Holding

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Ram Charittar and Kishori Lal under Sections 302/34 IPC and affirmed the acquittal of Ram Kumar and Chandrawati.

Summary

Four persons were accused of murdering Sushila, a widow, and her two daughters by throwing acid on them in Gaayghat village, Basti district, on the night of 28-29 March 1980. The trial court acquitted all four, but the Allahabad High Court convicted Ram Charittar and Kishori Lal under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC, sentencing them to life imprisonment, while acquitting Ram Kumar and Chandrawati on the basis of benefit of doubt. The State appealed the acquittals and the convicted appealed their convictions. The Supreme Court examined the evidence, noting that although there were no eye‑witnesses, four reliable neighbours saw the accused leaving the house with an acid bottle, and a dying declaration of the elder daughter corroborated the charge; medical reports confirmed acid burns. The Court held that the consistent circumstantial evidence and motive to acquire property were sufficient for conviction, and that minor inconsistencies did not undermine the witnesses' credibility. Consequently, it upheld the High Court’s convictions and acquittals, dismissing both appeals.

Issues considered

Whether the circumstantial evidence, in the absence of an eye‑witness, is sufficient to sustain a conviction under Sections 302 and 34 IPC.
Whether the dying declaration of the victim's daughter is admissible and reliable.
Whether the co‑accused Ram Kumar and Chandrawati should be acquitted on the ground of benefit of doubt.
Whether minor contradictions in witness testimony affect the credibility required for conviction.

Legislation cited

Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 302, s. 34

Subjects

acid attackcircumstantial evidencemurdermotivebenefit of doubtdying declarationproperty disputeIPC s.302IPC s.34

Judgment

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I
;

-- RAM CHRITTAR AND ANR. ETC.
v.
A
STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH ETC.

APRIL 4, 2007

[S.B. SINHA AND MARKANDEY KATJU, JJ.] B

Penal Code, 1860:

s. 302/34 /PC-Two brothers and two others causing death of widow
and two daughters of their deceased brother by throwing acid on them-1 C
Three accused caught by neighbours at the spot-Acquittal by trial court~
High Court convicting two of them and affirming acquittal of remaining two,
giving them benefit of doubt-Held, though there were no eye witness to the
incident, keeping in view the circumstantial evidence supported by medical'
evidence and there being motive to grab the property of deceased, conviction, D
of two accused by High Court and acquittal of remaining two giving them
benefit of doubt needs no interference-Circumstantial evidence.

Four persons, namely, the two appellants alongwith wife of appellant no•.
1 and son of appellant no. 2, were prosecuted for the murders of the widow of
appellant's brother and her two young daughters, by throwing acid on them. E
The trial court acquitted all the four. The High Court convicted the two
appellants u/s 302/34 IPC and sentenced them to imprisonment for life, and
affirmed the 1tcquittal of the remaining two, giving them benefit of doubt
Appeal No. 329 of2006 was filed by the two convicted accused and Appeal no.
766 of 2006 was filed by the State against acquittal of other two accused.
F
Dismissing both the appeals, the Court

HELD: It is true there were no eye witness to the incident, but there
were as many as four witness, namely PWs 2 to S, who are the neighbours
and who have stated in their evidence that they saw the accused coming out of G
the house of the victims. Appellant no. 1 had an acid bottle in his hand. These .
witnesses and other people got bold of accused-appellant nos. 1 and 2 and the
wife of appellant no. 1, but the son of appellant no. 2 filed away. The evidence
of these four witne~ses is consistent. Thus, there is strong circumstantial
evidence against the appellants. The medical evidence corroborates the
773 lI
i
774 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 4 S.C.R.
..._
A evidence of these witnesses and there is also the saying declaration of one of _..,.
the deceased stating that appellant no. 1 had thrown acid on them. In the
present case, there was strong motive for the accused to liquidate the deceased
to grab the property. On killing them the accused became the immediate
beneficiary to the estate left by the h•isband of the deceased. No enmity of the
witnesses with the accused could be proved by the evidence. The High Court
B held that some minor contradictions will not shake their testimony. There is
no reason to disagree with the view taken ~y the High Court in convicting the
two accused appellants and affirming the acquittal of the remaining two __.._

accused giving them benefit of doubt. ~

[Paras 8, 9, 10 and 11) [775-G-H; 776-B-D) -'""'

c CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 329 of
2006.

