Holding

The conviction and death sentence were set aside because the confessional statement was not sufficiently proved voluntary or corroborated, rendering the conviction unsafe.

Summary

The appellant Devender Pal Singh was arrested after being deported from Germany and recorded a confessional statement under Section 15 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). The Designated Court convicted him of offences under TADA and the IPC, including criminal conspiracy, and sentenced him to death, relying primarily on the confessional statement without any independent corroboration. The appellant challenged the voluntariness of the statement, the lack of corroborative evidence, and the conviction of co‑accused who were acquitted. The Supreme Court held that a TADA confessional statement must be proved voluntary and, where the statement is the sole basis of conviction, corroboration is required, especially when co‑accused are not convicted. Consequently, the Court set aside the conviction and death sentence, allowing the appeal and disposing of the death‑reference case.

Issues considered

The admissibility and voluntariness of a confessional statement recorded under Section 15 of TADA.
Whether a confessional statement alone, without corroborative evidence, can sustain a conviction under TADA and the IPC.
The effect of the acquittal of co‑accused on the conviction for criminal conspiracy under Section 120‑B IPC.
The propriety of confirming the death sentence in the circumstances.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 313
Indian Evidence Act, 1872s. 114(e), s. 14(e), s. 24, s. 25, s. 27
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 120-B, s. 302, s. 307, s. 323, s. 324, s. 326, s. 427, s. 436
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987s. 15, s. 3(2)(1), s. 4, s. 5

Subjects

TADAconfessional statementvoluntarinesscorroborationcriminal conspiracydeath penaltyevidence admissibilityterrorism

Judgment

DEVENDER PAL SINGH A
v.
STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI AND ANR.

MARCH 22, 20002

[M.B. SHAH, B.N. AGRAWAL AND ARIJIT PASAYAT, JJ.] B

Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987-Sections
3(2)(1), 4,5, and 15-Penal Code, 1860-Section 120-B read with Section
302, Sections 307, 326, 324, 323, 436 and 427.
c
Charges under the TADA Act and Penal Code-Objective of enactment
of TADA-To control the menace of terrorism by effectively dealing the
terrorists under the Act-Confessional Statement-Admissibility of-Under
TADA Act and other criminal proceedings-Recorded by the Superintendent
and the above rank Police Officer is admissible under Section 15 of TADA- D
Not admissible in other criminal proceedings unless made before the Magistrate
except to the extent permitted under Section 27 of the Evidence Act-Evidence
Act, 1872-Sections 25 and 27.

Confessional Statement-Voluntary-It should be made out of the free
will of the maker and inspired by the sound of conscience to speak only E
truth-Challenge by the accused that statement is not voluntary-Burden is on
the prosecution to prove that it is recorded as per the provision under TADA!
Evidence Act, then accused has to prove and satis.fY the Court that statement
was not made voluntarily.

Confessional Statement-Corroboration-Requirement of No F
corroboration is necessary if confessional Statement made is voluntary.

Penal Code, 1860-Section 120 B:

Criminal conspiracy-The essence is formation of unlawful combination
and an agreement to do an illegal Act which can be proved by direct or G
circumstantial evidence, overt act is not essential in furtherance ofconspiracy.

Evidence Act, 1872: Section / !4(e).

Presumption-Official and Judicial act-Performing of-Official and
767 H
768 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A Judicial acts have been regularly performed/being performed by persons
including Police Officer by acting honestly-Presumption as to.

Appreciation of evidence-Confession of co-accused-On the· basis of.
trustworthy evidence establishing all links of circumstantial evidence, the
confession of co-accused can be taken into consideration even without
B corroboration of evidence.

Sentencing:

. The dastardly acts committed by the accused were diabolic in conception
C and cruel in execution-Any compassion for the accused would amount to
misplaced and unwarranted sympathy and frustrate the purpose of TADA-
Hence death sentence confirmed

Words & Phrases:

D 'Voluntary' in the context of 'Confession'- 'Conspiracy' in the context
of 'Criminal Conspiracy'. r

According to the prosecution on 11.9.1993, there was an attempt to
assassinate the then President of Indian Youth Congress (I) when he came
out of his Office. There was ai:i explosion in a car parked outside his Office
E resulting in the death of9 persons, 29 persons sustained injuries and a number
of vehicles caught fire and damaged. Investigation revealed that three accused
persons/terrorists including appellant were involved in the crime.

Appellant was in the custody of German authorities and on his arrival
in India he was handed over to pol!_ce authorities. He tried to swallow Cyanide
F capsule, but was prevented. Accused were tried under the provisions of TADA
and I.P.C. by the Designated Court. One of the co-accused was acquitted on
the ground that neither there was any evidence found against him nor he had
made any confessional statement. Moreover, there was no material on record
to corroborate the confessional statement made by the appellant against the
G co-accused. The Designated Court found appellant guilty of offence punishable
under Section 3(2)(1) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention)
Act and Section 120-B read with Section 302, 307, 326, 324, 323, 436 and 427
of the Penal Code and sentenced him to death and to pay fine.

Aggrieved by the Judgment and Order of the Designated Court,
H appellant moved this Court and State filed Death Reference for confirmation
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI 769
of death sentence. A
It was contended for the appellant that the confessional statement was
neither voluntary nor true and there was no corroborative evidence and so
the Judgment and Order passed by the Designated Court required to be set
aside.
B
Dismissing the appeal by majority and confirming the death reference,
the Court

HELD: Per majority (Arijit Pasaya!, J for himself and B.N. Agrawal, J)

1.1. While dealing with an accused tried under the TADA, certain special C
features of the said Statute need to be focused. It is also necessary to find out
the legislative intent for enacting it. The intended object of the said Act was
to deal with persons responsible for escalation of terrorist activities in many
parts of the country. Menace of terrorism is not restricted to this country,
and it bas become a matter of international concern. TADA is applied as an D
extreme measure when police fails to tackle with the situation under the
ordinary penal law. Whether the criminal act was committed with an intention
to strike terror in the people or section of people would depend upon the facts
of each case. [776-E-G; 777-A-B]

Jayawant Dattatray Suryarao etc. etc. v. State ofMaharashtra etc. etc. AIR E
AIR (2001) SC 4717 and Hitendra Vishnu Thakur and Ors. v. State of
Maharashtra and Ors., (1994) 4 SCC 602, referred to.

> 1.2. TADA was enacted to meet extraordinary situation existing in the
> country. Its departure from the law relating to confession as contained in the
Evidence Act is deliberate. The expression "confession" has not been defined F
in the Evidence Act. Broadly speaking, it is an admission made at any time
by a person charged with crime, stating or suggesting the inference that he
committed that crime. Legislature has set different standards of admissibility
of a confessional statement made by an accused under the TADA from those
made in other criminal proceedings. A confessional statement recorded by a
police officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police under Section G
15 of the TADA is admissible, while it is not so admissible unless made to the
Magistrate under Section 25 of the Evidence Act. It appears consideration of
a confessional statement of an accused to a police officer except to the extent
permitted under Section 27 of the Evidence Act is not permissible.
(779-GcH; 780-A; 781-E-F] H
770 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A State v. Nalini and Ots., (1999) 5 SCC 253; Sahib Singh v. State of
Haryana, (1997) 7 SCC 231 and Gurdeep Singh v. State (Delhi Admn.) (2000) 1
sec 498, referred to.
2.1. There is one common feature, both in Section 15 of the TADA and
Section 24 of the Evidence Act that the confession has to be voluntary. Once
B it is held that the confessional statement is voluntary, it would not be proper
to hold that the police has incorporated certain aspects in the confessional
statement .which were gathered in the investigation conducted earlier.
(780-A; 783-F)

Stroud's Judicial Dictionary, 5th Edn. P. 2633; Words and Phrases,
C Permanent Edition, Vol 44. P. 622 and Words and Phrases by John B. Saunders,
3rd Edn. Vol. 4. P. 401, referred to.

2.2. Confession is a species of admission. A confession or admission is
evidence against its maker, if its admissibility is not excluded by some
D provision of law. Law is clear that a confession cannot be used against an
accused person unless the Court is satisfied that it was voluntary. At that stage
question whether it is true or false does not arise. If the facts and circumstances
surrounding the making of a confession appear to cast a doubt on the
voluntariness of the confession, the Court may refuse to act upon the
confession even if it is admissible in evidence. (781-G-H; 782-A)
E
2.3. Whenever an accused challenges that his confessional statement is
not voluntary, the initial burden is on the prosecution for it has to prove that
all requirements under Section 15 of TADA Act and Rule 15 of Terrorist and
Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Rules have been complied with. It is for the
accused to show and satisfy the Court that the confessional statement was
F not made voluntarily. The confessional statement of the accused can be relied
upon for the purpose of conviction and no further corroboration is necessary
if it relates to the accused himself. (782-D-E]

Gurdeep Singh v. State (Delhi Admn.) (2000) 1 SCC 498 and State v. Nalini
G and Ors., (1999) 5 sec 253, referred to.
2.4. Merely because no statement has been made by witnesses abou_t the
appelh;mt's attempt to swallow the cyanide, that does not, in any way, dilute -
the evidence recording seizure of a cyanide capsule from the accused-
appellant. Mention about the cyanide capsule in the confessional statement
H goes a long way to show that the statement was truthful. When the accused '
,,

D.P. SINGH v. STATEN.C.T. OF DELHI 771
_,. was produced before the ACM, he did not make any grievance that his A
confessional statement was not in fact recorded as claimed or that his
signatures were obtained on blank pieces of paper as claimed later. Such a
plea was raised after a long passage of time. It is further relevant to note that
when the accused was produced in Court, he never made any grievance about
any duress or coercion. Merely because the report was sent directly to the
Designated Court, it does not become a suspicious circumstance. Rather, it
B
adds to the authenticity of the document. It has been noted by the Trial Judge
that before the accused was produced in Court the confessional statement had
-\
already reached the Designated Court. The purpose of the confessional
statement being sent to the Court by producing the accused for confirmation
of the statement is to ensure that interpolation or manipulation is ruled out c
at a later date. Therefore, in the absence of and prejudice to the accused, non-
despatch of the confessional statement to the ACM is really of no consequence.
Jn any event the prescription regarding despatch is directory and not
mandatory. [784-B-C-E-F-G-H; 785-A]
-.;
Jayawant Dattatray Suryarao etc. etc. v. State of Maharashtra etc. etc., AIR D
-~ (2001) SC 4717 and Re: Wariyam Singh and Ors. v. State ofU.P., [1995] 6 SCC
• 458, relied on.

