v. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.J 711

It is not in dispute that Mrinal Dutta had retracted from his confession. A
The value of the retracted confession was required to be considered on the
accusation of the accused that the confession was not voluntary. In his
application retracting from his confession, it was alleged :

"Respected Sir, my humble submission is that'I am infonning true
facts of my case. I have been implicated in the murder of Biswanath B
Dutta and the fraud committed. I am not connected with these
incidents and I know nothing about these acts. Police came to my
house on 7.3.94 to apprehend my brother-in-law Gobinda Roy. Gobinda
was at my house on the said date. Police apprehended and brought
me and Gobinda Roy from my house. Thereafter implicated me in that C
murder and fraud. Then beat me up severely and told me to state
whatever they dictate and thereafter to accept the same. Otherwise
they would torture me and members of my family continuously in
various manners and would implicate in other cases also. They told
me if you follow our dictates we would save you. They made me
make a confession as per their false statements before a Respected D
Magistrate of Jorabagan Bankshall Court.

Out of the fear of Police torture I and members of my family are
on the brink of destruction. My humble appeal to you to kindly take
necessary action to save me and members of my family from
destruction." E
It is expected in a situation of this nature that the court will issue a suo
motu direction to the authority to produce the records. There was absolutely
no reason as to why the records would not be produced by the Presidency
Jail's authorities for a period of two months. If the said records had not been
produced, in our opinion, it was obligatory on the part of the court to issue F
a suo motu notice. The court was dealing with a serious matter. More than
one life hinged on that valuable material. If a public authority does not
produce a document despite being called upon to do so; an adverse inference
is to be drawn. Converse is not the law.

It is true that sufficient time was given (two days) to Mrinal Dutta to G
confinn his willingness to confess and finalize the contents of the confession.
The reasons for which the confession had been retracted and the subsequent
events wherein the appellants intended to prove a certain state of affairs,
namely, although he was supposed to have been produced directly from the
jail to the concerned Magistrate but in fact he was taken out of jail 2 112 hours H
712 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. IO S.C.R.

A before the.time fixed therefor, could be a pointer to the fact as to whether the
confession was a voluntary one.

It may be true that an application for adducing evidence had been filed
by the Appellants in terms of Section 311 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
but the said evidence, if adduced would have tilted the balance one way or
B the other so as to enable the court to come to the conclusion as to whether
the purported judicial confession made by Mrinal Dutta satisfies the tests laid
down by this Court in a large number of decisions. There was no reason for
the court to draw an adverse inference that the records had been destroyed.
No such inference could be drawn in law either in terms of Section 114 of the
C Indian Evidence Act or any other law. The period during which such
documents are preserved under the provisions of the jail manual have not
been referred to. No evidence had been brought on record to show that the
documents had in fact been destroyed. The least the jail authorities could
do was to produce the destruction register.

D In the aforementioned backdrop, the court should give the benefit of
doubt to the accused instead of the prosecution. The learned Trial Judge,
in our opinion, should not have closed the case. He should have invoked
his jurisdiction under Section 3 11 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the
interest of justice and instead of blaming the defence for non-examination of
the Superintendent of Presidency Jail, the court itself should have called upon
E authorities to produ~e the document. The presumption raised by the court
in this behalf is wholly misconceived.

Effect of a retracted confession:

We are not suggesting that the confession was not proved, but the
F question is what would be the effect of a retracted confession. It is now a
well-settled principle of law that a retracted confession is a weak evidence.
The court while relying on such retracted confession must satisfy itself that
the same is truthful and trustworthy. Evidences brought on records by way
of judicial confession which stood retracted should be substantially
G corroborated by other independent and cogent evidences, which would lend
adequate assurance to the court that it may seek to rely thereupon. [See
Paramananda Pegu (supra)]

In Navjot Sandhu @ Afsan Guru (supra), this Court observed:

H "32. As to what should be the legal approach of the court called upon
ALO KE NATH DUTT Av. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 713

to convict a person primarily in the light of the confession or a A
retracted confession has been succinctly summarised in Bharat v.
State of U.P. Hidayatu/lah, C.J., speaking for a three-Judge Bench
observed thus: (SCC p. 953, para 7)

