Holding

The conviction is justified as the eyewitness testimony is cogent, reliable and convincing, corroborated by medical and forensic evidence, establishing the offence beyond reasonable doubt.

Summary

Umesh was convicted under Section 302 IPC for the murder of Dilip Ganpatrao Shirbhate on 26 November 1997. The prosecution’s case rested on two eyewitnesses who saw Umesh stab the victim, forensic evidence showing the victim’s blood group on Umesh’s shirt, and the recovery of the alleged murder weapon at Umesh’s residence. The defense argued that the non‑examination of the informant and the shop owner, the alleged lack of motive, and the witnesses’ interest rendered the evidence unreliable. The Supreme Court held that the eyewitness testimony was natural, truthful, and corroborated by medical and chemical analysis, and that the absence of motive or unexamined witnesses did not defeat proof beyond reasonable doubt. Consequently, the Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction and sentence.

Issues considered

Whether the conviction can be sustained despite the non‑examination of the informant and the shop owner.
Whether the eyewitnesses’ testimony is reliable given their interest and alleged unnatural reaction.
Whether the absence of a proved motive defeats the prosecution’s case.
Whether forensic evidence (blood group match and recovered weapon) corroborates the eyewitness accounts.

Legislation cited

Subjects

murderIPC 302eyewitness testimonyforensic evidenceblood group analysisnon‑examination of witnessmotivereasonable doubt

Judgment

UMESH A
v.
STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

FEBRUARY 7, 2007

[C.K. THAKKERANDLOKESHWARSINGHPANTA,JJ.] B

Penal Code, 1860-s. 302-Murder-/ncident seen by two
eyewitnesses-Recovery and seizure of weapon and blood stained clothes at
the instance of the accused-Non-examination of informant-Evidence of
eye-witnesses corroborated by medical evidence and Report. of Chemical C
Analyst-Conviction bycourts belo~n appeal, held: Convictionjustified-
Evidence of eye-witnesses is cogent, reliable and convincing-Offence is
proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Appellant-accused was prosecuted for having committed murder of one D
person. As per prosecution the informant was told by a person that the dead
body of deceased was lying near a shop. He went there and lodged FIR. The
weapon used for the occurrence and the blood stained clothes were recovered_
and seized· at the instance of the appellant-accused. PWs 1 and 2 were
examined as eye-witnesses. However the informant and the owner of the shop
where the body of the deceased were lying, were not examined. Trial Court E
convicted the accused under section 302 IPC. The conviction was upheld by
High Court.

Hence the present appeal.

Dismissing the appeal, the Court F
HELD: 1. In the teeth of the reliable and convincing evidence, which
has come on record, there is no other option but to accept the finding recorded
and the conclusion arrived at by the High Court on reappraisal of the entire
evidence on record to hold that it was the appellant and none else who has
committed the murder of the deceased. The prosecution has been able to G
establish the offence against the appellant beyond reasonable doubt. !Para 14)
, ·t_ [326-F-G]

2. The eyewitnesses PWs-1 and 2 are natural and truthful witnesses.
Their evidence is cogent, reliable and convincing and there is no good reason
n1 H
322 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007) 2 S.C.R.

A to disbelieve and discard their consistent and truthful version. It is well-settled
that every person who witnesses a murder reacts in his own way. There is no
set rule of natural reaction. To discard the evidence of a witness on the ground
that he did not react in any particular manner is to appreciate the evidence in
a wholly unrealistic and unimaginative way. The evidence of the eye-witnesses
finds corroboration from the medical evidence. It also cannot be said that the
B evidence needs to be discarded on the simple ground that they are interested
witnesses. (Para 11 and 12] (325-E-G]

3. The version of the eye-witnesses was further corroborated by the j.

presence of blood of 'B' group on the shirt of the appellant, which was recovered
C at his instance from his house in the presence of the panch witness (PW-3)
in whose presence the disclosure statement (Exh. 39) was made by the appellant
to the investigating officer. The report of the Chemical Analyst would reveal
that the shirt of the appellant was stained with blood of 'B' group matching
with the blood group of the deceased. The appellant has cross- examined PW-
3 at length, but he could not shatter the evidence of the panch witness to
D dislodge his evidence in regard to the recovery of blood-stained shirt at the
instance of the appellant from his house pursuant to disclosure statement
(Ex. 39) made by the appellant. (Para 14( (326-D-E]

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 744 of
2006.
E
From the Judgment and Final Order dated 23.8.2005 of the High Court
of Judicature at Bombay in Criminal Appeal No. 196/2001.

