Holding

A chain of continuous circumstantial evidence must be assessed in its entirety; the evidence against Ram Avtar was sufficient to prove murder beyond reasonable doubt, so the conviction stands.

Summary

The appellant, Ram Avtar, was charged under Section 302 IPC for allegedly strangling his wife. The trial court acquitted him, finding the circumstantial evidence insufficient, but the Delhi High Court reversed that decision and convicted him. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined whether the chain of circumstantial evidence—abuse, strained marital relations, a panchayat, letters from the deceased, broken bangles, cufflinks, the victim’s body, the accused’s false hotel registration, and blood‑stained clothing—should be considered as a whole. The Court held that the trial judge erred by dissecting each circumstance separately and that the cumulative effect of the linked circumstances proved the murder beyond reasonable doubt. Consequently, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the conviction and life sentence.

Issues considered

When can a chain of circumstantial evidence be deemed complete and conclusive for a conviction under Section 302 IPC?
Did the trial court err in evaluating the circumstantial evidence by considering each circumstance in isolation?
Should the conviction be upheld on the basis of the cumulative effect of the circumstantial evidence?

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 379
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 302

Subjects

circumstantial evidencemurdermanual strangulationcumulative evidenceconvictionIndian Penal CodeSection 302appellate review

Judgment

508

A
RAM AVTAR
v.
THE STATE (DELHI ADMINISTRATION)

AUGUST 8, 1985
B
[ S. MURTAZA FAZAL ALI AND A. VARADARAJAN, JJ. J

Indian Penal Code 1860 Section 302

Accused charged with killing wife by strangulation -
Circumstantial evidence alone available appreciation of - Court
to take cumulative effect of entire evidence.
c
Criminal Trial

Circumstantial evidence - Chain of continuous circumstan-
ces linked with one another - Necessity of cumulative effect of
entire evidence to be considered.
D
The prosecution alleged chat the appellant had killed his
wife by strangulation. The marriage of the appellant and the
deceased took place about a year before the date of occurrence.
After about six months of the marriage the relations between the
two spouses started becoming strained. The accused neglected the
deceased, abused her, teased her, waxed her, and even beat her.
E
All these were reported to the relatives of both sides as a
result of which s panchayat had to be called to bring the two
partfos together which also was of no avail.

The Sessions Court after considering the evidence was of
the opinion that the prosecution case was not proved beyond
F reasonable doubt and accordingly acquitted the appellant of the
charges framed against him under Section 302 IPC.

The State filed an appeal before the High Court which
reveroed the aforesaid decision and came to the conclusion that
the appellant had killed his wife by strangulation.
G
Dismissing this appellant's Appeal to this Court

BELi>: J • The view taken by the H.tgh Court is correct and
there is no reason to interfere with the same. The trial court
has gone wrong, and has made a fundamentslly wrong approach. The
H
RAM AVTAR v. STATE 509

judgment of the trial . court is not only legally erroneous but A
absolutely perverse, 111 view of the circumstances of the case and
the admiasiona of the witneases, the case againat the accused baa
been proved beyond reasonable doubt. Thia is not a case where two
viev11 are possible. [516 G,D-E]

2. Circumstantial evidence 1111St be com;>lete and C011Clusive B
before an accused can be convicted thereon. This, however, does
not mean that there is any particular or special method of proof
of circumstantial evidence. One 1111St, however, guard againat the
dallger of not conaideri11& circumstantial evidence in its proper
perspective, e.g. where there is a chain of circumstance& linked
up with one another, it.ia not possible for the court to truncate c
and break the chain of circumst&DCes. In other words, where a
series of circumstances are dependent 011 one another they should
be read as one integrated whole and not conaidered separately,
otherwiae the very concept of proof of circumstantial evidence
would he defeated. [510 G-511 A]
D
J. Where circumstantial ·evidence conaists of a chain of
co11ti11UOUS circumstances linked up with one another, the court
baa to take the cumulative effect of the entire evidence before
acquittiD& or convict!D& an accused. (516 F]