2.5. The accused never made a grievance about any deficiency in the
confessional statement earlier. That is of great significance. Merely because E
the confessional statement was recorded in a computer, it cannot be a ground
for holding that the confessional statements was not voluntary. Similarly, as
DCP has given a certificate in typing when the requirement is that certificate
has to be "under his own hand" that is urged to be illegal. It would be too
technical to discard the confessional statement or doubt its authenticity. This
is merely a procedural requirement. The non-observance does not cause any F
prejudice to the accused. It has not been shown as to how the accused was
prejudiced by the certificate having been typed. Procedure is hand made and
not the mistress of law, intended to subserve and facilitate the cause of justice
and not to govern or obstruct it. Like all rules of procedure, the requirement
of recording "under his own hand" demands an approach which would be G
rational and practical and not otherwise. Such minor deficiency, if any, cannot
be considered to be a fatal factor. [785-D-E-F]

2.6. Appellant's retraction was long after he was taken into judicial
custody, when be made a grievance about the statement having been forcibly
obtained. This is clearly a case of after-thought. Since the confessional H
772 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

·> A statement was voluntary, no corroboration for the purpose of its acceptance
is necessary. (783-G-H;] •

Jayawant Dattatray Suryarao etc. etc. v. State ofMaharashtra etc. etc., AIR
(2001) SC 4717, relied on.

B 3. The accused was a fugitive and :ras on the run. At the Airport he
was arrested for travelling on a forged passport. It has been accepted by the
,•
accused in his statement recorded under Section 313 Cr. P.C. that he had
sought asylum in Germany and was deported from there on refusal of as;-lum.
The accused wanted his statement to be recorded under Section 15 of TADA
C .and requested the concerned Police Officer to do the needful. After ensuring
that all procedure and safeguards have been observed the statement of the
accused was recorded by the Police Officer. A mere statement that requisite
procedure and safeguards were not observed or that statement was recorded
under duress or coercion, is really of no consequence. Such a stand can be
taken in every case by the accused after having given the confessional
D statement It could not be shown as to why the officials would falsely implicate
the accused. There is a statutory presumption under Section 114 of the
Evidence Act that judicial and official acts have been regularly performed.
The accepted meaning of Section 114(e) is that when an official act is proved
to have been done, it will be presumed to have been regularly done. The
E presumption that a person acts honestly applies as much in favour of a police
officer as of other persons, and it is to judicial approach to distrust and suspect
him without good grounds therefore. Such an attitude can do neither credit
to the magistracy nor good to the public. {785-G-H; 786-A-B-C-D]

Aher Raja Khima v. State ofSaurashtra, AIR (1956) SC 217, relied on.
F
4.1. The essence of a criminal conspiracy is the unlawful combination
and ordinarily the offence is complete when the combination is framed. From
this, it necessarily follows that unless the statute so requires, no overt act need
be done in furtherance of the conspiracy, and that ttoe object of the
G combination need not be accomplished, in order to constitute an indictable
offence. Also, the essence of criminal conspiracy is an agreement to do an
illegal act and such an agreement can be proved either by direct evidence or
by circumstantial evidence or by both, and it is a matter of common experience
that direct evidence to prove conspiracy is rarely available. Therefore, the
circumstances proved before, during and after the occurrence have to be
H considered to decide about the complicity of the accused. The provisions of
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI 773

.J Sections 120-A and 120-B IPC have brought the law of conspiracy in India A
i~ line with the English Law by making the overt act unessential when the
conspiracy is to commit any punishable offence.
(787-B-C-G-H; 788-A-H; 789-A]

SC. Bahri v. State ofBihar, AIR (1994) SC 2420; American Jurisprudence
Vol. II Sec. 23. P. 559; Ha/sbury's Laws of England 4th Ed., Vol. II Page 44 B
Para 58; Russell on Crime 12 Ed. Vol. I, P. 202 and Regina v. Murphy, (1837)
173 ER 502, referred to.

4.2. Conspiracies are not hatched in open; by their nature, they are
secretly planned, they can be proved even by circumstantial evidence, the lack
of direct evidence relating to conspiracy had -no consequence. Where
c
trustworthy evidence establishing all links of circumstantial evidence is
available, the confession of a co-accused as to conspiracy even without
corroborative evidence can be taken into consideration. (790-E; 791-D]

E.K Chandrasenan v. State of Kera/a, AIR (1995) SC 1066 and Kehar D
'\
Singh and Ors., v. State (Delhi Administration), AIR (1988) SC 1883, referred
~ to.
~

4.3. Exaggerated devotion to the rule of benefit of doubt must not
nurture fanciful doubts or lingering suspicions and thereby destroy social
defence. Justice cannot be made sterile on the plea that it is better to let E
hundred guilty escape than punish an innocent. Letting guilty escape is not
doing justice according to law. If a case is proved perfectly it is argued that
).
it is artificial; if a case has some flaws, -inevitable because human beings are
prone to err, it is argued that it is too imperfect. Proof beyond reasonable
... doubt is a guideline, not a fetish. Vague hunches cannot take place of judicial
evaluation. The plea that acquittal of co-accused has rendered prosecution
F
version brittle, has no substance, since the acquittal of co-accused was on the
ground of non-corroboration. (791-F-H; 792-C]

Gurbachan Singh v. Satpal Singh and Ors., AIR (1990) SC 209; State of
UP. v. Ashok Kumar Srivastava, AIR (1992) SC 840; Inder Singh and Anr. v. G
-..., State Delhi Administration, AIR (1978) SC 1091 and State ofU.P. v. Anil Singh,

-
AIR (1988) SC 1998, r~lied on.

5. As the factual scenario of the instant case shows, at least nine persons
died, several persons were injured, a number of vehicles caught fire and were
destroyed on account of the perpetrated acts. The dastardly acts were diabolic H
774 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2002) 2 S.C.R.

A in conception and cruel in execution. The "terrorists" who are sometimes ~

described as "death merchants" have no respect for human life. Innocent
persons lose their lives because of mindless killing by them. Any compassion
for such persons would frustrate the purpose of enactment of TADA, and
would amount to misplaced and unwarranted sympathy. Death sentence is
the most appropriate sentence in the case at hand, and the trial Judge has
B rightly awarded it. [793-G-H; 794-A]

Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR (1980) SC 898; Machhi Singh and
Ors. v. State of Punjab, [1983] 3 SCC 470 and Ramdeo Chauhan v. State of >--
Assam, [2001] 5 SCC 714, relied on.
c Per Shah J. (Dissenting):

1.1. It is apparent that Investing Officer has improved his version by
.stating that accused tried to swallow Cyanide capsule when he was arrested.
On the other hand P.Ws. stated that accused was handed over to them by
the staff of Lufthansa Airlines and nowhere they stated that at that time
D accused tried to swallow any pill. It appears that 1.0. tried to give colour to ..,,.-
the story that appellant tried to sallow the Cyanide pill. If that story was ,..
J

genuine, necessary panchnama of the Cyanide pill would have been made at ..
the spot. Further, it is admitted position on record that during the course of
investigation of the bomb blast, the police had learnt that accused persons
E were members of a terrorist organisation who were behind the blast.
Therefore, it would be difficult to believe that the 1.0. had gone to the Airport
only for keeping a watch. On the contrary, one of the Police Officers, has
admitted that on his instructions, 1.0. had gone to the Airport to arrest the
.....
accused on the basis of intelligence reports of involvement of accused and his
~.
group in the bomb blast case. Therefore, the version of 1.0. that he had gone
F to the Airport to check the incoming passengers from Germany cannot be
relied upon. [800-D-E-F]

1.2. It is difficult to believe that the accused who was arrested for
travelling on a forged passport after landing at the Airport, would make a
disclosure statement involving himself in various crimes including the bomb
G blast. There was no earthly reason to make such disclosure so that accused
y-
could be arrested by 1.0. for the alleged involvement in the offence under
TADA. It is also admitted that when the accused was p'roouced before ACMM,
~
the confessional statement was not produced for the perusal of the ACMM
and the ACMM only asked appellant the question-Whether he admitted
H ·making confession statement before 1.0. It would be difficult to accept that
D.P. SINGH v. STATEN.CT. OF DELHI 775

~
if confessional stat~ment was recorded and when the accused was produced A
before the Magistrate, he would be taken there without the said confessional
statement. Rule 15(5) of TADA requires that every confession recorded un\fer
Section 15 shall be sent forthwith to the CMM of the CJM having jurisdiction
over the area in which such confession has been recorded and such Magistrate
shall forward the confession so received to the Designated Court which may
take cognizance of the offence. In this view of the matter there was no reason B
to produce the accused before the ACMM without the so-ealled confessional
statement. (800-H; 801-A-B-C)

1.3. From the evidence, it is apparent that the confessional statement
of the appellant is recorded by 1.0. (PW). When the accused was in police c
custody. Therefore he was handed over to the Punjab Police. Further, from
the record it appears that accused was wanted in bomb blast case since 1993
and as soon as he arrived at the Airport, he was arrested and was handed
over to the Police. It is stated that the 1.0. also recorded the disclosure
statement of the appellant wherein he admitted his involvement in the bomb
.... blast case. Thereafter, confessional statement under Section 15 of TADA was D
recorded by the DCP. In such state of affairs, doubt may arise-whether the
>
accused has made any confessional statement at all. 1801-F-Gl
J.

Kartar Singh v. State of Punjab, (1994) 3 SCC 569, relied on.
E
2.1. There must be some reliable independent corroborative evidence
to ascertain the truthfulness of confessional statement. In the present case,
co-accused who was tried together with the appellant was acquitted on the
> grounds that there was no evidence against him and that he had not made
:. any confessional statement. However, for connecting the appellant, the
Designated Court relying upon the decision in Gurdeep Singh 's case wherein F
it was held that when the confessional statement is voluntary, corroboration
is not required. It appears that the Court has not read the entire paragraph
of the said judgment. From the aforesaid judgment, it is clear that before solely
relying upon the confessional statement, Court has to find out whether it is
made voluntarily and truthfully by the accused Even if it is made voluntarily,
the Court has to decide whether it is made truthfully or not.
G
-.... (802-D-E-H; 803-AJ

.... 3. The role assigned to the other accused in the confessional statement
is major one. There is nothing on record to corroborate the confessional
statement by the appellant. Police could have easily verified the hospital record H
776 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A to find out whether co-accused went to the hospital and registered himself
under a fictitious name on the date ofincident and left the hospital after getting
First Aid. In any set of circumstances, none of the main culprits is convicted.
In these set of circumstances, without there being corroborative evidence, it
would be difficult to solely rely upon the so-called confessional statement and
convict the accused and that too when the confessional statement is recorded
B by the police officer. When rest of the accused who are named in the
confessional statement are not convicted or tried, this would not be a fit case
for convicting the appellant solely on the basis of so-called confessional
statement recorded by the police officer, and such type of confessional
statement cannot be the basis for awr -1ing death sentence.
C [803-G; 805-G-H; 806-A; 807-B-C]

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No.
993 of 2001.

From the Judgment arid Order dated 24.8.200 I of the Designated Court,
D New Delhi in S.C. No. 4 of 2000.
WITH '.

Death Reference Case (Cr!.) No. 2 of 2001.

Ms. Nitya Ramakrishnan and Ms. Neeru Vaid for the Appellant.
E
Anoop G. Chaudhry, Ms. Sunita Shrama, Avtar Singh Rawat and D.S.
Mehra for the Respondents.