"Confessions can be acted upon if the court is satisfied that they are
voluntary and that they are true. The voluntary nature of the confession B
depends upon whether there was any threat, inducement or promise
and its truth is judged in the context of the entire prosecution case.
The confession must fit into the proved facts and not run counter to
them. When the voluntary character of the confession and its truth
are accepted, it is safe to rely on it. Indeed a confession, if it is C
voluntary and true and not made under any inducement or threat or
promise, is the most patent piece of evidence against the maker.
Retracted confession, however, stands on a slightly different footing.
As the Privy Council once stated, in India it is the rule to find a
confession and to find it retracted later. A court may take into account
the retracted confession, but it must look for the reasons for the D
making of the confession as well as for its retraction, and must weigh
the two to determine whether the retraction affects the voluntary
nature of the confession or not. If the court is satisfied that it was
retracted because of an afterthought or advice, the retraction may not
weigh with the court if the general facts proved in the case and the
tenor of the confession as made and the circumstances of its making E
and withdrawal warrant its user. All the same, the courts do not act
upon the retracted confession without finding assurance from some
other sources as to the guilt of the accused. Therefore, it can be
stated that a true confession made voluntarily may be acted upon with
slight evidence to corroborate it, but a retracted confession requires F
the general assurance that the retraction was an afterthought and that
the earlier statement was true"

[See also Puran (supra), Bharat v. State of UP, [1971] 3 SCC 950, Kora Ghasi
v. State, [1983] 2 SCC 251, Preetam v. State of MP, [1996] 10 SCC 432 and
Bhagwan Singh v. State q( MP, (2003] 3 SCC 21). G
Mr. Altaf Ahmad, relied upon a decision of this Court in Sidharth and
Ors. V. State of Bihar, [2005] 12 sec 545 wherein having regard to the
extensive evidences produced by the prosecution, it was held that the same
lent corroboration to the confession made by the accused. In that case the
circumstances had been independent de'hors the confession. It was opined: H
714 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2006] SUPP. 10 S;CK
...
A "16. The confession made by the appellant Amit Das is voluntary
and is fully corroborated by the above items of evidence. The Sessions .
Judge was perfectly justified in relying on the confession made by the
appellant Amit Das."

Reliance has also been placed by Mr. Ahmad on State of Tamil Nadu
B v. Kutty@ Lakshmi Narsimhan, [2001] 6 SCC 550. Therein materials were
brought on records to lend assurance to the court about the truthfulness of
the confession made. There had been several independent circumstances
which had lent assurance thereto, although the same had been retracted.

APPRECIATION OF EVIDENCE:
c
In the instant case, it is an admitted position that on 19th March, 1994,
Mrinal Dutta was taken to the Magistrate (PW-43) straight from the Police
custody.

Even though the Magistrate had sent the accused to jail custody on
D 19th March so that he could further reflect on the matter, when he was
brought to the Magistrate again on 21.03 .1994 he was, as subsequently
asserted by Mrinal Dutta, first taken to A!ipore Police Station and was
threatended and tortured and was also tutored as to what he should tell the
Magistrate in his confession. PW-48 .the 1.0. was cross examined on this
E point and suggestions were also given to him Which he denied.

Mrinal Dutta in his retraction made from jail on 16.06.1994 emphatically
stated that he was taken to Alipore police station before being brought to the
Magistrate on 21.03.1994. ·He maintained that stand in his examination under
Section 31~ Cr.P.C. Strangely enough prosecution did not make any attempt
F to disprove this allegation.

In this case, as we have noticed hereinbefore, there is no independent
evidence adduced on behalf of the prosecution to prove conspiracy with
regard to cheating and forgery of documents and impersonation. They had
been sought to be proved by the supplementary circumstantial evidences.
G
In this case, the courts below have failed to notice the legality of the
judicial confession. There did not exist any evidence against Mrinal Dutta.
The courts apparently considered the said confessions of Aloke Nath and
then started connecting links therefrom and again came back to the confession
H for completing the chain. Confession must be considered so as to buttress
ALOKE NA TH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 7I 5

other evidence and not the vice-versa. In other words, in the instant case, A
the courts started to consider the matter from the angle of confession then
picked up facts from the deposition of the witnesses and again came back to
· the confession.

