Holding

The High Court erred; the evidence established the accused's guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and the conviction and life sentence are restored.

Summary

The father of a deceased woman appealed against the High Court's acquittal of her husband, who was charged with murder under Section 302 IPC. The trial court had convicted the husband based on circumstantial evidence, a threatening letter (Exhibit 7) establishing motive, the recovery of a revolver with smoke, and the fact that the couple were alone in the room at the time of the shooting. The High Court reversed the conviction, citing lack of eyewitnesses and forensic analysis. The Supreme Court held that the prosecution had proved the accused's guilt beyond reasonable doubt, that the letter was admissible and demonstrated motive, and that the suicide theory was untenable. Consequently, the Court set aside the acquittal, restored the conviction and life sentence, and exercised its jurisdiction under Article 136.

Issues considered

The prosecution proved the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt despite the absence of eyewitness testimony and forensic expert analysis.
The threatening letter (Exhibit 7) is admissible and establishes a motive for the murder.
Whether the High Court erred in acquitting the accused on the ground of missing links in the chain of circumstances.
Whether the suicide theory advanced by the defence is tenable.
Whether the accused's right to silence can be construed as an adverse circumstance.
Whether the case warrants interference by the Supreme Court under Article 136.

Legislation cited

Subjects

murdermotiveletter evidenceacquittalArticle 136miscarriage of justiceforensic evidencesuicide theoryburden of proofright to silence

Judgment

RAJKUMARPRASADTAMARKAR A
v.
STATE OF BIHAR AND ANR.

JANUARY 4, 2007

[S.B. SINHA AND MARKANDEY KA TJU, JJ.] B
Penal Code, 1860; s.302/Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; s. 313:

Murder-Husband allegedly shot dead his wife-F.I.R.-Recovery of.
revolver from the place of incident '!'ith smoke coming out-Trial Court
found accused guilty of committing murder of his wife and sentenced him· c
imprisonment for life-Reversed by High Court-On appeal, Held: No
positive defence taken by accused, only a suggestion given that deceased
might have been killed by an outsider-Jn the event, death wo~ld have
been caused by an outsider, accused would have pointed it out to her
mother-in-lawlneighbours/PWl present there and also would have offered
his explanation to IO but he did not do so-Ext. 7, a letter proved to be
D
in handwriting of accused whereby deceased was warned of grave
consequences even to the extent of killing-At the time of incident, accused
and deceased were present in the same room-Nature of gun shot injury
on deceased shows that it must have been inflicted by a person who
intended to kill her at short distance-Strained relations between accused E
and deceased-Trial Court rightly found suicide theory wholly improbable
in the facts and circumstances of the case-Accused brought a revolver
with him, which shows that he wanted to kill the deceased-Thus, in the
facts and circumstances of the case, guilt of accused proved beyond all
reasonable doubt.
F
Constitution of India, 1950-Article 136:

Jurisdiction of Supreme Court-Judgment 'of acquittal delivered by

- High Court when two views are possible-Interference with-Held: High
Court failed to take into consideration relevant facts and misapplied legal
principles-Hence, it is a fit case for this Court to exercise jurisdiction G
under Article 136 of the Constitution.
. Daughter of the appellant was married to respondent No. 2, a driver
employed in Tata Engineering Locomotive Company (TELCO). Allegedly,
the accused-husband had an affair with a woman, because of that there was H
13
14 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 1 S.C.R..

A a strained relationship1>etween them. The wife was staying either at her
)4 '
maternal grandfather's residence at Calcutta or at her father's residence
at Giridih. A day before the incident, accused-husband came to his father
in Law's house to take her with him. On the next day, he allegedly shot her
dead. Father of the deceased lodged an FIR. Investigating Officer found a
revolver from the room where the incident took place and noticing smoke
B coming out from it. Accused was arrested. Trial Court found him guilty of
committing murder of his wife and sentenced him to undergo rigorous
imprisonment for life. On appeal, High Court observed that the
circumstances obtaining in the prosecution case could not be said to have
connected all the links in the chain and there was no eye witnesses to the
C crime and acquitted the accused. Hence the present appeal filed by the
father of the deceased.