Arvincl Kumar, Laxmi Arvind, Poonam Prasad and Anuj Kumar for the
Appellant.
F
Sushi! Karanjkar and V.N. Raghupathy for the Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

LOKESHWAR SINGH PANTA, J. I. Umesh, the accused in Sessions
G Case No. 15 of 1998 on the file of the Sessions Judge, Amravati, is the
appellant before us.
j-
'
2. The appellant was charged under Section 302 of the Indian Penal
Code (for Short '!PC') for committing the murder ofDilip Ganpatrao Shirbhate
on 26.11.1997.
H
UMESH '"STATE OF MAHARASHTRA [LOKESHWAR SINGH PANTA, J.] 323

3. The broad facts giving rise to this appeal may be set out briefly. A
4. The prosecution case is that on 26.11.1997 in the midnight Vasant
Shankarrao Bijwe, resident of Vivekanand Colony, Warud, lodged a report
(Ext. 32) at Warud Police Station, Sub-division Morshi, District Amravati,
alleging that when he was sleeping in his house, one Anil Ramrao Gulhane,
resident of Warud, came there and told him that Dilip Ganpatrao Shirbhate B
resident of Warud was found lying in injured condition near the shop of Patel
situated near Bombay Lodged. Vasant Shankarrao Bijwe immediately went to
the spot of occurrence and found Dilip Ganpatrao Shirbhate, his brother-in-
law (wife's brother) lying dead. He noticed injury on the chest of Dilip-the
deceased. The clothes of the deceased were smeared with blood. Vasant C
Shankarrao Bijwe-infonnant along with one Baba alias Purushottam Marotrao
Ingle went to the Police Station to lodged the report. Head Constable B. No.
25 of Police Station Warud, Sub-division Morshi, District Amravati recorded
First Infonnation Report at 23:30 hrs. on 26.11.1997 against an unknown
person under Section 302 of the IPC.
D
5. The Investigating Officer API Ashok PW-7 conducted the
investigation or the crime. PW-7 had inspected the spot and prepared
Panchnama. He sent the dead-body for autopsy. Statements of several
witnesses were recorded at the spot. The appellant was arrested on 27 .11.1997.
During the interrogation of the appellant, he made statement under Section
27 of the Evidence Act in the presence of Keshav (PW-4) and Suresh (PW- E
5) about the concealment of knife in his house, which allegedly was used in
the commission of the offence. On the basis of the said statement, knife was
recovered. The appellant made another statement (Ext. 47) under Section 27
of the Evidence Act in the presence of Amiruddin (PW-3), on the basis of
which blood stained clothes worn by him at the time of the incident were p
seized from the house of the appellant. The seized articles were sent for
chemical analysis.

6. After completion of the investigation, charge-sheet under Section 302
IPC was filed against the appellant. In order to prove its accusations against
the appellant, the prosecution examined in all seven witnesses, out of whom G
Anand Katole (PW-I) and Waman Nerkar (PW-2) were the eye-witnesses. The
documents prepared during the investigation were also filed in support of the
case. The appellant in hi5 statement recorded under Section 3 13 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure denied his involvement in the crime. His plea was that
a false case has been registered against him. However, he lead no defence H
324 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 2 S.C.R.
)-
A evidence. Placing reliance on the evidence of the eye-witnesses and other
evidence adduced on record, the appellant as noted above was found guilty.
The appeal of the appellant against his conviction came to be dismissed by
the High Court.

7. Mr. Arvind Kumar, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
B appellant, submitted that the High Court committed a serious error in
appreciating the evidence of the alleged eye-witnesses and undue importance
to the recovery of the weapon of offenc (Knife) has been given. It was urged
that the High Court has failed to take cognizance of the fact that no motive
has been attributed to the appellant for commission of the offence therefore,
c the appellant could not have been found guilty of the charge levelled against
him. Learned counsel next submitted that non-examination of Vasant
Shankairno, Bijwe. Who allegedly lodged the First Information Report of the
crime in the Police Station and owner of Sandeep Pan Shop, is fatal to the
prosecution case and both these witnesses were intentionally withheld by the
prosecution with a view to conceal the true facts of the case. Thus, according
D to the learned counsel, the prosecution has failed to establish the charge of
murder against the appellant beyond reasonable doubt. y

8. Per contra, Mr. Sushi! Karanjkar, learned counsel appearing on behalf ,.
of the State, supported the judgments of the courts below. Mr. Karanjkar
submitted that the evidence of the eye-witnesses supported by other ocular
E and documentary evidence has been rightly examined and appreciated by the
Trial Court as well as by the High Court. He submitted that no adverse
inference can be drawn against the prosecution for non-examination of the
informant and other witness because the prosecution has fully established
the charge against the appellant beyond reasonable doubt by leading reliable
F and convincing evidence. Learned counsel further submitted that in the +
presence of direct evidence, motive recedes to the background and therefore,
it is not necessary for the prosecution to prove the motive of the appellant
to commit the murder of the deceased.

