Holding

The Court held that voluntary information leading to the recovery of the dead body and the motorcycle creates a natural presumption of the accused's participation in the murder, and the convictions are therefore upheld.

Summary

The Supreme Court examined the murder of Namadev, whose body was recovered from a gunny bag after the accused voluntarily disclosed its location. The prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence and statements under Section 27 of the Evidence Act, asserting that the accused who provided the information must have been involved in the murder and disposal of the body. The Court held that the recovery of the body and the motorcycle, based on the accused's voluntary information, created a natural presumption of their guilt, satisfying the requirements of Section 27. It rejected the appellants' contention that the circumstances were not sufficiently established to sustain the convictions. Consequently, the Court dismissed the appeals and upheld the convictions of the accused for murder and related offences.

Issues considered

Whether a conviction can be sustained on the basis of voluntary information furnished by an accused under Section 27 of the Evidence Act when the circumstances of the offence are not directly proved.
Whether the circumstantial evidence in the case meets the test of a natural presumption of guilt as articulated in Section 27.
Whether the High Court erred in setting aside the convictions of certain accused.

Legislation cited

Indian Evidence Act, 1872s. 27
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 109, s. 143, s. 148, s. 149, s. 201, s. 302, s. 34, s. 341

Subjects

murdercircumstantial evidenceSection 27 Evidence Actnatural presumptionbody disposalconvictionappealIndian Penal Code

Judgment

[2009] 8 S.C.R. 421

" NINGAPPA YALLAPPA HOSAMANI & ORS. A
v.
§TATEI OF KARNATAKA AND ORS.
(Criminal Appeal No. 495 of 2006)
MAY 8, 2009
B
[DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT AND ASOK KUMAR
J.c
GANGULY, JJ.]

Sq. 302134 and 201134 - Murder- Conviction based on
circumstantial evidence - Held: Since dead body of victim c
recovered in furtherance of voluntary information furnished by
the accLJsed who were convicted by High Court for the murder,
natu1c1I presumption in absence of explanation by them is that

- they had murdered the deceased and buried the dead body
- Prosecution has conclusively proved that accused had
disposed of the dead body by putting it in a gunny bag and
D

burying it - Judgment of High Court does not warrant any
interference - Circumstantial evidence - Evidence Act, 1872-
s.27.
E
Seven accused including the appellants faced trial for
commission of offences punishable u/ss. 143. 148, 341,
109, 302 and 201 r/w s. 149 IPC. The prosecution case
"" • was that there was enmity between A-4 and the husband
-· of PW1. The husband of PW1 left the house on his motor
cycle at 4.00 P.M. on 30.1.2005 and when he did not return F
till the following day, PW1, suspecting his abduction,
lodged a complaint against A-4 and A-5. During the
investigation A-1 and A-2 were arrested and pursuant to
their statements, dead body of the husband of PW1,
G
. which had been buried near the canal in a gunny bag

-
,;,..
-
was recovered. Later on the other accused were also
arrested and at the instance of A-6, the motorcycle of the
deceased was recovered from the river. The trial court on
the basis of cumulative effect of the circumstantial
421 H
422 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2009] 8 S.C.R.

A evidence concluded that the prosecution proved that the ..
accused had committed the murder of the husband of
PW1 and disposed of his body and buried it near the .
canal and thrown his motorcycle in the river. On appeal,
the High Court set aside the conviction of A-3 to A-5,
B converted conviction of A-1 and A-2 to 302/34 IPC. It set
aside conviction of A-6 and A-7 u/ss. 302 r/w s. 149 IPC
and converted conviction of A-1, A-2, A-6 and A-7 from s.
201/149 to s. 201/34 IPC but maintained the sentence. ~

In the appeal filed by A-1, A-6 and A-7, it was mainly
c contended that on the basis of the statements made u/s.
27 of the Evidence Act, 1872 conviction could not be
maintained because it could not be said that the
circumstances were established.