Appellant-State contended that the judgment of the High Court suffers
from a manifest error insofar as it failed to take into consideration that not
only the motive but also all other links in the chain ofcircumstances have
D been proved by the prosecution. Allowing the appeal, the Court

HELD: 1.1. No positive defence was taken by the accused-husband.
Merely a suggestion was given by him while cross-examining the
prosecution witnesses that the deceased might have been killed by an
outsider. [Para 13) [22-A]
E
1.2. Exhibit 7 is a letter written by the respondent-husband to the
deceased. In that letter indisputably the respondent had warned the deceased
of grave consequences if she continued to accuse him in regard to his affair
with a woman. The letter was proved to be in the handwriting of the
respondent. The contents of the said letter are not in dispute. It contained
F threatenings to the deceased. She was warned of grave consequences even
to the extent of killing her. [Paras 14, 18) [22-B, G)

1.3. The conspectus of the events which had been noticed by the Trial
Court as also by the High Court categorically go to show that at the time ...
G when the occurrence took place, the deceased and the respondent only were
in the bedroom and the terrace connecting the same. There was no other
person present there. The cause of death of the deceased i.e. by a gun shot
injury is not disputed. [Para 21) [23-C]

1.4. The autopsy report shows that 'a blackening and charring'
H existed so far as Injury No. (i) is concerned. The blackening and charring
RAJ KUMAR PRASAD TAMARKAR v. STATE 15

keeping in view the nature of the firearm, which is said to have been used A
clearly go to show that a shot was fired from a short distance. It, therefore,
cannot be a case where the death might have been caused by somebody by
firing a shot at the deceased from a distance of more than 6 feet. The place
of injury is also important. The lacerated wound was found over grabella
(middle of forehead). It goes a long way to show that the same must have
been done by a person who wanted to kill the deceased from a short B
distance. There was, thus, a remote possibility of causation of such type of
injury by any other person, who was not in the terrace. Once the prosecution
has been able to show that at the relevant time, the room and terrace were
in exclusive occupation of the couple, the burden of proof lay upon the
respondent to show under what circumstances death was caused to his wife.
The onus was on him. He failed to discharge the same. (Para 22j
c
(23-D-F]

Nika Ram v. The State ofHimachal Pradesh, AIR (1972) SC 2077 and
Trimukh Maroti Kirkan v. State of Maharashtra, JT (2006) 9 SC 50, relied
on. D
1.5. How the High Court could say that the Exhibit 7, a letter, allegedly
written by the accused to his deceased-wife had not been proved, since the
same was proved by PW-13, father of the deceased. No objection in regard
to its admissibility was taken. The alleged motive on the part of the
respondent in killing his wife, viz., his illicit relationship with another
E
woman was admittedly put to him under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure. He did not deny the same. He did not even deny that he was the
author of the letter. If the letter, Exhibit-7 stands proved, the motive on the
part of the respondent to kill his wife becomes explicit. [Para 24, 26)
[24-G, 26-BJ F
1.6. Another strong circumstance in regard to motive of the respondent
which is again mt in doubt or dispute is the abnormal relationship between
the parties. The death of the deceased took place within a year's time from
the date of marriage. Admittedly, the deceased stayed at her matrimonial
home for a total period of ten days although she had been visiting there off G
and on. She had been ordinarily living with her maternal grandfather at
Calcutta. The respondent had been frequently visiting Calcutta. It is wholly
unnatural that, despite the fact that the deceased had been visiting Calcutta

' living with her relatives, her husband would not visit her. [Para 26)
[25-B-C) H
,.---i
16 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] I S.C.R.

A 1.7. The observation of the High Court that the deceased had not been
proved to be in possession of the revolver cannot be accepted. The respondent
at the relevant time was with the deceased. In the event, the death has been
caused by an outsider, he could have shouted. He would have been the first
person to point out to her in-laws as to from which side the shot was fired.
Even he could have been the first person to offer his explanation to the
B investigating officer. He chose not to do so. [Para 29] [25-G]

1.8. Respondent was found to be hiding something under the bed-stead
by his mother-in-law. It may be true that PW-3 brother of the deceased
when came to the room shouted that somebody had killed his elder sister
c but the same would not mean that even if the circumstances are so glaring
pointing out the guilt of the accused and accused alone, the same should
be ignored only because of the said statement. [Para 30) (25-H, 26-A]

