Holding

The conviction of the appellant under s.302 r.w. s.307 IPC is set aside due to unreliable identification and insufficient corroborative evidence.

Summary

The case involved five accused in the murder of a truck cleaner and the grievous injury of the driver under sections 302 and 307 IPC. No test identification parade (TIP) was conducted and the appellant (Accused No.3) was not named in the FIR. The trial court relied on the driver’s in‑court identification of the appellant and the recovery of stolen articles at the appellant’s instance to convict him. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that identification made for the first time in court without a prior TIP is unreliable, especially when the witness did not know the accused and the incident occurred in darkness. The Court also ruled that the mere recovery of the tarpaulin could not substantiate a conviction for such a grave offence. Consequently, the conviction of the appellant under s.302 r.w. s.307 IPC was set aside and he was ordered to be released.

Issues considered

The admissibility and reliability of identification evidence made in court without a prior test identification parade.
Whether the recovery of stolen articles at the accused's instance can alone support a conviction under sections 302 and 307 IPC.
The effect of the appellant not being named in the FIR on the validity of the conviction.
The sufficiency of identification evidence to sustain a conviction for murder and attempted murder.

Legislation cited

Subjects

identification paradetest identificationmurderIPC s.302IPC s.307convictionevidentiary standardsacquittal

Judgment

[2009] 11 S.C.R. 367

RAMESH A
v.
STATE OF KARNATAKA
(Criminal Appeal No. 629 of 2005)

JULY 27, 2009
8
[S.S. SINHA AND CYRIAC JOSEPH, JJ.]
...
- :... Penal Code, 1860: s.302 and s.307 - Five accused -
Murder of cleaner of truck and injuries to driver - Articles in
truck missing - Missing articles recovered at the instance of c
accused - No test identification parade (TIP) held -
Conviction under s.302 r.w. s.307, based on disclosure
statement - Award of death sentence to A-1 to A-4 and life

.. • imprisonment to A-5 - On appeal, death sentence reduced
to life imprisonment - Appeal by A-3 - Held: Conviction order D
against A-3 set aside - He was not named in FIR - A-5 was
arrested in earlier point of time - However driver was called
to identify A-3 first - Since TIP was not held, identification of
A-3 by driver in court cannot be held to be trustworthy - ·
Recovery of missing articles by itself not sufficient to convict E
A-3 for charge of such grave nature - Identification - Test
identification parade .

Heera and Anr. v. State of Rajasthan (2007) 10 SCC 175,
held inapplicable.
F
Malkhansingh and Ors. v. State of M.P. (2003) 5 SCC.
7 46; Asharfi and Ors. v. The State Al R ( 1961) All 153;
Ravindru Laxman Mahadik v. State of Maharashtra (1997)
Criminal Law Journal 3833, referred to.
G
<;;ase law reference:
:·~ .. (2003) 5 sec 146 referred to Para 18
(2001) 1o sec 11s held inapplicable Para 19
367 H
I
368 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009) 11 S.C.R.

A AIR (1961) All 153 r~ferred to Para 19
(1997) CLJ 3833 referred to Para 19

CRIMINAL AP PELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal
No. 629 of 2005.
B
. From the Judgment & Order dated 17.12.2003 of the High
Court of Karnataka at Bangalore in Crl. A.No. 1~20 of 2003.

Deepshikha Bharati (A.C.) for the Appellants.
-
C Anil Kr. Mishra, Vikrant Yadav, Amit Kr. Chawla and Sanjay
R. Hegde for the Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

S.B. SINHA, J. 1. Accuse_9 No.3 before the learned Trial
D Court is before us aggrieved by and dissatisfied with a judgment
and order dated 17.12 ..2003 passed by the High Court of
Karnataka at Bangalore in Criminal Appeal No.1820 of 2003
modifying his sentence from death to rigorous imprisonment for
life arising out of a judgment dated 11.11.2003 passed by the
E I Addttional District and Sessions Judge, Bangalore Rural
District, Bangalore in SC No. 73 of 2000. · :-

2. PW3, Manjusetty was the driver of a truck bearing
Registration No.AP-09-4948. Deceased Shivashankar
F (Shekar) was the cleaner in the said truck. Accused No.5
Jayamma is said to be a member of a gang of dacoits
comprising of accused Nos. 1 to 4 being Krishna, Manjunath,
Ram,esh (appellant) and Shivalinga. The truck belonged to one
Natraja Transport Company having its office at Prashanth
G Nag~r. Bangalore.