The evidences merely established to defraud the intending purchasers.
At that point of time, Aloke Nath thought it fit to do away with Biswanath, B
as he was proved to be an obstruction in his attempt to dispose of the
property. The Appellants might or might not have joined hands with him, but
unless there exist sufficient and cogent reasons to link them with the alleged
crime committed by Aloke Nath, it may not be said that they are also guilty
thereof.
c
Effect of retracted confession of Mrinal Dutta on Appellants other than
A/oke Nath :

Furthermore, so far as the accusation against Babu Roy and Mamata
Dutta are concerned, the only evidence against them was the judicial D
confession of Mrinal Dutta. The same was admissible against them only
under Section 30 of the !ndian Evidence Act.

Section 30:

It is not in dispute that apart from general evidence in regard to E
commission of forgery etc., only evidence of involvement of Mamata and
Babu Roy is the judicial confession made by Mrinal Dutta. The extra judicial
confession made by Aloke Nath before the prosecution witnesses, as noticed
hereinbefore, does not implicate these Appellants. Only in his judicial
confession, Mrinal Dutta has assigned roles to these accused persons as
having common intention to commit the offence of murder of Biswanath with F
Aloke Nath.

Judicial confession is admissible in evidence against the maker thereof
under Section 26 of the Indian Evidence Act; but against the co-accused,
Section 30 will be applicable.
G
Section 30 of the Indian Evidence Act reads thus :

"30. Consideration of proved confession affecting person making
it and others jointly under trial for same offence. When more persons
than one are being tried jointly for the same offence, and a confession
H
...
I
716 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A made by one of such persons affecting himself and some other of
such per~ons is proved, the Court may take i~to consideration such
confession as against such other person as well as against the person
who makes such confession."

The expression 'the court may take into consideration such confession'
B is significant. It signifies that such confession by the maker as against the
co-accused himself sh~uld be treated as a piece of corroborative evidence.
In absence of any substantive evidence, no judgment of conviction can be
recorded only on the basis of confession of a co-accused, be it extra judicial
confession or a judicial confession and least of all on the basis of retracted
C confession.

What is furthermore required to be considered is that if a retracted
confession itself is weak evidence, the question of conviction of a co-accused
on the basis thereof would not arise.

D The question has been considered in State of M.P. through CBI and
Ors. v. Paltan Mallah and Ors., [2005) 3 SCC 169, Navjot Sandhu (supra)
and Sidharth (supra).

In Sidhartha (supra), this Court held :

'.'19. It is true that the confession made by a co-accused shall not be
E the sole basis for a conviction. This Court in Kashmira Singh v. State
of MP., held that the confession of an accused person is not evidence
in the ordinary sense of the term as defined in Section 3. It cannot
be made the foundation of a conviction and can only be used in
support of other evidence. The proper way is, first, to marshal the
F evidence against the accused excluding the confession altogether
from consideration and see whether, if it is believed, a conviction
could safely be based on it. If it is capable of belief independently of
the confession, then of course it is not necessary to call the confession
in aid. But cases may arise where the judge is not prepared to act on
the other evidence as it stands, even though, if believed, it would be
G sufficient to sustain a conviction. In such an event the judge may call
in aid the confession and use it to lend assurance to the other
evidence and thus fortify himself in believing what without the aid of
the confession he would not be prepared to accept."

In Ram Parka.~h v. The State of Punjab, [1959] SCR 1219, it was held:
H
ALO KE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 717
"That a voluntary and true confession made by an accused though A
it was subsequently retracted by him, can be taken into consideration
against a co-accused by virtue of s. 30 of the Indian Evidence Act,
but as a matter of prudence and practice the court should not act
upon it to sustain a conviction of the co-accused without full and
strong corroboration in material particulars both as to the crime and B
as to his connection with that crime.

The amount of credibility to be attached to a retracted confession
would depend upon the circumstances of each particular case."

It was further opined :
c
"On the evidence in the case the confession of P was voluntary
and true and was strongly corroborated in material particulars both
concerning the general story told in the confession concerning the
crime and the appellant's connection with crime."

[See Navjot Sandhu alias Afsan Guru (supra) and Jaswant Gir v. State of D
Punjab, [2005] 12 SCC 438].

We, therefore, express our inability, with respect, to agree with this part
of the judgment of the learned judge.