The Judgments of the Court were delivered by :

F ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. Notwithstanding my profound respect for
Brother Shah's erudition, 1 am unable to agree with his conclusions. While
dealing with an accused tried under the TADA, certain special features of the
said Statute need to be focused. It is also necessary to find out the legislative
intent for enacting it. It defines' "terrorist acts" in Section 2(h) with reference
to Section 3(1) and in that context defines a terrorist. It is not possible to
G define the expression 'terrorism' in precise terms. It is derived from the word
'terror'. As the Statement of Objects and Reasons leading to enactment of the
TADA is concerned, reference to The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities
(Prevention) Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Old Act') is necessary.
It appears that the intended object of the said Act was to deal with persons
H responsible for escalation of terrorist activities in many parts of the country.
D.P. SINGH v. STATEN.C.T. OF DELHI [ARJJITPASAYAT,J.J 777

It was expected that it would be' possible to control the menace within a A
period of two years, and life of the Act was restricted to the period of .two
years from the date of its commencement. But noticing the continuance of
menace, that too on a larger scale TADA has been enacted. Menace of terrorism
is not restricted to our country, and it has become a matter of international
concern and the attacks on the World Trade Centre and other places on I Ith
September, 2001 amply show it. Attack on the Parliament on 13th December, B
200 I shows how grim the situation is. TADA is applied as an extreme measure
when police fails to tackle with the situation under the ordinary penal law.
Whether the criminal act was committed with an intention to strike terror in
the people or section of people would depend upon the facts of each case. As
was noted in Jayawant Dattatray Suryarao etc. etc. v. State of Maharashtra C
etc. etc., (2001) AIR SCW 4717, for finding out the intention of the accused,
there would hardly be a few cases where there would be direct evidence. It
has to be mainly inferred from the circumstances of each case.

In Hitendra Vishnu Thakur and Ors. v. State of Maharashtra and Ors.,
[1994] 4 sec 602, this Court observed that "the legal position remain D
unaltered that the crucial postulate of judging whether the offence is a terrorist
act falling under Act or not is whether it was done with the intent to overawe
the Government as by law established or to strike terror in the people etc.: A
'terrorist' activity does not merely arise by causing disturbance of law and
order or of public order. The fall out of the intended activity is to be one that E
it travels beyond the capacity of the ordinary law enforcement agencies to
tackle it under the ordinary penal law. It is in essence a deliberate and
systematic use of coercive intimidation As was noted in the said case, it is
11
•

a common feature that hardened criminals today take advantage of the situation
and by wearing the cloak of terrorism, aim to achieve acceptability and
respectability in the society, because in different parts of the country affected F
by militancy, a terrorist is projected as a hero by a group and often even by
many misguided youth. As noted at the outset, it is not possible to precisely
define "terrorism',_ Finding a defmition of "terrorism" has haunted countries
for decades. A first attempt to arrive at an internationally acceptable definition
was made under the League of Nations, but the convention drafted in 1937 G

-
never came into existence. The UN Member States still have no agreed-upon
definition. Terminology consensus would, however, be necessary for a single
,. comprehensive convention on terrorism, which some countries favour in place
of the present 12 piecemeal conventions and protocols. The lack of agreement
on a definition of terrorism has been a major obstacle to meaningful
international countermeasures. Cynics have often commented that one State's H
~
778 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R. I

A "terrorist" is another State's "freedom fighter". If terrorism is defined strictly
in terms of attacks on non-military targets, a number of attacks on military
installations and soldiers' residences could not be included in the statistics. In
order to cut through the Guardian definitional knot, terrorism expert A. Schmid
suggested in 1992 in a report for the then UN Crime Branch that it might be
a good idea to take the existing consensus on what constitutes a "war crime"
B as a point of departure. If the core of war crimes-deliberate attacks on civilians,
hostage taking and the killing of prisoners - is extended to peacetime, we
could simply define acts of terrorism as "peacetime equivalents of war crimes".

1. League of Nations Convention (1937) :

c "All criminal acts directed against a State along with intended or
calculated to create a statute of terror in the minds of particular persons
or a group of persons or the general public"

(GA Res. 51/210 Measures to eliminate international terrorism) as

D "l. Strongly condemns all acts, method and practices ofterrorism·as
criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed;

2. Reiterates that criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a
state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular
persons for political purposes are in any circumstances unjustifiable,
E whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological,
racial, ethnic, religious or other nature that may be invoked to justify
them".

3. Short legal definition proposed by A.P. Schmid to United Nations
Crime Branch (1992) :
F
Act of Terrorism = Peacetime Equivalent of War Crime

4. Academic Consensus Definition :

"Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring of repeated violent action, employed
by (semi-) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for
G idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby - in contrast to
assassination - the direct targets of violence are not the main targets.
The immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen
randomly (targets of opportunity) or selectively (representative or
symbolic targets) from a target population, and serve as message
H generators. Threat- and violence-based communication processes
D.P. SINGH v. STATEN.C.T. OF DELHI [ARlllT PASAYAT.J.] 779

between terrorist (organization), (imperiled) victims, and main targets A
are used to manipulate the main target (audience (s)), turning it into
a target of terror, a target of demands, or a target of attention,
depending on whether intimidation, coercion, or propaganda is
primarily sought" (Schimid, 1988).

Definitions : B
Terrorism by nature is difficult to define. Acts of terrorism conjure
emotional responses in the victims (those hurt by the violence and
those affected by the fear) as well as in the practitioners. Even the
U.S. government cannot agree on one single definition. The old adage,
"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" is still alive C
and well. Listed below are several definitions of terrorism used by
the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Terrorism is the use or threatened use of force designed to bring
about political change. - Brain Jenkins
D
Terrorism constitutes the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political
objective when innocent people are targeted. - Walter Laqueur.
Terrorism is the premeditated, deliberate, systematic murder, mayhem,
and threatening of the innocent to create fear and intimidation in
order to gain a political or tactical advantage, usually to influence an E
audience. - James M. Poland
Terrorism is the unlawful use or threat of violence against persons or
property to further political or social objectives. It is usually intended
to intimidate or coerce a government, individuals or _groups, or to
modify their behaviour or politics. - Vice-President's Task Force, F
1986. Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons
or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian
population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or
social objectives. - FBI Definition.

The main plea of accused-appellant is that there was no corroboration G
to the alleged confessional statement. Various circumstances, according to
him, clearly show that it was not voluntary. Strong reliance is placed in State
v. Nalini and Ors., [1999] 5 SCC 253 to contend that corroboration is
necessary. It is to be noted that legislature has set different standards of
admissibility of a confession statement made by an accused under the TADA
from those made in other criminal proceedings. A confessional statement H
780 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A recorded by a police officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police
under Section 15 of the TADA is admissible, while it is not so admissible
unless made to the Magistrate under Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act,
1872 (in short the 'Evidence Act'). It appears consideration of a confessional
statement of an accused to a police officer except to the extent permitted
B under Section 27 of the Evidence Act is not permissible. These aspects are
noted by this Court in Sahib Singh v. State of Haryana, [1997] 7 SCC 231
and Gurdeep Singh 's case (supra). There is one common feature, both is
Section 15 of the TADA and Section 24 of the Evidence Act that the confession
has to be voluntary. Section 24 of the Evidence of the Evidence Act interdicts ~
a confession, if it appears to the court to be the result of any inducement,
C threat or promise in certain conditions. The principle therein is that confession
must be voluntary. Section 15 of the TADA also requires the confession to
be voluntary. Voluntary means that one who makes it out of his own free will
inspired by the sound of his own conscience to speak nothing but the truth.
As per Stroud's Judicial Dictionary, 5th Edn., at 2633, threat means:

D "It is the essence of a threat that it be made for the purpose of
intimidating, or overcoming, the will of the person to whom it is
addressed [per Lush, J., Wood v. Bowron, (1866) 2 QB 21 cited
Intimidate."
Words and Phrases, Permanent Edition, Vol. 44, p. 622, defines
E "voluntary" as:
"'Voluntary' means a statement made of the free will and accord
of accused, without coercion, whether from fear of any threat of
harm, promise, or inducement or any hope ofreward--State v. Mullin
85 NW 2d 598, 600, 249 !own 10."
F At p. 629, "confession" is defined as:
"where used in connection with statements by accused, words
'voluntary' and 'involuntary' import statements made without
constraint or compulsion by others and the contrary. Commonwealth
v. Chin Kee, (186 NE 253, 260 283 Mass 248.)"
G
In Words and Phrases by Jhon B. Saunders, 3rd Edn., Vol. 4 p.
401, "voluntary" is defined as:
" .... The classic statement of the principle is that Lord Summer in
Ibrahim v. Regem (1914) AC 599 at p. 609 where he said, "It has
H long been established as a positive rule of English criminal law that
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI [AR!JIT PASAYAT, J.] 781

no statement by an accused is admissible in evidence against him A
unless it is shown by the prosecution to be a voluntary statement, in
the sense that it has not been obtained from him either by fear of
prejudice or hope of advantage exercised or held out by a person in
authority. The principle is as old as Lord Hale". However, in five of
the eleven textbooks cited to us ... support is to be found for a narrow B
and rather technical meaning of the word "voluntary''. According to
this view "voluntary" means merely that the statement has not been
made in consequence of (i) some promise of advantage or some
threat (ii) of a temporal character (iii) held out or made by a person
in authority, and (iv) relating to the charge in the sense that it implies
that the accused's position in the contemplated proceedings will or C
may be better or worse according to whether or not the statement is
made." R. v. Harz, R. v. Power, (1966) 3 All ER 433 (at pp. 454,
455) per Cantley, V."
So the crux of making a statement voluntarily is, what is intentional,
intended, unimpelled by other influences, acting on one's own will, D
through his own conscience. Such confessional statements are made
mostly out of a thirst to speak the truth which at a given time
• predominates in the heart of the confessor which impels him to speak
out the truth. Internal compulsion of the conscience to speak out the
truth normally emerges when one is in despondency or in a perilous
E-
situation when he wants to shed his cloak of guilt and nothings but
disclosing the truth would dawn on him. It sometimes becomes ·so
powerful that he is ready to face all consequence for clearing his
heart.
_.... As was observed in Nalini's case (supra) TADA was enacted to meet
_ extraordinary situation exiting in the country. Its departure from the law F
relating to confession as contained in the Evidence Act is deliberate. Section
24 of the Evidence Act deals with confession caused by inducement, threat
or promise, which is irrelevant in criminal proceedings. The expression
"confession" has not been defined in the Evidence Act. Broadly speaking it
is an admission made at any time by a person charged with crime, stating or G
suggesting the interference that he committed that crime. Law relating to
confession is to be found generally in Section 24 to 30 of the Evidence Act,
and Section I 62, and 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (hereinafter
\ described as "old Code") corresponding to identical provisions of Code of
\Criminal Procedure, 1973 (described as "Code" hereinafter). Confession is a
species of admission. A confession or admission is evidence against maker H
782 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A of it, if its admissibility is not excluded by some provision of law. Law is
"--
clear that a confession cannot be used against an accused person unless the .,,
Court is satisfied that it was voluntary. At that stage question whether it is
true or false does not arise. If the facts and circumstances surrounding the
making of a confession appear to cast a doubt on the voluntariness of the
confession, the Court may refuse to act upon the confession, even if it is
B admissible in evidence. The question whether a confession is voluntary or
not is always a question of fact. A free and voluntary confession is deserving
of highest credit, because it is presumed to flow from the highest sense of
guilt. In Principle and Digest of Law of Evidence, Volume I, New Edition by
Chief Justice M. Monir, after noticing conflicting views and discussing various
c authorities, the learned author summarized the position as follows:

