Holding

The conviction was set aside because the prosecution did not establish the appellant's guilt beyond reasonable doubt, the circumstantial evidence was insufficient and tainted by procedural irregularities.

Summary

The appellant Prakash was accused of murdering Gangamma on 5 November 1990 and of stealing her ornaments. The prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence: his alleged presence in the victim's house at 1 p.m., a fingerprint on a plastic cover, blood‑stained clothes matching the victim's blood group, recovery of ornaments and a steel rod allegedly used as the weapon. The trial court acquitted him, but the Karnataka High Court convicted him. The Supreme Court held that the prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The evidence of presence was uncertain, the fingerprint identification was procedurally flawed, no test identification parade was held, the blood‑stain evidence was inconclusive, and the recovered ornaments could not be linked to the victim. Consequently, the conviction was set aside and the appellant was acquitted.

Issues considered

The adequacy of circumstantial evidence to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt
The reliability and admissibility of fingerprint evidence obtained without a magistrate's order
The necessity of a test identification parade in the absence of prior identification
The probative value of blood‑stained clothing matching the victim's blood group
The connection between recovered ornaments and the victim
The effect of procedural lapses on the benefit of doubt

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedures. 162, s. 313, s. 342
Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920s. 5
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 302

Subjects

circumstantial evidencefingerprint identificationidentification paradebenefit of doubtmurderforensic evidenceprocedural irregularitiesIndian Penal Codecriminal law

Judgment

[2014] 5 S.C.R. 242

A PRAKASH
v.
STATE OF KARNATAKA
(Criminal Appeal No. 1682 of 2005)
APRIL 15, 2014
8
[RANJANA PRAKASH DESAI AND
MADAN B. LOKUR, JJ.]

Penal Code, 1860: s. 302 - Murder- Acquittal by trial court
C - Conviction by High Court on the basis of circumstantial
evidence - Appeal against conviction - Prosecution case that
appellant went to the house of victim-deceased and robbed
her ornaments and murdered her - High Court relied on the
circumstances that the appellant was found in deceased
0 house on the fateful day; that fingerprint expert found his
fingerprint on a plastic cover; that appellant's clothes were
blood-stained when he was arrested after 6 days and the
blood-stains tallied with the blood group of the deceased; that
the ornaments of the deceased were recovered at the instance
E of the appellant after his arrest; that the weapon of offence,
that is, a steel rod was discovered at the instance of the
appellant - On appeal, held: The incident took place at 8.30
P.M. while the prosecution witnesses had seen the appellant
with the deceased at 1 P.M. - There was no evidence about
F the whereabouts of the appellant from 1 P.M. to 8.30 P.M. -
Further, no TIP was held - High Court proceeded merely on
the basis of probabilities -~ The entire exercise of the
appellant's fingerprint identification was a/so shrouded in ·
mystery - Mere recovery of some ornaments from some
people also did not lead to any conclusion that the ornaments
G so recovered belonged to the deceased - Investigating Officer
made no effort to ascertain whether the blood stains on the
steel rod were those of the deceased nor was any effort made
to ascertain whether the steel rod contained any fingerprints

H 242
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 243

which matched with those of the appellant - This,. coupled with A
the fact that the blood stained crowbar seized at the place of
occurrence, was not sent for a chemical examination, raised
a grave suspicion that the investigation was not fair and the
benefit of this doubt must go to the appellant - None of the
circumstances accepted by High Court pointed to the B
probability of appellant's guilt or involvement in the murder
of the deceased -. The view taken by trial court giving
appellant the benefit of doubt was certainly a plausible view
and in the absence of any perversity in the view taken, the
High Court ought not to have upset the conclusion. c
Investigation: Scientific methods ·- Use of - Discussed.

Karnataka Police Manual: Guideline No. 1543 and 1544
- Articles containing fingerprints - Procedure to be followed -
Oisc11ssed. D
Test identification parade: Requirement of holding -
Held: An identification parade is not mandatory nor can it be
claimed by the suspect as matter of right- The purpose of
pre-trial identification evidence is to assure the investigating
E
agency that the investigation is going on in the right direction
and to provide corroboration of the evidence to be given by
the witness or victim later in court at the trial - If the suspect
is a complete stranger to the witness or victim,. then an
identification parade is desirable unless the suspect has been
seen by the witness or victim for some length of time -
F
However, if the suspect is known to the witness or victim or
they have been shown a photograph of the suspect or the
suspect has been exposed to the public by the media no
identification evidence is necessary - Even so, the failure of
a victim or a witness to identify a suspect is not a/ways fatal G
to the case of the prosecution.

Evidence: Circumstantial evidence - Held: In a case of
circumstantial evidence, there has to be some degree of
•'
'

trustworthiness and certainty about the existence of the H
244 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A circumstances - Mere probabilities are certainly not enough.

The prosecution case was that on 5th November,
1990, the appellant who was resident of Nagenahalli
village was searching for the victim-deceased house.
While doing so, he met PW-6 and asked her for
8
directions. PW-6 did not know the way of the house of
the deceased and took the appellant to the house of PW-
7 and requested her to take the appellant to the house
of deceased. PW-7 took the appellant to the deceased's
house. The appellant informed the deceased that he had
C came along with 'S', the son of her brother PW-3 from his
village and enquired from the deceased whether 'S' had
reached. The deceased informed that 'S' has not come
to her house. This happened at about 1.00 P.M. In the
evening, when the deceased did not visit the house of
D PW-1 to watch TV, PW-1 sent her grandson to call the
deceased. The deceased came to PW-1 and informed her
that she could not watch TV at her house as usual since
some relatives from her village had come to her house
and she had to cook food for them. The next day evening
E PW-1 carne to know about the murder of the c;feceased.
The Investigating Officer PW-25 soon reached· the place
of occurrence. The dog squad, a fingerprint expert and
a photographer also reached there a little later. On a
requisition made by the Investigating Officer, PW-12, the
F photographer took photographs of the dead body and
the crime scene and of a passbook M0-13 lying at the
scene of the incident: The fingerprint expert PW-20
examined nine articles in the premises and found some
fingerprints on a plastic cover containing the inscription
G 'Canara Bank'. The appellant was apprehended on 11th
November, 1990. Certain cash and ornaments were
recovered from him. The blood stained clothes of the
appellant and a blood stained steel rod concealed
beneath a stone slates were seized by the Investigating
H Officer. The Investigating Officer sent the appellant's
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 245

fingerprints to the fingerprint bureau for comparison. The A
fingerprint expert, PW-20 certified that the fingerprint sent
to him matched with the chance prints found pn the
plastic cover found at the place of occurrence. The trial
court however found the appellant not guilty and
acquitted him. The High Court set aside the acquittal. The B
instant appeal was filed challenging the order of the High
Court.

Allowing the appeal, the Court

HELD: 1. The High Court proceedeq on the basis that C
the case was one of circumstantial evidence. The Court
mentioned five relevant circumstances that the appellant
was found in deceased house on the fateful day; that the
. fingerprint expert found appellant's fingerprint on a plasti.c
cove.r bearing the inscription 'Canara Bank' [Exh P-18]; D
that the appellant's clothes were blood-stained when he
was arrested on 11th November, 1990 and the blood-
stains tallied with the blood group of the deceased; that
the deceased's ornaments were recovered at the ·
instance of the app.ellant after his arrest; that the weapon E
of offence, that is, a steel rod was disco\iered at the
instance of the appellant from the place where it was
concealed. The High Court also mentioned two other
circumstances, namely, that the de~eased met with a
homicidal death and that the appellant absconded after F
committing the crime. [Para 16 and 17] [262-8-F]

2. There is no doubt that PW-1 did not at all see the
appellant at house of the deceased. Her evidence was
only to the effect that the deceased did not come to watch
TV with her on the fateful evening because she had some G
relatives in her house and she had to cook food for them.
These relatives were not identified or named except that
she stated that the deceased's nephew 'S' would be
coming and that she had to feed him. Similarly, PW-4 also
did not identify or name any of the deceased's relatives H
246 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014) 5 S.C.R.

