RAMACHANDRANversusSTATE OF KERALA

                    [2d12] 9 S.C.R. 919


                    RAMACHANDRAN                              A
                             V.
                   STATE OF KERALA
            (Criminal Appeal No. 732 of 2008)

                   OCTOBER 30, 2012
                                                              B
  [SWATANTER KUMAR AND MADAN B. LOKUR, JJ.]

    PENAL CODE, 1860:

     s. 302 - Murder - Circumstantial evidence - Accused      c
causing murder of his wife by forcibly administering poison
to her and smothering - Conviction and sentence of life
imprisonment awarded by trial court affirmed by High Court -
Held: There is ample evidence of prosecution witnesses that
the deceased was subjected to physical violence almost on 0
a daily basis - There was motive for the offence - The clinching
evidence establishing that the death was caused in the
matrimonial house by forcible administering of poison to
deceased and by smothering - Thus, there is no break in the
chain of evidence which could through up some other
possibility - There is no exceptional circumstance or reason E
to disturb the concurrent finding of fact recorded by courts
below and to interfere with the conviction and sentence -
Circumstantial evidence.

      The appellant was prosecuted for committing the F
murder of his wife. The couple had married four years
before the incident and had two children, the younger
one being aged about 3 months. The prosecution case
was. that there was a history of matrimonial discord
between the couple, as the appellant was stated to have G
illicit relations with the wife of his elder brother. On the
interve11ing night of 10th and 11th March, 1998 at about
1.00 A.M. there was a quarrel between the couple.
Thereafter the appellant forcibly administered a strong
                              919                            H
    920      SUPREME COURT REPORTS            [2012) 9 S.C.R.


A pesticide to his wife, and when she ran out of the house
  and fell down, the appellant smothered her nose anc:
  mouth, which resulted in her death. The trial court
  convicted the appellant u/s 302 IPC and sentenced him
  to imprisonment for life. The appeal of the accused was
B dismissed by the High Court.

          Dismissing the appeal, the Court

        HELD: 1.1 This Court upholds the view taken by the
  trial court and affirmed by the High Court that the case
C was one of murder and not of suicide. [para 1) [922-A]

        1.2 There is ample evidence ·on record not only from
  the immediate family of the deceased (PWs 1, 2 and 3,
  father, mother and sister, respectively of the deceased)
0 but also from her neighbour (PW-7) that she was
  subjected to physical violence almost on a daily basis.
  The cause of discord between the appellant and the
  deceased appears to be her belief that the appellant had
  illicit relations with the wife of his elder brother. The
E strained relations, coupled with the allegations made by
  the deceased, provided a motive for the appellant to
  murder her. [para 29) [928-E-G]

       1.3 What is clinching in the instant case is the medical
  evidence. The High Court noted that the unnatural deatf'i
F of the victim was not in dispute. The High Court placed
  great emphasis on the unambiguous evidence of the
  doctor (PW 10) to the effect that death of the victim was
  caused by smothering and administration of toxic
  Furadan which was found in her mouth and pharynx. As
G testified by the doctor, the various injuries on the
  deceased, though minor, indicated that the administration
  of Furadan was forcible and that she had resisted this.
  No person other than her husband could have possibly
  caused her death, especially considering the motive or
H grudge that he harboured against her. [para 22 and 31)
     RAMACHANDRAN v. STATE OF KERALA                   921


[925-H; 926-A-B; 928-H; 929-B]                               A

    1.4 The trial court discounted the theory that the
appellant and his father had gone to the temple to
witness 'Koothu'. It was noted that there was nothing to
support such a statement. [para 18) [925-C]                  B
     1.5 It is true that the case is one of circumstantial
evidence but there is no break in the chain of evidence
which could possibly throw up some other possibility.
Under the circumstances, there is no exceptional
circumstance or reason to disturb the concurrent finding     C
of fact recorded by both the courts below and to interfere
with the conviction and sentence awarded to the
appellant by the trial court and confirmed by the High
Court. [para 27 and 34] [928-B; 929-F]
                                                             D
     Sudama Pandey v. State of Bihar, 2001 (5) Suppl. SCR
    =
465 (2002) 1 SCC 679; Dalbir Kaur v. State of Punjab, 1977
             =
(1) SCR 280 (1976) 4 sec 158- relied on.
                    Case Law Reference:
                                                             E
    2001 (5) Suppl. SCR 465 relied on            para 24
    1977 (1) SCR 280            relied on        para 25
    CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
No. 732 of 2008.                                             F

    From the Judgment & Order dated 30.11.2004 of the High
Court of Kerala at Ernakulam in Criminal Appeal No. 663 of
2003.