"The rule may therefore, be stated to be that whereas the evidence
in proof of a confession having been made is always to be suspected
the confession, if once proved to have· been made and made voluntarily,
is one of the most effectual proofs in the law."
D As was noted in Gurdeep Singh 's case (supra), whenever an accused -,c

challenges that his confessional statement is not voluntary, the initial burden
is on the prosecution for it has to prove that all requirements und_er Section ..
15 of TADA and Rule 15 of Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention)
Rules, 1987 (hereinafter referred to as "Rules") have been complied with.
E Once this is done the prosecution discharges its burden and then it is for
accused to show and satisfy the Court that the confessional statement was not
made voluntarily. The confessional statement of the accused can be relied
upon for the purpose of conviction, and no further corroboration is necessary
if it relates to the accused himself. It has to be noted that in Nalini 's case -4

(supra), by majority it was held that as a matter of prudence the Court may .J,
F look for some corroboration if confession is to be used against a co-accused
though that will be again within the sphere of appraisal of evidence. It is
relevant to note that in Nalini's case (supra), the Court was considering the
permissibility of conviction of a co-accused on the confessional statement
made by another accused. In this -case, we are concerned with the question
G as to whether the accused making the confessional statement can be convicted
on the basis of that alone without any corroboration. The following
observations in Jayawant Dattataray 's case (supra) are relevant:

"Confessional statement before the police officer under Section
r
15 of the TADA is substantive evidence and it can be relied upon in
H the trial of such person or co-accused, abetter or conspirator for an
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI [ARIJITPASAYAT, J.] 783

offence punishable under the Act or the rules. The police officer A
before recording the confession has to observe the requirement of
sub-section (2) of Section IS. Irregularities here and there would not
make such confessional statement inadmissible in evidence. If the
Legislature in its wisdom has provided after considering the situation
prevailing in the society that such confessional statement can be used B
as evidence, it would not be just, reasonable and prudent to water
down the scheme of the Act on the assumption that the said statement
was recorded under duress or was not recorded truly by the concerned
officer in whom faith is reposed It is true that there may be some
cases where the power is misused by the concerned authority. But
such contention can be raised in almost all cases and it would be for C
the Court to decide to what extent the said statement is to be used
Ideal goal may be:- confessional statement is made by the ·accused as
repentance for his crime but for achieving such ideal goal there must
be altogether different atmosphere in the society. Hence, unless a
fool-proof method is evolved by the society or such atmosphere is
created, there is no alternative, but to implement the law as it is. D
(Underlined for emphasis)
•
Learned counsel for the appellant has tried to show that the witnesses
examined have given lie to some parts of the confessional statement like
hiring of the room purchase of the car etc. It is true that the witnesses have E
not spoken about the role of the appellant in the alleged transactions. But as
was rightly submitted by learned counsel for the respondent, the very fact
that these witnesses have stated about the identity given by the perspective
tenants, the purchase of the car are factors which do not go in favour of the
appellant, but against him. Otherwise, how would the accused-appellant in
his confessional statement state about the identity disclosed by the perspective F
tenant and purchase of the car. Learned counsel for the appellant contended
that these facts had come to knowledge of the police prior to the apprehension
of the accused-appellant and, therefore, they have utilized their previous
k'!owledge and put it in the confessional statement. Such a contention has to
be noticed to be rejected. Once it is held that the confessional statement is G
voluntary, it would not be proper to hold that the police has incorporated
certain aspects in the confessional statement which were gathered in the
investigation conducted earlier. It is to be noted further that the appellant's
so called retraction was long after he was taken into judicial custody. While
he was taken to judicial custody on 24.3.1995, after about a month, he made
a grievance about the statement having been forcibly obtained. This is clearly H
784 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A a case of after-thought. Since the confessional statement was voluntary, no "--
corroboration for the purpose of its acceptance is necessary.
.
Three other aspects were higlighted to raise doubt about authenticity of
prosecution version. They are: (i) circumstances about the alleged attempt to
swallow the cyanide pill, (ii) non-despatch of the confessional statement to
B the ACMM or the CJM and (iii) the typed certificate given by the officer
recording the evidence, when under Rule l 5(3)(b) of the Rules, requirement
is a certification "under his own hand".

It is to be noted that Ex. PW83/B is the copy of the personal search
memo of the accused and Serial No. 6 refers to cyanide capsules. Merely
c because no statement has been made by witnesses about the attempt to swallow
the cyanide, that does not, in any way, dilute the evidence recording seizure
of a cyanide capsule from the accused-appellant. Mention about the cyanide
capsule in the confessional statement goes a long way to show that the
statement was truthful. So far as the alleged non-despatch of the confessional
D statement is concerned, evidence of PW. 133-B.B. Chaudhary, ASJ is .,.,.
significant. On 24.1.1995, he was working as ACM, New Delhi. An application
Ex.PW. 133/A was put up before him by ACP Shri K.S. Bedi (P.W. 130)
regarding request for recording statement under Section 15 of the TADA '
made by of the accused-appellant. He was also produced before the ACM,
who asked him whether his confessional statement was recorded on 2J .1.1995
E by DCP Shri B.S. Bhola (PW 121 ). He answered in the affirmative and his
signatures were also obtained on the application in confirmation of his
admission having made a statement before the DCP. When the accused was
produced before the ACM, he did not make any grievance that his confessional ~
statement was not in fact recorded as claimed or that his signatures were ,,,;

F obtained on blank pieces of paper as claimed latter. Such a plea was raised
after a long passage of time. It is further relevant to note that when the
accused was produced in Court, he never made any grievance about any
duress or coercion. It is to be noted that the confessional statement was sent
directly to the Designated Court and was received at 12.45 p.m. Merely
because th_e report was · sent directly to the Designated Court, it does not
G become a suspicious circumstance. Rather, it adds to the authenticity of the
document. It has been noted by the learned Trial Judge that the accused was
produced in Court only at 2.00 p.m. and the confessional statement had'
reached the Designated Court before that time. The purpose of the confessional
--- -1

statement being sent to the Court by producing the accused for confirmation
H of the statement is to ensure that interpolation or manipulation is ruled out
-___./
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI [ARJJITPASAYAT, J.]

at a later date. As noted above, the confessional statement in this case had
been sent to the Designated Court before producing the accused before the
ACMM. That being so, in the absence of any prejudice to the accused, non·
785

despatch of the confessional statement to the ACM is really of on consequence.
A

In any event the prescription regarding despatch is directory and not mandatory.
In Jayawant Dattaray's case (supra) a similar contention was rejected. It was
observed that as per Rule 15 what is mandatory is that the confessional B
statement should be forwarded to the Designated Court, which may take
cognizance of the offence. Violation, if any, in the matter of despatch to the
.... Chief Judicial Magistrate cannot be held to be incurable illegality. (See Re:
•Wariyam Singh and Ors. v. State of U.P., [1995] 6 SCC 458.

The other aspect on which great emphasis has been laid by learned
c
counsel for the appellant is regarding the manner of recording of the
confessional statement. Evidence of PW! 31-ASI Kamlesh is of great
importance. The confessional statement runs into 9 pages. The witness has
categorically stated that she had recorded the confessional statement on
computer as per the dictation of the DCP. In her cross-examination, she has D
stated that the time taken was 6 hours. The accused has taken a stand that his
signatures were taken on blank papers. As noted above, the accused never
• made a grievance about any deficiency in the confessional statement till
19.4.1995. That is of great significance. Merely because the confessional
statement was recorded in a computer, it cannot be a ground for holding that
E
the confessional statement was not voluntary. Similarly, as DCP has given a
certificate in typing when the requirement is that certificate has to be "under

..
.......
,
his own hand" that is urged to be illegal. It would be too technical to discard
the confessional statement or doubt its authenticity on that score. This is
merely a procedural requirement. The non-observance does not cause any
prejudice to the accused. It has not been shown as to how the accused was F
prejudiced by the certificate having been typed. Procedure is handmade and
not the mistress of law, intended to subserve and facilitate the cause of justice
and not to govern or obstruct it. Like all rules of procedure, the requirement
of recording "under his own hand" demands an approach which would be
rational and practical and not otherwise. Such minor deficiency, if any, cannot

- be considered to be a fatal factor so far as prosecution case is concerned.
G
There is one more important aspect which needs to be noted. Admittedly, the
accused was a fugitive and was on the run. At the Indira Gandhi International
Airport he was arrested for travelling on a forged passport. It has been accepted
by the accused in his statement recorded under Section 313 of the Code that
he had sought asylum in Germany and was deported from there on refusal of H
786 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S:C.R.

A asylum. As the records reveal Shri K.S. Bedi (PW. 130) brought to the notice
of Shri B.S. Bhola (PW. 121) that on 22.1.1995 the accused wanted his
statement to be recorded under Section 15 of the TADA and requested Shri
B.S. Bhola (PW. 121) to do the needful. Shri Bhola talked to the accused
after sending everyone except his P.A. (PW.131) out of the room, and asked
him whether he was making a statement without any fear or duress etc. He
B was also intimated that the statement could be used in evidence against him.
Despite that, the accused wanted his statement to be recorded. Shri Bhola had
given time to the accused till-23.1.1995. The 1.0. was directed to produce the
accused on the next date at 2.00 p.m. On 23.1.1995 the accused was again
produced in the office of Operation Cell, Lodhi Estate. He was asked whether•
C the statement was voluntary or under pressure. After ensuring that all
procedures and safeguards have been observed the statement was recorded.
A mere statement that requisite procedures and safeguards were not observed
or that statement was recorded under duress o'r coercion, is really of no
consequence. Such a stand can be taken in every case by the accused after
having given the confessional statement. It could not be shown as to why the
D officials would falsely implicate the accused. There is a statutory presumption
under ·Section 114 of the Evidence Act· that judicial and official acts have
been regularly performed. The accepted meaning of Section 114(e) is that
when an official act is proved to have been done, it will be presumed to have
been regularly done. The presumption• that a person acts honestly. applies as
E much in favour of a police officer as of other persons, and it is not judicial
approach to distrust and suspect him without good grounds therefore. Such
an attitude can do neither credit to the magistracy nor good to the public. It
can only run down the prestige of police <1dministration. See Aher Raja
Khima v. State of Saurashtra, AIR (1956) SC 217.

F It has been highlighted by the accused that because of co-accused's
acquittal the case of conspiracy higlighted by the prosecution gets demolished.

Section 120-B IPC is the provision which provides for punishment for
criminal conspiracy. Definition of "criminal conspiracy" given in Section
120-A reads as follows:
G
'~120-A-When two or more persons agree to do, or cause to be done-

( 1) an illegal act, or

(2) an act which is not illegal by illegal means, such an agreement is
.H . designated a criminal conspiracy:
D.P. SINGH v. STATEN.CT. OF DELHI [ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.] 787

_J
Provided that no agreement except an agreement to commit an A
.... offence shall amount to a criminal conspiracy unless some act besides
the agreement is done by one of more parties to such agreement in
pursuance thereof."

