Holding

The Supreme Court held that the death of the deceased was not proved and the circumstantial evidence did not meet the requisite standards for conviction under s.302 IPC, leading to the setting aside of the conviction.

Summary

The appellant, an astrologer, was convicted along with two others for the alleged murder of Somasundaram under sections 302, 1208, 34, 109, 379 and 201 of the IPC, based largely on circumstantial evidence that the deceased was last seen with the appellant and the recovery of a gold chain. No dead body was ever recovered and there was no forensic proof of death; the river’s current and tidal nature were not established. The Supreme Court held that the corpus delicti – the fact of death – was not proved and that the chain of circumstantial evidence failed to satisfy the stringent requirements laid down in Sharad Birdhichand Sarda’s case. Consequently, the conviction could not stand. The appeal was allowed, setting aside the judgment and directing the appellant’s release.

Issues considered

The death of the deceased must be proved as a factual matter before a murder conviction can be sustained.
Whether circumstantial evidence alone, without a body, can establish guilt under s.302 IPC.
Whether the evidentiary links presented satisfy the ‘panchsheel’ criteria for circumstantial proof.
Whether the investigation, including the FIR and missing‑person report, was adequate to support the charge.

Legislation cited

Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 109, s. 1208, s. 201, s. 302, s. 34, s. 379

Subjects

murdercircumstantial evidencecorpus delictideath not provedIPC s.302conviction set asidemissing personpanchsheel of proofforensic evidence

Judgment

[2008) 1 S.C.R. 581

..,; K.T. PALANISAMY
\I.
A

STATE OF TAMIL NADU
(Crl. A. No. 1107 of 2005)
JANUARY 11, 2008
B
[S.B.· SINHA AND DALVEER BHANDARI, JJ.]

~ Penal Code, 1860: ss.302, 1208 r.w. ss.34 and 109 -
Dead body of deceased not found - Conviction for murder of
deceased based on circumstantial evidence - Justification of c
- Held: Not justified - No evidence in regard to death - Nothing
to show that current in river was suc;h as to take dead body
a
away '- Death as fact thus not proved - All prosecution
witnesses related to deceased - Difficult to believe that all
witnesses saw deceased accompanying accused persons one
D
after the other at different places - Thus, chance of their
deposing falsely not ruled out - When circumstantial evidence
~
made basis for establishing charge, all links must be
~
completed -Appellant was not suspected on the day of alleged
crime - Fact that dec~ased was last seen with appellant was
not specifically disclosed in FIR- Suspicion was raised about
E
involvement of appellant only because three other dead
bodies were recovered - Recovery of golden chain at the
instance of appellant itself not sufficient· for upholding
conviction under s.302 /PC.
.... F
The prosecution case was that the deceased was
•· passing through tough times. The appellant-accused who
was astrologer had advised him to perform some poojas
on the bed of a river. On 29.4.1996, the deceased went to
the place fixed for the said purpose along with the accused
G
persons. The deceased at that time was said to be wearing
a gold chain and two gold rings. He was last seen by PW-
i
3, PW-4 and his brother-in-law PW-5. He however, did not
come back home. On inquiries, made from the appellant,
·the family members of the deceased were informed that
581 H
582 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008] 1 S.C.R.

A after performing pooja, deceased went to attend some ;..__,
function. He was thereafter not heard of for a long time.
An advertisement was issued in local newspaper after few
days to search for deceased. The wife of deceased PW-1
sought for assistance of the appellant who advised them
B to perfc1rm a pooja at temple. The parents of the deceased
and his grandmother went to the temple for performing
the pooja in the company of the appellant. However, they
also did not return home. From a report which appeared
in a newspaper, PW-1 came to learn that 3 persons were
c found murdered at a place. She went to the said place
and lodged FIR. An FIR was registered under the caption
'man missing'. A case was registered against the accused
persons under ss.302 and 379 IPC. Based on the
purported confessional statement made by the appellant,
the Investigating Officer recovered gold chain and some
D
bangles Accused No.2 allegedly was having a gold ring
in his finger which was also seized.
).
The trial Court convicted the appellant and two other •
accused persons were convicted under ss.1208, 302 r.w.
E ss.34 and 109 IPC as also ss.379 and 209, based on
circumstantial evidence. High Court affirmed the same.
Hence the present appeal.
Allowing the appeal, the Court