A in her house. All that he stated was that when he was at
his shop he observed that some relatives had come to
the deceased's house and she had given food to them.
He stated that he closed his shop at 8.30 p.m. or so and
went home. T1e evidence of PW-4 disclosed that the
.s deceased was alive till about 8.30 p.m. and was in the
company of more than one person. [Paras 19 and 20]
[262-H; 263-A-C]

3. PW-6 also did not add to the case of the
prosecution. She stated that the appellant had
C approached her for directions to the deceased's house
and that she took the appellant to the house of PW-7. She
did not accompany the appellant or PW-7 to deceased's
house. The appellant was produced before this witness
about 5 or 6 days after the incident when he was brought
D to her shop by the police and she identified him as the
person whom she had met in the afternoon of 5th
November, 1990. The only witness who actually saw the
appellant with the deceased was PW-7. She narrated the
conversation between the appellant and the deceased
E and .the fact that the deceased did not know the appellant
and.had asked him to identify himself. The conversation
she heard revealed that 'S' was expected to come to the
deceased's house. This witness left midway during the
conversation between the appellant and the deceased
F and did not actually see the appellant enter her house. A
few days after the incident, PW-7 was called to the police
station and she saw the appellant sitting over there and
identified him. On the basis of the evidence of these four
witnesses, it can at best be said that the appellant was at
G deceased's house at about 1.00 p.m. on 5th November,
1990 and that according to him 'S' was also to arrive at
the d.e ceased's residence. The whereabouts of the
appellant from 1.00 p.m. onwards are not known. It could
also be said that the deceased gave dinner to her relatives
H at about 8.30 p.m. but these relatives cannot be identified.
PRAKASH v, STATE OF KARNATAKA 247

The appellant may or may not be one of them. It could not, A
therefore, be definitely concluded that the appellant was
being served dinner by the deceased at about 8.30 p.m. r

on 5th November, 1990 or that he stayed in h~r house
0

thereafter. But it is clear that even if the appellant was
there, he was not alone with the deceased when she s
served dinner. [Paras 21-24] [263-D-H; 264-A-C]
4. 'S' was not examined by the Investigating Officer
and there was absolutely no answer forthcoming from the
State in this regard. The involvement of the appellant in
the incident came about only because PW-3 informed the C
Investigating Officer on the night of 5th November, 1990
that he was not on talking terms with the appellant and
that he had given a complaint against him when the
appellant tried to assault PW-3. This is all the more reason
for the Investigating Officer to have questioned 'S' who D
was expected to be at the deceased's house on 5th
November, 1990. Secondly, no Test Identification Parade
was held to determine whether the appellant was actually
the person who was seen by PW-6 and by PW-7. [Paras
0

25 and 26] [264-D-F) E
5. An identification parade is not mandatory nor can
it be claimed by the suspect as matter of right. The
purpose of pre-trial identification evidence is to assure
the investigating agenocy that the investigation is going F
on in the right direction and to provide corroboration of
the evidence to be given by the witness or victim later in
court at the trial. If the suspect is a complete stranger to
the witness or victim, then an identification parade is 0

desirable unless the suspect has been seen by the
witness or victim for some length of time. However, if the G
suspect is known to the witness or victim or they have
been shown a photograph of the suspect or the suspect
has been exposed to the public by the media no
identification evidence is necessary. Even so, the failure
of a victim or a witness to identify a suspect is not always H
248 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A fatal to the case of the prosecution. [Paras 30 and 31]
[266·A·C, E-F]

Ravi Kap ur v. State of Rajasthan (2012) 9 SCC 284:
2012 (10) SCR 229 ; R. Shaji v. State of Kerala (2013) 14
B SCC 266: 2013 (3) SCR 1172 ; Rameshwar Singh v. State
of J&K (1971) 2 SCC 715: 1972 (1) SCR 627 ; Mulla v. State
of U. P. (201 0) 3 SCC 508 : 2010 (2) SCR 633; Kishore
Chand v. State of H.P., (1991) 1 SCC 286: 1990 (1) Suppl.
SCR 105; State of U. .P. v. Boota Singh (1979) 1 SCC 31:
C 1979 (1) SCR 298 ; Malkhan Singh v. State of M. P. (2003) 5
SCC 746: 2003 (1) Suppl. SCR 443; Vsveswaran v. State
{2003) 6 SCC 73: 2003 (3) SCR 978 • relied on.

Marcouix v. The Queen (1976) 1 SCR 763; Mezzo v. The
Queen (1986) 1 SCR 802 - referred to.
D
6. Both PW-6 and PW-7 saw the appellant for the first
time on the afternoon of 5th November, 1990 and they had
seen him, if at all, briefly if not fleetingly. It is true that these
witnesses had identified the appellant when he was
E produced before them on his apprehension about five or
six days after the incident and also While he was in the
dock in court, but the circumstances under which the
dock identification took place are not quite satisfactory
inasmuch as both the witnesses entered the witness box
F almost 4-1/2 years after they are said to have first seen the
appellant only briefly and without any identification parade
having been conducted. The trial court was of the view
that the evidence on record did not inspire confidence as
far as fixing the identity of the suspect as the appellant was
concerned. The trial court took into account the long lapse
G. of time between the incident and the identification of the
appellant in court, the absence of any distinguishing
features of the appellant, the brief time for which the
witnesses saw him and the fact that he was a total stranger
to the witnesses. The High Court was satisfied that the
H appellant was suitably identified but completely
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 249

overlooked the fact that even if the trial court had come to A
an erroneous conclusion, at best, it placed the appellant
at the place of occurrence at 1.00 p.m. and not later. Given
the facts of the case, it would have been more appropriate
for an identification parade to have been conducted, but
its absence in this .case is not necessarily fatal, there being 8
other reasons also for not accepting the case set up by
the prosecution. However, the absence of an ide~tification
parade certainly casted a doubt about the appellant's
presence at the deceased house on 5th November, 1990.
[Paras 32 and 33] [267 -C-0, F-H; 268-A-B] c
7. Even assuming the appellant was present at the
deceased house on 5th November, 1990 at about 1.00
p.m. it would not necessarily follow that he was also
present at about 8.30 p.m. that day. Thus, not only was
there an absence of some degree of certainty and a doubt D
about the appellant's presence at the deceased's house
on 5th Nove.mber, 1990 but also an absence of certainty
and a doubt whether he was there at 1.00 p.m. and at 8.30
p.m. There was also no reason at all for the appellant to
have gone alone to the deceased'~ house. He did not E
know where she lived and even she did not know who
he was. It is difficult to imagine that the appellant would
leave his house in Nagenahalli village to visit the
deceased's house for the purpose of stealing some
ornaments, as suggested by the prosecution theft of F
ornaments being the alleged motive. This presumes that
the deceased had ornaments which were worth stealing
and it also presumes that the appellant knew of the
existence of these ornaments. Given the evidence it is
very difficult to accept with certainty the case of the G
prosecution that the appellan't alone was with the
deceased on the· fateful night of 5th November, 1990. The
view taken by the trial court giving the appellant the
benefit of doubt is certainly a plausible view and in the
absence of any perversity in the view taken, the High H
250 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014) 5 S.~.R.

A Court ought not to have upset the conclusion arrived at.
[Paras 34 to 36] [268-C-G]
8. The High Court proceeded merely on the basis of
probabilities. The High Court held that the appellant was
probably present in the deceased's house on 5th
8 November, 1990 and. that 'in all probability he was the
relative who was having dinner at the deceased's house.
In a case of circumstantial evidence, there has to be
some degree of trustworthiness and certainty about the
existence of the circumstances - mere probabilities are
C certainly not enough. This is an unsatisfactory way of
dealing with the issue and the view taken by the High
Court in this regard cannot be upheld in view of the
above, it is not necessary to labour on the questions
raised on the applicability of the last seen theory. There
D is a clear doubt whether the appellant was with the
deceased; if he was, then it was at about 1.00 p.m. on 5th
November, 1990; there is no evidence that the appellant
was with the deceased thereafter and on the contrary
there was evidence that some of her relatives (which may
E or may not include the appellant) were with her at about
8.30 p.m. It would be stretching ihe last seen theory to
the vanishing point if it was to be applied to the facts of
this case. [Paras 37 and 38] [268-H; 269-A-D]
9.The witnesses relevant for the purposes of the
F fingerprint evidence as a relevant circumstance were the
photographer and the fingerprint expert. The
photographer stated that he had taken a photograph of
the bank pass book belonging to the deceased. He also
produced in court the negative of a photograph taken by
G him [marked as M0-13(a) of the appellant's fingerprint on
the pass book. No positive print or photograph was
developed from the negative. In his cross examination,
the photographer could not say if the fingerprint in the
negative was that appearing on the pass book. In other
H words, there was nothing in M0-13(a) to relate it to the
_,
PRAKASH v: STATE OF KARNATAKA 251

pass book. The testimony of the photographer with A
. regard to the fingerprints of the appellant on the bank ·
pass book was therefore, inconsequential. [Para 39 and
40] [26~~E-G ; 270-A]
,.

10. The appellant was. in fact ~pprehended and 8
arrested on 11th November, 1990 and proceeding .on that
basis.,there cannot be any question of h(s being given a
cover to hold by the Investigating Officer on 7th
November, 1990 for the purpose of obtaining his
fingerprint. The ultimate conclusion is :--that there is C
absolutely no evidence on record to show how Exh. P-
20 which is said. to be the admitted fingerprint of the
appellant came into existence. In the absence of any
admitted fingerprint, there is nothing to show that the
handprint or the fingerprints on Ex h. P-18 was that of the
appellant. [Para 43] [271-8-C] · D
Hanumant Govind Nargundkar v. State of M.P 1952 SCR
1091; Narain Singh v. State of Punjab(1963) 3 SCR 678;
Dadarao v. State of Maharashtra (1974) 3 SCC 630 -relied
on. E

11. Assuming the appellant's fingerprint was· in fact
obtained by the Investigating Officer it was clearly not
given voluntarily, but perhaps unwittinglY. and in what
seems to be a deceitful manner. To avoid any suspicion
regarding the genuineness of the fingerprint so taken or F
resort to any subterfuge, the appropriate course of action
for the Investigating Officer was to approach the
Magistrate for necessary · orders in accordance with
section 5 of the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920. The
High Court has taken the view that it is not incumbent G
upon a police officer to take the assistance of a Magistrate
to obtain the fingerprints of an accused and that the
provisions of the Identification of Prisoners Act are not
mandatory in this regard. However, the issue Is not one
of the provisions being mandatory or not - the issue is H
252 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A whether the manner of taking fingerprints is suspicious
or not. In this case, it is not known if the appellant's
fingerprint was taken on 7th November, 1990 as alleged
by him or later as contended by the Investigating Officer,
or the circumstances in which it was taken or even the
s manner in which it was taken. It is to obviate any such
suspicion that this Court has held it to be eminently
desirable that fingerprints are taken before or under the
order of a Magistrate. As far as this case is concerned,
the entire exercise of the appellant's fingerprint
c identification was shrouded in mystery. [Paras 46 and 47]
[271-E-G; 272·0-G]
Mohd. Aman v. State of Rajasthan (1997) 10 SCC 44 -
Relied on.