The elements of a criminal conspiracy have been stated to be: (a) an
object to be accomplished, (b) a plan or scheme embodying means to B
accomplish that object, (c) an agreement or understanding between two or
more of the accused persons whereby they become definitely committed to
co-operate for the accomplishment of the object by the means embodied in
the agreement, or by any effectual means, (d) in th~ jurisdiction where the
statute an overt act. The essence of a criminal conspiracy is the unlawful c
combination and ordinarily the offence is complete when the combination is
fraroed. From this, it necessarily follows that unless the statutes so requires,
no overt act need be done in furtherance of the conspiracy, and that the
object of the combination need not be accomplished, in order to constitute an
indictable offence. Law making conspiracy a crime is designed to curb
y immoderate power to do mischief which is gained by combination of the D
... .. means. The encouragement and support which co-conspirators give to one
another rending enterprises possible which, if left to individual effort, would
have been impossible, furnish the ground for visiting conspirators and abettors

- with condign punishment. The conspiracy is held to be continued and renewed
as to all its members wherever and whenever any member of the conspiracy
acts in furtherance of the common design. (See American Jurisprudence Vol.
II Sec. 23 P. 559). For an offence punishable under Section 120-B prosecution
need not necessarily prove that the perpetrators expressly agree to do or
E

cause to be done illegal act; the agreement may be proved by necessary
"\. implication. Offence of criminal conspiracy has its foundation in an agreement
to commit an offence. A conspiracy consists not merely in the intention of F
two or more, but in the agreement of two or more to do an unlawful act by
unlawful means. So long as such a design rests in intention only, it is not
indictable. When two to carry it into effect, the very plot is an act in itself,
and an act of each of. the parties, promise against promise, actus contra
actum, capable of being enforced, if lawful, punishable if for a criminal
object or for -use of criminal means.
G

No doubt in the case of conspiracy there cannot be any direct evidence.
The ingredients of offence are that there should be an agreement between
persons who are alleged to conspire and the said agreement should be for
doing an illegal act or for doing illegal means an act which itself not be H
788 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A illegal. Therefore, the assence of criminal conspiracy is an agreement to do
an illegal act and such an agreement can be proved either by direct evidence
or by circumstantial evidence or by both, and it is a matter of common '
. experience that direct evidence to prove conspiracy is rarely available.
Therefore, the circumstance proved before, during and after the occurrence
B have to be considered to decide about the complicity of the accused.
In Halsbury's Laws of England (Vide 4th Ed., Vol. 11, page 44, para
58), the English Law as to conspiracy has been stated thus-

" "Conspiracy consists in the agreement of two or more persons to
do an unlawful act, or to do a lawful act by unlawful means. It is an
c indictable offence at common law, the punishment for which is
imprisonment or fine or both in the discretion of the Court.

The essence of the offence of conspiracy is the fact of combination
by agreement. The agreement may be express or implied, or in part
express and in part implied. The conspiracy arises and the offence is
D committed as soon as the agreement is made; and the offence continues
to be committed so long as the combination persists, that is until the
conspiratiorial agreement is terminated by completion of its
performance or by abandonment or frustration or however, it may be.
The actus reus in a conspiracy is the agreement to execute the illegal
E conduct, not the execution of it. It is not enough that two or more
persons pursued the same unlawful object at the same time or in the
same place; it is necessary to show a meeting of minds, a consensus
to effect an unlawful purpose. It is not, however, necessary that each
conspirator should have been in communication with every other."
p There is no difference between the mode of proof of the offence of
conspiracy and that of any other offence, it can be established by direct or
circumstantial evidence. See Bhagwan Swarup etc. etc. v. State of
Maharashtra, AIR (1965) SC 682 at p. 686.
Privacy and secrecy are more characteristics of a conspiracy, than of a
G loud discussion in an elevated place open to public view. Direct evidence in
proof of a conspiracy is seldom available, offence of conspiracy can be
proved by either direct or circumstantial evidence. It is not always possible ,
to give affirmative evidence about the date of the formation of the criminal
conspiracy, about the persons who took part in the formation of the conspiracy,
about the object, which the objectors set before themselves as the object of
H conspiracy, and about the manner in which the object of conspiracy is to be
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI [ARIJITPASAYAT, J.] 789

carried out, all this is necessarily a matter of inference. A
The provisions of Section 120-A 120-B, !PC have brought the law of
conspiracy in India in line with the English Law by making the overt act
unessential when the conspiracy is to commit any punishable offence. The
English Law on this matter is well-settled. Russell on Crime (12 Ed. Vol.I,
p. 202) may be usefully noted. B
"The gist of the offence of conspiracy then lies not in doing the
act, or effecting the purpose for which the conspiracy is formed, nor
in attempting to do them, nor in inciting others to do them, but in the
forming of the scheme or agreement between the parties agreement
is essential. Mere knowledge, or even discussion, of the plan is not, C
per se, enough."

Glanville Williams in the "Criminal Law" (Second Ed. P. 382) states-

"The question arose in an Iowa case, but it was discussed in terms
of conspiracy rather than of accessory ship. D. who, had a grievance D
against P. told E that if he would whip P someone would pay his fine.
E replied that he did not want anyone to pay his fine, that he had a
grievance of his own against P and that he would whip him at the
first opportunity. E whipped P.D was acquitted of conspiracy because
there was nO agreement for 'concert of action' no agreement to 'co-
operate.' E
Coleridge, J, while summing up the case to Jury in Regina v. Murphy,
(1837) 173 ER 502 at p. 508) states;

"I am bound to tell you, that although the common design is the
root of the charge, it is not necessary to prove that these two parties F
came together an actually agreed in terms to have this common design
and to pursue it by common means, and so to carry it into execution.
This is not necessary, because in many cases of the most clearly
established conspiracies there are no means of proving any such thing,

..-
and neither law nor common sense requires that it should be proved G
if you find that these two persons pursued by their acts the same
object, often by the same means, one performing one part of an act,
so as to complete it, with a view to the attainment of the object which
they were pursuing, you will be at liberty to draw the conclusion that
they have been engaged in a conspiracy to effect that object. The
question you have to ask yourselves is. "Had they this common design, H
790 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2002] 2 S.C.R.

A and did they pursue it by these common means the design being
unlawful."
As noted above, the essential ingredient of the offence of criminal
conspiracy is the agreement to commit an offence. In a case where the
agreement is for accomplishment of an act which by itself constitutes an
B offence, then in that event no overt act is necessary to be proved by the
prosecution because in such a situation criminal conspiracy is established by
proving such an agreement. Where the conspiracy alleged is with regard to
commission of a serious crime of the nature as contemplated in Section 120-
B read with the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 120 -A, then in that event
mere proof of an agreement between the accused for commission of such a
C crime alone is enough to bring about a conviction under Section 120-B and
the proof of any overt act by the accused or by any one of them would not
be necessary. The provisions, in such a situation, do not require that each and
every person who is a party to the conspiracy must do some overt act towards
the fulfilment of the object of conspiracy, the essential ingredient being an
D agreement between the conspirators to commit the crime and if these
requirements and ingredients are established, the act would fall within the
trapping of the provisions contained in section 120-B [See S.C. Bahri v. State
of Bihar, AIR (1994) SC 2420.

The conspiracies are not hatched in open, by their nature, they are
E secretly planned, they can be proved even by circumstantial evidence, the
lack of direct evidence relating to conspiracy has no consequence. [See E.K.
Chandrasenan v. State of Kera/a, AIR (1995) SC 1066.

In Kehar Singh and Ors. State (Delhi Administration), AIR (1988) SC
1883 at p.1954 ). this Court observed -
F
"Generally, a conspiracy is hatched in secrecy and it may be
difficult to adduce direct evidence of the same. The prosecution will
often really on evidence of acts of various parties to infer that they
were done in reference to their common intention. The prosecution
will also more often rely upon circumstantial evidence. The conspiracy
G can be undoubtedly proved by such evidence direct or circumstantial.
But the court must enquire whether the two persons are independently
pursuing the same end or they have come together to the pursuit of
the unlawful object. The former does not render them conspirators,
but the latter does. It is, however, essential that the offence of
conspiracy required some kinds of physical manifestation' of
H
D.P. SINGH v. STATEN.C.T. OF DELHI [ARIJIT PASAYAT. J.] 791

agreement. The express agreement, need not be proved. Nor actual A
meeting of the two persons is necessary. Nor it is necessary to prove
the actual words of communication. The evidence as to transmission
of thoughts sharing the unlawful design may be sufficient. Conspiracy
can be proved by circumstances and other materials. (See: State of
Bihar v. P.,,amhans, (1986) Pat LJR 688. To establish a charge of
conspiracy knowledge about indulgence in either an illegal act or a B
legal act by illegal means is necessary. In some cases, intent of
unlawful use being made of the goods or services in question may be
inferred from the knowledge itself. This apart, the prosecution has

-
not to establish that a particular unlawful use was intended, so long
as the goods or service in question could not be put to any lawful use. C
Finally, when the ultimate offence consists of a chain of actions. It
would not be necessary for the prosecution to establish, to bring
home the charge of conspiracy, that each of the conspirators had the
knowledge of what the collaborator would do so, so long as it is
known that the collaborator would put the goods or service to an
lawful use [See State of Maharashtra v. Som Nath Thapa, (1996) D
Cr.LJ.2448 at p. 2453 SC].
' Where trustworthy evidence establishing all links of circumstantial
evidence is available, the confession of a co-accused as to conspiracy even
without corroborative evidence can be taken into consideration. [See Baburao
Bajirao Patil v. State of Maharashtra, [1971] 3 SCC 432. It can in some E
cases be inferred from, the acts and conduct of parties. [See Shivanarayan
laxinarayan Joshi and Ors. v. State of Maharashtra and Ors., AIR (1980)
SC 439.
).. It is submitted that benefit of doubt should be given on account of co-
accused's acquittal. F
Exaggerated devotion to the rule of benefit of doubt must not nurture
fanciful doubts or lingering suspicions and thereby destroy social defence.
Justice cannot be made sterile on the plea that it is better to let hundred guilty
escape than punish an innocent. Letting guilty escape is not doing justice
according to law. [See Gurbachan Singh v. Satpal Singh and Ors., AIR G
(1990) SC 209. Prosecution is not required to meet any and every hypothesis
put forward by the accused. [See State of UP. v. Ashok Kumar Srivastava,

- AIR (1992) SC 840.
If a case is proved perfectly it is argued that it is artificial; if a case has
some flaws, inevitable because human beings are prone to err, it is argued H
792 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A that it is too imperfect. One wonders whether in the meticulous hypersensitivity
to eliminate a rare innocent from being punished, many guilty persons must
(
be allowed to escape. Proof beyond reasonable doubt is a guildeline, not a
fetish. [See Jnder Singh and Anr. v. State (Delhi Administration), AIR (1978)
SC 1091)). Vague hunches cannot take place of judicial evaluation. "A Judge
B does not preside over a criminal trial, merely to see that no innoc~nt man is
punished. A judge also presides to see that a guilty man does not escape.
Both are public duties~" [Per Viscount Simon in Stir/and v. Director of Public
Prosecution, (1944) AC PC 315 and quoted in State of UP. v. Anil Singh,
AIR (1988) SC 1998.
When considered in the aforesaid background, the plea that acquittal of
C co-accused has rendered prosecution version brittle, has no substance. Acquittal
of co-accused was on the ground of non-corroboration. That principle as
indicated above has no applications accused himself.
-
It has been pleaded that prosecution has failed to place any material to
show as to why accused would make a confessional statement immediately
D on return to India. Acceptance of such a plea would necessarily mean putting
of an almost impossible burden on the prosecution to show something which
is within exclusive knowledge of the accused. It can be equated with requiring
the prosecution to show motive for a crime. One cannot normally see into the
mind of another. What is the emotion which implies another to do a particular
E act is not expected to be known by another. It is quite possible that said
impelling factors would remain undiscoverable. After all, the factors are
psychological phenomenon. No proof can be expected in all cases as to how
mind of the accused worked in a particular situation. Above being the position,
learned Trial Judge has rightly held the appellant to be guilty.