D Dismissing the appeals, the Court .
HELD: The prosecution has conclusively proved that
accused Nos. 1, 2, 6 and 7 had disposed of the dead
body of the deceased by putting it in a gunny bag and
burying it at a place near the canal, which was detected
E
in furtherance of the voluntary information furnished by ·
accused No. 1 and 2. It is also proved that the motorcycle
of the deceased was drowned in the river by the accused,
which was later recovered in furtherance of the voluntary
information furnished by accused No. 6. As regards
~
..
-'
F accused Nos. 1 and 2, since the dead body of the
deceased was recovered in furtherance of the voluntary
information furnished by them, the natural presumption,
in the absence of explanation by them, is that it was those
two persons, who had murdered the deceased and had
G buried the dead body.[Para 9] [429-E-H; 430-A]

State of Maharashtra Vs. Sure sh 2000(1) SCC 471, • ...
relied on.

H
NINGAPPA YALLAPPA HOSAMANI & ORS. v. STATE 423
OF KARNATAKA AND ORS.
"' Case Law Reference: A

2000(1) sec 471 relied on para 11

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
No. 495 of 2006.
B
From the Judgment & Order dated 30.11.2005 of the High
Court of Karnataka at Bangalore in Crl. Appeal No. 1644 of
-- .!-
2005.

WITH
c
Crl. Appeal No. 496 of 2006.

S.N. Baht, B. Subrahmanya Prasad, Ajay Kumar, M.V.N.
Raghupathy and Sanjay Jain for the Appellant.
Sanjay Jain, Mukesh Verma, Anmol Thukral, Vinay Arora D
and Sanjay R. Hegde for the Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. 1. Challenge in these appeals
is to the order passed by a Division Bench of the. Karnataka E
High Court. The High Court by the impugned judgment allowed
the appeal and set aside the conviction of appellants 3, 4 and
. ., y 5 (accused No.3-Sri Giriyappa @ Gireppa, A-4 Sri Yallappa
.... Slo Arujunappa Yaraddi, A-5 Sri Vithal S/o Kalakappa) before
it. The compensation of Rs.50,000/- awarded to Girijabai (PW- F
4) was reduced to Rs.20,000/-. The present appeal is by A1,
A6 and A7.
2. Seven accused persons had faced trial for alleged
commission of offences punishable under Sections 143, 148,
341, 109, 302 and Section 201 read with Section 149 of the G
l,;.'
..
-J
Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the 'IPC'). The occurrence
took place in the intervening night of 31.1.2005 around midnight.
3. Prosecution version in a nutshell is as follows:
Namadev Muralidhar Huwannavar (the deceased) resided H
424 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009) 8 S.C.R.
...
A in Bommanabudni village along with his wife-Girijabai (PW.1)
and his five children, out of whom Panduranga (PW.5) is ohe.
He was in politics and due to his activities, he had incurred
enmity of many persons. He was an accused in a session case
on the allegation of having committed about ten years prior to
B 2005, the murder of Arjunappa Yaraddi (father of accused NOA)
having set on fire the sugarcane cr;)p of Yallappa Yaraddi. He
was later acquitted in the said case. Due to that, he had ertmlty
~
towards accused No.4, and for certain other reasons towards
other accused also. On 30.1.2005 he left for Mudhol at about
4.00
c E-1688p.m., on his CD Don motorcycle bearirtg Reg.No.KA-48/
(M.0.15). In Mudhol, he met Kallanagouda
Timmanagouda Patil of Utturu (P.W.12) at about 8.00 p.m., and
told that he was returning to Bommanabudni via Halki. Later at
9.00 p.m. he was seen at Halki by Gyaneshwar Ramappa
Manemmi (P.W.11) going on the motorcycle towards
D
Bommanbudni. He did not return home on that day and on the
next day as well. Therefore, Girijabai (P.W.1) and Panduranga.
(P-W.5) started the search for help. They traced the movement
of Namadev till he left Halki and thereafter they could not get
any trace of Namadev. In the meantime, they learnt that there
E were certain motorcycle marks in the land of Vijaya
Mandandappa Sutar of Mingapura and when they went there,
they found certain tyre marks of a motor cycle corresponding y
with the tyre marks of Namadev's motor cycle. Therefore _,,
suspecting possible abduction of Namadev, P.W.1 lodged a
F complaint against Yallappa Arjunappa Yaraddi (accused No.4)
and Vital Kalakappa Navi (accused No.5). That complaint was
received by Sri Malakappa, P.S.I. of Lokapur Police Station
(P .W .21 ), who registered a case at Crime No.16/2005 and
forwarded F.l.R. (Ex.P.27) to the JMFC, Mudhol. He went to the
G place i.e., the land of Vijaya Manadappa Sutar as shown by ~
>-
P.W.1 and conducted the spot mahazar as per Ex.P.2. He also ...
collected information in the neighbouring villages. He learnt that
on that night i.e., at 8.00 p.m. of 30.1.2005, P.W.10-Vishnu
Tulasigeri had seen the accused Nos.1, 2 and 4 to 7 near
H Bommanabudni bus stand talking to each other and later
NINGAPPA YALLAPPA HOSAMANI & ORS. v. STATE 425
OF KARNATAKA AND ORS. [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]