D 12. Though a blood-stained crowbar was seized from
the place of occurrence and according to the
Investigating Officer, a blood-stained steel rod was
recovered at the instance of the appellant neither of these
material objects was sent for fingerprint examination. The
E investigation was conducted in a rather unconcerned
manner. The plea of the appellant that the photographs
of the scene of incident did not show the existence of the
plastic cover Exh. P-18 and therefore, according to him,
the plastic cover was planted subsequently cannot be
F accepted because it was nobody's case that the
photographer took photographs of everything or every
item found in the residence of the deceased. [Paras 48
and 49] [272-G-H; 273-A-C]
13. When fingerprint expert took Exh. P-18 with him,
G no mahazar or panchnama was drawn up and nobody
was told that the plastic cover bearing the inscription
'Canara Bank' was taken away by him for examination.
This was not permissible and that there should have been
some record of the plastic cover having been taken by
H the finger print expert especially since the Investigating
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 253

Officer was present at the spot. On the other hand, if the A
plastic cover was taken away_by the finger print expert
without the knowledge of the Investigating Officer and
right under his nose, then it makes the position even
worse for the prosecution. Be that as it may, there is no
doubt about the bona fides of finger print expert since, -8
in his testimony, he clearly stated that he had examined
nine articles and one of them was the plastic cover
bearing the inscription 'Canara Bank' and that while
carrying an object containing prints, there is chance of
damage to the prints if the object is not handled properly. c
It is perhaps to avoid the possible damage that he took
t~e plastic cover with him. [Para 50] [273-C-F]

14. The finger print expert followed the guidelines
laid down in the Karnataka Police Manual and perhaps
acted in an overly cautious manner. Guideline No. 1543
provided that the opinion of the fingerprint expert is of
°
paramount importance in the investigation of various
crimes. Clause (iv) and (v) of Guideline 1544 in the Manual
provide that iv) If latent prints are found on portable
articles they should be seized under a detailed E
panchanama duly packed· and labell~d and sent to the
Finger Print Bureau with a police officer with instructions
·regarding the care of the package during the journey. v)
In sending the articles containing latent prints to the
Bureau, proper attention must be given to their package. F
It should be ensured that no portion of the article where
prints may be found should get into contact with anything
else and the articles should be securely packed in a
suitable container." Clause (iv) was clearly not followed
when the fingerprint expert took the plastic cover along G
with him and this was an extremely serious lapse. ·
However, he was given the benefit of doubt assuming
that it was perhaps with clause (v) in mind that he took
the plastic cover along with him. [Paras 51 and 52] [273-
.. G-H; 274-A-F] H
254 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A 15. While the manner in which Exh. P-18 was taken
away by the fingerprint expert is disapproved the case
of the prosecution did not get strengthened even if a valid
procedure was followed, since there was nothing on
record to show that the 'admitted' fingerprints on Exh. P-
B 20 were those of the appellant which could be compared
with the fingerprints on Exh. P-18 and the enlarged
photograph being Exh. P-19 Assuming that Exh. P-20
was a valid piece of evidence validly obtained, there was
no explanation why it was kept by the Investigating
c Officer from 14th November, 1990 till 9th January, 1991
when it was received by the fingerprint expert. The
Karnataka Police Manual highlights the importance of
keeping safe an article containing fingerprints. In view of
its importance, the fingerprint expert did not trust anyone
with the plastic cover bearing the inscription 'Canara
0
Bank' [Exh. P-18} and carefully took it along with him to
avoid its getting damaged by getting into contact with
anything else. On the other hand, the Investigating Officer
kept Exh. P-20 with him for almost two months and in
E circumstances that seemed unclear. The possibility of
Exh. P-20 getting damaged due to careless handling
cannot be ruled out. There was no fingerprint evidence
worth it linking the appellant to the murder of the
deceased. [Paras 53 to 55] [274-F-H; 275-A-C]

F 16. The witnesses relevant for the recovery of blood
stained clothes of the appellant were PW-18, PW-21 and
PW-24. PW-18 and PW-24 gave a very similar statement
to the effect that the appellant was apprehended on 11th
November, 1990. They did not state that at the time of his
G apprehension, he was wearing blood stained clothes.
However, when PW-21 was called to the police station on
11th November, 1990 he was told that it was for the
purpose of witnessing a se~rch of the appellant. He
stated that the appellant was wearing a shirt and a
H panche and he noticed blo~d stains on both the
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 255

apparels. On the personal search of the appellant some A
cash was recovered and a receipt from Vijayalakshmi
Financiers was also recovered. The recovery of the blood
stained clothes of the appellant did not advance the case
of the prosecution . The reason is that all that the
prosecution sought to prove thereby was that the blood . B
group of the deceased was AB and the blood stains on
the ·appellant seized clothes also belong to blood grou'p
AB. This would not lead to any conclusion that the bloo9
stains on appellant's clothes were deceased's bloo<;f.
There are millions of people who have the blood group c
AB and it is quite possible that even the app.ellant had !he
blood group AB. A blood sample was taken from the
appellant and this was sent for examination. The repo~
received from the Forensic Science Laboratory [~xh . P-
27] was to the effect that the blood sample was
decomposed and therefore its origin and grouplp·g~co·uld D
not be determined. It is, therefore, quite possible ·that the
blood stains on appellant's clothes were his"'ovlHi l)ii)9~ ·
,., '( ..' . I ' f" ' ' ;
stains and that his blood group was also A~ .. [Para 5?,
58 .and 61] [275-D-F; 276-C-F] •
, ; [ o ( •. 3.,
.c:•
~ ) ' ~:·,,_
•-( E
17. The appellant contended that the fi(eport·'Of the
serologist was not put to him when he wa~s ·examineij
under Section 313 of the Code of Crimiiiai Procedur.e·:.
The High Court dealt with this issue in ·a:-n: unsatisfactory
manner. [Para 62] (276-F-G] :. ~. · " e·1: ' ' i: 11 • F
;' o• ~ - s: :•u ' ·· ·
18. According to the prosecution: the app.elfant ·had
led the Investigating Officer to various 'places from wt)eJe
some ornaments belonging to · Gangamma. we.re
recovered. The recovery witnesses were examined byJhe G
prosecution as well as those persons · from. whonJ'·the
ornaments were recovered . .However, what.~ i·s ,.of
significance is that none of tbe~.rec.ov~ted ornaments
could be connected to the deceased. This. is · ~ ~ serious
lapse in investigation and the mere recovery qf some
. ' '=! ~ • l . . . j ;:· .
~. · H
256 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R

A ornaments from some people would not lead to any
conclusion that the ornaments so recovered belonged to
the deceased. At the stage of re-examination of PW-3, the
prosecution sought permission to examine him with
regard to identification of the ornaments said to belong
B to the deceased. However, this was declined by the trial
judge who perused the statement of the witness recorded
under Section 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
which did not have anything with regard to identification
of the ornaments. The High Court adversely commented
C on this and held that the trial judge adopted a very
strange procedure while declining to grant the request of
the prosecution to have the ornaments identified through
PW-3. According to the High Court, PW-3 had stated in
an earlier part of his testimony in court that the deceased
had ornaments such as a gold chain, silver waist belt,
0
silver rings, ear studs etc. and that he had seen those
ornaments and could identify them if he saw them .
Therefore, permission should have been granted to the
prosecution to further examine PW-3 and it was for the
defence to have brought out any contradiction between
E the statement mad.e by the witness in court and the
statement made by him under Section 162 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure. Having said that, the High Court
concluded that the ornaments belonged to the deceased.
Even if the procedure followed by the trial court is
F assumed to be incorrect, in the absence of any
identification of the ornaments ~s belonging to· the
deceased, the High Court could not have definitely
concluded that they did belong to the deceased. In any
event, even assuming that the ornaments belonged to the
G deceased, at best, the appellant would be guilty of having
received stolen property but could certainly not be guilty
of having murdered the deceased. [Paras 66, 68 and 69]
[278-D-H; 279-A-E]

H 19. The steel rod used to kill the deceased was
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 257

recovered at the instance of the appellant. This was A
hidden under a stone slab and it contained blood stains.
The Investigating Officer made no effort to ascertain
whether the blood stains on the steel rod were those of
the deceased nor was any effort made to ascertain
whether the steel rod contained any fingerprints which B
matched with those of the appellant. This, coupled with .
the fact that the blood stained crowbar seized at the place
of occurrence, was not sent for a chemical examination,
raised a grave suspicion that the investigation was not
fair and the benefit of this doubt must go to the appellant. c
The investigation in the case was very cursory and the
Investigating Officer had made up his mind that the
appellant had murdered the deceased and the
investigation was directed at proving this conclusion
rather than the other way around with the investigation
0
leading to a conclusion that the appellant had murdered
the deceased. None of the circumstances relied upon by
the prosecution and accepted by the High Court point to
the probability of appellant's guilt or involvement in the
murder of the deceased. Though the murder was E
committed way back in 1990, scientific methods for
investigation were available even at that time but
unfortunately not made use of. The prosecution ·must lay
stress on scientific collection and analysis of evidence,
particularly since there are enough methods of arriving
at clear conclusions based on evidence gathered. [Paras . F
70, 71, 73 and 74] [279-E-G; 280-A-8 , E-G]
Case Law Reference:
(1976) 1 SCR 763 Referred to Para 27
(1986) 1 SCR 802 Referred to Para 30 G
2012 (10) SCR 229 Relied on Para 30
2013 (3) SCR 1172 Relied on Para 30
1972 (1) SCR 627 Relied on Para 30
201 0 (2) SCR 633 Relied on Para 30 H .
258 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014) 5 S.C.R.