DEATH SENTENCE: E
Is this case an instance of 'rarest of rare cases' meriting imposition of
capital sentence is now the question? What are the parameters, are there
any ? Several factors are relevant. One of them being a long lapse of time
[See Pa/tan Ma/lah (supra)]
F
In Bachan Singh v. State ofPunjab, [1980] 2 SCC 684 =AIR (19801 SCC
898, a Constitution Bench dealt with the validity of death sentence and while
doing so the rule of rarest of rare cases was laid down. It was reiterated in
Machhi Singh and Ors. v. State of Punjab, (1983] 3 SCC 4 70. The illustrative
circumstances which were laid down in the aforementioned cases are :
G
I. When the murder is committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque,
diabolical, revolting, or dastardly manner so as to arouse intense and extreme
indignation of the community.

2. When the murder is committed for a motive which evinces total H
718 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A depravity and meanness; e.g. murder by hired assassin for money or reward;
or cold-blooded murder for gains of a person vis-a-vis whom the murderer is
in a dominating position or in a position of trust; or murder is committed in
the course of betrayal of the motherland.

3. When murder of a member of a Scheduled Caste or minority community,
B etc. is committed not for personal reasons but in circumstances which arouse
social wrath; or in cases of "bride-burning" or "dowry deaths" or when
murder is committed in order to remarry for the sake of extracting dowry once
again or to marry another woman on account of infatuation.

C 4. When the crime is enormous in proportion. For instance when multiple
murders, say of all or almost all the members of a family or a large number
of persons of a particular caste, community, or locality, are committed.

5. When the victim of murder is an innocent child, or a helpless woman
or old or infirm person or a person vis-a-vis whom the murderer is in a
D dominating position, or a public figure generally loved and respected by the
community.

We are, however, not oblivious of the fact that the court also should
not remain unmindful to protect the injured and with that view of the matter
recommend award of proper sentence having regard to the nature of offence.
E
[See Sevaka Perumal v. State of Tamil Nadu, AIR (1991) SC 1463]

In Devender Pal Singh v. State of NCT of Delhi, AIR (2002) SC 1661
the death sentence was upheld by a majority of 2: 1 notwithstanding the
dissenting view holding the accused to be innocent.
F
[See also Dhananjoy Chatterjee@ Dhana v. State of West Bengal & Ors.,
[2004] 9 sec 759].

We may notice that in Saibanna v. State of Karnataka, JT (2005) 5 SC
564 = [2005] 4 SCC 165], this Court imposed death punishment in a case where
G the accused committed a murder while undergoing life imprisonment.

Although we are not concerned with such a case, the view taken
therein is doubtful.

We may also notice that in Ram Anup Singh and Ors. v. State of Bihar,
H [2002] 6 SCC 686 and Bachittar Singh and Anr. v. State of Punjab, [2002] 8
ALO KE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 719

sec 125, this Court did not impose a death penalty although the case involved A
murder of a brother by another brother.

It is not necessary for us to notice a large number of decisions which
are available in the reports, except a few recent decisions.

In Surendra Pal Shivba/akpal v. State of Gujarat, [2005] 3 SCC 127, B
death sentence was not imposed in a case where the offence involved was
rape with murder of a girl, stating :

"13. The next question that arises for consideration is whether
this is a "rarest of rare case"; we do not think that this is a "rarest
of rare case" in which death penalty should be imposed on the C
appellant. The appellant was aged 36 years at the time of the occurrence
and there is no evidence that the appellant had been involved in any
other criminal case previously and the appellant was a migrant labourer
from U.P. and was living in impecunious circumstances and it cannot
be said that he would be a menace to society in future and no D
materials are placed before us to draw such a conclusion. We do not
think that the death penalty was warranted in this case. We confirm
conviction of the appellant on all the counts, but the sentence of
death penalty imposed on him for the offence under Section 302 IPC
is commuted to life imprisonment."
E
Therein it was also noticed that the accused was prone to do such
crime.

In State of Maharashtra v. Man Singh, [2005] 3 SCC 131, the court
refrained itself from awarding the capital punishment, although the offence
involved was rape with murder. F
In Rama Subramanian v. State ofKera/a, AIR (2006) SC 639, this Court
did not award a death penalty where a lady, together with her three children,
was killed, despite arriving at a finding that the evidence adduced by the
prosecution is very clear and convincing to prove the guilt of the Appellant,
stating : G
" ... It is true that the crime committed by the appellant is cruel and
dastardly in nature and the appellant deserves no mercy. However,
it may be noted that it is not known how and under what circumstances
the incident had taken place on 9.8.1999. the appellant was annoyed
H
720 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. JO S.C.R.

