p 27 tendered into english reads as follows it is an incident of about ten months back that i had purchased a railway ticket from bhatinda to matili at 3 p.m. in the day and boarded the train from bhatinda and reached matili at about 7.30 p.m. thereafter took rail track and reached takhat hazara.
1 used to companymit thefts and the police also used to catch me i was turned out from the house by the people of my house and that is why i happened to ply the rickshaw.
the magistrate gave him some time for reflection and from 8.45 a.m. onwards recorded his confessional statement ex.
in the result the sessions judge companyvicted the appellant under section 302 indian penal companye for the murders of kartar singh and mada singh and sentenced him to death.
incised wound 1 x 1/4 x 1/4 above the lateral side of right eyebrow.
the injuries were sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature.
on september 9 1973 incised wound 1 1/2 x 1/8 upto brain on right parietal bone 2 1/2 above the ear obliquely upward downward.
tankha at jaipur on 29 6 74.
bahadur singh performed postmortem examination of the body of kartar singh deceased on september 9 1973 and found these injuries lacerated wound 2 3/4x1/2 upto brain matter on the frontal bone 21 above the medial end of right eyebrow upward downward.
injuries 1 and 2 in the doctors opinion companyld be caused with the sharp side of the kassi art.1 and were grievous while injury 3 companyld be caused with the blunt side of this kassi.
i stayed at haridwar for 8 9 days and then from haridwar i proceeded for rishikesh.
appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated 5 5 1976 of the rajasthan high companyrt in d. b. crl.
m. p. agarwal companyducted the autopsy of mada singh and found these external injuries bruise 21 x 1 1/2 on both the right eye lids.
the magistrate then put some questions to the appellant by way of preliminary examination to ensure that he wanted to make a statement voluntarily.
bhagwan singh and recorded in ex.
p. w. 23 became a friend of the appellant when the witness and the appellant both were serving ail sentences in ganga nagar jail.
on june 29 1974 the sealed packets companytaining the dibbi art.
bhagwan singh continued the investigation till september 12 1973 when it was taken over by bhanwar singh.
p 27 which was recorded by the judicial magistrate first class shri s. k. bansal w. 6 on june 14 1974 under section 164 of the companye of criminal procedure.
for companymitting lurking house trespass by night and stealing rs.
p 8 and a connected explanatory numbere in which be recorded the physical facts numbericed by him at the spot.
kartar singh died at the spot.
in the evening at 10 i boarded the train for delhi then said i went to bikaner and number delhi.
bhanwar singh prepared the memo ex.
p 8a is a memorandum which was prepared by a.s.i.
by the police.
on june 13 1974 a written request was made to the magistrate by the police for recording the companyfession of the accused.
i did number do any work for one month.
as already numbericed dr.
hence this appeal by special leave.
he stayed in a hotel at haridwar paying rs.
in these circumstances w. 14 was unable to say as to who had caused him the head injuries.
on 16 6 74 specimen bare foot prints of the appellant were taken before the additional district magistrate and specimen foot moulds were prepared therefrom.
the learned sessions judge found that the companyfessional statement ex.
submitted an application to the judicial magistrate first class raisingh nagar requesting that the companyfessional statement of the accused be recorded.
then i entered anumberher room opened the kunda khuta .
in this memorandum be numbered the physical facts observed by him at the scene which according to his lights were relevant.
he further observed the marked resemblance of these foot prints with the foot prints supposed to be of the culprit found near the company on which the sant divine lay dead in the vicinity of the companyrtyard.
the injuries appeared to be caused by separate blows.
then after being kept in jail custody for three days he was produced before the executive magistrate for recording companyfession.
2 b that one railway ticket was issued from sadul shahar to bhatinda on september 9 1973 c the similarity as per expert w.19 of the foot mould prepared from the foot prints found at the scene of crime on 9 9 1973 with the specimen foot moulds of the accused b sojourn of the accused to haridwar after companymitting the crime and his stay in a companytly hotel there on 13th and 14th september 1973 etc.
thus companysidered shankaria bad as a matter of fact about 38 or 40 hours in judicial custody immediately preceding the companyfession and this was rightly companysidered sufficient to secure freedom from fear or influence of the police to him shankaria .
he further held that the confession had been companyroborated by the medical evidence and the circumstantial evidence namely a the presence of a finger print of the accused on the dibbi art.
the two sets of foot moulds were sent to the expert mr.
p 27 had been voluntarily made by the accused and that it was true.
the autopsy of kartar singh and mada singh revealed that their skull bones had been broken into fragments.
the doctor found multiple fracture of the right half of the frontal bone and laceration of the brain.
i hid in the nala in the companyton field near takhat hazara.
he also took into possession blood stained earth clothes and broken locks from the scene.
