Holding

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, affirming Shyam's conviction for murder under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC.

Summary

The appellant Shyam was convicted for the murder of Kailash on 27 October 1995 based on the testimony of the deceased's widow, who witnessed the assault and identified Shyam as the assailant. The trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC; the High Court upheld the conviction but reduced it to Section 304 Part II IPC. On appeal, Shyam challenged the reliability of the relative's testimony, the delay in lodging the FIR, and alleged a discrepancy between medical (post‑mortem) findings and the eye‑witness account. The Supreme Court held that a relative's testimony is not per se unreliable, that the delay was satisfactorily explained, and that there was no material variance between medical and ocular evidence; consequently, the conviction under Section 302 r/w Section 34 IPC was sustained. The appeal was dismissed.

Issues considered

The credibility of a relative (the deceased's widow) as an eye‑witness.
Whether the delay in filing the FIR vitiates the prosecution case.
Whether a discrepancy between medical evidence and eye‑witness testimony warrants overturning the conviction.
Whether the appropriate charge is murder under Section 302 r/w Section 34 or culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 Part II.
Whether the prosecution proved Shyam's participation and knowledge that his act would cause death.

Legislation cited

Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 302, s. 304(Part-II), s. 34

Subjects

murderculpable homicide not amounting to murdereye‑witness testimonyrelative witnessdelay in FIRmedical evidence vs ocular evidenceSection 34 IPCcriminal law

Judgment

A SHYAM +-
v.
STA TE OF M.P. THROUGH P.S. BERCHA

FEBRUARY 15, 2007

B [DR. ARIJIT PASA YAT AND S.H. KAPADIA, JJ.]

__,...
Penal Code-S.302 rlw s.34-Murder~Caused by inflicting knife
injuries-Appeal against conviction by Courts below-Held: Deceased's
widow, the eye-witness, gave vivid description about participation of accused
c right from the stage ofFIR-Even after searching cross-examination, nothing
to discredit her statement-Courts below justified in placing reliance upon
her evidence-Plausible reason given for delay in lodging FIR, hence d"eiay -·
condoned-,No variance between medical evidence and ocular evidence as
alleged-Conviction sustained.
D
Criminal Trial:

Witness-Related or interested witness-Appreciation of evidence-
Duty of Court-Held: No proposition in law that relatives be treated as
-\.
-
untrutliful witnesses-But at the same time if relatives or interested witnesses
E are examined, Court has to analyse the evidence with deeper scrutiny.

FIR-Delay in lodging-Effect of-Discussed.

Evidence:

F Medical evidence and ocular evidence-Variance between-Effect of-
t--
Held: Oral evidence has to get primacy-Medical evidence is basically
opinionative-'Medical evidence can be used to repel the testimony of eye-
witnesses only if it is conclusive as to rule out even the possibility of the eye-
witness's version being true.

G According to the prosecution, PWI heard alarm raised by her husband
and thereafter found Appellant and four other accused grappling with him.
\ ...
Appellant allegedly went to his house and brought a knife whereafter he and
a co-accused 'P' stabbed the husband of PWI with several blows of knife
resulting in his death. Trial Court convicted Appellant and 'P' under Section
-::
H 706
--:).,

SHYAMv_ STATEOFM.P. THROUGH P.S. BERCHA 707
302 r/w 34 IPC. The other three accused were acquitted. On appeal, High A
Court acquitted the said 'P', but upheld the conviction of Appellant, though
under S.304 Part-II IPC. Hence the present appeal challenging the conviction
of Appellant.

Dismissing the appeal, the Court
B
HELD: I. In the case of appellant, PW1, the eye witness has right from
the stage of the First Information Report, given a vivid description about the
participation from the beginning, the manner in which he went to his house
1" and brought the knife and he assaulted and caused injuries to the deceased.
The evidence of Dr. H.L. Arya (PW-3) and his autopsy report clearly recorded
four external injuries on the body of the deceased. The testimony of this c
witness has been subjected to searching cross-examination, but nothing has
been brought on record to discredit the statement of PW-1. What has been
suggested is that the deceased was drunken and that there was grappling
between the two in which the deceased sustained injuries. As seen from the
injuries recorded in post mortem report, first injury has been sustained in D
the lumbar region, second on the shoulder, third in the inguinal region and
the fourth on the left forearm. It appears incredible that in grappling, a person
....... would sustain injuries on places where it would be difficult for his hand to
!' reach. It is also beyond comprehension that in such grappling with a knife in
the hand of the deceased, the other party, namely the accused, would escape
unscathed. Thus the prosecution has fully succeeded in showing that it was E
on account of the injuries inflicted by Appellant that the death occurred. [Para
8) [711-B, C, D, El