F Coming to the question of sentence of death as awarded by the learned
Trial Judge, the same has to be judged in the background of what was stated
by this Court in several cases.

From Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR (1980) SC 898 and Machhi
Singh and Ors. v. State of Punjab, [1983) 3 SCC 470, the principle culled out
G is that when the collective conscience of the community is so shocked, that
it will expect the holders of the judicial power centre to inflict death penalty
irrespective of their personal opinion as regards desirability or otherwise of
retaining death penalty, same can be awarded. It was observed:

"The community may entertain such sentiment in the following
H circumstances:-
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI [ARJJJT PASAYAT, J.] 793

(I) When the murder is committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque, A
---' 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
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 B
whom the murderer is in a dominating position or in a position
of trust; or murder is committed in the course for betrayal of the
motherland.
-..\
(3) When murder of a member of a Scheduled Caste or minority
community etc., is committed not for personal reasons but in c
• 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.
(4) When the crime is enormous in proportion. For instance when
D
" multiple murders, say of all or, almost all the members of a
family or a large number of persons of a particuJar caste,
community, or locality, are committed.

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

If upon taking an overall global view of all the circumstances in the
... light of the aforesaid propositions and taking into account the answers
... to the questions posed by way of the test for the rarest of rare cases,
F
the circumstances of the case are such death sentence is warranted,
the Court would proceed to do so".

As the factual scenario of the present case shows, at least nine persons
died, several persons were injured, a number of vehicles caught fire and were
destroyed on account of the perpetrated acts. The dastardly acts were diabolic G

- in conception and cruel in execution. The "terrorists" \vho are sometimes
described as "death merchants" have no respect for human life. Innocent
persons lose their lives because of mindless killing by them. Any compassion
for such persons would frustrate the purpose of enactment of TADA, and
would amount to misplaced and unwarranted sympathy. Death sentence is
the most appropriate sentence in the case at hand, and learned trial Judge has H
794 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A rightly awarded it.
,,,___ >

However, a question arises as to the effect of Brother Shah, J. holding
the accused innocent, while deciding the question of sentence. Observations
l
made by this Court in Ramdeo Chauhan v. State ofAssam, [2001] 5 SCC 714
are relevant. It was inter alia observed as follows:-
B
"But, a question that remains to be considered further is the effect
of conclusion arrived at by my learned brother Mr. Justice Thomas.
Is the accused remediless; that remains to be s~en. Few provisions in
the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short "the Code") and others in
the Constitution deal with such situation. Sections 432, 433 and 433-
c A of the Code and Articles 72 I
and 161 of the Constitution deal with
pardon. Article 72 of the Constitution confers upon the President
power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remission of punishment
or to suspend, remit or commute sentence of any person of any offence.
The power so conferred is without prejudice to the similar power
D conferred on the Governor of the State. Article 161 of the Constitution
confers upon the Governor of a State similar powers in respect of any
offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive
power of the State extends. Th~ power under Article 72 and Article
161 of the Constitution is absolute and cannot be fettered by any
statutory provisions such as Section 432, 433 and 433-A of the Code
E or by any prison rules.

Section 432 of the Code empowers the appropriate Government
to suspend or remit sentences. The expression "appropriate
Government" means the Central Government in cases where the
sentences or order relates to the matter to which the executive power ~I
F of the Union ext~nds, and the State Government in other cases. The
release of the prisoners condemned to death in exercise of the powers
conferred under Section 432 and Article 161 of the Constitution does
not amount to interference with due and proper course of justice, as
the power of the court to pronounce upon the validity, propriety and
G correctness of the conviction and sentence remains unaffected. Similar
power as that contained in Section 432 of the Code or Article 161 of
the Constitution can be exercised before during or after trial. The
power exercised under Section 432 of the Code is largely an executive
power vested in the appropriate Government and by reducing the "°*
sentence, the authority concerned thereby modifies the judicial
H sentence. The section confines the power of the Government to the
D.P. SINGH v. STATEN.CT. OF DELHI [ARIJITPASAYAT, J.] 795

suspension of the execution of the sentence or remission of the whole A
or any part of the punishment. Section 432 of the Code gives no
power to the Government to revise the judgment of the court. It only
provides power of remitting the sentence. Remission of punishment
assumes the correctness of the conviction and only reduces punishment
in part or whole. The word "remit" as used in Section 432 is not a B
terms of art. Some of the meanings of the word "remit" are ·"to
pardon, to refrain from inflicting to give up". It is, therefore, no
obstacle in the way of the President or Governor, as the case may be
in remitting the sentence of death. A remission of sentence does not
mean acquittal.

The power to commute a sentence of death is independent of
c
Section 433-A. The restriction under Section 433-A of the Code comes
into operation only after power under Section 433 is exercised. Section
433-A is applicable to two categories of convicts: (a) those who
could have been punished with sentence of death, and (b) those whose
sentence has been converted into imprisonment for life under Section D
433. It was observed in Maru Ram v. Union of India, [1981] l SCC
107 that Section 433-A does not violate Article 20(1) of the
Constitution.

fn the circumstances, if any motion is made in terms of Section
432, 433 and 433-A of the Code and/or Article 72 or Article 161 of E
the Constitution as the case may be, the same may be appropriately
dealt with. It goes without saying that at the relevant stage, the factors
which have weighed with my learned Brother Mr. Justice Thomas
can be duly taken note of in the context of Section 432(2) of the
Code."
F
The principle set out above have application to the present case.

There is no reason to interfere with the order of learned trial Judge.

The appeal deserve to be dismissed which I direct. Reference as made
for confirmation of death sentence imposed under Section 3(2)(i) is accepted. G
B.N. AGRAWAL, J.

I respectfully agree with Brother Pasayat, J.

ORDER OF THE COURT H
796 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A The conviction and sentence passed by the trial Court stands confirmed
by dismissal of the appeal filed by the accused-appellant and the death
reference is accordingly answered.
-
SHAH, J. By judgment and order dated 24/25.8.2001, in Sessions Case
No.4 of 2000, the Designated Court-I, New Delhi convicted the appellant for
B the offence punishable under Section 3(2)(i) of Terrorist and Disruptive
Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (hereinafter referred to as the 'TADA') and
Section 120-B read with Sections 302, 307, 326, 324, 323, 436 and 427 of
the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to death and also to pay a fine of
Rs. l 0, 000. He was also sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for five
C years for the offence punishable under Sections 4 and 5 of TADA and to pay
a fine of Rs. l 0,000. Against that judgment and order, the appellant has filed
Criminal Appeal No.993 of 2001 and for confirmation of death sentence, the
State has filed Death Reference Case (Crl.) No.2 of 2001 before this Court.

It is the prosecution version that on 11.09.1993 Mr. M.S. Bitta, the then
D President of Indian Youth Congress (I) was in his office at 5, Raisina Road,
New Delhi. At about 2.30 p.m., Mr. Bitta left the office and the car in which
he was travelling came out of the main gate of 5, Raisina Road and one pilot
car, in which security personnel provided to him were sitting, was iibead of
...
his car. The pilot car slowed down in order to take right tum on Raisina
Road. In the meantime, one bus came on Raisina Road, from the side of
E Windsor Palace. At that time, there was an explosion in a car parked outside
5, Raisina Road. Though, Mr. Bitta was not hurt badly, a number of other
vehicles parked on the road and footpath caught fire. Because· of the bomb
blast nine persons succumbed to the injuries and 29 other persons sustained
injuries. During the course of investigation, it was learnt that Kuldeep, Sukhdev
F Singh, Hamek, Devenderpal Singh and Daya Singh Lahoria, all members of
KLF, a terrorist organisation, were behind this blast and their aim was to
assassinate Mr. Bitta.

It is the further prosecution version that secret information was received
that appellant Devender Pal Singh who was in custody of German authorities
G was to come to Delhi from Frankfurt on the night of 18/19.1.1995. On his
arrival, he was handed over to IGI Airport police authorities by Lufthansa ....,,.-·
Airlines Staff. Immediately upon his an-est, he tried to swallow cyanide capsule.
However, he was prevented.

Other accused Daya Singh Lahoria, who was extradited from USA to
H India was also arrested. He was also tried along with the appellant but was
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI [SHAH, J.] 797
acquitted by the Designated Court on the ground that there was no evidence A
against him and that he has not made any confessional statement. The Court
also observed that there was no iota of material on record to corroborate
confessional statement made by accused Devender Pal Singh against his co-
accused Daya Singh Lahoria and prudence requires that in absence of
corroboration, benefit should go to Daya Singh Lahoria.
B
In this appeal, learned counsel for the appellant submitted that except
the so called confessional statement, there is no other evidence against the
appellant and the said confessional statement is neither voluntary nor true
and in any case there is no corroborative evidence. Hence, the judgment and
order passed by the Designated Court convicting the appellant requires to be C
set aside.