F HELD: 1.1. The dead body of the deceased was not
recovered. There is no evidence in regard to death. ~
Nothing has been brought on record to show that there ...
was enough water in the river or the current in the water
was such so as to take a dead body away. The fact that
the river was a tidal one had not been proved. The corpus
G
delicti has not been proved. The same need not be but
the death as a fact must be proved. No piece of mortal
~
remains of the deceased was found. If the prosecution
witnesses were to be believed they had no reason to
suspect the appellant at the relevant point Qf time. They
H
K.T. PALANISAMY v. STATE OF TAMIL NADU 583

-~ knew that the deceased was to attend another function. A
PW-2 who was running a shop with the deceased
deposed that on 29.4.1996 deceased came to his shop
with the appellant and informed him that they were going
to the temple to perform pooja whereafter he would go to
some function. It cannot be believed that the deceased B
would take all the accused to the shop of PW2 or allowed
:>(
to be found in their company by all of his relations and
partners. None of the witnesses testified that they were
seen near the place of worship. None said that they were
found to be performing any pooja. No evidence was c
adduced to show that any pooja was performed in a
temple. All the prosecution witnesses are related to the
deceased. It is difficult to believe that all the witnesses
saw the deceased accompanying the accused persons
one after the other at different places. Therefore, chances
D
of their deposing falsely cannot be ruled out. Be that as it
~ may, when the offence is said to have been committed
~ and the circumstantial evidence is made the basis for
establishing the charge against the appellant, indisputably
all the links must be completed to form the basis for his
conviction. [Para 11-13, 17] [589-B, C, D; 590-A, B, F, G, H; E
591-A, B, C]
Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra AIR
(1984) SC 1622 - relied on.
-f 1.2. In a situation of this nature, it is difficult to hold F
... that a judgment of conviction can be founded on the sole
circumstance of the deceased's having been last seen
with the appellant by the prosecution witnesses who are
all interested and partisan witnesses. More significant is
the conduct of the prosecution witnesses. On the day of G
the alleged crime, they did not suspect the appellant in
~·
any manner whatsoever. They did not even go to the place
of the occurrence. Despite the fact that he was missing,
the purported explanation of the appellant was taken for
granted. Even no missing report was lodged. It was H
584 SUPREME COURT REPORTS' [2008] 1 S.C.R.

A expected that such missing report should have been
lodged immediately and that details of his wearing
apparels as also the fact that he had two rings on his finger
and one gold chain would have been mentioned. The fact
that the deceased was last seen with the appellant should
B havei been specifically disclosed in the first information
report. Suspicion was raised about the involvement of the
appellant only because three other dead bodies were
recovered. The only other circumstance is recovery of the
golden chain. It was allegedly sold to PWS. He, however,
c has denied his involvement. Even assuming that golden
chain was recovered at the instance of the appellant, the
same by itself would not be sufficient for upholding the
judgment and conviction under s.302 IPC. Neither any .
direct nor circumstantial evidence had been brought on
record to establish the guilt on the part of the appellant.
0
[Paras 14-17) (591-A-D, F, G; 592-C]
Sevaka Peruma/ and Anr. v. State of Tamil Nadu (1991)
3 sec 471 - referred to.
E CRIMINALAPPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
No.1107 of 2005.
From the final Judgment and Order dated 18.4.2002 of
the High Court of Judicature at Madras in Crl. A. No. 996/1998.
C. Rose, Murali C. Krishna and C. Balakrishna for the
F Appellant.
...,_
V. Kanakaraj, S. Joseph Aristotle, S. Prabu
Ramasubramanian and V.G. Pragasam for the Respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
G
S.B. SINHA, J. 1. Appellant with two others, namely, A2,
Vellingiri, and A3, Officer @ Paramasivam, were prosecuted
for commission of the offence of murder of one Somasundaram.
Appellant was an astrologer. The deceased was passing
H through tough times. His son had also remained ill for long time.
K.T. PALANISAMY v. STATE OF TAMIL NADU 585
[S.B. SINHA, J.]
~
He allegedly was advised by the appellant to perform some A
poojas on the bed of the river Bhavani situated at
Nanjaipuliyampatti on or about 29.4.1996. He went to the place
for the said purpose along with the accused persons. The
deceased at that time was said to be wearing a gold chain
(M.0.1) and two gold rings (M.Os.2 & 3) engraved with the letters B
"P. Mani". The deceased was allegedly last seen by PW-3 and
>j PW-4 namely, Nallasamy and K.Devaraj respectively and his
brother-in-law PW-5, Muthusamy. He, however, did not come
back. On inquiries having been made from the appellant, the
family members of the deceased were informed that he had c
gone away after performing the said pooja for attending some
function.
He was even thereafter not heard of for a long time.
An advertisement was issued in a local newspaper on
12.5.1996. Poongodi (PW-1), the wife of the deceased, in order D
to search out her husband, in turn, sought for the assistance of
• "' the appellant, who advised them to perform a pooja at Bannavi
Amman Temple. ·
However, when the parents of the deceased and his grand- E
mother left for Bannavi Amman Temple for performing the pooja
in the company of the appellant, they also did not return home.
From a report which appeared in a local newspaper on 3.6.1996
PW-1 came to learn that the said three persons have been found
1 murdered at Erode. He went to Erode and lodged first
.... information report before the Erode, South Police Station, which F
was recorded by Manoharan (PW16). A first information report
was registered being crime No.415/96 under the caption "man
missing". On 4. 7.1996 the statement of PW-1 was recorded by
the Investigating Officer PW-18. The Banglaputhur police station
which had the jurisdiction to investigate into the said matter G
received the said first information report on 2.9.1996, on the
basis whereof PW-17 the Head Constable of the said police
station registered a case as Crime No.406/96 against the .
-4 accused under Sections 302 and 379 of the Indian Penal Code
(for short the 'IPC'). Accused Nos.1 & 2 were arrested on H
586 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008] 1 S.C.R.