2.1. There is no proposition in law that relatives are to be treated as
untruthful witnesses. On the contrary, reason has to be shown when a plea of
partiality is raised to show that the witnesses had reason to shield the actual F
culprit and falsely implicate the accused. No evidence has been led in this
regard. So far as the delay in lodging the FIR is concerned, the witnesses
have clearly stated that after seeing the deceased in an injured condition
immediate effort was to get him hospitalized and get him treated. There cannot
be any generalization that whenever there is a delay in lodging the FIR, the G
prosecution case becomes suspect. Whether delay is so long as to throw a
cloud of suspicion on the seeds of the prosecution case, would depend upon
j
the facts of each case. Even a long delay can be condoned if the witnesses
have no motive of implicating the accused and have given a plausible reason
as to why the report was lodged beh1tedly. In the instant case, this has been
H
·~·

708 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007) 2 S.C.R.

A done, Ilt is to be noted that though there was cross-examination at length no
infirmity was noticed in their evidence. Therefore, the trial Court and the f-·
High Court were right in relying on the evidence PW-1. IPara 91
1711-E, G, H; 712-AI

2.2. In some cases persons may not like to come and depose as witnesses
B and in some other cases the prosecution may carry the impression that their
evidence would not help it as there is likelihood of partisan approach so far
as one of the parties is concerned. In such a case mere non-examination would
not affect the prosecution version. But at the same time if the relatives or
interested witnesses are examined, the Court has a duty to analyse the evidence 't
with deeper scrutiny and then come to a conclusion as to whether it has a
c ring of truth or there is reason for holding that the evidence was biased.
Whenever a plea is taken that the witness is partisan or had any hostility
towards the accused, foundation for the same has to be laid. If the materials
show that there is partisan approach, as indicated above, the Court has to
analyse the evidence with care and caution. Additionally, the accused persons
D always have the option of examining the left out persons as defence witnesses.
[Para 1111712-C, D, El

. 3.1. So far as the alleged variance between medical evidence and ocular
evidence is concerned it is trite law that oral evidence has to get primacy and
medical evidence is basically opinionative. It is only when the medical evidence
E specifically rules out the injury as claimed to have been inflicted as per the
oral testimony, then only in a given case the Court has to draw adverse
inference. [Para 10) (712-B, q

3.2. It has now become axiomatic that medical evidence can be used to
repel the testimony of eyewitness only if it is so conclusive as to rule out
F even the possibility of the eyewitness's version to be true. A doctor usually
confronted with such questions regarding different possibilities or probabilities
of causing those injuries or post-mortem features which he noticed in the
medical report may express his views one way or the other depending upon
the manner the question was asked. But the answers given by the witness to
G such questions need not become the last word on such possibilities. After all
he gives only his opinion regarding such questions. But to discard the
testimony of an eyewitness simply on the strength of such opinion expressed
by the medical witness is not conducive to the administration of criminal
justice. (Para 12) [712-F, G, H; 713-A)
'"'
H 3.3. In this case it has been categorically held that there is no variance. ~'"'--
SHYAMv. STATEOFM.P. THROUGHP.S. BERCHA[PASAYAT,J.] 709
That being so, even the hypothetical plea is also applicable. !Para 13J (713-BJ A
----<
State of U.P. v. Krishna Gopal and Anr., AIR (1988) SC 2154 and
Ramanand Yadav v. Prabhu Nath Jha & Ors., (2003( 12 SCC 606, relied on.

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 215 of
2007. B
From the Judgment and final Order dated 4.1.2006 of the High Court of
Madhya Pradesh (Indore Bench) in Criminal Appeal No. 616/1996.
't'
Niraj Sharma and Vikrant Singh for the Appellant.

Vibha Datta Makhija for the Respondent.
c
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. 1. Leave granted.