From the Judgment and Order dated 14.12.2005 of the High Court of
Judicature at Allahabad in Government AppealNo. 2083 of 1981.
D WITH

Crl. A. No. 766 of2006. ...-\-
~

S.B. Sanyal, Raj Kumar Gupta, Sheo Kumar Gupta, Bhanu Pratap Gupta
and A.N .. Bardiyar for the Appellants.
E )

Pramod Swaup, Irshad Ahmad, Ameet Singh, Dr. J.B. Gaur, Piyush Shanna
and Neeraj Dt!tta Gaur for the Respondent.

nie Judgment of the Court was delivered by

F MARKANDEY KATJU, J. l. These two connected appeals have been
filed against the impugned judgment of the Allahabad High Court dated
14.12.2005 in Government Appeal No.2083 of1981.

2. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.

3. The incident in question took place on the night of 28/29th March,
G
1980 in village Gaayghat, Police Station Kalwari, District Basti. There were
four accused in the case. The appellants Ram Charittar and Kishori Lal, who
are the brothers of one Ram Chet, are two of the accused. The other co-
accused were Ram Kumar son of Kishori .Lal and· Chandrawati wife of the --x
appellant Ram Charittar. It is alleged that the accused killed Sushila widow of
H Ram Chet as well as her two young daughters Bindu and Nandini by throwing
RAM CHRITIAR v. STATE OF lTITAR PRADESH ETC. [MARKANDEY KATJU, J.] 775
acid on them. A
4. The trial court acquitted all the accused by its judgment dated
12.5.1981 but in appeal the High Court convicted the appellants Ram Charittar
and Kishori Lal under Section 302/34 IPC, and sentenced them to life
imprisonment, but gave the benefit of doubt to the other co-accused Ram
Kumar and Chandrawati and thus affinned their acquittal. B
5. We have carefully gone through the material on record. It is alleged.
that the motive for killing Sushila and her children was to grab her property.

6. The prosecution case is that in between the eventful night at about
3 o'clock, cries and shrieks emanating from the house of Sushila attracted her C
neighbours Bhagwati PW-2, Ram Din PW-3, Mangroo PW-4, Prem Narain
PW-5 and several others to the scene. They saw the accused Ram Charittar,
Kishori Lal, Ram Kumar and Chandrawati coming out of the house of the
deceased which was near their own houses. Ram Charittar had in his hand ·
a bottle of acid. Seeing the witnesses, Ram Charittar dropped the bottle of D
acid in the verandah of the deceased. The bottle was broken and the acid
splashed on the floor. The witnesses succeeded in apprehending the accused
...j Ram Charittar, Kishori Lal and Chandrawati at the spot, but Ram Kumar made
good his escape. Ram Charittar applied some acid to his face and some acid
fell on the face of his wife accused Chandrawati. In the meantime, Sushila
came out with her younger daughter Nandini rolling on the floor and both of E
them died near her door. Bindu elder daughter of Sushila was also badly burnt
with acid. While crying she said that 'Badka Dada' had thrown acid on them.
Be'ng badly burnt with acid she was taken to the District Hospital, where she
died.

7. The post mortem report of the deceased shows that there are acid F
bum injuries on large parts of their bodies including their face, chest, neck,
etc. According to the Doctor the death was due to the corrosive acid bums
and shock.

8. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that there were no eye- G
witnesses to the incident. It is true that there were no eye-witnesses to the
incident but there were as many as four witnesses being Bhagwati PW-2, Ram
Din PW-3, Mangroo PW-4, Prem Narain PW-5, whO have stated in their
evidence that they saw the accused coming out of the house of Sushila. The
appellant Ram Charittar had an acid bottle in his hand. These witnesses and
other people got hold of Ram Charittar, Kishori Lal and Chandrawati but Ram H
776 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 4 S.C.R.

A Kumar fled away. .._..
9. The evidence of these four witnesses is consistent. Thus there is
'strong circumstantial evidence against the appellants. We see no reason to
disbelieve these evidences and hence we agree with the view taken by the
High Court. The medical evidence corroborates the evidence of these witnesses
B and there is also the dying declaration of Bindu the elder daughter of Sushila.

- 10. In the present case, there was strong motive for the accused to
liquidate the deceased to grab the property. On killing them the accused
became the immediate beneficiary to the estate left by the husband of deceased
C Sushila. No enmity with the accused could be proved by the evidence against
the witnesses, and hence we agree with the High Court that some minor
contradictions will not shake their testimony. Thus we dismiss the appeal of
Ram Charittar and Kishori Lal.
......
11. As regards the State's appeal against the acquittal of Ram Kumar
D and Chandrawati, the High Court has given these accused the benefit of
doubt. We see no reason to disagree with the viP,w taken by the High Court.

12. Thus, there is no forcejn both these appeals and both are dismissed.

RP. Appeals dismissed.

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