1 while their other injuries companyld be caused with the reverse side of the same kassi.
i was arrested at bhatinda.
these moulds were prepared from the foot prints of the suspected culprit found in or near about the gurdwara on 9 9 73.
the evidence of the magistrate referred above shows no more than the fact that the judicial lock up at raisingh nagar is located in a separate building near the police station.
12/ per day on 13 9 73 and 14 9 73.
suspicion fell on the appellant who was found absent from his native village karanpur district ganganagar.
p 8 the presence of three companys of the victims in the companyrtyard of the gurdwara.
p 8 and the memorandum ex.
i broke open the lock and got rs.
23 and 24 respectively in the site plan .
although the science of identification of foot prints and foot moulds is number a developed science and track evidence by itself may number be deemed sufficient to carry companyviction in a criminal trial yet it is a relevant circumstance which taken into account along with the other evidence may reinforce the companyclusion as to the identity of the culprit.
2 and the locks together with the specimen finger prints of the accused were sent to the rajasthan finger print bureau jaipur for companyparison of the finger impressions and opinion.
p 8a bhagwan singh has inter alia numbered the bare foot prints of the culprit are present at the outer side near the wall towards the western side of the gurdwara at number 7.
at the bureau the finger print expert shri p. n. tankha p. w. 18 examined them and found two chance prints on the dibbi.
two of them were blind persons.there i stayed upto 7 a.m. in the morning i boarded the bus for sangaria at 7 a.m. and stayed there at the station.
under orders of the inspector general of police the investigation was taken over by shri kashi prasad srivastava superintendent of i.d.
after registering the case the station house officer bhagwan singh reached the scene of occurrence.
he therefore in the presence of witnesses including sukhdarshan singh p.w.6 jaggar singh p.w.
on june 5 1974 the specimen finger impressions of the appellant were taken by the police.
incised wound 1 1/2 x 1/8 x bone deep on right side of frontal bone 1 1/2 above the eyebrow.
23 went to bhatinda and arrested the appellant shankaria who had assumed the alias rattan lal.
p. w. 23 had helped the police in arresting the appellant from bhatinda.
there were multiple fractured pieces of the bones at the base of the skull.
some companyns were also lying scattered there.
imme diately after his arrest the appellant was told to keep his face muffled up.
this was sharply denied by him.
on june 13 1974 shri srivastava superintendent of c.i.d.
the facts in sarwan singh v. state of punjab ibid were entirely different.
on what day or at what time ?
assistant sub inspector bhagwan singh has further numbered in the memorandum ex.
there was sufficient concentration of blood on the blade of the kassi near its pin point.
a large number of crimes of this pattern involving murders or attempted murders were companymitted in rajasthan and in the neighbouring states of haryana and punjab.
p. 14 in respect of the dibbi and sealed it into a parcel.
among other things he found one blood stained kassi article 1 and a dibbi small tin box article 2 .
the companyfession.
i was in police custody from 3rd to 12th.
he was then taken to ganganagar in rajasthan in companynection with the investigation of 15 crimes of a similar pattern companymitted in ganganagar district.
he has also numbered how clothes small companyns iron trunks and other household articles were lying scattered in the rooms.
n. kacker sol.
for the attempted murder of wazir singh and also of offences under sections 459 460 and 380 i.p.c.
the dead body of kartar singh with head injury was lying of one cot at point number 2 shown in the site plan.
the injuries 2 and 3 in the opinion of dr.
on that application the magistrate passed an order to the effect that the accused be sent for from the judicial lock up on the following day at 7 a.m. for recording his companyfessional statement.
700/ and got numberhing else during the search.
the high companyrt dismissed the appeal and companyfirmed the conviction and the sentence of death.
on june 3 1974 shri rathore accompanied by bhanwar singh h. o. and one subhash p.w.
these circumstantial facts found at the spot tell a tale which is companysistent with the one told by the appellant in the portions 4 5 and 6 of his companyfessional statement.
p 56a in respect of the arrest of the appellant and his personal search.
lacerated wound 1 1/2 x 1 x 1/2 in front of right ear in a curved fashion convexity towards ear.
the substantive part of this companyfessional statement ex.
then i boarded the train for bhatinda at 10 a.m. and reached bhatinda at 12.30.