P.W.16-Laxmappa Mullauru having seen the accused No.2 and A
7 going on one motor cycle and accused Nos.1 and 6 going
on another motor cycle towards Belgaum road. He also learnt
that at that time the accused No.7 was on the motorcycle with
a gunny bag and when P.W.16 had asked him about the same,
the accused No.7 had replied that it contained a jaggery block B
intended to be given to his relative. The police also learnt that
on the same night i.e., at about 3.00 a.m. on 30.1.2005, the
accused Nos.1, 2, 6 and 7 had been seen by P.W.7-Hanamath
Gouda Patil near the canal and two motor cycles parked on the
road. That was further confirmed by the information given by c
P.W.8-Bhimappa Maleguddi. In furtherance of the same, the
police suspected the accused Nos.1, 2 6 and 7 in the matter
and launched a search for them. The accused Nos.1and2 were
apprehended on 3.2.2005. On interrogation by P.W.20-
Basavareddi Lingadal, C.P.I. of Mudhol circle (investigating D
officer), the accused Nos.1 and 2 volunteered information to
show the place where Namadev had been murdered and also
the place where his dead body had been buried. In furtherance
of that information, police officer in-charge went to the place
near the land of Vijaya Manandappa Sutar and later to a place E
as shown by accused Nos.1 and 2. There the place near the
canal shown by the accused Nos.1 and 2 was dug up resulting
in the discovery of a gunny bag (M.0.9), which contained a dead
body. That dead body was identified by Namadeva's wife-
... P.W.1-Smt.Girijabai and Namadev's son-Sri Pandurganga
(P.W.5) as that of Namadeva. In furtherance of the information F
furnished by the accused Nos.1 and 2 regarding involvement
of other accused, a search was launched and accused Nos.4
and 5 were arrested on 7.2.2005. In furtherance of the voluntary
information furnished by them, sticks M.Os.11 and 12 allegedly
used by them to beat Namadev were recovered. The accused G
No.6 was arrested on 11.2.2005. The interrogation of accused
No.6 resulted in leading them to the river and showing the place
where, according to him, they had drowned the motorcycle (M-
0.13) of Namadev after his murder. A swimmer-Lavappa
Laxmappa Nagaral (P.W.15) was sent to that place, who H
426 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009) 8 S.C.~.