For appreciating the contention raised by the learned counsel for the
appellant, the relevant evidence led by the prosecution is required to be
considered. It is the say of PW37 Inspector Severaia Kujur that on 19. l.l995
he was posted at Immigration Airport and at the time of clearance of flight D
LH-760 at about 2.30 a.m., the staff of LH flight handed over Devender Pal
Singh who was deported from Germany. He was interrogated by PRO
Vigilance and SB Branch and it was found that he was having forged passport,
so he made a rukka under Sections 419, 420, 468, 471 !PC and Section 12
of the Passport Act. Further, PW83 Inspector Tej Singh Verma, Operation E
Cell, Lodhi Colony, New Delhi, has also stated that on I 9. l. l 995 he was
po5ted at !GI Airport as Sub Inspector and that accused Devender Pal who
was deported from Germany was arrested in case FIR No.22 of 1995 for the
offences punishable under Sections 419, 420, 468 and 471 of the !PC and
Section 12 of the Passport Act. During the course of interrogation, in the said
case, he made a disclosure statement. He has also stated that personal search F
was conducted and that travelling documents were recovered from the accused.
Along with the disclosure statement and personal search memo, he was handed
over to ACP K.S. Bedi who conducted the investigation of this case. In cross-
examination, he has denied that Devender Pal Singh had not made any
disclosure statement and that his signatures were obtained on blank sheets. G

Now, as against this, we have to consider the evidence of PWI30 Mr.
K.S. Bedi, ACP. It is his say that on the relevant da_te he was posted in
Operation Cell, Lodhi Colony. He received information that an KLF extremist
namely Davenderpal Singh @ Deepak has been detained in Germany in the
last week of December, 1994, he was trying to get released from there and H
798 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A that he would proceed to Pakistan or he may be deported to India. He along
with other officers went to IGI Airport to check the incoming passengers
from Frankfurt, Germany. At 2.30 a.m., Lufthansa Airlines Staff handed over
the accused who was having forged travelling documents to PW 37. He tried
to swallow a capsule in plastic foil which was caught and after this he disclosed
that his name was Devender Pal Singh. On that basis, IGI airport staff
B registered a case vide FIR No.22 dated 19.1.1995. It is his further say that
on that date he made disclosure statement describing his involvement in
many cases including a bomb blast at 5, Raisina Road. Therefore, he collected
the copy of the disclosure statement Ex.PW83/A and made his formal arrest
in the present case. He produced the accused before Shri B.B. Chaudhary,
C ACMM, New Delhi and secured his police remand for 10-days. He was
interrogated on 21.1.199 5 and accused again made a disclosure statement in
.
which he admitted his involvement in the bomb blast at Raisina Road. On
22.1.1995, he gave in writing that he wanted to make confession. Thereafter,
he informed Mr. B.S. Bhola, DCP (PW121) for recording the confessional
statement. Mr. Bhola after following the procedure recorded his confessional
D statement on 23rd January, 1995. On 24th January, 1995, he was produced
before the Court of ACMM, New Delhi before the expiry of police custody
remand and from there the accused was taken by the Punjab Police. In cross-
examination, Mr. Bedi has stated that he was not having any prior information
that accused was being deported from Germany to India but he had gone to
E IGI Airport for checking the passengers coming from Germany _in the
expectation that the accused might have been deported. He also admitted that
in pursuance of the disclosure statement Ex.PW83/l, no article was recovered
from the accused or at his pointing out. He further stated that there is no
recovery memo pertaining to the car recovered from Bulandshahar on the
judicial file. However, there is a reference about the car in a photocopy of
F DD No.69 dated 30.10.1993 of PS Bulandshahar. This DD was not brought
by him. He denied the suggestion that the involvement of the accused persons
was within the knowledge of police prior to 19.1.1995. He also admitted that
on_23. l. l 995, the DCP used the computer installed in his office for recording
the statement of the accused. He also admitted that he had given a wireless
G message informing the Punjab Police that accused would be produced before
the court on 24.1.1995 and that is how the Punjab Police had sought his
police remand. He has denied the suggestion that accused was forced to make r-
a false confessional statement before the DCP and the accused was deliberately
produced prior to the expiry of police remand and was sent to Punjab. He
admits that thereafter accused remained in police custody for more than two
H months in Punjab. In further cross-examination, he has stated that he had not
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI [SHAH, J.] 799
produced the copy of the confessional statement or the original before the A
learned AC.MM when the accused was produced before him. He also admitted
that before the accused was produced before AC.MM on 24.1.1995, he was
formally arrested by the police of Police Station Sriniwaspuri. He also admitted
that Investigating Officers of the case pertaining to P.S. Sriniwaspuri and
Punjab Police were present inside the court when the accused was produced B
before the AC.MM. He has denied the suggestion that accused was put under
fear and duress or that he was warned not to reveal the true circumstances
under which the confessional statement was recorded or that in case he so
reveals, he would be done to death by Punjab Police.

PW12 l Mr. B.S. Bhola, DCP recorded the confessional statement of C
accused. In the cross-examination, he has admitted that he was aware about
the entire facts of the case prior to the recording of the statement of the
accused under Section 15 of TADA.

The prosecution also led the evidence of PW13 l AS! Kamlesh who
recorded the confessional statement on the computer as per the dictation of D
accused which is running into nine pages. She has admitted in cross-
exarnination that during the period of six hours when his· statement was
recorded accused was not provided any water or snacks and the matter typed
out on the computer was not saved nor it was taken on a floppy.

The prosecution has also examined PWl 33 Mr B.B. Chaudhary, ASJ, E
Tis Hazari, Delhi, who was AC.MM, New· Delhi at the relevant time stated
that accused was produced before him when he was in police custody. He
asked only one question to the accused-whether his statement was recorded
by DCP on 23.1.1995? To that, accused answered in affirmative and his
signatures were obtained on the application in confirmation of his admission F
of having made a statement before the DCP. He admitted that he had not
asked any other question. It is his say that he did not think it necessary to
take the accused to his chamber to assess his mental state. He also admitted
that at that tiµie no statement of accused was produced before him.

From the aforesaid evidence led by the prosecution, questions that arise G
for consideration are - (i) whether the confessional statement is true and
voluntary? and - (ii) whether there is any corroboration to the said statement?

Before considering the evidence led by the prosecution, it is to be
stated that accused in his statement recorded under Section 313 Cr.P.C. stated
that he had sought asylum in Germany and was deported from there on H
800 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A refusal of asylum. He has denied recovery of cyanide capsule from him. He
has also denied having made the application Ex.PWl21/B expressing desire
to make a confessional statement. He has also denied having made the
confessional statement before Mr. Bhola on 23.1.1995. According to him, he
was made to sign some blank and partly written papers under threat and
B duress and entire proceedings were fabricated upon those documents. He has
also stated that before he was produced before the ACMM, he was told that
if he made any statement to the Court he would be handed over to Punjab
Police who would kill him in an encounter, and as he was under fear, he
made a statement before learned ACMM. He has also stated that he was
taken to Punjab and brought back after about three months and thereafter he
C sent an application from jail on 21.4.1995 retracting his confessional statement
and clarifying the circumstances under which the said statement was recorded.

It is apparent that Investigating Officer Mr. K.S. Bedi has improved his
version by stating that accused tried to swallow cyanide capsule when he was
D arrested. As against this, it is the say of PW37 Severaia Kujur and PW83
Inspector Tej Singh that accused was handed over to them by the staff of
Lufthansa Airlines and nowhere they stated that at that time accused tried to
swallow any pill, It appears that Mr. K.S. Bedi tried to give colour to the
story that appellant tried to swallow the'cyanide pill. If that story was genuine,
necessary panchnama of the cyanide pill would have been made at the spot.
E Further, it is admitted position on record that during the course of investigation
-
of the bomb blast, the police had learnt that Kuldeep, Sukhdev Singh, Harnek,
Devenderpal Singh and Daya Singh Lahoria, who were members of KLF, a
terrorist organisation, were behind the blast. Therefore, it would be difficult
to believe that the IO Mr. Bedi had gone to the Airport only for keeping a
watch. On the contrary, Mr. Bhola has admitted that on his instructions, ACP
F KS Bedi had gone to the Airport to arrest the accused on the basis of
intelligence reports of involvement of accused and his group in the bomb
blast case. Therefore, the version of Mr. Bedi that he had gone at the IGI
Airport to check the incoming passengers from Frankfurt Germany cannot be
relied upon. From the evidence of DCP Mr. Bhola it is apparent that
G information was received that accused was coming from Germany and,
therefore, a watch at IGI Airport was kept.

Apart from the aforesaid improvement, it is difficult to believe that the
accused who was arrested for travelling on a forged passport after landing at
the airport, would make a disclosure statement involving himself in various
H crimes including the bomb blast. There was no earthly reason to make such
D.P. SINGH v. STATEN.CT. OF DELHI [SHAH, J.] 801

disclosure on 19th itself so that accused could be arrested by Mr. K.S. Bedi A
for the alleged involvement in the offence under the TADA. It is also admitted
that when the accused was produced before ACMM, the confessional statement
was not produced for the perusal of the ACMM and the ACMM only asked
him the question-whether he admits making confessional statement before
DCP B.S. Bhola. It would be difficult to accept that if confessional statement B
was recorded and when the accused was produced before the Magistrate, he
would be taken there without the said confessional statement. Rule 15(5) of
TADA requires that every confession recorded under Section 15 shall be sent
forthwith to the CMM or the CJM having jurisdiction over the area in which
such confession has been recorded and such Magistrate shall forward the
confession so received to the Designated Court which may take cognizance C
of the offence. In this view of the matter, there was no reason to produce the
accused before the ACMM without so-called confessional statement.

Further sub-section (I) of Section 15 of TADA specifically provides
inter alia that in case confession made by a person before the police officer
is recorded by such police officer either in writing or on any mechanical D
device like cassettes, tapes or sound tracks from out of which sounds or
images can be reproduced, shall be admissible in trial of such person for an
offence under this Act or rules made thereunder. The confessional statement
was recorded on computer and floppy thereof is not produced in the court
and is admitted to have not been saved in the computer by AS! Kamlesh. E

From the aforesaid evidence, it is apparent that the confessional statement
of the appellant is recorded by DCP B.S. Bhola (PWl21) who was the
Jnvestigating Officer at the relevant time. Admittedly, the accused was in
police custody. Thereafter he was handed over to the Punjab Police. Further,
from the record it appears that accused was wanted in bomb blast case ·since F
1993 and as soon as he arrived at the !GI Airport, he was arrested and was
handed over to PWl30 Mr. K.S. Bedi, ACP. It is stated that Mr. Bedi also
recorded the disclosure statement of the appellant on 21.1.1995, wherein he
admitted his involvement in the bomb blast case. Thereafter, confessional
statement under Section 15 of the TADA was recorded by DCP B.S. Bhola. G
In such state of affairs, doubt may arise-whether the accused has made any
confessional statement at all. In Kartar Singh v. State of Punjab, [1994] 3
( SCC 569, this Court observed thus: -

"Though it is entirely for the court trying the offence to decide
the question of admissibility or reliability of a confession in its judicial H
802 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A wisdom: strictly adhering to the law, it must, while so deciding the
question should satisfy itself that there was no trap, no track and no
importune seeking of evidence during the custodial interrogation and
all the conditions required are fulfilled."
-
In such case it would be unsafe to solely rely upon the alleged confession
B recorded by Investigating Officer. Further, looking at the original confessional
statement, there appears to be some substance in what is contended by the
accused in his statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. that his signatures were
taken on blank paper. Under Rule 15(3)(b) of the TADA Rules, the police
officer who is recording the confession has to certify the same "under his ~-

C own hand" that the said confession was taken in his presence and recorded
by him and at the end of confession, he has to give certificate as provided
thereunder. In the present case, the certificate was not given under the hands
of D.C.P., but was a typed one.

