Mere Non-Recovery Of Weapon Can't Demolish Prosecution's Case: Allahabad HC Confirms Life Term Of Two In A 41 Year Old Murder Case

The bench of Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Saroj Yadav further observed that other accused involved in the crime remain untraced, it cannot be presumed that the whole incident is false

The bench concluded that the eyewitnesses in the case could prove the case of the prosecution beyond all reasonable doubt and that there was no reason to doubt the testimony of eyewitnesses.

“Hence it is well established from the evidence on record that murder of the deceased was committed by the convicts/appellants namely Karuna Shankar and Rajkishore in association with two unknown miscreants,” the Court said as it upheld their conviction and sentence of life imprisonment.

The case in brief

The FIR in the case was lodged on June 17, 1982, against two named persons (appellants/convicts) and two unknown persons alleging that the complainant, his father (deceased) and his maternal brother were coming back home from the market when at about 5.30 Accused no. 1 Karuna Shankar armed with a gun and Accused no. 2 Rajkishore armed with Katta (country made pistol) and their two associates, armed with Farsa (spade) and another with Kulhari (axe) all of sudden came there.

Appellant Rajkishore exhorted his associates to kill the father of the complainant so as to teach him a lesson for taking the lands of others, thereupon they (the complainant, his father-deceased and cousin) took a turn to run away. At the same time, Rajkishore fired a shot with Katta at the deceased which hit him on the right side of the abdomen.

After that, all three i.e., complainant, father and cousin ran crying but Rajkishore and his associates chased the deceased and fired one shot each by gun and country-made pistol with which they were armed. This made the deceased fall down, and thereafter, two associates of accused assaulted him with an Axe and Spade and killed him, and after that, they all ran away.

The trial Court relied upon the evidence of witnesses P.W. 1- Ashok Kumar (complainant) and P.W. 2- Radhey supported by medical evidence and other evidence and came to the conclusion that the case of the prosecution had been proved.

Hence, the trial Court held the convicts/appellants guilty under Section 302/34 IPC and sentenced them to imprisonment for life. Challenging the order and judgment of Conviction, both the accused moved to the High Court.

High Court’s observations

Having analysed the facts of the case coupled with the evidence adduced by the prosecution, the Court came to the conclusion that both the eye witnesses i.e., P.W. 1 and P.W. 2 proved the incident by giving a step-by-step narration of the incident and despite being cross-examined at length by the defence side, nothing material could be brought out so as to make their statements unreliable.

The Court further discarded the argument advanced by the counsel for the accused that since two unknown accused persons could not be traced and identified by the Investigating Officer, as such, the incident narrated by the complainant could not be believed.

The Court also rejected the argument of the appellants' counsel that neither firearm nor 'Farsa' (Spade) or Kulhari (Axe) was recovered as such, the incident could not be deemed proved.

“This argument of the appellants' counsel also not tenable because to prove the case of prosecution recovery of weapon is not always necessary specially if eye witness account is there. In the present matter, two witnesses have proved the incident who witnessed the incident. Mere non recovery of weapon cannot demolish the case of prosecution,” the Court observed.

In this regard, the Court relied upon Apex Court’s judgments in the cases of Mekala Sivaiah Versus State of Andhra Pradesh 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 604 and Kalua alias Koshal Kishore Versus State of Rajasthan (2019).

The Court further stressed that it is well-settled law that the testimony of the related witness cannot be discarded merely on the ground that he is a related witness.

“A person whose close relative is killed will never spare the real culprit just to implicate the others falsely,” the Court said as it opined that there was no reason to doubt the testimony of eyewitnesses, who were related to the deceased.

Hence, the Court concluded that the trial Court rightly convicted the accused persons as guilty and sentenced them accordingly to imprisonment for life.

Consequently, the Court directed the convicts/appellants Karuna Shankar and Rajkishore, who are on bail, to surrender before the trial Court within ten days to serve out the sentence awarded to them.

Appearances

Counsel for Appellants: Rajesh Tiwari

Counsel for Respondent: Smiti Sahay, Additional Government Advocate

Case title - Karuna Shanker and another vs. State of U.P. 2023 LiveLaw (AB) 191 [CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 267 of 1983]

Case Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (AB) 191

Click Here To Read/Download Judgment