;,..__,
A 6. 7.1996 at a bus stop at Erode in the presence of Abdulhasan
Ansari (PW-11 ). Allegedly, on the basis of a purported
confessional statement made by the appellant, the Investigating
Officer and others went to Coimbatore for recovery of a gold
chain which is said to have been sold to one Dhanasekaran.
B The said gold chain and some bangles, however, were seized
in connection with the murder of the deceased's parents and
grand-mother. He also took the police party to a jewellery shop
belonging to one Dhanasekaran who produced a long golden
chain. The same was seized and marked as M.0.1
c 2. Accused No.2 allegedly was having a gold ring in his
finger which was seized and marked before the learned Trial
Judge as M.0.3.
3. Accused No.3 was arrested near a municipal guest
house at Erode on 7th July, 1996. Two Criminal cases were
D
instituted against the appellants; - one for commission of murder
~
of Somasundaram; and the other for murder of his parents and
~
grand-mother.
Whereas the first case was registered as S.C No.70/97,
E the second one was registered as S.C No. 100/97.
4. The learned Sessions Judge convicted the appellant
and other two accused persons for commission of offence under
Section 1208, 302 read with Section 34 and 109 of the IPC as
also Section 379 and 201 thereof. They were sentenced to
F undergo rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 1208, 302 .' ~

read with Section 34 and Section 109 of the IPC and one year's
rigorous imprisonment under Section 379 and three years
rigorous imprisonment under Section 201 of the IPC.
5. Before the learned Trial judge, a large number of
G
witnesses were examined on behalf of the prosecution. PW~ is
the widow of the deceased. Her evidence centered around the
fact that the deceased used to consult him as he was an
astrologer. She further stated that the deceased had gone with
the accused for performing the said pooja and never came back
H
K.T. PALANISAMY v. STATE OF TAMIL NADU 587
[S.B. SINHA, J.]
~~
thereafter. She identified Material Objects 1, 2 & 3. According A
to her, a letter was received from one Bala in the name of the
first accused stating that her husband was keeping well but was
in a depressed mind and that within a month he would go back
home.
6. Allegedly, on the hope generated from the said letter, no 8
first information report was lodged. As noticed hereinbefcire-,
she went back to the appellant and requested him to find out
her husband, who in turn advised her to perform a pooja at
Pannari Mariamman temple. Her in-laws and mother of her
mother-in-law went there on 28.6.1996 and the news about their c
murder appeared in the newspaper on 30 1h June, 1996.
According to her, she became suspicious on learning that her
in-laws have been murdered and as her husband was also
missing, she filed a first information report on 3.7.1996 at Erode.
D
In the cross-examination of the said witness, several
~
discrepancies have been brought on record particularly the
.. omissions in her statement under Section 161 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, that her husband had been putting on M.Os.
1 to 3. She accepted that there used to be quarrel between her
and her husband. The distance between her residence and that E
of her in-laws was 5 to 6 kms. They were living separately. She
admitted that her husband had not been in sound mental health.
She had been informed that her husband was to go to a function
_, after performance of the said pooja and the same statement
,, was made by her before the police. Loganathan (PW-2) was to F
be the brother-in-law of the deceased appellant. According to
him, he used to run an electrical shop with the deceased
Somasundaram and one Nallasamy. The deceased, according
to him, used to come to the appellant to discuss astrological
aspects as regards his child who had not been keeping good G
health. He deposed that on 29:4.1996 Somasundaram came
to his shop along with the appellant and informed him that they
were going to perform a pooja in the Van nan temple whereafter
he would go to some function. Although according to him the
deceased was wearing gold ornaments (viz. the rings and the H
588 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008] 1 S.C.R.

