Failure To Determine Blood Group Of Accused From Sample Collected From The Scene Not Enough To Acquit Him: SC [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asserted that mere non-determination of blood group from the sample obtained from the scene of crime would not be sufficient to acquit an accused.

The bench comprising Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar relied on the judgment passed by the Apex Court in the case of State of Rajasthan v. Teja Ram, wherein it was held that non-determination of origin of the blood does not necessarily prove fatal to the case of the prosecution.

"The Forensic Science Laboratory report discloses that the samples collected from the scene of the offence had bloodstains of human origin. However, since the bloodstains were disintegrated by the time the bloodstains were examined by the Forensic Science Laboratory, the blood group could not be determined. For the same, the accused cannot be unpunished, more particularly when the bloodstains were found of human origin". said the bench.

The Court was hearing an Appeal filed by one Prabhu Dayal, who had challenged a judgment passed by the Rajasthan High Court in September, 2013, upholding his conviction for murdering one Gopal along with four others.

Dayal was the only one who had challenged his conviction, pointing out discrepancies in the testimonies of the witnesses. He had further relied on the absence of blood stained material from the scene of crime.

The Court however opined that Dayal cannot be acquitted merely because the blood group could not be determined from the samples collected from the scene of crime, observing, “The reports of the Forensic Science Laboratory as well as those of the Ballistic Experts have been perused by us. The Forensic Science Laboratory report discloses that the samples collected from the scene of the offence had bloodstains of human origin.

However, since the bloodstains were disintegrated by the time the bloodstains were examined by the Forensic Science Laboratory, the blood group could not be determined. For the same, the accused cannot be unpunished, more particularly when the bloodstains were found of human origin.”

It further noted that the reports of the Forensic Science Laboratory also supported the case of the prosecution, concluding that Dayal did participate in the unlawful assembly which had gathered to murder the victim.

The Court therefore dismissed the appeal and confirmed the sentence of life imprisonment imposed on Dayal.