1.9. The prosecution case that while taking the deceased to the
nursing home, the mother of the deceased locked the door from outside has
D not been disputed. The lock of the door was indisputably opened in the
presence of the investigating officer. Recovery of the revolver b<;iing the
weapon of attack is also not in dispute. The fact that the injury could ;.._
have been caused only by the weapon in question is also not in dispute. The
same was not only found to be in working condition, it was also found by
the investigating officer as also PW-12 that the same had been used
E recently. [Para 32) [26-C-D]

2.1. The defence suggested that the deceased might have committed
a su~cide. It was furthermore suggested that some family members might
have committed the offence. Trial Court found, which finding is not
F questioned before this Court, that keeping in view the place wtiere the dead
body was found, the suicide theory is wholly improbable. The bangles of the ~

deceased were found broken. If she had committed suicide in the room, it
was impossible for her to run to the terrace. It was impossible that the
pistol would be found hidden under a bed-stead in the room which is
admittedly at some distance from the place where the deceased was found
G lying. [Para 33) [26-E-F]

2.2. It may be that the room was not in the exclusive possession of the

H
respondent in the sense that he had not been living there permanently but
it had not been denied or disputed that at the relevant time the deceased and
the respondent were alone in the room. No other person was present there.
;'
RAJ KUMAR PRASAD TAMARKAR v. STATE 17

Even the witnesses were not cross-examined in that behalf. No suggestion A
even had been given to that effect. [Para 35) [27-A-B]

2.3. The very fact that the respondent brought a revolver is itself a
pointer to the fact tbat he wanted to kill the deceased at one point of time
or the other. [Para 36] [27-B-C]
~1 B
2.4. Under what circumstances, the occurrence took place is not
known. Respondent did not open his mouth. He was entitled to exercise the
right of silence. That he did not offer any explanation itself may not be
sufficient to conclusively hold that he was guilty of commission of the
offence, but the legal position that the same would be considered to be a
circumstance against him is not in dispute. [Para 36) [27-C-DJ c
2.5. It was also not a case where it can be said that the incident took
place in a heat of passion. There is no evidence that there had been a sudden
quarrel. It is, therefore, not a case where the respondent can be held to be
guilty for commission of an offence under Section 304 Part II of the Indian
D
Penal Code. [Para 37] [27-E]

Sandhya Jadav (Smt.) v. State of Maharashtra [2006] 4 SCC 653;
Pappu v. State of MP., [2006] 7 SCC 391; Vadla Chandraiah v. State of
Andhra Pradesh, [2006] 14 SCALE 108; State of Andhra Pradesh v.
Rayavarapu Punnayya and Another, (1976] 4 SCC 382 and Laxman v. E
State of MP., JT (2006) (12) SC 495, relied on.

2.6. It is true that neither any fingerprint expert nor any ballistic
expert had been examined. Even the blood found on the revolver had not been
sent for chemical examination, but the same by itself would not negate the
circumstances which have proved the guilt of the respondent beyond all F
reasonable doubt. [Para 38) [28-G]

3. It is well settled that ordinarily this Court would not interfere with
the judgment of acquittal if two views are possible but having regard to the
fact that the High Court has failed to take into consideration the relevant
facts and misapplied the legal principles, it is a fit case to exercise
G
jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution of India as there has
been serious miscarriage of justice. [Para 39) [28-H, 29-A]
....,i

State of UP. v. Nawab Singh (Dead) and Others, [2005) 9 SCC 84;
Prithvi (Minor) v. Mam Raj and Others, [2004] 13 SCC 279 and State of H
18 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 1 S.C.R.

A U.P. v. Satish, [2005] 3 sec 114, relied on.

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 932 of
2000.

From the Final Judgment and Order dated 28.2.2000 of the High Court
B of Patna, Ranchi Bench, Ranchi in Crl. A. No. 166/1998 (R).

Ranjan Mukherjee and Ashok Mathur for the Appellant.

Arup Banerjee, Samir Ali Khan and Deba Prasad Mukherjee for the
Respondents.
c
B.B. Singh and Gopal Singh for State of Jharkhand.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

S.B. SINHA, J. : 1. Raja Ram Sao (Respondent) was prosecuted for
D commission of an offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. He
was a convoy driver employed by Tata Engineering Locomotive Company
(TELCO) at Jamshedpur. He married Usha Devi (deceased) on 3.07.1995 at
Calcutta at her maternal grandfather's place. She had all along been residing
at Calcutta with him. She, after solemnization of the marriage, went to her
E matrimonial home at Jamshedpur on several occasions. She, however,
stayed at Jamshedpur only for a total number of 10 days. The deceased's
father Raj Kumar Prasad Tamarkar (Appellant) was a resident of Giridih.