A chain) but he did not know to whom they belonged to.
7. PW-3 was also a partner in the said electrical shop in
which the deceased and PW-2 were running. According to him
on 29/4/1996 he met the deceased at Gobi Chettipalayam when
he informed him that he had been coming from Nanjai
8 Pulliampatti after performing the pooja. He furthermore informed
that they were going to a temple whereupon he came back by
bus. He could not remember the date when Somasundaram
brought the three accused to his shop.
c 8. PW-4 is K.Devaraj. He was a valuer working at the
Veerappan Chattiram Co-operative Bank. He also saw the
deceased going to perform pooja with the accused.
· PW-5 is Muthusamy. He is an electrician. He is the brother
in-law of the deceased. Allegedly, he saw the deceased and
D the other accused sitting in the bus and on a query made by
him, they informed that they were going to the temple at
Nanjaipulimpatti and at about 8.30 P.M. on that day when he
was returning from Bangalaputhur, all the three accused also
boarded the same bus. On a query again made by him in regard
E to whereabouts of the deceased, he was told that he had gone
to attend some function.Although he is a resident of the area he
did not know as whether there was a river bridge at Puliampatty
or not.
9. PW-6 is Thangavel. He is the brother-in-law of the
F deceased. He is said to have given advance of a sum of
Rs.10,000/- on execution of a pronote to accused No.3, at the
instance of the deceased. The letter which was marked as
Ex.A6, according to him, contained some zig-zag lines at the
time of his deposition which were not there when it was received.
G
10. PW-7 is Marisamy. According to him, Dhanasakarn
had paid a sum of Rs.15,000/- to the accused persons. He
accepted that he was a police informer and had been appearing
for them as a witness.
H PW-8 has, however, denied that he was a Jeweler or that
K.T. PALANISAMY v. STATE OF TAMIL NADU 589
[S.B. SINHA, J.]
.. .,,...4 he had a shop. A

11. On analysis of the entire materials brought on records
by the prosecution, the only relevant evidence is the purported
recovery of chain (M.0.1) at the instance of the appellant.

The dead body of the deceased was not recovered.' There B
is no evidence in regard to death. Nothing has been brought on
record to show that there was enough water in the river or the
current in the water was such so as to take a dead body away._

All the prosecution witnesses are related to the deceased.
It is difficult for us to believe that all the witnesses saw the c
deceased accompanying the accused persons one after the
other at different places. Therefore, chances of their deposing
falsely cannot be ruled out. Be that as it may, when the offence
is said to have been committed and the circumstantial evidence
is made the basis for establishing the charge against the D
appellant, indisputably all the links must be completed to form
~
the basis for his conviction.
,_.
12. It is now well settled that in a case where an offence is
said to have been established on circumstantial evidence alone,
indisputably all the links in the chain must be found to be
E
complete as has been held in Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v.
State of Maharashtra [AIR 1984 SC 1622] in the following terms:
"A close analysis of this decision would show that the
-f following conditions must be fulfilleo before a case against F
> an accused can be said to be fully established:
(1) the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is
to be drawn should be fully established.
It may be noted here that this Court indicated that the
G
circumstances concerned 'must or should' and not 'may
-+ be' estab.lished. There is not only a grammatical but a
., legal distinction between 'may be proved' and 'must be or
should be proved as was held by this Court in Shivaji
Sahebrao Bobade v. State of Maharashtra where the
H
590 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008] 1 S.C.R.