3. A First Information Report was lodged by PW2,
Puttaswamy alleging that on 24.12.1998 when he had gone to ).. ~~:
Kunigal for work, he received a call in his mobile phone at ?bout
7.45 am from his office informing him that the aforementioned
H truck had been stolen by some persons. He was asked to look
RAMESH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA [S.B.SINHA, J.] 369

- .......
/ into the matter. He with Driver Eshwara went in search of the A
said truck in a Maruti Van bearing Registration No.KA02 7055.
Near a factory which is on the side of highway No ...:.8 at Kunigal,
he found that some people had gathered by the side of the road.
Upon enquiries made by them, they came to know that a pair
of chappal was lying at some distance away from the road. B
They proceeded further and found one 'pant' and two
'<"\
undergarments. Proceeding further they found blood stains and
a severed hand of a man on the field. It now stands established
)o.
that the same was that of the driver of the lorry. They thereafter
went towards Solur, Nelamangala, Shivaga'nge and Kudur. On c
the way from Kudur to Shivagange, they again found that some
people had gathered near Thoreramanahalli and upon
enquiries made, they were informed that one dead body was
lying at some distance. They found the dead body to be that of
the cleaner, Shekar. 'They informed the owner of the vehicle
D
thereabout. They furthermore went in search of the truck. They
~ came to learn that the driver of the truck, Manja had been
admitted to Mallige Medical Centre at Bangalore City
whereupon they visited the nursing home and found him to be
in a seriously injured condition, his left hand having been
severed. He was instructed by the owner of the truck to lodge E
a complaint with the police pursuant whereto a First Information
Report was lodged. It was registered under Section 302, 392
and 307 of the Indian Penal Code.

4. The prosecution case, as disclosed by PW3 is as F
under:

While he was driving the said truck on 22.12.1998 with
some goods to Bhadravathi, he visited his sister's house at
Marishetty Halli, village in Channaryapattana Taluk. He left his
G
sister's village_ at 7.30 pm in the night on 23.12.1998. He came
•-> -"
near the Johnson factory at about 10 pm. The road was under
repair. He saw accused No.5 ·Jayamma standing by the side
of the road. She came to him by making a signal with her hand
whereupon he sent the cleaner Shivashankar to enquire as to
what was the matter about. He returned back after speaking H
370 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 11 S.C.R.

,,_,-
A to her stating that she intended to go to KMDL factory. She had '
asked him to give her Rs.50/-. As PW3 had no money with him,
he borrowed the said sum from the cleaner, got down from the
truck and proceeded towards the place where she had been
standing. Jayamma led him towards the field. When apparently
B they were having sex, accused No.1 to 4 came from behind and
suddenly caught hold of him. Krishna, accused No.1 is said to
have inflicted an injury on the backside of his neck with a 7~
hatchet. He tried to run away. He was chased by the other
.:t.
accused persons. They again tried to hit him on his neck.
c However, he raised his hand to protect his neck as a result
whereof, the blow fell on nis left hand resulting in severing of
his left palm. He became unconscious. He regained his
consciousness at around 3.30. He felt thirsty. When he tried to
drink water from a nearby dhaba, it came down through his
neck. He went by the side of the road to stop some vehicle.
D
He also noticed that the truck was missing. He lost his
consciousness again. He regained his consciousness at ~

Mallige Nursing Home at Bangalore. He was in hospital for
about 20 days.

E He was called to the police station to identify one of the ;

.:.
culprits and he identified the appellant. Fifteen days thereafter
he was again called to the police station and found appellant
Jayamma there. She was identified to be the woman who had
actually made signal to stop the truck on the way, Seven days
F thereafter he was again called to the police station and found
accused No.2 to be present there. He, however, could not
identify accused Nos.1 and 4.