2. Allegedly, the respondent had an affair with a lady named Shahnaj.
The deceased allegedly raised objection in regard thereto. She, at the
F material time, was staying with her parents at Giridih. At about 4.00 p.m. on
13.07.1996, the respondent came to his in-laws place at Giridih. He asked
for 'Bidai' of his wife. It was agreed that Bidai ceremony would be held on
17.07.1996. He stayed at Giridh on the said date. On 14.07.1996, allegedly,
the respondent went to see a movie in a theater known as 'Jivan Talkies'
G along with the deceased and her brother Ranjit Kumar Prasad (PW-3). The
residential premises of the parents of the deceased consisted of only two
rooms, one on the second floor which was being used as a bedroom and
other on the first floor which was also used as a kitchen. There was a terrace
on the second floor just in front of the said bed room. When the dinner was
to be served the brother-in-law of the respondent was asked to have it in
H the kitchen situate at the first floor; the deceased took the food for dinner
RAJKUMARPRASADTAMARKARv. STATE[SINHA,J.] 19

of the respondent to a room in the second floor in which he was staying. A
3. It is not in dispute that although as a convoy driver of TELCO, the
respondent visited Calcutta on several occasions after solemnization of the
marriage, he never visited the deceased although she was staying with her
maternal grandfather at Calcutta. It is furthermore not in dispute that when
the incident took place the deceased was alone with the respondent on the B
second floor of the house.

4. The prosecution case is when the deceased had gone upstairs with
7 the dinner of the respondent, a sound of a gunfire was heard by the
informant at the first floor. PW-3 rushed to the second floor immediately
and found the deceased lying in a pool of blood in the terrace having a gun
c
shot injury. Allegedly, he exclaimed "DIDI KO KISEE NEI GOLi MAR
DIYA". Hearing these words, the parents of the deceased also rushed to
the second floor and found her lying in the. terrace in the pool of blood with
a gun shot injury on her forehead. Respondent was seen hiding something
by PW-2. When the mother of the deceased Gouri Devi (PW-2) took the D
deceased's head on her lap, the respondent also came out. She was brought
downstairs and taken to a nursing home. Respondent was also said to have
accompanied them in a rickshaw. She was declared dead. Before the
deceased was taken to the nursing home, PW-2 had Jocked the room from
outside.
E
5. Information about the said incident was lodged by Raj Kumar Prasad
Tamarkar, the father of the deceased (PW-13).

6. The investigating officer, on opening of the lock, found a revolver
from which smoke was still coming out. It was found from the bed-stead F
of the room.

7. Respondent was arrested. Principal witnesses examined on behalf
of the prosecution to prove the offence against the respondent before the
learned Sessions Judge were PW-2, PW-3 and PW-13, mother, brother and
G
informant - father of the deceased respectively. Indisputably, they were
present in the house when the occurrence had taken place. The autopsy
report was prepared by Dr. Kaushlendra Kumar (PW-1) posted at Sadar
Hospital, Giridih. He found the following injuries on the person of the
deceased:
H
--{
20 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 1 S.C.R.

A "(i) one circular lacerated wound over grabella (middle of forehead)
'h'' x 'h'' cranial cavity deep with inverted margin, blackening and
charring was present.

(ii) Cresentric mark over the side of the nose (left) below left eye-
nail mark.
B
On further desection subcutaneous tissues under the lacerated f •

wound on the forehead in middle i.e. Glabe~la region and the \
underlying frontal bone consisted a circular hole Y:z" x Y:z" Cranial ·
cavity deep.
c
On further desection the menigges and the brain were lacerated and
. ; . I

terro posteriorly with extra cranial blood clot.. One bullet was taken
out from the posterio~ cra~ial fossa. The bullet was sealed and
handed over the investigating agency."

D 8. Bharti Devi (PW-4) was the aunt of the deceased, i.e., the brother's
wife of informant (PW-13). She was staying in the same house. She
deposed that at the relevant time the respondent was staying in the house
and he had come asking for Bidai of the deceased. Suresh Kumar (PW-3)
is another brother of the informant living in the same house. He was
E informed by the informant that it was the respondent who was responsible
for the death of his daughter (deceased).