9. We have carefully considered the respective contentions of the
G learned counsel for the parties and perused the entire material on records.
10. The learned Sessions Judge as well as the High Court have accepted ).
the testimony of eye-witnesses PW-I and PW-2 to the incident. It has come
in the deposition of PW-I that on the day of occurrence, i.e. 26.11.1997, at
about 9:30 p.m. Dilip came to his house and them both of them went to Hotel
H
UMESHv. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA [LOKESHWARSINGHPANTA,J.] 325

Rupa Liquors where they consumed liquor. Thereafter, they went to Sandeep A
Pan Shop and smoked cigarettes there. Umesh (the appellant) was also present
in the pan shop. The appellant asked Dilip to give him liquor, but Dilip could
not oblige the appellant, because he had no money in his pocket for buying
liquor. The appellant entered into verbal altercation with Dilip. PW-I and Dilip
went to the liquor shop of Shankar Lala and they had again consumed
country-made liquor there. Thereafter, they went to the Bombay Lodge where B
the appellant suddenly appeared and dealt a blow of knife on the back 'ofDilip
raised cries in pain. PW-I got tightened and tried to run away. He saw the
appellant giving second blow of knife on the chest ofDilip. On the next day,
he went to the Police Station and informed the Police about the incident. PW-
2 deposed that the deceased Dilip was working with him. On 26.11.1997 at C
abou,t 9: 15 p.m., he went to the pan shop of Sandeep where he noticed
PW-I and Dilip (deceased) coming from the opposite direction towards the
shop. The appellant was also present there. The appellant asked Dilip to give
him money for buying liquor. He has corrborated the testimony of PW- I in
its entiretly in regard to the injuries inflicted by the appellant on the person
of Dilip with knife, the weapon of offence. D
X.
11. We are unable to accept the contention of the learned counsel for
the appellant that the conduct of .the eye-witnesses is unnatural as they had
not disclosed the genesis of the incident to the members of the family of the
deceased on the same day or they had into immediately reported the matter E
to the police. On scrutiny of the evidence of the eye-witnesses, we have no
hesitation to hold that PWs-1 and 2 are natural and truthful witnesses. Their
evidence is cogent, reliable and convincing and there is no good reason to
disbelieve and discard their consistent and truthful version. It is well-settled
that every person who witnesses a murder reacts in his own way. There is
no set rule of natural reaction. To discard the evidence of a witness· on the F
ground that he did not react in any particular manner is to appreciate the
evidence in a wholly unrealistic and unimaginative way. Therefore, the High
Court has rightly re-appreciated the evidence of the eye-witnesses and we
find no fault in the reasoning recorded by it. The evidence of the eye-
witnesses finds corroboration from the medical evidence.
G
r f, 12. We do not find any substance in the submission of the learned
counsel for the appellant that the evidence of the eye-witnesses needs to be
discarded on the simple ground that they are interested witnesses.
/

13. br Ambadas Sadapure (PW-6) conducted autopsy on the dead-body H
. -i.

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

A of Dilip on 27 .11.1997. He noticed two stab wounds on back below left
scapular region 4 cm. away from vertebral column obliquely upwards 5 cm.
x I cm. x 8 cm. and one stab wound on chest below left middle part of clavicle
obliquely downwards, 5 cm. x !cm. x 5 cm., besides three abrasion marks on
right hand of the deceased. Doctor deposed that upon internal examination
of the body of the deceased, one stab wound on left lung 3 cm. x 1112 cm. x
B 2 cm. obliquely downwards and one stab wound posteriors upwards oblique
3 cm. x112 cm. x 3 cm. were also noticed. All these injuries were ante mortem
and sufficient in the sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death.
As per the opinion of the doctor, the cause of death was due to shock due
...
•
to injuries to vital organ, i.e. lung and extensive haemorrhage and the injuries
c could have been caused by knife (Article 8).

14. The version of the eye-witnesses was further corroborated by the
presence of blood of 'B' group on the shirt of the appellant, which was
recovered at his instance on 27 .11.1997 from his house in the presence of the
panch witness Amiruddin Kazi (PW-3) in whose presence the disclosure
D statement (Exh. 39) was made by the appellant to the investigating officer. The
bloodstained shirt was sent to the Chemical Analyst for analysis. The report
y
of the Chemical Analyst would reveal that the shirt of the appellant was
stained with blood of'B' group matching with the blood group of the deceased. ~

The appellant has cross-examined PW-3 at length, but he could not shatter
the evidence of the panch witness dislodge his evidence in regard to the
E recovery of blood-stained shirt at the instance of the appellant from his house
pursuant to disclosure statement (Ex. 39) made by the appellant. The next
contention of the learned counsel for the appellant that adverse inference
should be drawn against the prosecution for non-examination of the informant
and other material witnesses does not merit acceptance. In the teeth of the
F reliable and convincing evidence, which has come on record, he have no
other option but to accept the finding recorded and the conclusion arrived
at by the High Court on reappraisal of the entire evidence on record to hold
that it was the appellant and none else who has committed the murder of Dilip.
The prosecution has been able to establish the offence against the appellant
beyond reasonable doubt. None of the contentions raised .by the learned
G counsel on behalf of the appellant can be accepted.
{
t
15. As a result of the aforementioned discussion, this appeal is dismissed
and the conviction and sentence imposed upon the appellant is maintained.

H KKT. Appeal dismissed.