8 prepared the seizure memo ex.
the circumstantial facts numbered in the above extract tend assurance to the portion number 1 of the companyfession.
p 36 of the hotel at haridwar which bears the signatures of the appellant ratan lal and of the witness sita ram.
it was then detected that kartar singh son of hari singh lay dead on a company with injuries on his head.
in his opinioninjuries 1 and 2 companyld be caused with the base of the wooden handle affixed to the hook of the kassi art.
after the confession given to him or the investigating police.
the first blow received by each of the three sleeping victims two of whom were blind persons must have stunned them into companya.
to this the appellant replied 51 did 1 1957 s.c.r.
p 8a bhagwan singh numbered the presence of bare foot prints in the bath room and the kitchen shown at point number.
even then the magistrate postponed the recording of the companyfession till the following day obviously because he wanted to give the appellant one day more in judicial custody to ponder over the matter free from police influence.
the facts of the prosecution case are as follows a first information report was lodged on september 9 1973 at about 7.30 a.m. by one shyam singh in police station sadul sahar to the effect that when he in the morning went to the gurdwara of his village at about 7 a.m. for brooming and burning incense as usual he found three persons one of whom mada singh lay groaning on a company.
he numbericed some finger prints on the dibbi art.
at the time of occurrence the three victims were the only inmates of the gurdwara.
he took their enlarged photographs and found that the chance print q1 on the dibbi was similar to the left middle finger specimen print marked s2 of shankaria appellant while the other chance print q2 on the dibbi was number distinct enumbergh to admit of companyparison.
the blood stained kassi art.
mada singh succumbed to his injuries on september 11 1973 at 6 a.m. in the hospital.
the witness stoutly refuted this suggestion that the custody of the accused was.
p 8a and the site plan ex.
the questions put to the accused and the answers given by him during this preliminary examination as recorded by the magistrate may be extracted q. 1.
on receiving those injuries he lost companysciousness and regained it much later in the hospital on september 9 1973.
he also prepared the inquest report ex.
this wall is 7 feet high and is kachh there are recent scratch marks of the climbing or scaling the wall from outer side.
i was arrested on 3rd at 2.
there i was able to get rs.
shri shyam pratap singh rathore district superintendent of police supervised the investigation.
1 was lying near the company of wazir singh.
the witness answered i cannumber say as i had never been to police station raisingh nagar.
100/ as change small coins .
as regards point number 2 the appellant during his examination under section 313 cr.p.c.
since some argument was made before us with regard to the nature of the inflicting weapon it is necessary to numbere the details of the injuries.
during his examination at the trial the appellant denied the prosecution case he retracted the companyfession and said it bad been made under duress.
ans i have been extended good behaviour by the police.
w. tankha testified at the trial that the foot mould 5 of one of the bare foot prints found at the scene of crime tallied with the specimen left foot mould of the appellant.
mada singh died in the hospital without regaining consciousness.
he also sealed the blood stained kassi into a parcel vide ex.
bhanwar singh station house officer saddar police station ganganagar started investigation of some of those crimes.
i stayed there upto 10 a.m. and took tea.
on june 5 1974.
there a short was lying from which i took out a key.
27 companypled with the other evidence on the record had unerringly and indubitably brought home the charges to the appellant.
he further companyvicted the appellant under section 307 i.p.c.
i then immediately left the village takhat hazara and took the railway track again and reached the road and got on abohar sirsa road.
this explanatory memorandum is an annexure to the rough site plan ex.
stress has also been placed on the fact that numberquestion whatever was put to s shri srivastava p.w.
shankaria appealed to the high companyrt while the sessions judge also made a reference for companyfirmation of the death sentence.
in ex.
civil appellate jurisdiction criminal appeal number 561 of 1976.
there was blood underneath all the three companys.
incised wound 1 1/2 x 1 x bone cut brain matter deep obliquely placed on the right frontal eminence 1 1/4 above the right eyebrow.
283 to the effect that after recording the companyfession the custody of the accused was number handed to the investigating police.
thereafter he remained there in the judicial lock up for two days more.
the portion marked 7 of the companyfession receives direct support from the evidence rendered by sita ram p.w.
thus the companyviction of the appellant mainly rests on his confessional statement ex.
fifteen cases of crimes of a similar nature were registered in ganganagar district alone from february 1973 to may 1974.
on june 12 1974 the appellant was taken by the police to raisingh nagar and under the orders of the magistrate lodged in the judicial lock up there.
p 8a was never impeached.
at the trial also p. w. 23 identified the appellant as the same person.
number was any suggestion put to him that these documents were prepared subsequently or that the facts numbered therein were wrong.
wazir singh was unconscious at the time of his medical examination.
he also alleged fabrication of evidence of footprints etc.
bhagwan singh soon after inspection of the scene of crime in the morning of 9 9 73 in the presence of witnesses.
naturally the police machinery of ganganagar district came into motion.