A by the fact that his services were terminated without being paid any
compensation despite serving his employer for quite a long period.
Taking the overall facts into consideration, we do not find that this
is one of the rarest of the rare cases where death sentence could be
the only punishment ..... "

B Apart from Sidharth (supra), our attention has also been drawn to a
judgment of this Court in State of Rajasthan v. Kheraj Ram, [2003] 8 SCC 224
by Mr. Ahmad, wherein this Court, while awarding death punishment, held

"35. A convict hovers between life and death when the question
c of gravity of the offence and award of adequate sentence comes up
for consideration. Mankind has shifted from the state of nature towards
a civilized society and it is no longer the physical opinion of the
majority that takes away the liberty of a citizen by convicting him and
making him suffer a sentence of imprisonment. Award of punishment
following conviction at a trial in a system wedded to the rule of law
D
is the outcome of cool deliberation in the courtroom after adequate
hearing is afforded to the parties, accusations are brought against the
accused, the prosecuted is given an opportunity of meeting the
accusations by establishing his innocence. It is the outcome of cool
deliberation and the screening of the material by the informed man i.e.
E the Judge that leads to determination of, the lis.

36. The principle of proportion between crime and punishment is
a principle of just deserts that serves as the foundation of every
criminal sentence that is justifiable. As a principle of criminal justice
it is hardly Jess familiar or less important than the principle that only
F the guilty ought to be punished. Indeed, the requirement that
punishment need not be disproportionately great, which is a corollary
of just deserts, is dictated by the same principle that does not allow
punishment of the innocent, for any punishment in excess of what is
deserved for the criminal conduct is punishment without guilt.
G 3 7. The criminal law adheres in general to the principle of
proportion~lity in prescribing liability according to the culpability of
each kind of criminal conduct;" lt ordinarily allows some significant
discretion to the Judge in arriving at a sentence in each case,
presumably, to permit sentences that reflect more subtle considerations
of culpability that are raised by the special facts of each case. Judges
H
ALO KE NATH DUTTAv. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 721
in essence affirm that punishment ought always to fit the crime; yet A
in practice sentences are determined largely by other considerations.
Sometimes it is the correctional needs of the perpetrator that are
offered to justify a sentence. Sometimes the desirability of keeping
him out of circulation, and sometimes even the terrific results of his
crime. Inevitably, these considerations cause a departure from just B
deserts as the basis of punishment and create cases of apparent
injustice that are serious and widespread."

In that case, death penalty was imposed but our endeavour here is to
see that courts in the matter of sentencing act differently although the fact
situation may appear to be somewhat similar. C
We would, however, notice that in State of UP. v. Satish, [2005] 3 SCC
114, the same learned Judge took a similar view in a case where the High Court
reversed the judgment of conviction and imposition of death sentence by the
Trial Judge for commission of an offence of rape and murder of a girl aged
6 years, saying the earlier view once again. D
In Navjot Sandhu@ Afsan Guru (supra), nine persons including eight
security personnel and one gardener succumbed to the bullets of the terrorists
and 16 persons including 13 security men received injuries as a result of
storming of the Parliament by 5 terrorists. This Court upholding the decision
of the High Court to award death penalty, observed : E
"The very idea of attacking and overpowering a sovereign
democratic institution by using powerful arms and explosives and
imperiling the safety of a multitude of peoples' representatives,
constitutional functionaries and officials ·of Government of India arid
engaging into a combat with security forces is a terrorist act of F
gravest severity. It is a classic example of rarest of rare case."

In Holiram Bordoloi v. State of Assam, [2005] 3 SCC 793 appellant
along with 17 others was convicted for murdering 4 persons by burning them
alive in a hut. Death penalty was imposed on the appellant. This Court
embarked on a discussion as to the aggravating circumstances and mitigating G
circumstances, observing:

"Pre-planned, calculated, cold-blooded murder has always been
regarded as one of an aggravated kind." A "murder is "diabolically
conceived and cruelly executed", it would justify the imposition of the H
722 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. lO S.C.R.