    P.V. Dinesh for the Appellant.                           G

    Ramesh Babu M.R., R. Sathish for the Respondent.

    The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
                                                             H
    922      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2012) 9 S.C.R.

A         MADAN B. LOKUR, J. 1. The question before us is
    whether the appellant murd_ered his wife Remani or whether she
    committed suicide. We are in agreement with the view taken
    by the Trial Judge and affirmed by the High Court that the case
    was one of murder and not of suicide.
B
    The facts:

         2. The appellant and Remani had been married for about
    four years. They had two children, the second child having been
    born just about three months before the murder of Remani.
c
          3. There was a history of matrimonial discord between the
    parties. Remani believed that the appellant was having illicit
    relations with the wife of his elder brother which seems to have
    been the cause of conflict. At one stage Remani had even left
0   the matrimonial home. However, on an application having been
    filed by the appellant for restitution of conjugal rights, the matter
    was settled between the parties and Remani went back to the
    matrimonial home. Unfortunately, it appears that even thereafter,
    matrimonial disputes took place between the parties.
E        4. According to the prosecution, on the intervening night
    of 10th and 11th March, 1998 at about 1.00 a.m. there was a
    quarrel between the appellant and Remani. Subsequent to the
    quarrel, the appellant forcibly administered to Remani a highly
    toxic carbonate compound called Furadan which is a strong
F   pesticide used for plantain cultivation and was kept in a bottle
    in the house.

       5. On being forcibly administered the poison, Remani ran
  out of her house and fell down on the eastern side where it is
G alleged that the appellant smothered her by closing her nose
  and mouth with his hands. The poison and smothering of
  Remani resulted in her death.

         6. Early morning, Remani's parents were called and her
    father lodged a First Information Report at about 12.30 p.m. in
H
       RAMACHANDRAN v. STATE OF KERALA                         923
             [MADAN B. LOKUR, J.]

which he stated that the appellant used to inflict physical torture   A
on Remani and due to the continuous harassment she
consumed poison and committed suicide.

    7. After investigations, the police filed a report in which it
was concluded that the appellant had murdered Remani. On
                                                                      8
committal, the appellant denied the charge, pleaded not guilty
and claimed trial.

     8. The prosecution examined as many as 16 witnesses
and produced several documents and material objects in
support of its case including a bottle containing Furadan.            C

Decision of the Trial Court:

      9. The material witnesses for the prosecution before the
Trial Court were PW-1, PW-2, PW-3, PW-7 and PW-10.
                                                                      .D
      10. PW-1 Bhaskaran stated that Remani was his daughter
and that her husband used to beat her up everyday and scold
her. Remani had told him that the appellant was having illicit
relations with the wife of his elder brother. The witness was not
specifically questioned about the FIR given by him in which he        E
had stated that Remani had committed suicide by consuming
poison. He, however, stated that he had informed the police
that Remani was administered poison by her husband, that is,
the appellant.
                                                                      F
     11. PW-2 Thankamalu, mother of Remani, confirmed that
there were frequent and daily quarrels between the appellant
and Remani. She stated that Remani told her that the appellant
would get drunk and beat her up. She also stated that Remani
told her that the appellant was having illicit relations with the wife G
of his elder brother. According to this witness, Remani was
capable of doing some typing jobs and bringing up her children.
As such, there was no doubt that, if need be, Remani could look
after herself and would not commit suicide.

     12. PW-3 Ragini is the sister of Remani. She also                H
    924      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2012] 9 S.C.R.


A   confirmed the frequent if not daily physical abuse inflicted by
    the appellant on Remani.

         13. PW-7 Hamza is a neighbour of the appellant and
    Remani. He too confirmed the physical abuse that Remani was
    subjected to by the appellant.
8
          14. PW-8 Kumhadi is the father of the appellant. He stated
    that on the intervening night of 10th and 11th March, 1998 he
    and the appellant had gone to the temple to watch a 'Koothu'
    program. They came back at about 5 or 5.30 a.m. in the
C   morning and that is when they discovered the body of Remani.
    This witness was declared hostile and cross-examined. The
    Trial Court did not give much credence to the testimony of this
    witness and did not accept the alibi.