2. Challenge in this appeal is to the order passed by a Division Bench
D
of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Indore Bench. On the basis of the
accusations that appellant and four others were responsible for the homicidal
;. death of one Kailash (hereinafter referred to as the 'deceased') on 27.10.1995,
the accused persons faced trial. The learned First Additional Sessions Judge,
Shajapur, found two of the accused persons i.e. Prakash and appellant herein E
, Shy am to be guilty of offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section
34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the 'IPC'). Each was sentenced
to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- each with
default stipulation. The other three were acquitted. The appellant and co-
accused Prakash preferred an appeal before the High Court which was
dismissed by the impugned order, so far as appellant is concerned. Prakash F
---1 was directed to be acquitted.

3. Prosecution version as unfolded during trial is as follows:

On 27.10.1995 wife of the deceased Bhagwantibai (PW-I) was in her
house, when at about 11.00 o' Clock, she heard the alarm raised by her G
husband. When she came out, she witnessed that the accused persons and
. ~ the acquitted co-accused were grappling with him. Just then, appellant Shyam
went to his house and brought a knife while accused Babloo @ Prakash
exhorted them to kill him. Acquitted co-accused Dhapubai and Kirshnabai
H
I'

,,
710 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 2 S.C.R.

A then caught the deceased and Shyam and Prakash administered several blows
of knife causing injuries in various part of the body of deceased Kailash. +-
Bhagwantibai (PW-I) raised an alarm and infonned Mohanlal, Babu and
Ramchandra about the incident. Kailash was carried on a cot to the hospital,
but he succumbed to the injuries. Report of the incident Ex.Pl! was lodged
at the police station by Bhagwantibai (PW-I), which was recorded by B.L.
B Meena, Station House Officer (PW-8) and an offence was registered against
the accused. During investigation, inquest was held and inquest report Ex.Pl
6 was prepared. The body was forwarded for post-mortem examination vide
requisition Ex.Pl3. Spot map Ex.PllO was prepared and samples of blood
~
stained and simple earth were obtained vide Ex.Pl! I. A pair of chappals from
c the spot was seized under memo Ex.P/12. During investigation, accused persons
were arrested and the disclosures made by them were recorded and in pursuance I·
thereof, knife, vest (baniyan) from Shyam and a knife and kurta, pyajamas
from Prakash were seized. The seized articles were sent to the Forensic
Science Laboratory for analysis and charge sheet was filed against the
appellants and co-accused.
D
4. On consideration of evidence on record, appellant and Prakash were
convicted and others were acquitted. The convicted accused persons preferred
an appeal before the High Court.

5. The primary plank of the argument of the appellant before the High
E Court was that the medical evidence was at variance with the so called eye
"
witnesses' version. The High Court did not accept the stand. The High Court
found that actually there was no variance between the medical evidence and
the ocular evidence. The High Court found no substance in the said plea of
the accused appellant.- It, however, found that accusations were not established
F so far as the accused Prakash was concerned. Accordingly his conviction
was set aside and he was acquitted. However, the High Court found that the
)- -
conviction under Section 302 IPC was not appropriate, the proper provision
applicable would be Section 304 Part II IPC so far as present appellant is
concerned. Custodial sentence of 7 years was imposed. Accordingly the
appeal was partially allowed. }
G
6. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that since on the very
same evidence three persons have been acquitted, it would not be proper to
convict accused appellant on the self-same evidence, that too of a relative i.e.
decease:d's widow. There was also delay in lodging the FIR. Alternatively, it
H
SHY AM v. STATEOFM.P. THROUGH P.S.BERCl-IA [PASAYAT.,.] 711

was submitted that the High Court was not justified in holding that the A
__,
appellant was responsible for the death of the deceased and/or that he had
knowledge that the act committed by him would result in death.