111 the inatant case, the Sessiona Judge bad COlllllitted an
error. lnatead of taking all the circumstances together which are E
uodol>btedly· circumstantial and closely linked up with one
another, he baa completely misdirected himself by separately
dealing with each circumst&DCe thereby makilJ& a wrong approach
while appreciatiD& the circumstantial evidence produced ill the
case. Some letters written by the deceaaed show the callous and
cruel nature of the accused and his treatment. He appears to have F
been completely indifferent. The deceased prayed to her parents
for taki11& her with them inme•Uately. Despite the conduct of the
appellant, the parents-in-law of the deceased were very kind to
her, but the appellant was made of such a stern nature that he
would not listen ·to anybody. Tb"' recovery of certain brokell
bangles and one pair of cufflillks show that duri11& the course of G
strangulation, the deceaaed put up stiff resist&DCe. The medical
evidence also ·supports that the deceased bad died of manual
strangulation. A number of prosecution witnesses PWs 5,6,7,8 & 9
deposed that the appellant had been ill-treatiD& the deceased and
their relationa were extremely strained, and that the relatives
of the two sides tried their best to bri11& harmony in the H
relatio11S of the accused and the deceased. Another circumst&DCe
510 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985) SUPP:2 s.c.a.

A
of great importance is that after the incident, the accused wnt
to Huzaffar Nagar sta7ed in hia slater's house c:aE back the .....,
evening, stayed in a Hotel under a false and ass.-d U8lll! written
in the hotel register in his own hand. This shows the guilty
conscience of the accused. Another intrinsic evidence which
B proves the case against the accused consists of two letters(Ext,
PW 12-A and B) written by the deceased to her parents wherein she
had requested her father to take her away as her husband was
ill-treating her. The autement of the s.1., PW 18 reveals that
from the personal search of the accused, Rs. 5, 50 one ticket from
~erut to Delhi were recovered and that the banian of the accused
had blood stains. [511 B;G, 515 A,C-D, 516 A-BJ
c
CRIMINAL APPELLATE J'JRISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No.106 of
1980.

From the Judgment and Order dated 8.1.1980 of the Delhi
High Court in Crl. A. No. 137 of 1978.

D Ms. Neeraja Mehra and I.K. Wadera for the Appellants.

Anil Dev Singh, R.N. P6ddar and G.D. Gupta for the
Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
E
FAZAL ALI, J, The appellant in this case was convicted
under ·s. 302 IPC and sentenced to imprisonment for life by the
High Court. The case depends purely on circumstantial evidence
and the trial court after considering the evidence was of the
opinion that the prosecution case was not proved beyond reason-
F able doubt and accordingly acquitted the appellant of the charges
framed against him. The State filed an appeal be,fore the High
Court which reversed the decision of the trial court and came to
the conclusion that the appellant had killed his wife by strangu-
lation. Hence, this appeal before this Court under s. 379 of the
Code of Criminal Ptocedure, 1973.
G
At the very outset we might mention that circumstantial
evidence must be complete and conclusive before an accused can be
convicted thereon. This, however, does not mean that there is any
particular or special method of proof of circumstantial evidence.
We must, however, guard against the danger of not considering
H circumstantial evidence in its proper perspective, e.g., where
there is a chain of circumstances linked up with one another, it ~
RAM AVTAA v. STATE [FAZAL ALI, J.] 511

A
ir not possible for the court to truncate and break the chain of
circumstances. In other words wher~ a series of cirCumstances are
dependent on one .another they should be read as one .integrated
whole and not considered separately, otherwise the very concept
of proof of circumstantial eVidence would be defeated. The
learned Sessions Judge 'seems to have fallen into this very error. · •