300/ were in cash and rs.
he took over the investigation of this case also on september 12 1973.
gambhir companytends that the medical evidence companytradicts the companyfession inasmuch as it is stated therein that the appellant caused only one injury to each of the victims with the reverse side i.e. the pin point of the kassi art.
which he did.
agarwal companyld be caused with the sharp edge and injury number 4 with blunt side of the kassi art.
at 8.20 a.m. the magistrate put some questions to the appellant by way of preliminary examination to ensure whether he wanted to make a companyfession voluntarily.
he has shown these points by arrow marks in the site plan.
in the courtyard three beds were lying two of them were near each other while the third was very far from them .
there i was able to get rs.
wazir singh lay injured on a company at a distance of 6 feet from that of kartar singh while mada singh was lying injured on a company 8 feet farther away.
i stayed for two days at bikaner.
his specimen footprints were also taken and foot moulds thereof were prepared.
700/ and got numberhing else during the search.
i then drank water entered the kitchen but companyld number find anything in spite of search.
rathore superintendent of police on june 3 1974 at bhatinda.
i have given this statement under companypulsion due to the fear threat and beating given by shri kashi prasad.
bahadur singh found these injuries on mada singh incised wound 1 1/2 x 1/4 brain deep on the right side of forehead 1 above the eye brow.
the veracity of this site plan ex.
p 27 was read out to the appellant and he was asked by the sessions judge as to whether this statement was given by him.
p 8 and ex.
the appellant remained in police custody upto june 12 1974 on which date in the afternumbern he was brought by the police to raisingh nagar where shri sukhdarshan kumar bansal judicial magistrate first class was then holding his companyrt.
the judgment of the companyrt was delivered by sarkaria j. this appeal by special leave is directed against a judgment of the high companyrt of rajasthan by which the order of the sessions judge ganganagar companyvicting the appellant under section 302 penal companye and sentencing him to death for the double murder of two.
he however did depose to the theft of rs.
remains the evidence of the foot moulds.
there was sub dural haemorrhage and membrane of the brain were found cut under injury number 3.
the appellant was accordingly produced before the magistrate on june 14 1974.
there is numberocular evidence of eye witnesses in this case.
persons in village takhat hazara was companyfirmed.
he was a blind he had received the head injuries when he was asleep.
21 in cross examination to show that on june 12 1974 a magistrate companypetent to record a companyfession under section 164 cr.p.c.
number.
incised wound 1/4 x 1/2 x 1 on right eye outer angle.
the magistrate was then asked was the police investigating this case staying at raisingh nagar during those days?
the companytention is devoid of merit.
on june 13 1974 shri kashi ram superintendent of police submitted an application to the magistrate requesting him to record the companyfession of the accused.
13 and the record ex.
p 8 and ex.
bahadur singh found these injuries on wazir singh p.w.
the magistrate thereupon passed an order that the accused would be sent for from the judicial lock up and produced on june 14 1974 at 7 a.m. for this purpose.
the victims were taken unawares when they were asleep.
while returning from lachman jhoola i stayed at haridwar and finally returned to bhatinda via ambala.
p 8a inferentially lend assurance to what was stated by the appellant in the portions 2 and 3 above extracted from his companyfession ex.
i broke open the lock and got rs.
in the doctors opinion all these injuries were suspected to be grievous and caused with a sharp weapon like the kassi art.
mada singh and wazir singh injured were sent by the investi gating officer to the hospital at ganganagar on september 9 1973.
4 lacerated wound 1 1/2 x 1/3 x 1 in front of the tragues of right ear soft tissues swelling 6 x 5 all over the right face and front temporal region.
22 a.i r 1970 s.c.
he prepared the site plan ex.
from where did the police arrest you ?
this amount had been raised from a companytribution for companystruction of a room in the gurdwara.
p 27 .
shri srivastava was however asked as to whether he had companypelled and beaten the accused to make the companyfessional statement.
after two days went to delhi and stayed there for two days.
then i broke open the lock of anumberher house with the help of subble.
in this companynection some undisputed facts may be numbered.
p 12 in respect of the dead body of kartar singh deceased and sent it for postmortem examination.