9. Kameshwar Prasad (PW-5) is another brother of the informant who
was also living in the same house. He also supported PW-3. Bishwanath
Sharma (PW-7) was a neighbour who came to the place upon. hearing
F commotion. To him also the occurrence was reported by the infomiant. Kali
Prasad Sao (PW-8), Shambhu Prasad (PW-9), Surender Sao (PW-10) and
Ramdeo Prasad Yadav (PW-11) were witnesses of seizure ofa blood-stained
revolver from the bed-stead of the room which was being occupied by the
respondent at the relevant time. Shesil David Khalkho (PW-12) is a Sargent
G Major. He had examined the seized revolver and opined that the same had
been in a working condition and had been used recently. He examined
himself as PW-12.

I 0. The learned Sessions Judge on the basis of the aforementioned
evidence found the respondent guilty of commission of murder and sentenced
H
RAJ KUMAR PRASAD TAMARKAR v. STATE [SINHA, J.] 21

him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life. A
11. The said judgment having been appealed against has been reversed
by the High Court by reason of the impugned judgment. The High Court
was of the opinion that the circumstances said to be obtaining in the
prosecution case could not be said to have connected all the links in the
chain. The High Court also noticed that there was no eye-witness to the B
occurrence.

12. The circumstances which have been found by the learned Sessions
Judge to prove the involvement of the respondent in the case are as under:

"(i) The marriage between the accused-appellant and the deceased c
was solemnized some time prior to the occurrence and the accused
- appellant although visited Calcutta in course of his duty but he
did not meet his wife Usha Devi the deceased, in Calcutta while she
was residing at her Nanihal at Bhawanipur.
D
(ii) At the time of occurrence in the upstairs of the house only the
accused - appellant and the deceased were present. There was
none other than them.

(iii) Soon after the occurrence when the iµrnates of the house went
upstairs hearing the sound of firing, the accused - appellant was E
in the room while the deceased, Usha Devi, was lying with gun shot
injury in pool of blood on the terrace and he was found concealing
something inside the bed-stead.

(iv) On examination of the seized revolver it was found to be an
unable one and recently it was used as still there was smell of firing F
in the barrel.

(v) The accused - appellant was having some illicit relationship
with one lady, namely, Sahnaj and only with the ulterior motive of
clearing his path of illicit relationship with Sahnaj, Usha Devi was
G
murdered. A letter to that effect as alleged was written by the
accused - appellant to the deceased had been proved in the case."

We have noticed hereinbefore certain admitted facts which we need
not advert to once over again.
H
22 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] I S.C.R.

A 13. No positive defence was taken by the respondent. Merely a
suggestion was given while cross-examining the prosecution witnesses x ,1-

that the deceased might have been killed by an outsider.

14. Our attention was drawn to a letter dated 30. l 0.1995 (Ext. 7) written

B
by the respondent to the deceased. In that letter indisputably the respondent
had warned the deceased of grave consequences if she continued to accuse
him in regard to his affair with Shahnaj.

15. The learned Judges of the High Court opined that there was
t
nothing to show that the revolver belonged to the respondent, particularly,
when the same had not been sent to a ballistic expert nor the blood which
c was found thereupon was sent for chemical examination.

16. The High Court held that the prosecution could not be said to have
proved any motive against the respondent, nor had it been able to show that
the relationship of the respondent with the deceased was abnormal as it
D stood admitted that immediately after the brother-in-law of the respondent
arrived, the respondent came out from his room and helped the deceased in
· being taken to the nursing home. The High Court opined that such sort of
conduct was not expected from a criminal.

17. The High Court moreover opined that nobody had stated that the
E revolver was kept in the jhola which was carried by the respondent. It was
furthermore observed that the r9om wherein the respondent was staying
cannot· be said to be in his exclusive possession and, thus, if anything
incriminating had been found therein, the same could not 'finger towards the
conscious possession' of the respondent. It was furthermore opined that
F the fired bulled recovered from the body of the deceased having not been
sent for chemical examination along with the revolver to prove that the same
had been fired from the revolver seized; there remained a gap constituting
a missing link.

18. Ext. 7 was proved to be in the handwriting of the respondent. The
G contents of the said letter are not in dispute. It contained threatenings to
the deceased. She was warned of grave consequences even to the extent
of killing her.

19. Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 932 of 2000 and Mr. B.B. Singh, learned
H
RAJKUMARPRASADTAMARKARv. STATE[SINHA,J.] 23

counsel appearing on behalf of the State of Jharkhand would submit that the A
judgment of the High Court suffers from a manifest error insofar as it failed
to take into consideration that not only the motive but also all other links
'
~1
J in the chain of circumstances have been proved by the prosecution.

20. Mr. Arup Banerjee, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
respondent, on the other hand, supported the judgment of the High Court. B
21. The conspectus of the events which had been noticed by the
learned Sessions Judge as also by the High Court categorically go to show
that at the time when the occurrence took place, the deceased and the
respondent only were in the bedroom and the terrace connecting the same.
There was no other person. The cause of death of the deceased Usha Devi
c
i.e. by a gun shot injury is not disputed. The fact that the terrace and the
bedroom are adjoining each other is not in dispute.

22. The autopsy report shows that 'a blackening and charring' existed
so far as Injury No. (i) is concerned. The bla,PI(ening and charring keeping D
in view the nature of the firearm, which is/said to have been used clearly
go to show that a shot was fired from a short distance. Blackening or
charring is possible when a shot is fired from a distance of about 2 feet to
3 feet. It, therefore, cannot be a case where the death might have been
caused by somebody by firing a shot at the deceased from a distance of
more than 6 feet. The place of injury is also important. The lacerated E
wound was found over grabella (middle of forehead). It goes a long way
to show that the same must have been done by a person who wanted to
kill the deceased from a short distance. There was, thus, a remote possibility
of causation of such type of injury by any other person, who was not in
the terrace. Once the prosecution has been able to show that at the relevant F
time, the room and terrace were in exclusive occupation of the couple, the
burden of proof lay upon the respondent to show under what circumstances
death was caused to his wife. The onus was on him. He failed to discharge
the same.

23. This legal position would appear from a decision of this court in G
Nika Ram v. The State of Himachal Pradesh, AIR (1972) SC 2077 wherein
it was held:

• "It is in the evidence of Girju PW that only the accused and Churi
deceased resided in the house of the accused. To similar effect are
H
24 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 1 S.C.R

A the statements of Mani Ram (PW 8), who is the uncle of the
accused, and Bhagat Ram school teacher (PW 16). According to
Bhagat Ram, he saw the accused and the deceased together at their
house on the day of occurrence. Mani Ram (PW 8) saw the accused '·
at his house at 3 p.m., while Poshu Ram, (PW 7) saw the accused
and the deceased at their house on the evening of the day of
B occurrence. The accused also does not deny that he was with the
deceased at his house on the day of occurrence. The house of the
accused, according to plan PM, consists of one residential room
one other small room and a varandah. The correctness of that plan
is proved by A. R Verma overseer (PW 5). The fact that the
c accused alone was with Churi deceased in the house when she was
murdered there with the Khokhri and the fact that the relations of
the accused with the deceased, as would be shown hereafter, were
strained would, in the absence of any cogent explanation by him,
point to his guilt."

D In Trimukh Maroti Kirkan v. State ofMaharashtra, JT (2006) 9 SC 50,
the law is stated in the following terms:

"Where an accused is alleged to have committed the murder of his
wife and the prosecution succeeds in leading evidence to show
E that shortly before the commission of crime they were seen together
or the offence took place in the dwelling home where the husband
also normally resided, it has been consistently held that if the
ace.used does not offer any explanation how the wife received
injuries or offers an explanation which is found to be false, it is a
strong circumstance which indicates that he is responsible for
F commission of the crime"

24. We furthermore fail to understand as to how the High Court could
say that the Exhibit 7 had not been proved. The same was proved by PW-
13. No objection in regard to its admissibility was taken. The alleged
G motive on the part of the respondent in killing his wife, viz., his illicit
relationship with Shahnaj was admittedly put to him under Section 313 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure. He did not deny the same. He did not even
deny that he was the author of the letter.

25. It is interesting to note that the respondent did not raise any
H
RAJKUMARPRASADTAMARKARv. STATE[SINHA,J.] 25

positive defence. He in answer to all the questions merely stated that he A
was not aware thereof.