D        15. The most important witness is PW-10 Dr. Rajaram. He
    is an Associate Professor of Forensic Medicine, Medical
    College, Kozhikode and he conducted the post mortem
    examination on the body of Remani. He stated that she had as
    many as 22 abrasions and contusions on various parts of her
E   body. He stated, on the basis of the chemical examination
    report, that Remani died due to the combined effect of
    smothering and carbofuran poisoning. He was cross-examined
    and asked whether the abrasions on Remani's body could have
    been caused on her falling down on a hard surface and
F   struggling for existence. He replied that in view of the injuries
    on the back of her body, the possibility was highly remote. He
    also stated that if her back had come in contact with a hard
    object, her clothes would have had a tear. He further stated that
    the nature of injuries including one on the back of the elbow
    clearly suggested that Remani had offered some resistance.
G
         16. On the above material, the Trial Court was of the
    opinion that even though the case was one of circumstantial
    evidence, there was enough material on record to show that it
    was only the appellant who had murdered Remani by forcibly
H   administering Furadan and then smothering her. It may be
      RAMACHANDRAN v. STATE OF KERALA                        925
            [MADAN B. LOKUR, J.]

mentioned that Furadan is a carbofuran and its ingestion can         A
cause death within 10 minutes.
    17. The Trial Court was also of the 'Liew that the appellant
had a motive for murdering Remani in as much as they would
have frequent quarrels on the suspicion of Remani that the           8
appellant had illicit relations with the wife of his elder brother
who was residing in the same house.

     18. The Trial Court discounted the theory that the appellant
and his father had gone to the temple to witness 'Koothu'. It was
noted that there was nothing to support such a statement. In this C
context, it was observed by the Trial Court that Remani was in
hospital from 08.03.1998 till 10.03.1998 due to some vomiting
and illness and it was very unlikely that immediately after her
discharge from hospital on 10.03.1998 the appellant would
have left her alone in the house and gone to the temple where D
he stayed overnight, if indeed he cared for her.

     19. On the basis of the above facts, the Trial Court held
the appellant guilty of having committed the murder of Remani
and sentenced him to imprisonment for life.
                                                                     E
Decision of the High Court:
    20. Feeling aggrieved, by the conviction and sentence
awarded by the Trial Court, the appellant preferred Criminal
Appeal No. 663 of 2003 which was dismissed by a Division             F
Bench of the High Court of Kerala by Judgment and Order
dated 30.11.2004.
     21. The High Court took into consideration the evidence
of the witnesses, the strained matrimonial relations between
the appellant and Remani as also the medical evidence for G
affirming the conviction and sentence.
     22. The High Court noted that the unnatural death of
Remani was not in dispute. The principal question before the
High Court was whether her death was due to homicide or
suicide. In this regard, the High Court placed great emphasis        H
    926       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                [2012J 9 S.C.R.

A   on the unambiguous evidence of Dr. Rajaram to the effect that
    Remani's death was caused by smothering and administration
    of toxic Furadan which was found in her mouth and pharynx.
    As testified by the doctor, the various injuries on Remani,
    though minor, indicated that the administration of Furadan was
8   forcible and that she had resisted this.

          23. In view of the fact that the appellant had a motive to
    murder Remani and there was clear medical evidence
    suggesting smothering and poisoning of Remani, the High
    Court upheld the conviction and sentence.
c
    Discussion and conclusions:
         24. In Sudama Pandey v. State of Bihar, (2002) 1 SCC
    679 this Court considered the scope of interference in a criminal
    appeal with concurrent findings of fact. It was observed as
D   follows:
          We are not unmindful of the fact that this Court under
          Article 136 of the Constitution seldom interferes with the
          factual findings recorded by two concurring Courts but if
          this Court is satisfied that the High Court has committed
E
          a serious error of law and that there was substantial
          miscarriage of justice, this Court could interfere with ~he
          concurring findings of the High Court and that of the Trial
          Court. This Court also does not normally enter into a
          reappraisal or review of the evidence unless the
F
          assessment of the evidence by the High Court is vitiated
          by an error of law or procedure or there was misreading
          of evidence."
         25. Similarly in Dalbir Kaur v. State of Punjab, (1976) 4
G   sec 158 the principles for interference were culled out and
    stated by S. Murtaza Fazal Ali, J as follows:
          "Thus the principles governing interference by this Court
          in a criminal appeal by special leave may be summarised
          as follows:
H
     RAMACHANDRAN v. STATE OF KERALA                        927
           [MADAN B. LOKUR, J.]
    (1) that this Court would not interfere with the concurrent     A
    finding of fact based on pure appreciation of evidence
    even if it were to take a different view on the evidence;
    (2) that the Court will not normally enter into a
    reappraisement or review of the evidence, unless the
                                                                    8
    assessment of the High Court is vitiated by an error of law
    or procedure or is based on error of record, misreading
    of evidence or is inconsistent with the evidence, for
    instance, where the ocular evidence is totally inconsistent
    with the medical evidence and so on;
                                                                    c
    (3) that the Court would not enter into credibility of the
    evidence with a view to substitute its own opinion for that
    of the High Court;
    (4) that the Court would interfere where the High Court has
    arrived at a finding of fact in disregard of a judicial D
    process, principles of natural justice or a fair hearing or
    has acted in violation of a mandatory provision of law or
    procedure resulting in serious prejudice or injustice to the
    accused;
                                                                    E
    (5) this Court might also interfere where on the proved facts
    wrong inferences of law have been drawn or where the
    conclusions of the High Court are manifestly perverse and
    based on no evidence."
     26. In the same decision, A.C. Gupta, J concurred but          F
cautioned as follows:
    "The decisions of this Court referred to in the Judgment
    of my learned brother lay down that this Court does not
    interfere with the findings of fact unless it is shown that G
    "substantial and grave injustice has been done". But
    whether such injustice has been done in a given case
    depends on the circumstances of the case, and I do not
    think one could catalogue exhaustively all possible
    circumstances in which it can be said that there has been
                                                                    H
     928       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2012] 9 S.C.R.