A brought up the said motorcycle (M.0.13). That Was recovered
. -
under panchanama. Later the accused No.7 was arrested on
26.2.2005 at Panchagavi village and in furtherance of the
information furnished by him, the pick-axe (M.0.14) allegedly
used for burying the dead body was recovered. After further
B investigation, a charge sheet was placed against the accused.
The accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.
The prosecution examined 23 witnesses and closed its case.
~
About the deceased having been seen by the persons for the
last time, the prosecution examined the deceased's wife
c (PW.1), the deceased's son (P.W.5) and P.W.s 10, 11 and 12.
About the movements of the accused to connect them with the
murder of Namadev, prosecution has examined P.Ws.10, 13
and 16. Though P.W.13 has not supported the prosecution and
P.W.16 only partially supported, the evidence of these two
D witnesses shows the movement of the accused Nos. 1, 2, 6 and
7. As regards the motive for murder, P.Ws 6, 17 and 18 have
been examined. P.Ws. 2, 3 and 4 are panchas. P.W.14 dug
up the land from where the gunny bag containing the dead body
of Namadev was recovered. According to the prosecution,
E extra judicial confession had been made by the accused before
P.W.9 and the drowned motorcycle was recovered after
P.W.15 went down into the river and brought up the motorcycle.
P.W.18 is the junior engineer, who has drawn the sketch of _,
...
scene of the offence. Post mortem examination on the dead
F body was done by P.W.19 doctor. P.Ws. 20 to 23 are police
officers.
The trial Court on the basis of the cumulative effect of the
circumstantial evidence concluded that the prosecution had
proved that it was the accused who had committed the murder
G of Namadev and had disposed of the dead body by putting it
in a gunny bag and burying it near the canal of Chickakhandi • ....
village and throwing motor cycle in the river. In appeal,
conviction of A-3 to A-5 was set aside as noted above. A-6
and A-7 were acquitted of all charges relating to Section 302
H and 109 read with Section 149 IPC. The conviction of A-1 and
NINGAPPA YALLAPPA HOSAMANI & ORS. v. STATE 427
OF KARNATAKA AND ORS. [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]
A·3 under Sections 302 and 109 read with Section 149 IPC A
was converted to Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC. The
conviction of A-1, A-2, A-6 and A-7 under Section 201 read
with Section 149 IPC was converted to under Section 201 read
with Section 34 IPC while the sentence is maintained.
B
4. Learned counsel for the accused appellants submitted
that the circumstances relied on clearly established the
.. accusations and the only case is recovery under Section 27 of
Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (in short the 'Evidence Act'). The
present appellants are A-1, A-6 and A-7 so far as these
appeals are concerned. c
5. The basic challenge is that on the basis of statement
made uhder Section 27 of the Evidence Act the conviction
cannot be maintained because it cannot be said that the
circumstances have been established. D
6. Learned counsel for the respondent-State on the other
hahd supported the judgment.
7. As regards the involvement of the other accused, the
ptosecution relied on the recovery of the motorcycle in E
furtherance of the voluntary information furnished by the accused
No.6. The said accused was arrested on 11.2.2005 and as
spoken to by P.W.20 investigating officer, in furtherance of the
" >-
voluntary information furnished by him, they went to the river
near Chickakhandi where a place in the river was shown by the F
accused No.6 as the place, where motor cycle had been
drowned. P.W.15-Lavappa Laxmappa Nagaral had been taken
there and he went into the river at the place shown by the
accused No.6 and brought up the motorcycle M.0.15. The said
motorcycle was later identified as that of Namadev. The cross- G
examination of P.W.15 does not show anything to doubt his
version.
8. It was submitted by the appellants that according to
P.W.16, the accused Nos.1 and 6 were seen in the police
station on 3.2.2005 and this theory of the accused No.6 being H
428 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 8 S.C.R.