. In the instant case, instead of taking all the .circumstances
together, which are undoubtedly circumstantial and closely ltnked
up with one another, the learned Sessions Judge has completely
misdirected himself by separately dealing with each circumstance
thereby making a wrong approach while appreciating tlie circum-
stantial evidence produced in the case. r;

Let us now recount the circumstances relied upon by the
appellant by giving first a brief summary of the same. The
marriage of the accused and the deceased took place on December
6, 1975, i.e., hardly a year before the date of tlie occurrence.
After about six months of the marriage, the relations between the
·D
two spouses started becoming strained. The evidence clearly
shows that the accused neglected the deceased, abused her, teased
her, waxed her and even· beat her. All these things were reported
to the relatives of both sides as a result of which a panchayat
had to be called to bring the two parties together which also was
of no avail· There is further evidence to sh<?W that on the night
of the occurrence, i.e., between the night of 16th and 17th
E
November 1976, the accused was last seen by some ~f the witnesses
whose evidence we shall refer hereafter. Secondly, it is also
proved that the accused left his house in the morning of 17th
November 1976 and went to Muzaffar Nagar and stayed at his
sister's house there and came back to Delhi in the evening of
17th November 1976 but instead of staying in his own house he
F
stayed in Venus Hotel in Paharganj in Delhi under a false and
assumed name of Vinod Kumar which, according to the evidence, was
written by him while making the entries in the Hotel register.

Furthermore, it appears that there are some letters written
· by the deceased which show the callous and cruel nature of the
G
accused and his treatment towards her. He appears - to have been
completely indifferent towards her and the deceased prayed io her
parents for taking her witli them immediately. It is true that
despite the conduct of the appellant, the parents_;in-law of the
deceased were very kind to her and tried their best to save the
situation but the appellant was made of such a stern stuff and H
stubborn nature that he would not listen to anyone.
512 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985] SUPP;2 s.c.R.

A Moreover, the evidence further shows that certain broken
bangles and one pair of cufflinks were recovered from the room
where the deceased was strangulated. The medical evidence also
supports that the deceased had died of manual strangulation.
There are some other circumstances which show the role played by
the accused and if we take the circumstances together the
B irresistible inference is that the prosecution has completely
proved its case.

- We might observe there that the circumstances which have
been narrated above are so interlinked in the chain of circum
stantial evidence that it is difficult to truncate them and the
learned Sessions Judge ought not to have rejected the circum
c stances one by one and then acquit the accused. It is here that
the learned Sessions Judge has committed a serious error of law.
If we read the evidence as an integral whole, the inescapable
conclusion is that excepting the-appellant nobody else could have
committed the murder.

With this preface, we now proceed to deal with the chain of
D circumstances relied upon by the High Court in reversing the
judgment of the trial court and convicting the accused. To begin
with, as we have said, within one year of her marriage the
deceased died during the night of 16th and 17th November 1976. A
number of prosecution witnesses (PWs 5,6,7 ,8 and 9) whose evi
dence has been fully considered by the High Court deposed that
E the appellant had been ill-treating the deceased and their
relations were extremely strained. This is buttressed by the
further circumstance that a panchayat had been called to resolve
the differences between the two spouses. In this connection, the
prosecution witnesses have spoken thus:-

F - "The accused had always been mal-treating Madhu and
used to say that he will not like to keep Madhu with
him. After about 6 months of the marriage a Panchayat
was held in Bakhtamal Dharamshala, Delhi for bringing
about conciliation. Before the panchayat the father of
the accused had assured that he will ask the accused
to behave better. But there was no change in the
attitude of the accused towards the deceased and the
accused was bent upon leaving the girl."
(PW 5, Ramesh Chand)

"About 5 or six months prior to the murder of Madhu,
H
har fathar had complained to me that the accused used
RAM AVTAR v. STATE [FAZAL ALI, J.] 513

to beat her and wanted to leave her. After 2 or 3 days A
of that, a panchayat was held in Bagtamal Dharamshala,:.
Kucha Pati Ram •••••••• Before the PAnchayat, father of
the accused had assured that he will make him under-
stand and see that the accu~ed behaved properly" in_
future with Madhu." ·
(PW 6, Ram Kishan Dalaya)_ B