5. Admittedly, no identification parade was held. It was
alleged that from the truck, a tape recorder, one watch, two
G
tyres, one jack and one tarpaulin.with a rope was stolen. Those
articles were said to have been recovered at the instance of )..-
'-..•
)
the accused. At the instance of the appellant, a blue coloured
tarpaulin was said to have been recovered from PW4.

H 6. The place of occurrence is said to be the Johnson
RAMESH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA [S.B.SINHA, J.] 371

-~
factory which is situated at a distance of three kilometers ahead A
of Kunigal as one proceeds towards Bangalore. Near the said
factory, there was a Dhaba on the left side. A little ahead, there
was another dhaba on the. right side. Behind the dhaba, on the
left side there are agricultural fields. The area where the incident
took place is known as Karikal Gudda cross. There were lights B
in the Johnson factory. PW3, in his evidence, stated that near
._, the place of occurrence, only he, Shivashankar (the cleaner) and
):_
accused No.1 to 5 were present. He removed his pant and
chappal. Accused No.5 removed her undergarments for having
illicit sex. The accused had caught hold of him from behind. He c
allegedly had conversation with them as to who else were in
there in the lorry and as to where he had been going. The said
place is said to be at a distance of about 100 ft. from the road.
Ragi crops were standing in the field, when the assault, in the
manner stated, took place. Accused No.1 Krishna was said to
D
:... have been holding a Machu. Accused No.4 was holding a
1-- chaku. Accused No.2, however, was unarmed.

7. During the course of investigation whereas at the
instance of the appellant, the tarpaulin was recovered from
PW4, the jack, tape recorder and two tyres were stated to have E
been recovered at the instance of accused No.1 from different
persons.

8. Relying on or on the basis of the statement of PW3 as
~ also the recovery of the said articles, a judgment of conviction
and sentence was recorded. Death sentence was awarded to
F
accused No.1 to 4. Accused No.5, however, was awarded life
imprisonment. All the accused were furthermore convicted
under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to
undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years.
G
" 9. On appeals having been preferred by the accused; the
·, ,.
same were allowed in part and the death sentence awarded
"' against respondent Nos.1 to 4 were reduced to life
imprisonment.

10. This appeal has been filed by the appellant who was H
372 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009) 11 S.C.R.

A accused No.3 alone. y-

11. Ms. Deepshikha Bharati, learned amicus, appearing
on behalf of the appellant, would submit that the place of
occurrence being about 400 meters to 500 meters from the
Johnson factory and the appellant being unknown to the said
B PW3, it was impossible to identify him in a dark night. The
purported substantial evidence whereupon reliance has been
placed by the learned Sessions Judge as also the High Court ,_,,-,

was not such which would lead to the conclusion that the ~
prosecution case was proved beyond all reasonable doubts.
c
12. Mr. Mi$hra, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
State, however, supported the impugned judgment.
We have noticed heretobefore that no test identification
parade was held. In the First Information Report, the appellant
D was not named. We, however, are conscious of the fact that
PW2, Puttaswamy, when lodged the First Information Report,
~
might not h~ve received the details of incident from PW3 as
he was undergoing treatment in the nursing home. According
to PW3, however, he came to know the names of all the
E assailants during the incident as one would call the other by his
name. In his statement before the police, however, admittedly
he did not disclose the name of the appellant. Strangely enough,
according to PW30, the Head Constable, PW23, and another
constable produced accused No.5 before him at about 3.45 pm
-Ji,
F on 12.1.1999. She was arrested and interrogated. It was on that
day itself, he called PW3 who identified her whereupon his
further statement was recorded. The said prosecution witness,
however does not state that even accused No.5, on
interrogation, disclosed the name of accused No.s 1 to 4.
G Accused No.3 was arrested on 9.2.1999. It is not in,dispute that f
he is a taxi driver. He was kept in custody during the night. On
the next day, allegedly, he was taken to the house of one Ibrahim )>.
who is said to have purchased from him the tarpaulin in
question.
H 13. PW4, in his evidence disclosed that the tarpaulin
RAMESH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA [S.B.SINHA, J.] 373

........ purchased by him was blue in colour. PW2 and PW3, in their A
evidences, however, stated that the tarpaulin which was used
in the truck was of mash green colour. Yet again when the
tarpaulin was produced, its colour had faded but despite the
same, it was identified as the same tarpaulin.
8
14. We have noticed hereinbefore that according to PW3,