A 1990 {1) Suppl. SCR 105 Relied on Para 30
1979 (1) SCR 298 Relied on Para 30
2003 {1) Suppl. SCR 443 Relied on Para 30
2003 (3) SCR 978 Relied on Para 31
B 1952 SCR 1091 Relied on Para 44
(1963) 3 SCR 678 Relied on Para 45
(1974) 3 sec 630 Relied on Para 45
(1997) 10 sec 44 Relied on Para 46
c CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal
No. 1682 of 2005.
From the Judgment and Order dated 06.07.2005 of the
High Court of Karnataka, Bangalore in Criminal Appeal No. 699
of 1999.
0
K. Parmeshwar, Shekhar G. Devasa, Dinesh Kumar Garg
for the Appellant.
Gurudatta Ankolekar, V.N. Raghupathy for the Respondent.
E The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
MADAN B. LOKUR, J. 1. The substantial issues raised
in this appeal, in which the conviction is based on circumstantial
evidence, primarily relate to the presence of the convict at the
pJace and time of the murder of Gangamma, the analysis of the
F fingerprint evidence recovered from the place of incident and
the recovery of blood stained clothes of the convict and the
ornaments of the deceased at his instance. On all issues, we
find in favour of the convict and conclude that that none of the
circumstances that have been found against him by the High
G Court and which have led to his conviction have been
satisfactorily proved. The conviction must, therefore, be set
aside.
The facts
H 2. On 5th November, 1990 the appellant Prakash ,
PRAKASH v. STATE 'OF KARNATAKA 259
[MADAN B. LOKUR, J.)
ordinarily a resident of Nagenahalli village in Doddaballapur A
taluk of Bang·alore district was searching for Gangamma's
house in Bangalore. While doing so, he met PW-6 (also named
Gangamma) and asked her for directions. Since PW-6 did not
know the way to Gangamrna's house, she took Prakash to PW-
7 Ammajamma's house, and requested her to take Prakash to 8
Gangamma's house.
3. Ammajamma then took Prakash to Gangam.ma's
house. On reaching there, Prakash informed Gangamma that
Swamy (son of her brother PW-3 Hucha Basappa) and he had
come from the village and he enquired from Gangamma c
whether Swamy had reached . Gangamma informed him that
Swamy had not come to her house and asked him (Prakash)
to disclose his identity. Thereupon, Prakash introduced himself
and Ammajamma left them and returned home. This happened
at about 1.00 p.m. on 5th November, 1990.
D
4. In the evening, Gangamma would normally visit PW-1
Revamma's house, across the road, for watching TV. When
Gangamma did not come in the evening on 5th November, 1990
Revamma sent her grandson Lohith aged about 5 years to
Gangamma's house to call her. Gangamma then came with E
Lohith to Revamma's house and informed her that she could
not watch TV at her house as usual since some relatives from
her village had come to her house, and she had to cook food
for them. Soon thereafter, Gangamma left and returned to her
house. According to the First Information Report (FIR) this was F
at about 8.00 p.m. on 5th November, 1990.
5. On the next day, at about 5.30 p.m. Revamma had gone
to a medical shop where she lea'rnt that Gangamma had been
murdered in her house. There.upon, she went to Gangamma's
house and found a crowd had gathered qver there. She entered G
Gangamma's house and saw the dead body with her clothes
and other articles lying scattered about. She then sent word
through PW-4 Muniyappa and others to Gangamma's brother
PW-3 Hucha Basappa about the incident.
6. Revamma was advised by some people in the crowd H
260 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A to lodge a complaint witti the police. Therefore, she went to the
police station and lodged a complaint about the incident at
about 7.30 p.m. and an FIR was registered.
7. The Investigating Officer PW-25 D'Souza soon reached
the place of occurrence, that is, Gangamma's house. The dog
B squad, a fingerprint expert and a photographer also reached
there a little later. On a requisition made by the Investigating
Officer, PW-12 Ramachandra the photographer took
photographs of the dead body and the crime scene. He also
took a photograph of a passbook M0-13 lying at the scene of
c the incident. The fingerprint expert PW-20 Nanaiah examined
nine articles in the premises and found some fingerprints on a
plastic cover containing the inscription 'Canara Bank'. Nanaiah
took the plastic cover [Exh. P-18] with him for a detailed
examination.
D 8. The Investigating Officer seems to have taken the
fingerprint of Gangamma and that was later given to Nanaiah
who compared the fingerprint with the chance print on Exh. P-
18 and concluded that they were not identical. He issued a
certificate in this regard on 9th November, 1990.
E 9. While the Investigating Officer was at the place of
occurrence, Hucha Basappa (Gangamma's younger brother)
arrived and he revealed that he suspected Prakash's
involvement in the crime since he was informed that Prakash
had visited Gangamma's house.
F
10. According to the prosecution, on 11th November, 1990
at about 4.45 p.m. Prakash ,was apprehended and produced
before the Investigating Officer.1 He was then arrested and
searched and on his personal search some cash was
recovered as also a receipt dated 7th November, 1990 issued
G by Vijayalakshmi Financiers. Prakash's clothes, that is, his shirt,
dhoti and shawl were found to be blood stained and they too
were seized by the Investigating Officer. Prakash made a
voluntary disclosure to the Investigating Officer wherein he
stated that some ornaments of the deceased were taken by him
H 1. Prakash says that he was arrested on 7th November, 1990.
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 261
{MADAN B. LOKUR, J.]
and pledged with Vijayalakshmi Financiers; some ornaments A
were sold elsewhere and some ornaments were hidden near
his father-in-law's house. Prakash took the Investigating Officer
to the places mentioned by him and the ornaments were seized.
11 . Prakash also took the Investigating Officer to a place
from where he took out a steel rod concealed beneath a stone 8
slab. The steel rod was found to be blood stained and was
seized by the Investigating Officer in the presence of panch
witnesses. It was allegedly used to murder Gangamma.
12. As .a part of the investigations, a sample of Prakash's C
blood was drawn and given to the Investigating Officer who
sealed it in a bottle. This was then sent to the Forensic Science
Laboratory for examination. ·
13. On 14th November, 1990 the Investigating Officer took
Prakash's fingerprints and sent them to the fingerprint bureau 0
for comparison. On 9th January, 1991 the fingerprint expert,
Nanaiah received the fingerprints and he gave a certificate on
11th January, 1991 to the effect that the fingerprint sent to him
matched with the chance prints found on the plastic cover [Exh.
P-18] found at the place of occurrence. Later, an enlarged
photoprint of the chance fingerprint Exh. P-18 was made as E
Exh. P-19 and an enlarged photoprint of the fingerprint of
Prakash obtained by the Investigating Officer on 14th
November, 1990 was made being Exh. P-20. o·n 18th March,
1991 Nanaiah marked several identical characteristics on both
enlarged photographs and gave an opinion [Exh. P-21(a)] that F
two fingerprints "shall never be identical unless they are derived
from the same finger of tt1e same person."
14. On these broad facts..Prakash was charge-sheeted for
having murdered Gangamma and for having stolen her cash
and ornaments valued at about Rs. 25,000/-. G
15. The Trial Court, by its judgment and order dated 21st
January, 1999 acquitted Prakash. The acquittal was set aside
in appeal by the High Court of Karnataka by its judgment and
H
262 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C:R.