A death penalty on the murderer. In many cases, the extremely cruel or
beastly manner of the commission of murder is itself a demonstrated
index of the depraved character of the perpetrator. That is why; it is
not desirable to consider the circumstances of the crime and. the
circumstances of the criminal in two separate watertight
compartments."
B
This Court also affirming the death penalty, held :

"Even when questioned under Section 235 (2) of Criminal Procedure
Code, the accused stated that he had nothing to say on the point of
sentence. The fact that the appeUant remained silent would show that
c he has no repentance for the ghastly act he committed."

In Pratap Singh v. State ofJharkhand and Anr., [2005] 3 SCC 551, a
Trade Union leader was shot dead by the appellant as a result of a Jabour
dispute. This Court observed that the incident leaping to these appeals had
taken place as early as I 99i As there is a long lapse of time, the court did
D not think that the sentence of death imposed by the Sessions Court is
jitstified in the circumstances.

. . In Amrit Singh. v . .State of Punjab, [2006] 11 SCALE 309, this Court
while taking account ofthe available' evidence observed that it was possible
E for the death to have occurred because of excessive bleeding and not by
strangulation as the Trial Court and High Court held. This Court also noted
that there were no eye-witnesses that actually saw the commission of the
offence and it was only on the basis of circumstantial evidence; that he was
convicted. This Court noted that although the crime was brutal, it could not
be said it was the rarest of the rare case. This Court observed :
F
" ... He had no pre-meditation for commission of the offence. The
offence may look heinous, but under no circumstances, it can be said
to be a rarest of rare cases. "

Hence the sentence was commuted to one for life.
G
In Major Singh andAn~. v. State ofPunjab, (2006) 10 SCALE 354 death
Sentence was awarded to the appellant by the High Court. Appellant therein
murdered the deceased on the suspicion that the deceased had murdered his
wife who happened to be. the sister of the appellant. It was observed :

H " ...considering the fact that there was probably some enmity due to

'·
ALO KE NATH DUTTA v. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 723

suspicion about Sukhwinder Kaur's death two years after her marriage A
to Kashmir Singh (deceased] which could have a motive for the crime,
we reduce the sentence awarded to both the accused from death
sentence to life sentence."

However, we may also notice that recently two ladies have been
awarded death penalty where the accused were systematically killing children B
in Renuka Bai@ Rinku@ Ratan & Anr. v. State of Maharashtra, [2006] 7
SCC 442 : (2006) 8 SCALE 604], stating :

"24. The appellants have been awarded capital punishment for
committing these murders and their sentence was continued by the
High Court. Going by the details of the case, we find no mitigating C
circumstances in favour of the appellant, except for the fact that they
are women. Further, the nature of the crime and the systematic way
in which each child was kidn~pped and killed amply demonstrates the
depravity of the mind of the appellants. These appellants indulged in
criminal activities for a very long period and continued it till they were D
caught by the police. They very cleverly executed their plans of
kidnapping the children and the moment they were no longer useful,
they killed them and threw the dead body at some deserted place. The
appellants had been a menace to the society and the people in the
locality were completely horrified and they could not send their children
even to schools. The appellants had not been committing these crimes E
under any compulsion but they took it very casually and killed all
these children, least bothering about their lives or agony of their
parents.

25. We have carefully considered the whole aspects of the case and
are also alive to the new trends in the sentencing system in F
criminology. We do not think that these appellants are likely to be
reformed ..."

[Emphasis supplied]

In Gurmeet Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, [2005] 12 SCC 107 appellant G
and his companion Lakha Singh (who died during the course of trial
proceedings) committed the murder of thirteen members of his own family.
This Court observed :

"All the victims were closely related to the appellant and they were
H
..
724 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A killed in the most dastardly manner. Most of the victims were sleeping
when they were attacked. The appellant did not spare even the small
kids with whom he had apparently no enmity. The appellant did not
have even a grain of mercy or human kindness in his heart. Considering
all these aspects, we do not think that this is a fit case where the
death penalty is to be commuted to life imprisonment."
B
It is evident that different Benches had taken different views in the
matter.

We must remind ourselves that there has been a growing demand in the
international fora that death penalty should be abolished. [See Second Optional
C Protocol to the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and the
Protocol to the American Constitution on Human Rights to abolish death /
penalty]. Pursuant to or in furtherance of the pressure exhorted by various
international NGOs, several countries have abolished death penalty. The
superior courts of several countries have been considering the said demand
D keeping in view the international covenants, conventions and protocol.