- );
he was called upon to identify the accused No.3 first in the
police station. He, after three weeks, was again called to the
police station to identify accused No.5. PW13, however, as
indicated hereinbefore, in his statement stated the date of
arrest of accused No.5 as 12.1.1999. The incident having taken c
place on 24.12.1998 and PW3 being in hospital for at least 20
days and he having been called to police station three weeks
thereafter, it is beyond comprehension as to how he could be
asked to identify accused No.3 first and then accused No.5,
although accused No.5 was arrested on 12.1.1999 and the D
appellant was arrested on 9.2.1999. PW4, Ibrahim, was the
~
owner of hotel. He knew the appellant No.3 as he used to take
his meals in his hotel. In his statement, the appellant was a
regular customer as he had been transporting sand in his truck
regularly. He was examined on 19.11.2002. According to him, E
about four years prior thereto, he had asked for some loan
stating that he had no money to pay fo~ food. When, however,
he expressed his inability to pay the said sum stating that he
had no money, he allegedly borrowed the said amount from
k
another person on pledging a terpauline. After one and a half F
months, he came with the Kudur police and asked him to give
his money back. At the instance of the police, the terpauline

j was produced. Measurement of the terpauline was taken. A
panchnama was prepared. What was the measurement of the
terpauline, however, has not been disclosed. The purported
. measurement of the terpauline said to have been stolen had
G
A not been verified with the reco·Jered one. None of the
,. ~
prosecution witnesses denied or disputed the fact that appellant
was a driver. It apRears rather strange that Shanthakumar PW6
would be panch witnesses for recovery of M0.12 although he
H
374 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 11 S.C.R.

'~-
A had advanced the amount of Rs.500 to PW4. If the tarpauline
was pledged to him, there was no reason as to why it should
be recovered from PW4. The special features of the tarpauline
which c9uld be identified by PW2 and PW3 have not been
stated. Tarpaulines are common goods being available in the
B market. It has also been accepted by Shanthakumar, PW6.
15. In view of the fact that other accused are not before ,.....,,
us, we are of the opinion that it is difficult to uphold the judgment
A
of conviction and sentence against the appellant herein. The
place where the assault took place was said to be at a distance
c of 400 to 500 meters from the factory. Not only the place of
occurrence was agricultural fields as stated by PW3 but the
crop had also been standing thereon.

16. If accused No.5 was arrested first and accused Nu.3
D one month thereafter, it does not stand to any reason as to why
PW3 would be called to identify accused No.3 first which
..
~
according to him took place 20 days after his discharge from
the hospital and 15 days thereafter he was again summoned
to identify accused No.5.
E 17. We have noticed hereinbefore the respective dates of
arrest of accused No.5 and accused No.3 respectively. It is
difficult to conceive that accused No.5 would still be available
so that the Investigating Officer could ask the witnesses to
come to the police station. There is nothing to show that she ~

F was in custody of the police for more than 30 days. A
presumption must be drawn that by that time, she was in judicial
t
custody. It is also wholly unlikely that names of all the accused
person would be disclosed during commission of the offence
by one another. It furthermore appears to be somewhat unusual
G that although PW3 and accused No.5 were caught while they
were indulging in ·illicit sex and all of them came from behind
and the first attack was on the back of his neck, still )..
l
.._

conversations would not only took place by and between PW3 '
and the accused persons; the former even in that condition
H would be able to follow the same.
RAMESH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA [S.B.SINHA, J.] 375

18. Mr. Chaudhary would submit that in all cases, it is not A
necessary to hold test identification parade. That may be so.
In a case of this nature, the test identification parade would·
have been meaningless as appellant were shown to PW3 in
the police station. Appellant was shown to PW3 at the police
station. He was identified in court also. Reliance has been B
placed by Mr. Chaudhary on Malkhansingh & Ors. V. State
of M.P. [(2003) 5 SCC 746], wherein this Court opined :