A order dated 6th July, 2005.2 1t is under these circumstances that
this appeal is before US .
Relevant circumstances
16. Both the Trial Court and the High Court proceeded on
B the basis that the case is one·of circumstantial evidence. Both
the Courts mentioned the following five relevant circumstances:-
1. Prakash was found in Gangamma's house on the
relevant day, that is, 5th November, 1990.

c 2. The fingerprint expert, Nanaiah found Prakash's
fingerprint on a plastic cover beaing the inscription
'Canara Bank' [Exh P-18]. This was taken by
Nanaiah for comparison and on a comparison
having been made , the fingerprints thereon
matched the fingerprints of Prakash.
D
3. Prakash's clothes were blood-stained when ~e was
arrested on 11th November, 1990 and the blood-
stains tallied with the blood group of Gangamma.
4. Gangamma's ornaments were recovered by
E D'Souza at the instance of Prakash after his arrest.
5. The weapon of offence, that is, a steel rod was
discovered at the instance .of Prakash from the
place where it was concealed .
F 17. The High Court also mentioned two other
circumstances, namely, that Gangamma met with a homicidal
death and that Prakash absconded after committing the crime.
Presence of Prakash in Gangamma's house
G 18. Both the Courts referred to the evidence of Revamma,
Muniyappa, PW-6 Gangamma and Ammajamma in this regard.
19. There is no doubt that Revamma did not at all see
Prakash at Gangamma's house. Her evidence is only to the
H 2. Criminal Appeal No. 699 of 1999 .
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 263
[MADAN B. LOKUR, J.]
. effect that Gangamma did not come to watch TV with her on A
the evening of 5th November, 1990 because she had some
relatives in her house and she had to cook food for them.
These relatives were not identified or named except that she
stated that Gangamma's nephew Swamy would be coming and
that she had to feed him.
B
20. Similarly, Muniyappa also did not identify or name any
of Gangamma's relatives in her house. All that he says is that
when he was at his shop he observed that some relatives had
come to Gangamma's house and she had given food to them.
He stated that he closed his shop at 8.30 p.m. or so and went c
home. ·rhe evidence of Muniyappa only discloses that
Gangamma was alive till about 8.30 p.m. on 5th November,
1990 and was in the company of more than one person.
21 . PW-6 Gangamma also does not add to the case of
the prosecution. She says that Prakash had approached her 0
for directions to Gangamma's house and that she took Prakash
to Ammajamma's house. She did not accompany Prakash or
Ammajamma to Gangamma's house. Prakash was produced
before this witness about 5 or 6 days after the incident when
he was brought to her shop by the police and she identified him E
as the person whom she had met in the afternoon of 5th
November, 1990.
22. The only witness who actually saw Prakash with
Gangamma was Ammajamma. She narrated the conversation
between Prakash and Gangamma and the fact that Gangamma F
did not know Prakash and had asked him to identify himself.
The conversation she heard reveals that Swamy was expected
to come to Gangamma's house. This witness left midway during
the conversation between Prakash and Gangamma and did not
actually see Prakash enter her house.
G
23. A few days after the incident, Ammajamma was called
to the police station and she saw Prakash sitting over there and
identified him.
24. On the basis of the evidence of these four witnesses, H
264 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A it can at best be said that Prakash was at Gangamma's house
at about 1.00 p.m. on 5th November, 1990 and that according
to him Swamy was also to arrive at Gangamma's residence.
The whereabouts of Prakash from 1.00 p.m. onwards are not
known. It can also be said that Gangamma gave dinner to her
relatives at about 8.30 p.m. but these re latives cannot be
8 identified. Prakash may or may not be one of them. It cannot,
therefore, be definitely concluded that Prakash was being
served dinner by Gangamma at about 8.30 p.m. on 5th
November, 1990 or that he stayed in her house thereafter. But
it is clear that even if Prakash was there, he was not alone with
C Gangamma when she served dinner.
25. Two questions immediately arise in this context: Firstly,
why is it that Swamy was not examined by the Investigating
Officer since he was expected to be at Gangamma's residente
on 5th November, 1990? There is absolutely no a·nswer
D forthcoming from the State in this regard. The involvement of
Prakash in the incident came about only because Hucha
Basappa informed the Investigating Officer on the night of 5th ·
November, 1990 that he was not on talking terms with Prakash
and that he had given ? complaint against him when Prakash
E tri~d to assault Hucha Basappa. This is all th~ more reason for
the Investigating Officer to have questioned Swamy who was
expected to be at Gangamma's house on 5th November, 1990.
26. Secondly, why is it that no Test Identification Parade
was held to determine whether Prakash was actually the person
F who was seen by PW-6 Gangamma and by Ammajamma?
27. Two types of pre-trial identification evidence are
possible and they have been succinctly expressed in Marcouix
v. The Queen 3 by the Supreme Court of Canada in the following
G words:
"An important pre-trial step in many criminal prosecutions
is the identification of the accused by the alleged victim.
Apart from identification with the aid of a photograph or

H . 3. [1976] 1 SCR 763.
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 265
[MADAN B. LOKUR, J.)
photographs, the identification procedure adopted by the A
police officers will normally be one of two types: (i) the
showup-of a single suspect; (ii) the line-up-presentation of
~he suspect as part of a group."

28 . With reference to the first type of identification
evidence, the Court quotes Professor Glanville Williams from B
an eminently readable and instructive article in which he says:
"... if the suspect objects [to an identification parade] the
police will merely have him "identified" by showing him to
the witness and asking the witness-whether he is the man.
Since this is obviously far more dangerous to the accused C
than taking part in a parade, the choice of a parade is
almost always accepted."4
29. With reference to the second type of identification
evidence, Professor Glanville Williams says:. D
"Since identification in the dock is patently unsatisfactory,
the police have developed the practice of holding
identification parades before the trial as a means of
fortifying a positive identification .. .... The main purpose of
such a parade from the point of view of the police is t6 E
provide them with fairly strong evi'dence of identity on
which to proceed with. their investigations and to base an
eventual prosecution . The advantage of identification
parades from the point of view of the trial is that, by giving
the witness a number of persons from among whom to F
choose, the prosecution seems to dispose once and for
all the question whether the defendant in th·e dock is in fact
the man seen and referred to by the witness."5
A similar view was expressed by the Canadian Supreme Court
in Mezzo v. The Queen.6 G

4. 1963 Criminal Law Review pp. 479, 480.
5. Ibid. pp. 479, 480.
6. [1986] 1 SCR 802. H
266 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A 30. An identification parade is not mandatory7 nor can it
be claimed by the suspect as matter of right.8 The purpose of
pre-trial identification evidence is to assure the investigating
agency that the investigation is going on in the right direction
and to provide corroboration of the evidence to be given by the
8 witness or victim later in court at the trial.9 If the suspect is a
complete stranger to the witness or victim, then an identification
parade is desirable 10 unless the suspect has been seen by the
witness or victim for some length of time. 11 In Malkhan Singh
v. State of M.P.12 it was held:
c 'The identification parades belong to the stage of
investigation, and there is no provision in the Code of
Criminal Procedure which obliges the investigating agency
to hold, or confers a right upon the accused to claim a test
identification parade. They do not constitute substantive
evidence and these parades are essentially governed by
0
Section 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Failure
to hold a test identification p'arade would not make
inadmissible the evidence of identification in court. The
weight to be attached to such identification should be a
matter for the courts of fact."
E
31 . However, if the suspect is known to the witness or
victim 13 or they have been shown a photograph of the suspect
or the suspect has been exposed to the public by the media 14
no identification evidence is necessary. Even so, the failure of
F a victim or a witness to identify a suspect is not arways fatal to
the case of the prosecution. In Visveswaran v. State15 it was
7. Ravi Kapur'v. State of Rajasthan, (2012) 9 SCC 284.
8. R. Shaji v. State of Kerala, (2013) 14 SCC 266.
9. Rameshwar Singh v. State of J&K, (1971) 2 SCC 715.
G 10. MuJia V. State of U.P., (2010) 3 sec 508 Kishore Chand v. State of H.P.,
I