"Accused used to beat Madhu. and we were receiying __1n~1ny
complaints in this respect. Myself, Ramesh Chand,
Ganga Ptasad and Madan Lal had been coming . to Delhi
and requesting the accused not to do so. However., the
behaviour of the accused towards Madhu .did not c
change."
(Pw 7, Chhanu .Lal)
"She was married to Ram Avtar(accused) present in the
court. Madan Lal, had started saying afte' about 20 or
25 days after the marriage that. the decease<\ was being D
beaten and ill-treated by the accused •••••_A panchayat
was organised. Radhey Lal Was. also called and he
attended the panc.hayat. ;, "
( PW 8_, Ram Pal Singh)

"There were stra:f_p.ed relations between them for a long
time." E
(PW .9, Gulab Chand)

"Right from the beginning, accused had been ill-treat-
ing my daughter-•. She had been writing letters to me
from which. I had come to _know that she was not happy
and so I came to Delhi •.. I beseeched the accused and F
with folded hands requested hi_m to behave better with
my daughter in. the presence of his father. Both of
them had assured that nothing will happen in future." .
(PW 12, Ma4an Lal)

"I had gone to attend it_s conference at Lucknow ,from G
5th to 7th Oct. 1976. There, Chhanu Lal, elder brother ·
of, Madan Lal _had complained to . me that. Ram. Avtar
accused was ill-treating Madhu and that I should look
into this matter .... Then I told him that in that case
. Chhanu Lal would not have complained to me. Then he
assured me that he will ask the accused to behave H
properly .and there will be no complaint in future."
(PW 13, Sohan Lal Verma)
514 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985] SUPP;2 s.c.R.

A
The above extracts from the evidence of various prosecution
witnesses show that the relatives of the two sides tried their
best to bring harmony in the relatiOnJ! of the accused and the
deceased and the father of the accused had been promised that his
son will behave in future in a proper manner. One outstanding
feature of this case is that while· the deceased was fully satis-
B
fied. with the treatment received by her from her parents-in-law,
yet so adamant was the accused that he would hardly listen or pay
any heed to the advice of his parents.
..
Another circumstance which almost conclusively proves the
case of the prosecution is the evidence of PW 1, Shri Krishan
Avtar, according to which, the accused was seen by him on the
c fateful night between 9 or 9 .30 p.m. in his house and in this
connection he says thus:

"When I returned at about 9 or 9.30 p.m. I saw the
accused in his house. He was alone in the house at
that time. The room of the accused is situated on the
ground floor while mine is situated on the first
D
floor ...... When I saw him he was coming down stairs
from the first floor and entered his room on the
ground floor ••••••••••••••••••• Then I entered the room
of the accused where he and his wife used to sleep
together and saw the dead body of Madhu."
E PW 1 further testifies to the articles found from the scene
of occurrence.-

"Ex.PB is the pair of cufflink •••'.E:x.P"'l4 are the
broken pieces of bangles collected from the floor of
the room."
F
PW 2, Nathi Lal, another independent witness, says that at
about 12 .30 in the night while he was coming from Lal Darwaza to
his house, he saw the accused passing that side and the accused
told him that he had told the chowkidar that he (appellant) was
goirtg away and the door of his house was open. Another witness
G (PW 3) though declared hostile, yet so far as the relations
between the spouses are concerned, categorically states that the
relations between the spouses were extremely strained.