A arrested on 11.2.2005 and on his voluntary information
furnished on that day, the motor cycle having been recovered
in presence of P.W.15, cannot be believed. Of course P.W.16
in the cross-examination says that when he went to the police
station, he saw the accused Nos. 1 and 6. It was submitted by
B the State that perhaps it may be a typographical mistake and
it may be the accused Nos.1 and 2 since the records show that
it is the accused Nos.1 and 2, who had been arrested on
3.2.2005. The possibility of typographical mistake is possible.
However, even then taking into consideration the contention of
c the learned counsel for the appellants, at the most it may amount
to an illegal custody by the police till 11.2.2005, thereafter
recovering the motorcycle on 11.2.2005. That may create some
doubt regarding the claim of the police with regard to the
recovery. But considering the evidence of P.W.15, we find that
this suspicion is unfounded. It is quite possible that the police
0
detained accused no.6 unnecessarily from 3.2.2005 to
11.2.2005. We find no reason to discard the alleged recovery
of motorcycle in furtherance of the information furnished by
accused No.6. As regards the accused No.2, the prosecution
relies on the deposition of P.W.7 who saw the accused Nos.1,
E 2, 6 and 7 near the canal at about 3 a.m. of 31.1.2005. In
addition P.W.12 saw the accused Nos.1, 2, 6 and 7 near the
bridge. Earlier on 30.1.2005 at about 11.00 p.m. all those four
persons had been spotted by P.W.16. All these depositions
conclusively show that from 11.00 p.m. on 30.1.2005 till about
F 4.00 a.m. of 31.1.2005, the accused Nos.1, 2, 6 and 7 were
seen together. On complete perusal of the evidence, we find
that on 30. 1:2005 Namadev left his house at 4.00 p.m. and went
to Mudhol on his motorcycle bearing No.KA-28/A 1688
(M.0.15). He was seen at Inspection Bungalow, Mudhol, at 8.00
G p.m. by P.W.12-Kallanagouda Patil of Utturu village. Namdeva
told P.W.12 that he was returning to Bommanabudni via Halki.
At 9.00 p.m. he was seen at Halki by Jnaneshwara (P.W.11)
going on the motorcycle towards Bommanabundi. Thereafter
nobody saw him alive.
H
NINGAPPA YALLAPPA HOSAMANI & ORS. v. STATE 429
OF KARNATAKA AND ORS. [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]
- .,,
9. The accused Nos. 1, 2 and 4 to 7 were seen by A
Bommanabudni bus stand at about 8.00 p.m. of 30.1.2005 by
P.W.10 Vishnu Tulasigeri. The evidence of P.W.16 Laxmappa
Mullurur shows that the accused Nos.2 to 7 were seen at 11.00
p.m. on that day on the motor cycle. That witness also saw the
accused Nos. 1 and 6 on another motorcycle along with other. B
His evidence further shows that the accused No.7 was riding
the motorcycle along with the accused No.2 on that motorcycle
•· and another motorcycle was driven by the accused No.6-
Hanamant Ramappa Kivudi on which the accused No.1-
Ningappa Yallappa Hosamani was sitting with a gunny bag. c
When he enquired from the accused No.1, about the gunny bag,
the accused No.1 is stated to have replied that it contained
jaggety block, which was to be given to his relative's house. It
is submitted by the appellants that even if this is accepted as
true, there was nothing wrong in Ningappa Yallappa Hosamani
"
D
(accused no.1) taking a jaggery block to his relative's house
and that cannot fasten the liability of transporting the gunny bag
containing dead body. The time on which this incident is stated
to have happened is at about 11 p.m. on 30.1.2005 and later
the same persons were seen near the canal with both the
E
motorcycles. Therefore the story of gunny bag containing the
jaggery block is not believable. As held by the Courts below it

- .. must have contained the dead body of Namadev. Taking into
consideration this factor, we find that the prosecution has
conclusively proved that the accused Nos.1, 2, 6 and 7 had
disposed of the dead body of Namadev by putting it in a gunny F
bag and burying it at a place near the canal, which was detected
in furtherance of the voluntary information furnished by accused
No.1 and 2. It is also proved that the motorcycle of Namadev
was drowned in the river by the accused, which was later
.... . recovered in furtherance of the voluntary information furnished G
~
by accused No.6. As regards accused Nos.1 and 2, since·the
dead body of Namadev was recovered in furtherance of the
voluntary information furnished by them, the natural
presumption, in the absence of explanation by them is that it
was those two persons, who had murdered Namadev and had H
430 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 8 S.C.R.