(1991) 1 sec 286.
11 . State of U.P. v. Boota Singh, (1979) 1 SCC 31 .
12. (2003) 5 sec 746.
13. Jadunath Singh v. State of U.P., (1970) 3 SCC 518.
14. R. Shaji.
H 15. (2003) 6 sec 73.
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 267
[MADAN B. LOKUR, J.]
held: A
.
"The identification of the accused either i n test
identification parade or in Court is not a sine qua non in
every case if from the circumstances the guilt is otherwise
established. Many a time, crimes are committed under the
cover of darkness when none is able to identify the 8
accused. The commission of a crime can be proved also
by circumstantial evidence."
32. What happened in the present cas~? Both PW-6
Gangamma and by Ammajamma saw Prakash for the first time C
on the afternoon of 5th November, 1990 and they had seen him,
if at all, briefly if not fleetingly. It is true that these witnesses had
identified Prakash when he was produced before them on his
apprehension about five or six days after the incident and also
while he was in the dock in court, but the circumstances under
which the dock identification took place are not quite D
satisfactory inasmuch as both the witnesses entered the
witness box almost 41/2 years after they are said to have first
seen Prakash only briefly and without any identification parade
having been conducted.
33. Given the law laid down by this Court, it would have E
been more appropriate for the Investigating Officer to have
conducted a·n identification parade so that it becomes an
effective "circumstance corroborative of the identification of the
accused in court". 16 However, that was not done. The Trial Court
was of the view that the evidence on .record did not inspire F
confidence as far as fixing the identity of the suspect as
Prakash is concerned. The Trial Court took into account the
long lapse of time between the incident and the identification
of Prakash in court, the absence of any distinguishing features
of Prakash, the brief time for which the witnesses saw him and G
· the fact that he was a total stranger to the witnesses. The High
Court was satisfied that Prakas.h was suitably identified but
completely overlooked the fact that even if the Trial Court had
come to an erroneous conclusion, at best, it placed Prakash
16. R. Sahji.
H
268 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A at the place of occurrence at 1.00 p.m. and not later. We are
of the opinion that given the facts of the case, it would have
been more appropriate for an identification parade to have been
conducted, but its absence in this case is not necessarily fatal ,
there being other reasons also for not accepting the case set
up by the prosecution . However, the absence of an
8
identification parade certainly casts a doubt about Prakash's
presence at Gangamma's house on 5th November, 1990.
34. Even assuming .Prakash was present at Gangamma's
house on 5th November, 1990 at about 1.00 p.m. it does not
c necessarily follow that he was also present at about 8.30 p.m.
that day. Thus, we find that not only is there an absence of some
degree of certainty and a doubt about Prakash's presence at
Gangamma's house on 5th November, 1990 but also an
absence of certainty and a doubt whether he was there at 1.00
p.m. and at 8.30 p.m.
0
35. There does not seem to be any reason at all for
Prakash to have gone alone to Gangamma's house. He did not
know where she lived and even she did not know who he was.
It is difficult to imagine that Prakash would leave his house in
E Nagenahalli village to visit Gangamma's house for the purpose
of stealing some ornaments, as s·uggested by the prosecution
- theft of ornaments being the alleged motive. This presumes
that Gangamma had ornaments which were worth stealing and
it also presumes that Prakash knew of the existence of these
ornaments.
F
36. Given the evidence before us, we find it very difficult
to accept with certainty the case of the prosecution lhat Prakash
alone was with Gangamma on the fateful night of 5th November,
1990. The view taken by the Trial Court giving Prakash the
G benefit of doubt is certainly a plausible view and in the absence
of any perversity in the view taken, we are of the opinion the
High Court ought not to have upset the conclusion arrived at.
37. We may also mention that from the decision of the High
Court it is clear that it has proceeded merely on the basis of
H
'
_, PRAKASH v. STATE .OF: KARNATAKA 269
[MADAN s:~LOKUR, J.]
..•
probabilities. The High Court held that Prakash was probably A ·
present in Gangamma's house ·o·n 5th November, 1990 and that
in all probability he was the rel~tive who was having dinner at
Gangamma's house. In acase of circumstantial evidence, there ..
· has to be some degree of trustworthiness and certainty about
the existence of the· circumstances :.. mere probabilities: are 8
certainly not enough.H In our opinion, this is an unsatisfactory
way of-dealing with the issue and we cannot uphold the view
taken by the High Court in this regard. _ · · · ·,
1 ' - ~ ·. : A •·-~ • /

. . 38. In view of the above, it is not necessary for us to labour
ori' the questions raised on ~he applicability of the...last seen c
theory. There is a clear doubt whether_ Prakash was with
Gangamm.a; if he was, then it was afabout 1.00 p.m. on 5th
November, 1990; there is no evidence that Prakash was with
Gangamma thereafter and on the contrary there is evidence that
some of her relatives (which may or may not include Prakash) 0
were with her at about 8.30 p.m. We would be stretching the
last seen theo,.Y to the vanishing point if we were to apply it to
the facts of this case. : ·
.
. .. J

. ·. -~
•.

Fingerprint Evidence
39:· The witnesses relevant for the purposes of the E
fingerprint evidence as a relevant circumstance are
Ramachandra (the photographer) and Nanaiah (the fingerprint
expert). ' . ' .. -· '
·· - 40: Ramachandra stated that he had taken a photograph
F
of the ba~k !lass book belonging to Gangamnia. H~ also
produced in court the negative of a photograph taken by him
[marked as M0-13(a)] of Prakash's fingerprint on the pass
book. No positive print or photograph was developed from the
negative. In his cross examination, Ramachandra could not say
if the fingerprint in the negative was that appearing on the pass G
book. 1 ~ In other words, there was nothing in M0-13(a) to relate
ittci the pass book. The testimony of Ramach~ndra with regard
17. Hargun Sunder Das Godeja v. State of Maharashtra, (1970) 1 SCC 724.
18. •tn the negative photo produced by me today M0.13(a) there are no marks
· ; · , to show that it was taken from that passbook.". · H,
270 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [20'14} 5 S.C.R.

A to the fingerprints of Prakash on the bank pass book is,
therefore, inconsequential.
41. Nanaiah stated that he had obtained from the scene
of occurrence a hand print on a plastic cover bearing the
inscription 'Canara Bank'. The plastic cover was marked as
B Exh.P-18 and an enlarged photograph of this was marked as
Exh. P-19. According to Nanaiah, he compared the fingerprints
on Exh. P-19 with the fingerprint of Prakash on Exh. P-20 and
found that it tallied. How did Exh.P-20 come into existence? We
have been left wondering as there is no answer to this question,
c nor is there anything to show that Exh. P-20 contained a
fingerprint of Prakash. Even the testimony of the Investigating
Officer D'Souza is silent on this aspect.
42. The High Court accepted that Exh: P-20 contained
Prakash's fingerprint in view of an admission made by him in
0 his statement recorded under Section 313 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure. The High Court relied, rather selectively,
on a part of the statement given by Prakash in his examination
under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The
question put to Prakash and the answer given read as under:
E "Q: PW-20 C.K. Nanaiap, Finger Print expert and Oy. S.P.
states that on 6.11.1990 he was called to the scene of
occurrence amd he visited there, examined the articles
found at the place between 8-30 and 9-45 p.m. and got a
chance print on a plastic cover found there, which is at Ex.
F P-18 and on comparison it was identical with your right
middle finger print and issued a certificate as per Ex. P-
13. What do you ~ay?
Ans: On 7th date Inspector D'Souza given me a cover to
hold the same." ·
G 43. The High Court took into account only the latter part of
the answer given by Prakash, namely, that he held a cover. Fr~m
this, the High Court concluded that "The fact that the fingerpn~t
of the accused was found on Ex. P-18 (sic Ex. P-20) IS
accepted by the accused himself." In doing so, the High Court
H ignored the first part of Prakash's statement that this happened
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAI"J\ 271
[MADAN B. LOKUR, J.]

on 7th November, 1990. If any credibility is to be gilff·n 1 A
Exh.P-20 then it must be held that Prakash was arrest;d ~ 0
7th November, 1990 but that is not the case of the prost:cution.
We have, therefore, to proceed on the basis that Prakash vtas
in fact apprehended and arrested on 11th November, 1990 and
. proceeding on that basis, there cannot be any question of his
8
being given a cover to hold by the Investigating Officer on 7th
November, 1990 for the purpose of obtaining his fingerprint. The
ultimate conclusion is that there is absolutely no evidence on
record to show how Exh. P-20 which is said to be the admitted
fingerprint of Prakash came into existence. In the absence of
any admitted fingerprint, there is nothing to show that the C
handprint or the fingerprints on Exh. P-18 was that of Prakash.
44. In Hanumant Govind Nargundkar v. State of M.P 11 it
was held:
"It is settled law that an admission made by a person o
whether amounting to a confession or not cannot be split
up and part of it used against him. An admission must be
used either as a whole or not at all."
45. A similar view was expressed, rather expansively, in
Narain Singh v. State of Punjab 20 and Oadarao v. State of E
Maharashtra. 21
46. Assuming Prakash's fingerprint was in fact obtained
by D'Souza, it was clearly not given voluntarily, but perhaps
unwittingly and in what seems to be a deceitful manner. Tc avoid
any suspicion regarding the genuineness of the fingerprint so F
taken or resort to any subterfuge, the ar?.propriate course of
action for the Investigating Officer was to approach the
Magistrate for necessary orders in accordance with section 5
of the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920. In Mohd. Aman v.
State of Rajasthan22 this Court referred to the possibility of the G
Police fabricating evidence and to avoid an allegation of such

19,' 1952 SCR 1091.
20; (1963) 3 SCR 678.
21 .. . (1974) 3 sec 63o. H .
22. (19~7) 10 sec 44.
I .....

272 SUPREME-COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A a nature, it would be eminently desirable that fingerprints were
a
taken under the orders of Magistrate. We may add that this
would equally apply to the· creating evidence against a suspect.
· This is what this ~curt had to say: ·· ·
. ~'Even · though the specimen fingerprints of Mohd. Aman
·B · had to be taken on a number of occasions at the behest
~ / of the Bureau, the·y were never taken before or. under the
order of a Magistrate in accordance with Section 5 of the
·Jdentifi_cation of Prisoners Act. "It is true that under Section
· 4 thereof police is competent· to take fingerprints: of the
c l :_accused but to dispel any suspicion as to its bona fides

" · or to eliminate the possibility of fabrication of evidence it
was eminently desirable that they were taken before or
unde·~ the _order of a Magistrate."- · '· · ·: __ .
. 47. The. Karnataka High_Court has taken the view23 that it
o .is. not incumbent upon a police· officer to take· the assistance
. ·of a Magistrate to obtain the fingerprints of an accused and that
· the provisions of the Identification ofPrisoners Act are not
mandatory in this r~gard. However, the issue is not one of the
provisions being mandatory or not - the issue is whether the
E manner of taking fingerprints is suspicious or not. In this case,
we do not know if Prakash's fingerprint was taken on 7th
November, 1990 as alleged by him or later as contended by
· the .Inve-stigating Officer, or the circumstances in which it was
. ~...takenor ~ven _the manner in__ which it was takEm. !t is to obviate
- any such suspicion that this Court has held it to be' eminently
F ·. desirable that fingerprints are taken before or under, the order
of a. Magistrate. As far as this case is concerned,· the entire
. exercise of· Prakash's fingerprint identification is shrouded in
. mystery and we cannot give any c~~dence to it. : . · · ·
----,--\ , 48. We are also surprised tti'at though a ·blood·stained
G · crowbar was-seized from the place of oc-currence·· and
.according to the Investigating Officer, a blood-stained steer rod
was· recovered at the· instance of Prakash, neither of these
material
.
objects I was
·
sent for fingerprint examination.
..
The 1