Another circumstance which is of great importance and which
seems to have been ignored by the learned Sessions Judge is that
H
after returning from Muzaffar Nagar in the evening of 17th Novem-
ber 1976, the accused instead of staying in his house, stayed in
RAM AVTAf1 v. STATE [FAZAL ALI, J.] 515

A
Venus Hotel in Paharganj, New Delhi under a false and asswned
name of Vinod Kumar and made the entries in the Hotel register in
his own hand. This shows the guilty conscience of the accused.
This is proved by Ex.PW 14/A where it has been stated thus:

"The aforesaid register contains one entry against
B
serial No.518 dated 18.11.76 recorded at 1.00 a.m.
realting to Vinod Kumar, Indian 23/3, Sarafa Bazar,
Muzaffar Nagar, fot business Muzaffar Nagar, stated to
have been made and initialled by accused Ram Avtar S/o
Radhey Lal, r/o 2721, Chhatta Girdhar Lal, Gali Arya
Samaj, Bazar Sita Ram, Delhi."
c
Another intrinsic evidence which proves the case against
the accused consists of two letters (Ext.PW-12A and 128) written
by the deceased to her parents wherein she had requested her
father to take her away as her husband was ill-treating her. In
these letters she had written thus:
D
"You (father) take me away from here ••••• (He) is not
on speaking terms with me.
(Ext. PW 12A)

"There is always a quarrel in the house about me. Papa
and Mwnmy have ·been trying to make him understand.
(He) does not eat and driilk anything from my hand and E
even does not speak to me. Whenever, I come across
him. he scolds me. Today, he gave me beating and was
about to turn me out of the house but. Mwnmy and Pappa
pacified him ••••• He further said ''I do not want to see .
the face of this mean girl. Furthermore that whatever
Khurjawallas have done in my interest is good (1'aunt). F
He says that when I become a widow then atleast they
(parents) will ·Come to take me away •••••• He says that
even if God comes, he will not agree and will not keep
me with him at any co,;t ••••• You treat this letter as a
telegram and please reach here. immediately. I keep
weeping here day and night and Mummy also continuous G
weeping. He would not keep me with him at any cost and
I also do not want to live here any more •.••• I am
weeping while writing. this letter. Dear Pappa, pleas~
co~ as early as possible."
(Ex. PW 12-B)
In addition to Ext. PW·l2-A and 12-B, one mote letter was H
found from the house where the murder took place but which she .
could not post.
516 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985] SUPP;2 S.C.R.

In his statement PW 18, Kans hi Ram, S. I. , stated that from
A
the personal search of the accused, Rs.S.50 one ticket from
Meerut to Delhi were recovered and the accused was also made to
put off his shirt and banian, and that he (PW 18) took into
police custody the banian of the accused which had blood stains
on the front side.
B
The last piece of evidence which is also important and
which has been completely glossed over by the trial court is the
recovery of broken bangles and a pair. of cufflinks which show
that during the course of strangulation. the deceased must have
put in.stiff resistance.
c
In view of the circumstances discussed above, it cannot be
said that the case against the accused has not been proved. It is
not possible for us to consider the various chains of circum-
stances, mentioned above, in isolation by divorcing them from the
other circumstances which are closely interlinked with them. This
D
is where the ·trial court has gone wrong and has made a fundamen-
tally Wrong approach. Having regard to the circumstances
mentioned above, we are clearly of the opinion that the judgment
of the trial court is not only legally erroneous but also
absolutely perverse. In view of the circumstances and the
admissions of the witnesses extracted, the case against . the
E
accused is proved beyond reasonable doubt and this is not a case
where two views are reasonably possible.

Before concluding we might observe that where circumstan-
Hal evidence consists of a chain of continuous circumstances
linked up with one another, the court has to take the cumulative
F
effect of · the entire evidence led by the prosecution before
acquitting or convicting an accused.

For the reasons given above, we find ourselves in complete
agreement with the view taken by the High Court and we see no
reason· ·to interfere with the same. The appeal· is accordingly
dismissed. In case. the appellant is on bail, he shall now
G
surrender and be taken into custody and sen,t to prisorl to serve
out th6 remaining part of the sentence.

N.V.K. Appeal dismissed •.