In 2002, the United States Supreme Court held in Atkins v. Virginia, 536
U.S. 304 (2002) that it is unconstitutional to execute defendants with mental
retardation. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that executions of mentally
retarded criminals are "cruel and unusual punishment," violating the Eighth
E Amendment to the Constitution. The court held :

"We are not persuaded that the execution of mentally retarded criminals
will measurably advance the deterrent or the retributive purpose of '
the death penalty."

F We may furthermore notice that the Privy Council recently in Reyes v.
R. (2002) UKPC 11 : 12 BHRC 219], upon noticing the decision of the Supreme
Court in Mithu v. State of Punjab, [1983] 2 SCR 690, observed :

"In Mithu v State ofPunjab,, [1983] 2 SCR 690 the Supreme Court
of India considered a provision of the Indian Criminal Code which
G required sentence of death to be passed on a defendant convicted of
a murder committed while the offender was under sentence of
imprisonment for iife. The court addressed its attention to article 21
of the Indian constitution, which protects the right to life. Certain
observations made by Chandrachud CJ, at pp. 704, 707 and 713 are
relevant to the present discussion:
H
ALOKENATHDUTTA v. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SlNHA,J.] 725

"But, apart from that, a provision of law which deprives the court of A
the use of its wise and beneficent discretion in a matter of life and
death, without regard to the circumstances in which the offence was
committed and, therefore, without regard to the gravity of the offence,
cannot but be regarded as harsh, unjust and unfair ... Thus, there is
no justification for prescribing a mandatory sentence of death for the
offence of murder committed inside or outside the prison by a person B
who is under the sentence of life imprisonment. A standardized
mandatory sentence, of that too in the fonn of a sentence of death,
fails to take into account the facts and circumstances of each particular
case."

[See also Hughes, R v. (Saint Lucia) [2002] UKPC 12]
c
•. In the case of Roper v. Simmons, [543 U.S. 551 (2005), at age 17,
respondent planned and committed a capital murder. After he had turned 18,
he was sentenced to death. His direct appeal and subsequent petitions for
state and federal postconviction relief were rejected. The court held that the D
Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid imposition of the death penalty
on offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed.

The court observed that:

"The overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile E
death penalty is not controlling here, but provides respected and
significant confirmation for the Court's determination that the penalty
is disproportionate punishment for offenders under 18. The United
States is the only country in the world that continues to give official
sanction to the juvenile penalty. It does not lessen fidelity to the
Constitution or pride in its origins to acknowledge that the express F
affirmation of certain fundamental rights by other nations and peoples
underscores the centrality of those same rights within our own heritage
of freedom."

There are some precedents of this Court e.g. Sahdeo and Ors. etc. v.
State of U. P., [2004] 10 SCC 682- Para 9 and Sheikh Ishaqe and Ors. v. State G
of Bihar, [ 1995] 3 SCC 392, which are authorities for the proposition that if
the offence is proved by circumstantial evidence ordinarily death penalty
should not be awarded. We think, we should follow the said precedents
instead and, thus, in place of awarding the death penalty, impose the sentence
of rigorous imprisonment for life as against Aloke Nath. Furthennore we do H
726 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A not find any special reason for awarding death penalty which is imperative.
In Kishori v. State of Delhi, [1999] I SCC 148, this Court observed:

"12. It is no doubt true that the high ideals of the Constitution have
to be borne in mind, but when normal life breaks down and groups
B of people go berserk losing balance of mind, the rationale that the
ideals of the Constitution should be upheld or followed, may not
appeal to them in such circumstances, nor can we expect such loose
heterogeneous group of persons like a mob to be alive to such high
ideals. Therefore, to import the ideas of idealism to a mob in such a
situation may not be realistic. It is no doubt true that courts must be
c alive and in tune with the notions prevalent in the society and
punishment imposed upon an accused must be commensurate with
the heinousness of the crime. We have elaborated earlier in the course ,,._.
of our judgment as to how mob psychology works and it is very.
difficult to gauge or assess what the notions of society are in a given
situation. There may be one section of society which may cry for a
D
very deterrent sentence while another section of society may exhort
upon the court to be lenient in the matter. To gauge such notions is
to rely upon highly slippery imponderables and, in this case, we
cannot be definite about the views of society."