Further, for finding out - whether the statement is truthful or not, -
D there must be some reliable independent corroborative evidence. In the present
case, co-accused Daya Singh Lahoria who was tried together with the appellant
was acquitted on the ground that there was no evidence against him and that·
as he had not made any confessional statement. However, for connecting the
appellant, the learned Judge has relied upon the decision in Gurdeep Singh
v. State, (Delhi Admn.), (2000] 1 SCC 498 for holding that when the
E confessional statement is voluntary, corroboration is not required. It appears
that the Court has not read the entire paragraph of the said judgment and has
missed the previous lines which read thus: -

"For the aforesaid reasons and on the facts and circumstances of
this case, we have no hesitation to hold that the confessional statement
F of the appellant is not only admissible but was voluntarily and
truthfully made by him on which the prosecution could rely for his
conviction. Such confessional statement does not require any further
corroboration. Before reliance could be placed on such confessional
statement, even though voluntarily made, it has to be seen by the
G court whether it is truthfully made or not. However, in the present
case we are not called upon nor is it challenged that the confessional
statement was not made truthfully." -~

From the aforesaid judgment, it is clear that before solely relying upon
the confessional statement, the Court has to find out whether it is made •
H voluntarily and truthfully by the accused. Even if it is made voluntarily, the
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI [SHAH, J.] 803

Court has to decide whether it is made truthfully or not. But in Gurdeep A
Singh 's case (supra), there was no challenge made to the fact that it was not
made truthfully.

In the confessional statement it is mentioned that accused hired rooms
at Sahibabad, Jaipur and Bangalore. Merely because some house numbers are
mentioned in confessional statement, it cannot be held that as house numbers B
are found by police officers, it is a corroborative piece of evidence. None of
the neighbours has deposed before the court that the accused stayed in the
said houses. To write such numbers is easy for investigating officers because
they were investigating the case from the date of the bomb blast i.e. since
1993. No independent witnesses or landlord came forward to depose that C
accused resided in the said premises or took it on lease. No incriminating
articles were found from the said house or places mentioned in confession to
connect the accused with the crime. Even PW80 Harcharan Singh who sold
the car which was seized at the scene of offence in 1993, has not stated that
appellant-accused purchased the said car or that acquitted accused Daya Singh
purchased the same. PW44 Prehlad Sharma, property dealer of Sahibabad, D
Ghaziabad, stated that in August, 1993 he had arranged a house on rent basis
for two boys, who told themselves to be working as contractor in G.D.A. He,
.~
also, failed to identify accused as the boys who came at his shop to take the
premises on rent. On 28.9.1993, the police came to him and informed that
some RDX was recovered from that house, shown some photographs to him E
and he identified two photographs of the said persons. However, he has not
identified the accused as the boy who came at his shop to take the premises
on rent. Similarly, PW69 Nasir Siddiqui, who was running a shop of electrical

- ~
goods at Lajpat Nagar had sold one water pump to a customer residing in
Lajpat Nagar. The police came to his show-room and pointed some
photographs for identification of the person who had purchased the water F
pump. He had identified the photograph of that person. However, in the
court, he refused to identify the accused as the customer who had purchased
the water pump from his shop.

In any set of circumstances, let us consider the confessional statement G
as it is. In the present case other accused D.S. Lahoria was tried along with
the appellant and was acquitted. The role assigned to D.S. Lahoria in the
confessional statement is major one. In the confessional statement, appellant
Devenderpal Singh has stated as under: -

"I was born in Jullandar on 26.5.65 .. .I completed pre-engineering H
804 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A examination from Layal Pur Khalsa College Jullandhar in 1984 and
joined B.E. in the Mechanical at Guru Nanak Engineering College,
Ludhiana and completed my degree course in 1988 ........ In the month
of Nov., 1991, police came to know about the names of the boys who
were behind the car bomb attack on SSP/Chandigarh and the police
raided the house Partap Singh where Dr. Hari Singh and Videshi had
B stayed one day before the blast. Partap Singh further disclosed that
they are also known to me ......... The police raided my house. I was
not present in the house. My father and father-in-law were arrested
by the police ........ .I was told that he alongwith Partap Singh, Balwant
Singh Multani and Navneet Singh Kadian @Pal Rio village Kadia
c Distt. Batala and Mangal Singh are wanted in SSP/Chandigarh bomb
blast case. Thereafter, I weµt under ground and talked to my maternal
uncle Shri Sukhdev Singh Sandhu in Vencouver, Canada who advised
me that the chances of release of his father are very minimum as the
case relates to Sumed Singh Saini and that he should also go under
ground.
D
In August, 1993, plans were chalked out to eliminate M.S. Bitta
because Keepa felt that he is speaking to much against their movement
and the militants. Keepa along with Charni went to Punjab and took
out one quintal of RDX and left it with one Pawan Kumar @ Chajju
at Ludhiana. They came back and sent Hamaik @ Chottu to bring
E this RDX to their Sahibabad hideout. Part of this consigpment was
brought by Pawan Kumar which was handed over to Kuldeep Keepa
at Delhi - Karna! Border. Harnaik @ Chotu got the steel container
fabricated for the bombs. Daya Singh Lahora went to purchase an
Ambassador Car which was subsequently used in the bomb blast.
F The cordless telephone was purchased from Ludhiana by Harnaik.
On 2nd September, 1993, Kuldeep Keepa and Navneet Kadian
conducted the reccee of the office of MS Bitta at 5, Raisina Road,
New Delhi. Next day, Kuldeep Keepa, Navneet, Sukha@ Sangatpuria,
Hamaik, Lahoria and myself again came to the office of Bitta to
watch the proceedings. We made two attempts on 6th and 9th
G September, 1993. On 6th September, 1993, the mechanism did not
work and we could not trigger the blast. On 9th September, 1993,
MS Bitta did not come to the office. Myself and Kuldeep Keepa
fixed the bombs in the rear seat and the dickey and the master receiver
of the telephone was placed on the rear seat. The two wires coming
H out the receiver were connected to the detonators. Around 40 kgs. of
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI [ARIJITPASAYAT, J.] 805

- RDX was used in the blast.

On 11.9.1993, we came to the office of Bitta at around 11 a.m.
and the car was parked close to the front gate. Navneet, Keepa and
A

Sangatpuria were waiting in the back side of parking of Meridian
Hotel alongwith Gypsy No.DNC-1790 which was a fake number. I
went to Connaught Place to bring Harnaik @ Chotu with whom the B
time was fixed the previous day. In the meanwhile, MS Bitta went
inside his office and we could not trigger off the blast as none of us
were in position. We decided to go back, but when we reached Pragati
Maidan, Keepa insisted on making another try. We reached Janpath
Hotel and connected the wires in the parking area and sent Lahoria
to park the car near the gate of the office. The other five of us went
c
in the Gypsy and parked it in the parking area in front of Chelmsford
club. Hamaik and myself got down from Gypsy and went towards the
office of MS Billa. I positioned myself on the opposite side of the
office and Hamaik positioned himself close to the walls of Jawahar
.~
Bhawan to save himself from the blast. When Lahoria came out of D
.' the car after parking immediately, thereafter, the cars of MS Bitta
started moving out and Lahoria gave a signal to Harnaik who pushed
the button of the hand set of the cordless telephone. The security car
of MS Billa was hit and Bitta's car which was behind was not damaged.
Since Lahoria was very close, he was hit by splinters on his back.
Hamaik and myself went to the parked Gypsy from where Sukha had
E
already come towards 5 Raisina Road, New Delhi to see whether any
of us had been injured or not. Kuldeep and Navneet were already
,, sitting in the Gypsy. Four of us left the place and dropped Navneet
~
- at the back of Meridian Hotel to come by bus or autho-rickshaw
because he was a Sikh and possibility of identification was more F
strong. Lahoria went to the hospital in auto rickshaw and registered
himselfunder the name of VK Sood and left the hospital immediately
after first aid. He went to his hideout which is not known to me."
There is nothing on record to corroborate the aforesaid confessional
• statement. Police could have easily verified the hospital record to find out G

- whether D.S. Lahoria went to the hospital and registered himself under the
name of V.K. Sood on the date of incident and left the hospital after getting
First Aid. In any set of circumstances, none of the main culprits i.e. Hamaik
or Lahoria is convicted. In these set of circumstances, without there being
corroborative evidence, it would be difficult to solely rely upon the so-called
confessional statement and convict the accused and that too when the H
806 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 2 S.C.R.

_A confessional statement is recorded by the investigating officer. For this purpose,
it would he· worth-while to refer to the decision in Topandas v. State of
Bombay, AIR (1956) SC 33 para 6: -
-
"Criminal conspiracy has been defined in Section 120-A Penal Code:
"When two or more persons agree to do or cause to be done (i)
B
an illegal act, or (ii) an act which is not illegal by illegal means,
such an agreement is designated a criminal conspiracy.
By the terms of the definition itself, there ought to be two or more
persons who must be parties to such an agreement and it is trite to say
c that one person alone can never be held guilty of criminal conspiracy
for the simple reason that one cannot conspire with oneself. If,
therefore, 4 named individuals were charged with having committed
the offence under Section 120-B, Penal Code, and if three out of
these 4 were acquitted of the charge, the remaining accused, who was
..- the accused No. I in the case before us, could never be held guilty of
D the offence of criminal conspiracy.

The court further discussed the aforesaid question and referred to the ..•
decision in R. v. Plummer, [1902] 2 KB 339 (C) and held as under: -

"(1902) 2 KB 339 (C) which is cited in support of this proposition
E was a case in which, on a trial of indictment charging three persons
jointly with conspiring together, one person had pleaded guilty and
a judgment passed against him, and the other two were acquitted. It
was held that the judgment passed against one who had pleaded
guilty was bad and could not stand Lord Justice Wright observed at
p.343: .
F
"There is much authority to the effect that, if the appellant had
pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy, and the trial of all
three defendants together had proceeded on that charge, and had
resulted in the conviction of the appellant and the acquittal of the
only alleged co-conspirators, no judgment could have been passed pn '·
G the appellant, because the verdict must have been regarded as
repugnant in finding that there was a criminal agreement between the
appellant and the others and none between them and him: see- 'Harison
v. Errington', (1627) Poph 202 (D), where upon an indictment of
three for riot two were found not guilty and one guilty, and upon
H error brought it was held a "void verdict", and said to be "like to the
D.P. SINGH v. STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI [SHAH, J.] 807

case in 11 Hen 4 c.2, conspiracy against two, and only one of them A
is found guilty, it is void, for one alone cannot conspire."
'
In this view of the matter, when rest of the accused who are named in
the confessional statement are not convicted or tried, this would not be a fit
case for convicting the appellant solely on the basis of so-called confessional
statement recorded by the police officer. B·
Finally, such type of confessional statement as recorded by the
investigating officer cannot be the basis for awarding death sentence.

J In the result, Criminal Appeal No.993 of 2001 filed by the accused is
allowed and the impugned judgment and order passed by the Designated C
Court convicting the appellant is set aside. The accused is acquitted for the
offences for wh!ch he is charged and he is directed to be released forthwith
if not required in any other case.

In view of the above, Death Reference case (Crl.) No. 2 of2001 would
not survive and stands disposed of accordingly. D

S.K.S. Criminal Appeal No. 993/200
allowed Death Reference Case (Cr!.) No. 2
of 200 I disposed of. E

-