26. If the said letter dated 30.11.1995 stands proved, the motive on the
part of the respondent to kill his wife becomes explicit. A threat to kill her
had been given. It would, thus, not be correct to say that the prosecution
had not been_ able to prove the motive. Another strong circumstance in B
regard to motive of the respondent which is again not in doubt or dispute
is the abnormal relationship between the parties. The death of the deceased
took place within a year's time from the date of marriage. Within a period
of one year, admittedly, the deceased stayed at Jamshedpur for a total period
of ten days although she had been visiting Jamshedpur off and on. She had c
been even after marriage ordinarily living with her maternal grandfather at
Calcutta. The respondent had been frequently visiting Calcutta. It is wholly
unnatural that, despite the fact that the deceased had been visiting Calcutta,
her husband would not visit her.

27. For one reason or the other, Bidai ceremony had not been held. D
Respondent evidently had come to her in-laws' place at Giridih without any
prior information. He demanded Bidai ceremony to take place immediately
and it was agreed that it would be done on 17 .07 .1996.

28. Parents of a married daughter would wish her a happy married life. E
The respondent had been treated by in-laws with usual courtesy. Even
some lapses on the part of the son-in-law may be ignored keeping in view
the societal condition. We do not see any reason to disbelieve the
disposition of th~ prosecution witnesses to show that the deceased was
alone with the respondent at the material time.
F
29. The observation of the High Court that the deceased had not been
proved to be in possession of the revolver cannot be accepted. The
respondent at the relevant time was with the deceased. In the event, the
death has been caused by an outsider, he could have shouted. He would
have been the first person to point out to her in-laws as to from which side G
the shot was fired. E,ven he could have been the first person to offer his
explanation to the investigating officer. H!! chose not to do so.

30. Respondent was found to be hiding something under the bed-stead
by his mother-in-law. It may be true that PW-3 brother of the deceased
H
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 1 S.C.R.

A when came to the room shouted that somebody had killed his elder sister
but the same would not mean that even if the circumstances are so glaring
pointing out the guilt of the accused and accused alone, the same should
be ignored only because of the said statement.

31. Other brothers of PW-13 including PW-4 came to the spot
B immediately. PW-7 who was the neighbour also came to the spot immediately
after the incidence. To them also the respondent did not offer any
explanation. To them also he did not say as to how his wife had suffered
a gun shot injury.

c 32. The prosecution case that while taking the deceased to the nursing
home, the mother of the deceased locked the door from outside has not been
disputed. The lock of the door was indisputably opened in the presence
of the investigating officer. Recovery of the revolver being the weapon of
attack is also not in dispute. The fact that the injury could have been
caused only by the weapon in question is also not in dispute. The same
D was not only found to be in working condition, it was also found by the
investigating officer as also PW-12 that the same had been used recently.

33. We may also notice that the defence suggested that the deceased
might have committed a suicide. It was furthermore suggested that some
E family members might have committed the offence. The learned Sessions
Judge found, which finding is not questioned before us, that keeping in view
the place where the dead body was found, the suicide theory is wholly
improbable. The bangles of the deceased were found broken. If she had
committed suicide in the room, it was impossible for her to run to the terrace.
It was impossible that the pistol would be found hidden under a bed-stead
F in the room which is admittedly at some distance from the place where the
deceased was found lying.

34. It is difficult to accept the submissions of Mr. Banerjee that had
the respondent fired the shot, he could have thrown away the revolver.
G Under what circumstances the respondent did so can only be a subject
matter of surmises. It is well known that different persons behave differently
in a given situation. It is just possible that even if the revolver had been
thrown, the same would have been found immediately.

35. Mr. Banerjee contended that the room was not in the exclusive
H
RAJ KUMAR PRASAD TAMARKAR v. STATE [SINHA, J.] Tl

-<., possession of the respondent. It may be that the room was not in the A
exclusive possession of the respondent in the sense that he had not been
living there permanently but it had not been denied or disputed that at the
relevant time the deceased and the respondent were alone in the room. No
other person was present there. Even the witnesses w~re not cross-examined
in that behalf. No suggestion even had been given to that effect.
B
36. It was argued that if the respondent intended to kill the deceased,
he could have done after 17 .07 .1996, viz., after Bidai ceremony took place.
The very fact that the respondent brought a revolver is itself a pointer to
the fact that he wanted to kill the deceased at one point of time or the other.
He might have thought that Bidai ceremony would be held on 13.07.1996 or c
14.07 .1996. When it was postponedy he might have found out an occasion
to kill her. Under what circumstances, the occurrence took place is not
known. Respondent, it would bear repetition to state, did not open his
mouth. He was entitled to exercise the right of silence. That he did not offer
any explanation itself may not be sufficient to conclusively hold that he was
guilty of commission of the offence, but the legal position that the same D
would be considered to be a circumstance against him is not in dispute.