"The evidence of mere identification of the accused person
at the trial for the first time is from its very nature inherently
of a weak character. The purpose of a prior test C
identification, therefore, is to test and strengthen the
trustworthiness of that evidence. It is accordingly
considered a safe rule of prudence to generally look for
corroboration of the sworn testimony of witnesses in court
as to the identity of the accused who are strangers to them, . D
in the form of earlier identification proceedings. This rule
of prudence, however, is subject to exceptions, when, for
example, the court is impressed by a particular witness on
whose testimony it can safely rely, without such or other
corroboration. The identification parades belong to the E
stage of investigation, and there is no provision in the
Code of Criminal Procedure, which obliges the
investigating agency to hold, or confers a right upon the
accused to claim, a test identification parade. They do not
constitute substantive evidence and these parades are F
essentially governed by Section 162 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure. Failure to hold a test identification
parade would not make inadmissible the evidence of

j identification in court. The weight to be attached to such
identification should be a matter for the courts of fact. In G
appropriate cases it may accept. the evidence of
identification even without insisting on corroboration."
It was furthermore held :

"It is no doubt true that much evidentiary value cannot be H
376 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2009] 11 S.C.R.
,

~
A attached to the identification of the accused in court where
identifying witness is a total stranger who had just a fleeting
glimpse of the person identified or who had no particular
reason to remember the person concerned, if the
identification is made for the first time in court."
B 19. Judged by the aforementioned legal principles laid
down therein, in our opinion, the identification of appellant PW3
in court cannot be held to be trustworthy. ....
Reliance has also been placed by Mr. Chaudhary on a
c judgment of this Court in Asharfi & Ors. V. The State [AIR 1961
All. 153], wherein it was held that identification by only one
person may not be relied upon stating :
"Hence, only one identification cannot eliminate the
possibility of the pointing out being purely through chance
D and for this reason is insufficient to establish the charge. n
~
In Heera & Anr. V. State of Rajasthan [(2007) 10 SCC
175], a test identification had been held in presence of a Civil
Judge and a Judicial Magistrate. The said decision, therefore,
E is not applicable.
In Ravindra Laxman Mahadik v. State of Maharashtra
[(1997 Criminal Law Journal 3833) in a case involving Section
395 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it was opined:

F "I find merit in Mr. Mooman's submission that it would not
be safe to accept the identification evidence of Manda
Sahani. Manda Sahani in. her examination-in-chief stated '
that on the place of the incident, there was no light. In her !

G
cross-examination (para 6) she stated that it was dark at
the place of the incident but, slight light was emanating
frof11 the building situate on the shore. The distanc~
between the building and the place where Manda Sahani )t:
l
and her husband were looted has not been unfolded in the
evidence. The learned trial Judge has observed that the
evidence of Vinod Sahani is that the incident took place
H
RAMESH v. STATE OF KARNATAKA [S.B.SINHA, J.] 377
""""- -,,...
at a distance of about 100 ft. from the Gandhi statute, A
where the meeting was held. What he wanted to convey
was that hence there must have been light at the place of
incident in my view, on the face of the definite statement
of Manda that it was dark as there was only slight light,
and bearing in mind that the incident took place at 9.30 8
p.m. in the month of February, 1992, it would not be safe
- ~
to conclude that there was sufficient light on the place of
the incident enabling Manda Sahani to identify the
appellant."
The decision of the Allahabad High Court in Asharfi /al c
(supra) was followed therein.
In Kanan & Ors. V. State of Kera/a [AIR 1979 SC 1127],
this Court held :
"It is well settled that where a witness Identifies an accused D
... who is not known to him in the Court for the first time, his
evidence Is absolutely valueless unless there has been a
previous T. I. parade to test his powers of observations.
The Idea of holding T. I. parade under Section 9 of the
Evidence Act is to test the veracity of the witness on the E
question of his capability to identify an unknown person
whom the witness may have seen only once. If no T. I.
parade is held then it will be wholly unsafe to rely on his
bare testimony regarding the identification of an accused
for the first time in Court."
F
20. As identification of PW3 is highly doubtful, in our
opinion, having regard to the nature of other evidences brought
on record by the State, i.e., purported recovery of a tarpauline
by itself cannot be said to be sufficient to convict the appellant
for a charge of such grave offence. G
. .,,;
21. The appeal is allowed. The appellant should be set at
liberty forthwith unless wanted in connection with any other
case.

D.G. Appeal allowed. H