A          grave and substantial injustice done in any case."
          27. Keeping these principles in mind, we have considered
     the evidence on record and find no exceptional circumstance
     or reason to disturb a concurrent finding of fact by both the
     Courts.
B
           28. However, we need to deal with the contentions urged
     by learned counsel for the appellant. His first contention was
     that even though there may have been strained matrimonial
     relations between the appellant and Remani, those differences
c    were patched up when Remani came back to live with the
     appellant in the matrimonial home. His second contention was
     that the appellant had no ill will towards Remani in as much as
     when she was hospitalized from 8.03.1998 to 10.03.1998, he
     had looked after and paid the medical bills. Under these
     circumstances, there was no reason for him to have murdered
0
     Remani.
           29. We are of the view that there is no substance in either
     of the submissions made by learned counsel. There is ample
     evidence on record not only from the immediate family of
E    Remani but also from her neighbour that she was subjected to
     physical violence almost on a daily basis. The cause of discord
     between the appellant and Remani appears to be her belief
     that the appellant had illicit relations with the wife of his elder
     brother. This may or may not be true but the fact of the matter
F    is that relations between the parties were terribly strained and
     Remani was subjected to physical abuse almost on a daily
     basis. These strained relations, coupled with the allegations
     made by Remani, provided a motive for the appellant to murder
     her.
G          30. The fact that the appellant may have looked after
     Remani during her illness for a couple of days is neither here
     nor there. He was expected to ~o so.
           31. However, what is clinching in the present case is the
·H   medical evidence which clearly indicates that Remani was
       RAMACHANDRAN v. STATE OF KERALA                       929
             (MADAN B. LOKUR, J.]

forcibly administered Furadan; she had resisted this forcible        A
administration; as a result of her resistance, she received
several minor injuries on her body. Eventually, with a view to
overcome her resistance, she was smothered and ultimately
she died as a result of the forcible administration of Furadan
and smothering. No person other than her husband could have          B
possibly caused Remani's death, especially considering the
motive or grudge that he harboured against her.

     32. Learned counsel for the appellant also submitted that
Remani's father had himself stated in the FIR that she had
committed suicide by consuming poison. This seems to have            C
been the first impression gathered by Bhaskaran. Learned
counsel for the State pointed out that the reason could possibly
have been to save the appellant from imprisonment keeping
the welfare of their two children in mind. It is not necessary for
us to make any guesses in this regard.                               D

     33. The fact is that investigations into the matter,
particularly the injuries suffered by Remani and presence of
Furadan in her mouth suggested that the case was not one of
suicide. When the matter was taken to trial the truth eventually     E
came out, which is that Remani had not committed suicide but
had in fact been murdered. Bhaskaran's hypothesis proved to
be only an assumption.

      34. We are conscious that the case is one of circumstantial
evidence but we are not able to find any break in the chain of       F
evidence which could possibly throw up some other possibility.
Under these circumstances, we find no reason to interfere with
the conviction and sentence awarded to the appellant by the
Trial Court and confirmed by the High Court.
    35. There is no merit in the appeal and it is accordingly        G
dismissed.

R.P.                                         Appeal dismissed.