37. It was also not a case where it can be said that the incident took
place in a heat of passion. There is no evidence that there had been a
sudden quarrel. Even the High Court said so in paragraph 11 of its E
judgment. It is, theiefore, not a case whwrethe respondent can be held to
be guilty for commission of an offence under Section 304 Part II of the Indian
Penal Code.

In Sandhya Jadav (Smt.) v. State of Maharashtra, [2006] 4 SCC 653,
this Court held: F

" ...... The help of Exception 4 can be invoked ifdeath is caused (a)
without premeditation, (b) in a sudden fight; (c) without the
offender having taken undue advantage or acted in a cruel or
unusual manner; and (d) the fight must have been with the person G
killed. To bring a case within Exception 4 all the ingredients
mentioned in it must be found. It is to be noted that the 'fight'
occurring in Exception 4 to Section 300, IPC is not defined in IPC.
It takes two to make a fight. Heat of passion requires that there
must be no time for the passions to cool down and in this case,
H
28 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] I S.C.R

A the parties have worked themselves into a fury on account of the
verbal altercation in the beginning. A fight is a combat between two
or more persons. whether with or without weapons. It is not
possible to enunciate any general rule as to what shall be deemed
to be a sudden quarrel..."

B [See also Pappu v. State of MP., [2006] 7 SCC 391, para 13, Vadla
Chandraiah v. State of Andhra Pradesh, [2006] (14) SCALE 108].

In State of Andhra Pradesh v. Rayavarapu Punnayya and Another,
[1976] 4 SCC 382, this Court held:
c
"In the scheme of the Penal Code, 'culpable homicide' is genus and
'murder' its specie. All 'murder' is 'culpable homicide' but not vice-
versa. Speaking generally, 'culpable homicide' sans 'special
characteristics of murder', is 'culpable homicide not amounting to
murder'. For the purpose of fixing punishment, proportionate to the
D gravity of this generic offence, the Code practically recognises
three degrees of culpable homicide. The first is, what may be called,
culpable homicide of the first degree. This is the greatest form of
culpable homicide which is defined in Section 300 as 'murder'. The
second may be termed as 'culpable homicide of the second degree'.
E This is punishable under the lst part of Section 304. Then, there
is 'culpable homicide of the third degree.' This is the lowest type
of culpable homicide and the punishment provided for it is, also,
the lowest among the punishments provided for the three grades.
Culpable homicide of this degree is punishable under the second
Part of Section 304."
F
[See also Laxman v. State of MP., JT (2006) 12 SC 495]

38. It is true that neither any fingerprint expert nor any ballistic expert
had been examined. Even the blood found on the revolver had not been
G sent for chemical examination, but, in our opinion, the same by itself would
not negate the circumstances which have proved the guilt of the respondent
beyond all reasonable doubt.

39. We are aware of the limitations of this Court. It is well settled that
ordinarily this Court would not interfere with the judgment of acquittal if two
H
RAJKUMARPRASADTAMARKARv. STATE[SINHA,J.] '19

views are possible but having regard to the fact that the High Court has A
failed to take into consideration the relevant facts and misapplied the legal
principles, we think it fit to exercise our jurisdiction under Article 136 of the
Constitution of India as there has been serious miscarriage of justice.

The jurisdiction of this Court in a case of this nature is also well
known. B

In State of U.P. v. Nawab Singh (Dead) and Others, [2005] 9 SCC 84,
this Court held:

"It is well-settled that when reasoning of the High Court is perverse, c
this Court may set aside the judgment of acquittal and restore the
judgment of conviction and sentence upon the accused. (See
Ramanand Yadav v. Prabhu Nath Jha). It is further well-settled
that there is no embargo on the appellate court to review evidence
upon which an order of acquittal is based."
D
[See also Prithvi (Minor) v. Mam Raj and Others, (2004) 13 SCC 279,
State of UP. v. Satish, [2005] 3 SCC 114.

40. For the reasons aforementioned, we set aside the judgment of the
High Court and restore that of the learned Sessions Judge. The appeals are E
allowed. The respondent is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for
life under Section 302 of the In.dian Penal Code. He may be taken in custody
forthwith to serve out the sentence.

S.K.S. Appeal allowed.

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