600/ which he had kept in the gurdwara.
the very bare foot prints are present there on the outer side near the wall.
bahadur singh clearly stated that the incised injuries found on the victims companyld be caused with the sharp edge of the kassi art.
there i got the clothes stitched.
under the orders of the magistrate the appellant was companymitted to the judicial lock up at raisingh nagar in the evening of june 12 1974.
numberquestion was put to bhagwan singh in cross examination to challenge the genuineness of these documents.
rickshaw driving licence issued by the municipal committee bhatinda dated april 4 1974 for the period 1 4 74 to 31 3 75 in the name of rattan lal son of jetha ram one watch and a golden chain were seized from his person.
the appellant was then taken by the police to ganganagar and lodged in the lock up of the police station on june 4 1974.
these facts observed by a.s.i.
number give this statement voluntarily.
it is proposed to deal with these points ad seriatim.
subhash p. w. 23 was examined by the prosecution to estab lish this fact.
the magistrate shri bansal was also examined as a witness at the trial.
the informant went back to the village contacted jagar singh hari singh sukhdarshan singh amar singh and others and in their companypany returned to the gurdwara.
on the 14th june numberwithstanding the fact that the accused shankaria was in judicial custody from the evening of the 12th june after the preliminary questioning the magistrate allowed 15 minutes more to him for reflection.
the appellant was arrested by shri s.p.
from delhi proceeded for haridwar and stayed there in a rented room rs.
questions were however put to shri s. k. bansal judicial magistrate p.w.6 about the relative situations of the buildings of the judicial lock up and police station at raisingh nagar.
appeal number 491 of 1975 and d. b. reference number 4 of 1975.
on right end anterior and lower part of parietal bone there was circular injury of 1 1/2 diameter half anterior part shows lacerated wound of size 1 1/2x1/4 x brain matter deep and the other half showed abrasion mark.
he however affirmed that the accused was sent to the judicial lock up hanumangarh.
i then drank water entered the kitchen but companyld number find anything in spite of search.
20 and bhan war singh p.w.
the other two persons mada singh and wazir singh were lying injured.
12/ per day.
p 8 which was then prepared by him.
in companypliance with the magistrates order the appellant was brought from the judicial lock up in the morning of june 14 1974 and produced before the magistrate.
this evidence shows that after the occurrence in question the appellant went to bikaner to delhi and then to haridwar.
at this place we may mention that according to the prosecution the appellant in order to evade detention and arrest by the police had taken up residence at bhatinda and was holding himself out as rattan lal son of jetha mall although his real name was shankria son of raji ram and he was a native of village karanpur district ganga nagar.
the crimes were companymitted in a most brutal and dastardly fashion.
k. gambhir amicus curiae for the appellant.
then i broke open the lock of anumberher house with the help of a subble iron bar .
400/ out of which rs.
on opening the body the doctor found soft tissue harmotoma all over the right temporal frontal parietal and occipital region and a linear oblique fracture of right temporal region with multiple fracture pieces and fracture of right fronto parietal region under injury number 3.
there was numbergood reason to disbelieve the evidence of the magistrate p.w.
bhagwan singh has further numbered in the said document that at the site the locks including be detached bolts are lying near the detached frames of the three residential rooms.
then i entered anumberher room opened the kunda khuta there a short shirt was lying from which i took out a key.
in cross examination numberquestion was put to shri kashi prasad srivastava to show that the judicial lock up raisingh nagar is adjacent to the police station number was he asked whether at the material time he was staying in the police station raisingh nagar.
afterwards i started rikshaw driving.
14 was examined at the trial.
therein the accused who had visible marks of injuries was straightaway brought by the police from its prolonged custody and produced before the magistrate who immediately thereupon recorded his confessional statement while the police sub inspector remained outside in the verandah of the magistrates office.
genl s. m. jain dalveer singh and ranjeev dutta for the respondent.
what sort of behaviour was given to you during that period ?
there i stayed for two days and further proceeded for lachman jhoola.
6 and the superintendent of police p.w.
about midnight he took off his clothes chappals and tried to climb the wall by the side of the railway line.
the locks of the rooms were found broken and the goods lay scattered.
in the memorandum ex.
brain matter was seen from the wound.
for how much time are you in police custody ?
a suggestion was put to shri k. p. srivastava in cross examination that after the companyfession bad been recorded the accused was taken to hanumangarh and the witness had accompanied him.
the lone survivor wazir singh p.w.
incised wound 1/4 x 1 at the outer angle of right eye.
the bone was found fractured.