A buried the dead body. ., .
10. As regards recovery of the dead body is concerned,
the High Court noted as follows:

As regards the second ground urged by the learned
B counsel for the appellants, there also what has been stated
is that a rumour had been spread that four persons had
committed the murder of Namadeva and his dead body
had been buried near the canal and later he was called •
on 2.3.2005 by Lokapur police. The mahazars regarding
c the place of offence of murder conducted on 3.2.2005 and
the place were the dead body of Namadev was recovered
were conducted in the early hours of morning of 3.2.2005
and it is not unlikely that information immediately spread
in the village and immediately Namadev's dead body had
D been placed near the place of canal. Therefore, this cannot
be taken as indicating the knowledge the people about the
burial of the dead b9dY even before the dead body of
Namadev was detected in furtherance of the voluntary
information furnished by the accused Nos.1 and 2. For this
E reason, we do not accept the interpretation put forth by the
learned counsel for the appellants with regard to the
recovery of dead body of Namadev.

F
The evidence of P.W.20-investigating officer shows that
the accused Nos.1 and 2 were arrested on 3.2.2005 at
Mahalingapura and in furtherance of the interrogation, they
furnished information and police and panchas were led by
~

--
•

the accused Nos.1 and 2 to a place near the canal. This
claim of P.W.20 has been corroborated by the evidence
of P.W.14-Basappa Ramappa Pujari, who says that he
G had accompanied the police and panchas to the place
where the accused Nos.1 and 2 were taken and the ~,

accused Nos.1 and 2 showed a place as a place of burial
of Namdev's body. Then, his deposition further shows th9t
he and C.Ws 22, 24 and 25 were asked to dig the land
H and when they dug the land, they found a gunny bag. That
NINGAPPA YALLAPPA HOSAMANI & ORS. v. STATE 431
OF KARNATAKA AND ORS. [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.)
- ·~

gunriy bag contained a dead body which was late: A
identified by PWs 1 and 5 as the body of Nadadev. We
have very carefully gone through the evidence of PWs 14
and 20 in this regard and find no material to disbelieve the
version of PW-14 that the place was shown by A-1 and
A-2 and that when the place was dug up, they found a B
gunny bag containing Namadev's dead body. This
evidence conclusively shows that the accused Nos. 1 and
2 had buried the said gunny bag containing the dead body
of Namadev and that it was detected in furtherance of the
voluntary information furnished by them. c
11. In State of Maharashtra vs. Suresh (2000 (1) SCC
471) it was observed as follows:
"Three possibilities are there when an accused points out
• the place where dead body or an incriminating material
D
was concealed without setting that it was concealed by
him. One is that he himself would have concealed it.
Second is that he would have seen somebody else
concealing it. And the t~ird is that he would have been told
by another person that it was concealed there. But if the
E
accused declines t6 tell the criminal court that his
knowledge about the concealment was on account of one
of the last two possibilities the criminal court can presume
• " that it was concealed by the accused himself. This is
because the accused is the only person who car offer the
explanation as to how else he came to know of such F
concealment and if he chooses to refrain from telling the
court as to how else he came to know of it, the presumption
is a well-justified course to be adopted by the criminal
court that the concealment was made by him. Such an
interpretation is not inconsistent with the principle G
/
~
embodied in Section 27 of the Evidence Act."
12. Above being the position, we find no merit in these
appeals which are accordingly dismissed.

R.P. Appeals dismissed. H