I .. .. . . - ·., .
H 23. State by Rural Police v. B.C. Manjunatha,
'. .
ILR 2013 Karnataka 3156.
.; PRAKASH - v. STATE OF KARNATAKA - 273
[MADAN B. LOKUR, J .]
investigation was conducted in a rather. unconcerned manner, A
to say the least. . ,
' • o" ~ I

· 49. Learned counsel for · Prakash made two subsidiary
submissions, namely, that the photographs taken by
Ramachandra of the scene of incident do not show the
existence of the plastic cover Exh~ P~18 'and therefore, B
according to him, the plastic cover was planted subsequently.
We are nofp'repared to accept this ·submission because it is
'no body's case that Ramachandra took photographs of
·everything or every item found in the residence of Gangamma.
50. It was also submitted that whEm Nanaiah ·Exh. P- C took
18 .with ·him·,· no mahazar or panchnama was drawn up and
nobody was told that the plastic cover bearing the inscription
'Canara· Bank'"'was taken away by him for examination. This is
true and we are of the view that this was not permissible and
·that 'there should have been some record cif the plastic cover. · D
having been taken by Nanaiah, ·especially . since the
Investigating Officer was present at the spot. On the other hand,
if'the plastic cover was taken away by Nanaiah without the
knowledge of the Investigating Officer and right under his nose,-
·.then it makes the position even worse for the prosecution. Be
that.as it may, we do.· not doubt the bona fides of Nanaiah since,.· E
. in his _testimony, he clearly stated that he had examined nine
_a,rtictes a~d .one.·of them. was ·the plastic cover :beari~g . the
inscription 'Canara Bank' and that while carrying an .object
/ containing prints, ~ there is chance of damage to the prints if the
j:·atiject is.not handled property: It is perhaps to avoid the~ possible : F
;·· damage that he took the plastic cov~r with him: :
I I ~ ! ~ • .... -
· .· ·
' 1 i ,' ,' , ,.•' .... ) ;' , I ', ·, ,

. 51. Our attention was drawn to the Karnataka Police
Manual and it appears that Nanaiah.followed the guidelines laid
down 'therein·and perhaps acted hi.an' overly cautious manner.
Guideline No. 1543 provides·'as~ follows: ·:. · · · · G
"1543. Th~ opinion ~f the fi~ger pri~t ~xp~rt is pa~~mount cit
· importance in the investigation of various ,crimes. The
. . following instructions should be followed regarding chance
/ eir_~evelop~ents, preservation
· ., · . finger a,nd ·foot prints and th_ H
I
i
274 SUPREME:COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A of the scene, method of packing and other matters: .
52. Guideline 1544 in the Manual contains various
-provisions and clause (iv) and clause (v) are relevant for our
purposes. They read as follows:
B . ,.·.. : :'1544. i) to iii) XXX ,
· .. iv) If latent prints are found on portable articles they should
be seized under a detailed panchanama duly packed and
. -~

· labelled and sent to the Finger Print Bureau with a police
· ·officer with instructions regarding the care of the· package
·c .during the journey,. . _· ., . . .. .. ·
' .,: , · v) In· sending the articles containing latent prints to the
- ··> Bureau, proper attention must be given to their package.
·. ::; ;'.,The following essential points should be borne in mind:
:, • :. It should be ensured that no portion of the artiCle
(; o· '... .''' . wheie prints may be found should get into contact
. with a~ything else and -...··
• The articles should ~e secu~ely packed ·in a suitable
container." . . ..
E _.Clause (iv) was cl,early. not followed when Nanaiah took the
plastic cover along with ·him and this is an extremely serious
· ·lapse. However, we give him the benefit ·of doubt and· assume
that it is perhaps with clause (v) in mind that Nanaiah took the
plastic cover along with hini. · · _ · · -· ' ) ···:· ·
~.~:~J~ . . ~.. ·.' . . .· ' \ •" · ~--- \ j

F .,,::. · .53. While we completely disapprove of the manner in which
Exh·. P-18 was taken away by Nanaiah (and the Investigating
Officer did nothing about it), the case of the· prose.cution does
not get strengthened ,even if a valid procedure was followed,
since there is nothing On record to show that the 'admitted'
~--G__ _fingerprints on' Exh. P-?0 were those. of Prakash_which could
be compared. with· the 'fingerprints ·on Exh;- P-18 'and the
enlarged _photograph b~ing Exh. P·19. · · . .--
,. . ·. .. . . . ,.
-.~54: Assuming that Exh. P-20 was a valid piece of evidence
validly obtained,- there is no explanation why it was 'kept by the
H · lnvesti9,ating Officedrom 14th November, 1990 till 9th January,
' '
PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA:. ·: 275
[MADAN B. LOKUR, J.]
1991 when it was received by Nanaiah. The Karnataka Police A
Manual highlights· the importance of keeping safe an article
containing fingerprints: In view of its importance, Nanaiah did
not trust anyone with the plastic cover bearing the inscription
'Canara Bank' [Exh. P-18] and carefully took it along with him
to e1void its) getting' ·damaged . ~Y. getting i.nto: cont~ct_wi~~ , B
anything else . .On the other hand, we have the Investigating
Officer keeping Exh. P-20 with him -for-almost twa'·months and
in circumstances that seem. iinclear. We cannot rule out the
possibility of Exh. P-20 getting damaged due to careless
handling. · ··· · ·· ·
... ss. 'we are ot the. opinion that there is no .tinge"'rprint c
evidence
..
worth
. • •
it'P.' linking
• •
Prakash..to the murder of Gangamma.
•J - • • f ~ • • # • •

Blood ;Stained Clothes ··: · · · '
5e. The ·~it~esses. 'relev~~t f~r· the reco~~r;, ·of bi~od
stained clothes of. Prakash ·are PW-18 Savandaiah, , PW-21 D
~hiyanna and PW-24 Suban'na. ,; · ·· ·
57. Savandaiah and Subanna have given a very similar
statement to the effect that Prakash was apprehended on 11th
November, 1990. They did not state that at the time of his
apprehension, he was wearing blood stained clothes; . . ·. E
sa: However. ' when. Shiva'nna. wa~ . cailed t~ the. pol.ice
staljon on
11th November, 1990 he was told that it was for the
purpose ·o f witnessing a se~rch ·. of_~rak_ash. He stated .that
- Prakash was wearing a shirt and, a panche ~ndhe notice~ F
blood stains on both the apparels. On the personal search of
Prakash :some cash was recovered and a receipt from
Vijayalakshmi Financiers was also recovered. . ·. : · ' · ~ .• . ; '- -
, ·.· . .· ··· . ··. ... ...... .··. . . _, . .
· 59.· Learned counsel for Prakash sought to take advantage
of two discrepant statements made byShivanna in his cross~
examiliation~· on·e statement is to the effect that before Prakash G
was search~d ;: the police toi~~Shivanna ~hat he was carrying
cash and a·receipt:The'question;raised :by learned counsel was
how was the police·aware of. the existence~ ofcash' andareceipt
on the person·of Prakash .without-having cdnducted,his-'personat ·
. I
. .
· tH
/
276 .
SUPREME ·coURT . REPORTS [20141 s s.c.R.

A search. It was submitted by learned counsel that this reveals
that Prakash had already been searched by the police and
Shivanna was summoned only to complete the paper work. We
make no comment on this...
·.. 60. The se'cond discrepant statement was that Shivanna
, B stated 'thatthe police had kept Prakash's Clothes· on the table.
lfwas submitted, in other words, that the blood stained clothes
were already seized by the police and kept on the table. We.
are not sure wheth-er the actual statement made by Shivanna
has been lost in translation·. ·
. . .
c 61. In any event, the recovery of the blood staineli clothes
of Prakash do not advance the case of the prosecution. The
reason' is that all that the prosecution sought to prove thereby
is that the blood group of Gangamma _was· AB and the blood
stains on Prakash's seized clothes also belong to blood group
AB. In our opinion, this does not lead to any conclusion that the
.D blc5cid'stains on Prakash's clothes were thos'e of Gariga.mm'a's
blood. There are millions of people who have the blood group
AB ·and it is quite possible that even Prakash had the blood
group AB. In this context, it is important to mention that a blood _
sample. was taken from Prakash and this was· sent for
-E examination. The report received from the Forensic.· Science
Laboratory [Exh.P-27] was to the effect that the blood sample
was 'decomp'osed and ·therefore its origin· and grouping could
· .not be determined. It is, therefore, quite possible that the blood
stains· on Prakash's.clothes wer'e his own blood stains a·nd that
F his·blood 'gro.up was ·also As: ... ·
. ' ' . ' , i ~ .•- · • • ' l I ·. , · \