)...._,
A following observations were made:
certainly, it is a primary principle that the accused must be
and not merely may be guilty before a Court can convict,
and the mental distance between 'may be' and 'must be'
is long and divides vague conjectures from sure
B conclusions.

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

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

(4) they should exclude every possible hypothesis except
the one to be proved, and
D
(5) there must be a chain of evidence so complete as not
)--
to leave any reasonable ground for the conclusion
consistent with the innocence of the accused and must
.. ,
show that in all human probability the act must have been
E done by the accused.
153. These five golden principles, if we may say so,
constitute the panchsheel of the proof of a case based on
circumstantial evidence."

F 13. In this case, corpus delicti has not been proved. The
same need not be but the death as a fact must be proved. Even
" JI
•
death has not been proved in this case. No piece of mortal
remains of the deceased was found. If the prosecution witnesses
are to be believed they had no reason to suspect the appellant
herein at the relevant point of time. They knew that the deceased
G
was to attend another function. We fail to understand as to why
the deceased would take all the accused to the shop of PW2 or
allowed to be found in their company by all of his relations and
partners. None of the witnesses testified that they were seen
near the place of worship. None said that they were found to be
H
K.T. PALANISAMY v. STATE OF TAMIL NADU 591
[S.B. SINHA, J.]

-~ performing any pooja. No evidence was adduced to show that A
any pooja was performed in a temple.
14. In a situation of this nature, it is difficult to hold that a
judgment of conviction can be founded on the sole circumstance
of the deceased's having been last seen with the appellant by
the prosecution witnesses who are all interested and partisan B
witnesses. More significant is the conduct of the prosecution
-~ witnesses. On the day of the alleged crime, they did not suspect
the appellant in any manner whatsoever. They did not even go
to the place of the occurrence. Despite the fact that he was
'• missing, the purported explanation of the appellant was taken c
for granted. Even no missing report was lodged. It was expected
that such missing report should have been lodged immediately
and that details of his wearing apparels as also the fact that he
had two rings on his finger and one gold chain would have been
mentioned. D

-1 The fact that the deceased was last seen with the appellant
should have been specifically disclosed in the first information
" report. Suspicion was raised about the involvement of the
appellant only because three other dead bodies were recovered.
We do not know the nature of evidence that has been adduced E
in that case. We need not enter into any surmise in this behalf.
15. In any event, the circumstancial evidence which formed
part of the records of SC 100 of 1997 could not be relied upon
--J for arriving at the conclusion that the appellant herein is guilty of F
#
commission of the said offence.
16. The only other circumstance is recovery of the golden
chain. It was allegedly sold to PW8. He, however, has denied
his involvement. Even assuming that golden chain was
recovered at the instance of the appellant herein, the same by G
itself, in our considered view, would not be sufficient for
i upholding the judgment and conviction under Section 302 of
the IPC.
17. Mr. V.Kanakaraj, learned senior counsel appearing on
H
592 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008] 1 S.C.R.

A behalf of the respondent, has placed strong reliance on a
decision of this Court in Sevaka Perumal and Anr. V. State of
Tamil Nadu reported in [1991 (3) SCC 471]. Therein also it
was held that the fact of the death of the deceased must be
established like any other fact. In that case it was not done. This
B Court in that case gave an instance where a corpus delicti is
not possible to be traced or recovered. The same being that
the murder was committed and the dead body was thrown into
the river, stream or burnt out. Even such is not the case here.
As indicated herein before, the fact that the river was a
C tidal one had not been proved.
There is, thus, no reliable or acceptable evidence that the
offence has been committed by the appellant. Neither any direct
nor circumstantial evidence had been brought on record to
establish the guilt on the part of the appellant herein.
0
18. We, therefore, are of the opinion that the impugned
judgment cannot be sustained, which is set aside accordingly.
The appeal is allowed. The appellant is in jail. He is directed to
be set at liberty unless wanted in connection with any other case.
E D.G. Appeal allowed.
-

•