7. Learned counsel for the State on the other hand supported the
judgment of the High Court.
B
8. Coming to the case of appellant Shyam, the eye witness has right
from the stage of the first information report, given a vivid description about
the participation from the beginning, the manner in which he went to his
-r·
house and brought the knife and he assaulted and caused injuries to Kailash.
The evidence of Dr. H.L. Arya (PW-3) and his autopsy report clearly recorded
four external injuries on the body of the deceased Kai lash. The testimony of c
this witness has been subjected to searching cross-examination, but nothing
has been brought on record to discredit the statement of Bhagwantibai (PW-
I). What has been suggested is that the deceased wa~ drunken and that there
was grappling between the two !n which the deceased sustained injuries. As
seen from the injuries recorded in post mortem report, first injury has been D
sustained in the lumbar region, second on the shoulder, third in the inguinal
region and the fourth on the left forearm. It appears incredible that in grappling,
a person would sustain injuries on places where it would be difficult for his
'>.
hand to reach. It is also beyond comprehension that in such grappling with
a knife in the hand of the deceased, the other party, namely the accused,
would escape unscathed. We have recorded the submission only to discard E
it. Thus the prosecution has fully succeeded in showing that it was on
~
account of the injuries inflicted by accused Shyam that death of Kailash
occurred.

9. There is no proposition in law that relatives are to be treated as
untruthful witnesses. On the contrary, reason has to be shown when a plea
F
~-{

of partiality is raised to show that the witnesses had reason to shield the
actual culprit and falsely implicate the accused. No evidence has been led in
this regard. So far as the delay in lodging the FIR is concerned, the witnesses
have clearly stated that after seeing the deceased in an injured condition
immediate effort was to get him hospitalized and get him treated. There cannot G
be any generalization that whenever there is a delay in lodging the FIR, the
..... ). prosecution case becomes suspect. Whether delay is so long as to throw a
cloud of suspicion on the seeds of the prosecution case, would depend upon
the facts of each case. Even a long delay can be condoned if the witnesses

H
712 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 2 S.C.R.

A have no motive of implicating the accused and have given a plausible reason
as to why the report was lodged belatedly. In the instant case, this has been !--
done. It is to be noted that though there was cross-examination at length no
infomity was noticed in their evidence. Therefore, the trial Court and the High
Court were right in relying on the evidence PW-I.

B I0. So far as the alleged variance between medical evidence and ocular
evidence is concerned it is trite Jaw that oral evidence has to get primacy and
medical evidence is basically opinionative. It is only when the medical evidence
specifically rules out the injury as claimed to have been inflicted as per the
oral testimony, then only in a given case the Court has to draw adverse
C inference.
· 11. In some cases persons may not like to come and depose as witnesses
and in some other cases the prosecution may carry the impression that their
evidence would not help it as there is likelihood of partisan approach so far
as one of the parties is concerned. In such a case mere non-examination
D would not affect the prosecution version. But at the same time if the relatives
or interested witnesses are examined, the Court has a duty to analyse the
evidence with deeper scrutiny and then come to a conclusion as to whether
it has a ring of truth or there is reason for holding that the evidence was
biased. Whenever a plea is taken that the witness is partisan or had any --...
hostility towards the accused, foundation for the same has to be laid. If the
E materials show that there is partisan approach, as indicated above, the Court
has to analyse the evidence with care and caution. Additionally, the accused
persons always have the option of examining the left out persons as defence
witnesses.

F 12. Over dependence on such opinion evidence, even if the witness is
an expert in the field, to checkmate the direct testimony given by an eyewitness
is not a safe modus adoptable in criminal cases. It has now become axiomatic
that medical evidence can be used to repel the testimony of eyewitness only
if it is so conclusive as to rule out even the possibility of the eyewitness's
version to be true. A doctor usually confronted with such questions regarding
G different possibilities or probabilities of causing those injuries or post-mortem
features which he noticed in the medical report may express his views one
way or the other depending upon the manner the question was asked. But
the answers given by the witness to such questions need not become the last
word on such possibilities. After all he gives only his opinion regarding such
" --
H
SHYAMv. STATEOFM.P. THROUGHP.S.BERCHA[PASAYAT,J.] 713
questions. But to discard the testimony of an eyewitness simply on the A
strength of such opinion expressed by the medical witness is not conducive
to the administration of criminal justice. (See, State of U.P. v. Krishna Gopal
and Anr., AIR (1988) SC 2154 and Ramanand Yadav v. Prabhu Nath Jha &
Ors., [2003] 12 SCC 606].

13. In this case it has been categorically held that there is no variance. B
That being so, even the hypothetical plea is also applicable.

't 14. In the aforesaid circumstances the judgment of the High Court does
not suffer from any infinnity.

15. The appeal is dismissed. c
B.B.B. Appeal dismissed.

. i