62. Learned counsel for Prakash contended that the_report
of the serologist was not putto· him when he· was examined
under Section. 3_13 of the Code .of Criminal Procedure. The
---- ·--High. Court dealt with .this issue in a ·rather unsatisfactory
.G manner.· This is what the High Court had to say: · .' .... ·. : .
; ~ .. ' '. _; ; I \. I • /'- ·•

,"Even assumin·g that the report of the Serologist had not
been put to the accused in his statement recorded under r
· Section 313 Cr.P.C; the same cannot be said to be fatar
to the prosecution; more so;when the same had not·
H.
. PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 277
'- . .. [MADAN B. LOKUR, J .] .

prejudiced the accused in any way. In fact, we put the said A
· . Serologist's. report Ex.P29 to ~he· learned counsel
appearing 'tor -the respondent and sought for .their
explanation in this regard and it is submitted that they have
.. n'othing to say in that matter/ That means, the respondent
has no explanation to offer in· this regard." ·' : · B
63. It is one thing to say that no prejudice was caused to
Prakash by not affording him · an opportunity to explain the
serological report. It is quite another thing to put the report to
his ..learned counsel in appeal and give him (the learned
to
counsel) a'n opportunity explain.Jhe report of the serologist. c
The.course adopted by the High Court_is clearly impermissible.
The law on the subject was laid down several decades ago by
the "'canstitution.tBen.ch..fri .· Tara Singh · v:state
24. ·andis
to; the
a
effect' that an accused must be given ·chance to' offer 'an
to
explanation if the evidence is .. be used against him and .the D
conviction is intended to be based upon it lt.follows that if the· '·,
accused . is not given an opportunity ~ to . explain . the
circumstances against him in the testimony ;of the witnesses,.
then those circumstances canno~ be used against him, whether
they prejudice him or not. This is _what the Constitution Bench ·
said: ... .;; ·: . .. :: , . .:~ . . E
'.'It is' important thenbfore -that' an accused should .be
' ,· properly examined unde'r' section 342 25 : and;· as their.
·'\;.Lordships of the Privy Council indicated in Dwarkanalh.v. ·
. ·. ~ Emperor, 2~ i(a point in the evidenc·e is : considered
· import~nt ·again.st the -'a'ccused and the conviction is F
· ::intended t()_b e bas~d . upon it, then it is right and proper
· ;that the accused should be questioned. aboutthe _matter\
. and be given : an opportunity of explaining it if . he so ·-·
, , desires .. This is-an important and salutary provision and I
. cannot permit it to be' slurred over. I regret to find that in G
: many. cases scant attentjon is paid to it, particularly in '·
. Sessions Courts.,.But whether _the -matter arises in the
24. 1951 SCR 729.
;25 . . Now ~eCtion 31·~ 0~ the Code of Cri~inal Procedure.
I ' 26.''AIR 1933 PC
124... . . .. . . .
H
'
'
/
278 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A Sessions Court or _in that of the C_ommitting Magistrate, it
is important that the provisions of section 342 should' be
fairly and faithf~lly observed." . ' .
-----·- 64. This was more clearly spelt out in Ajay Singh v. State
of Maharashtra 27 when this Court held:
B
~·A conviction based on the accused's failure to explain
I
/ ·what he was never asked to explain is bad· in law."
65. We are not satisfied with the conclusion ·of the High
Court that since the clothes of Prakash were blood stained and
c the stains bore the same blood group as that of Gangamma,
the circumstance could be used Prakash. A serological '
comparison of the blood of Gangamma and Prakash and the .
blood stains. on hisclothes was necessary'and thafwas absent
from the evidence, of .the prosecution.:·
~.. . . ~ . . . .
. .
. ..
o Ornaments of the deceased
· · \ 66. According to the prosecution, Prakash had led the
Investigating Officer to various places from where some
ornaments belonging to Garigamma were recovered. The -'
recovery witnesses were examined by the prosecution as ~ell
E as those persons from whom the ornaments were recovered.
However, whatis of significance is that none of1he recovered
orna_ments ~ould be connected to Gangamma: ·"'(his is a serious
lapse .in.' investigation and. the mere recovery of s~me
ornaments
' ..
from some people does
.
not lead to any conclusion.
' -

F th~t the ornaments so recovE7red _belonged to Gangamma.
- . \ 67. At the stage of re-examination of Hucha Basappa, the
prosecution sought pe'rmission to examine him with regard to ·
identification of the ornaments said to belong to Gangamma.
However, this was declined by the Trial Judge who perused the
G - ·statement of the ·witness ·recorded under Section - ~62 of the
Code of Criminal-?rocedure which did not have anything with
regard to identification
'- I
of,__.the ·ornaments. .....__·, . · ·
. .·

68 ..The High Court adversely commented on this and held
that the Trial Judge adopted ·a very ~trange procedure while
' ' .. ·,"
H __ 27. (2007) 12 sec 341.

\
\
.PRAKASH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA 279
[MADAN B. LOKUR, J.]
declining to grant the request of the prosecution to have the A
ornaments identified through Hucha Basappa. According to the
High Court, Hucha Basappa had stated in an earlier part of his
testimony in court .that Gangamma had ornaments such as a
gold chain, silver waist belt, silver rings, ear studs etc. and that
he had seen those ornaments and could identify them if he saw 8
them. Therefore, permission should have been granted to the
prosecution to further examine Hucha Basappa and it was for
the defence'to have brought out any contradiction between the
statement made by the witness in court and the. statement
made by him under· Section 162 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure. Having said that, the High Court concluded that the C
' ,' .
ornaments belonged to Gangamma.
.
· ·
69. Even tf we were to assume that the procedure followed
by· the Trial. Court was incorrect, in the absence of any
identification of the ornaments as belonging to Gangamma, the D
High Court could not have definitely concluded that they did
belong to Gangamma. In any event~ even assuming that the.
ornaments belonged to Gangammat at best, Prakash would be
guilty of having received stolen property but could certainly not
be guilty of having murdered Gangamma.
Other issues· ·'· ·· · ; · · E
·r • ~ , • • • • , ... ,

. 70. It was brought to our notice that the steel rod used to
kill Gangamma was recovered at the instance of Prakash: This .
was hidden under a stone slab and it. contained blood stains.
, The ·Investigating. Officer made no efforf to·ascertain whether F .
. the blood 'stains on the steel rod were those of Gangamma nor
was any .effort made to ascertain whether-the steel rod
contained any fingerprints which matched 'with those of·
Prakash. This, coupled with the fact that the blood stained ·
crowb~u seized at the place of occurrence, was not sent for a
chemical examination, raises a grave suspicion that the G
investigation was not fair and the benefit of this doubt must go
to Prakash. 28 ·

28. Lakshml Singh v. State of Bihar, (1976) 4 sec 394 and State of U.P.-·v:.
Arun Kumar Gupta, (2003) 2 SCC 202. . H
280 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 5 S.C.R.
•

A (1. All th~t. we need say is that the investigation in the case
was very cursory and it appears to ·us that the Investigating!
Offiqer had made up_,his mind that P.rakash had murdered'
Gangamrria and the investigation ~as directed at proving this
conclusion rather the other way around with . the investigation
8 leading: to, a conclusion that_ Prakash had ·murdered
Gangamma.~. .. . ·;
·-' 72. It is true that the relevant circumstances should not be
looked at in a disaggregated manner but collectively. Still,' this'
does notabsolve the prosecution from proving each relevarit
fact.' · ..:. · ,_. ,;:) ·: ' ·; · '··. ·· · · . · ,· / · · : · ·.
C · · l •- ' ··· ~ r ~ • '

"In a case of cir~umstantial_ evidence~ each circumstance
must be proved beyond reasonable doubt by independent
'· ) evidenc'e and tt1e' circumstanc'es 'so proved' must form a
·:- ·- com'plete; chain withoutgiving 'room' to'iiny 'o"ther~.
D . .• ~ypotheses and should be consisterifwith' only the guilt of
' the accused." 29 ~~- . . .. \' ,, . . ·. •.( . .·
' :: . :d ',. ' : .
conclusion . ·~: , · 1 ..

':.·; 73. None of the' circumstances relied upon · by· the;
prosecution and accepted by ·the : -ligh Court po.int to the
E probability of Prakash's guilt or involvement in the murder of
Gangamma. Consequently, we allow this appeal and set aside
thejudg'ment arid order of the High Court and acquit'Prakash.
of the murder of Gangamma. '" ·· ·· ·, · ·:: ' · ' ·: .-..._.':· .
•~ '." . · · : ' " · · _ -· _ :, : . ·-- ~ ~· - ·· ·_• •_ •.• •• \ ,~ , 1_._

.>74.Thoughthe murder was committedway_back in 1990,.-
F scientific methods for investigation-were available even at that :
time but ·not made use o't.: We must express our unhappiness
on· this state ;of affairs. At .least• from now onwards, 'the ·
prosecution must lay stress on scientific collection and analysis~
- o f evidence, particularly since the.re are enough methods of
G a·rriving at clear· conciusion's based on evidence ,gathered. -,-,
-~. • I _: ' . ''. • :'~ i ' : ·-- :\ . ·, .. ' .-: '\I~ \ ' ... .~--~-I ~j
... ' ; 0 . ' . • : .. _

Devik.a Gujral, · ''' 1
· ' ,. .. . -~ Appea)allowed., ,

2~- lakhjit Singh v. State of Punjab,; 1994 Supp. (1) SCC 173.