E [See also Ba/raj v. State of U.P., [1994] 4 SCC 29; and Jashubha Bharatsing
Gohil and Ors., [1994] SCC 353]

Sentencing indisputably is a part of criminal jurisprudence. More
importantly, in death penalty references sentencing issues requires serious
deliberation. Cases of this nature warrant objective evaluation of indicia and
F legal thresholds.

In Union of India (VO/) and Ors. v. Devendra Rai, [2006] 2 SCC 243
accused was awarded death sentence for having caused homicidal death of
two army personnel and for having caused grievous injuries with the intent
of causing murder of two others, in a court martial. The High Court upheld
G death penalty awarded. This Court, however, noticed :

"8. What is culled put from the decisions noted above is that
while deciding the question as to whether the extreme penalty of
death sentence is to be awarded, a balance sheet of aggravating and
mitigating circumstances has to be drawn up.
H
- ALOKE NATH DUTTA v. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [S.B. SINHA, J.] 727
9. In the instant case, the High Court has not attempted to do that A
exercise and has come to an abrupt conclusion about the case being
not covered by the rarest of rare category. That is clearly contrary to
the principles set out by this Court in the decisions noted above. We
deem it appropriate to remit the matter to the High Court to consider
the matter afresh and take the decision as to the appropriate sentence.
The exercise has only to be limited to that aspect alone as the High B
Court itself has in the impugned judgment found that the conviction
was well merited."

When a statute provides for death penalty, so long as the same is not
ultra vires, application thereof cannot be altogether eliminated. But keeping
in view the decision of the Constitution Bench of this Court, the jurisdiction C
9f this Court in this behalf is limited. Death penalty can be awarded only
if in the opinion of the court, the case answers the description of rarest of
rare cases. What would constitute a rarest of rare cases must be determined
in the fact situation obtaining in each case. We have also noticed hereinbefore
that different criteria have been adopted by different benches of this Court, D
although the offences are similar in nature. Because the case involved
offences under the, same provision, the same by itself may not be a ground
to lay down any uniform criteria for awarding death penalty or a lesser penalty
as several factors therefor are required to be taken into consideration. No
sentencing policy in clear cut terms has been evolved by the Supreme Court.
What should we do? E

Does fact of this case make out the case to be one of rarest of rare
cases? We are of the opinion that it does not. The manner of commission
of offence may be gruesome. Biswanath was killed while he was in deep
slumber, but the method applied cannot be said to be cruel. The reason for F
commission of the murder is greed of money on the part of Aloke Nath which
evidently arose out the result of his bad habits. We have no doubt in our
mind that he was pushed back to such a situation where he thought that he
had no other option but to kill his brother. The prosecution has not brought
out any. material to show that Aloke Nath had not been maintaining good
relation with Biswanath. There might have difference of opinion between the G
brothers in regard to the question of sale of house, but we have nothing
before us to say one way or the other in this behalf. Aloke Nath was in need
of money; Biswanath, an employee of a bank and being a bachelor probably
did not require the same. He might have other idea e.g. he did not want to
loose his place of abode. Aloke Nath had many vices, whereas Biswanath H
728 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2006] SUPP. 10 S.C.R.

A did not have any. But they had been living in the same premises for a long
time. Both of them have been looking after their parents. In fact, only it was
the other brothers, namely, Amar Nath and Samar Nath had filed a suit against
their mother as well as Aloke Nath and Biswanath, apprehending that their
mother would bequeath the property in their favour, and, thus, excluding
them from inheriting the same.
B
We in the facts and circumstances of this case are also of the opinion
that the prosecution having been failed to prove the case of conspiracy
against Appellant herein, the case cannot be said to be one constituting
rarest of rare cases.

C CONCLUSION

For the reasons aforementioned, Criminal Appeal No. 867-868 of2005,
as far as Shib Shankar Roy @ Babu Roy and Mamta Dutta are concerned, and
Crl. Appeal No. 875 of2005 preferred by Mrinal Dutta, are allowed, and the
D judgment of conviction and sentence passed against them is set aside. They
may forthwith be released unless wanted in connection with any other case.
Criminal Appeal No.867-68 of 2005, as far as Aloke Nath is concerned, is
allowed in part and to the extent that the death penalty imposed upon him
is commuted to imprisonment for life. Other part of the sentences is also
upheld.
E RP. Crl A. Nos. 866 of 2005
Partly allowed and Cr! A.Nos. 867-869 of2005
and Crl A.No. 875 of 2005 allowed.