SATISH CHANDRA Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) There is no substance in this appeal which is directed against the High Court's judgment recording conviction against the two appellants under Section 411, I. P. C. and sentence of three years' rigorous imprisonment imposed upon each.

(2.) An incident occurred during the night between 1st and 2nd of April, 1968 at the factory of Vishnu Industries during the course of which one Lakhpat Rai (Senior Munim of Vishnu Industries) was murdered and he was robbed of a sum of Rs. 8,800/- in currency notes which had been tied in the folds of his dhoti. At about 4 a. m. the gruesome murder and loss of the money came to light when Ramesh Chandra, Dalal went to wake him up. FIR was lodged at 5.30 a.m. in the morning on 2nd of April, 1968 at Police Station Kotwali, Chandausi about murder and robbery. Since the amount had been withdrawn from the Bank on the previous day the numbers of 87 currency notes of Rs. 100 each which were in the possession of Lakhpat Rai and which were found missing were mentioned in the FIR. In respect of this incident four accused (Vishnu Gopal, Satish Chandra, Manohar Lal and Vishnu Shanker) were put up for trial in the Court of Second Temporary Civil and Sessions Judge, Moradabad for offences punish. able under Sections 392, 302 each read with Section 34, I. P. C. and alternatively with an offence punishable under Section 411, I. P.C. The prosecution purely depended upon circumstantial evidence, there being no eye witness of the incident in question and principally the circumstantial evidence relied upon was in the shape of recoveries of the currency notes which were the subject matter of robbery from the accused persons. The learned Sessions Judge disbelieved the recoveries made from the accused persons due to irregularities attaching to them and felt that the possibility of the currency notes being planted upon the accused persons could not be ruled out and as such no culpability could be fastened upon them either with regard to the offence of murder or robbery or even receiving the stolen property. All the four accused persons were therefore acquitted. In Criminal Appeal No. 1489 of 1969 preferred by the State, the High Court confirmed the acquittal of Vishnu Gopal and Manohar Lal but convicted the two appellants before us (Satish Chandra and Vishnu Shanker) for the offence under Section 411, I. P. C. and sentenced each one of them to three years' R. I. The High Court dealt with the reasons given by the trial Court for disbelieving the evidence pertaining to recoveries made from the accused persons and found that the reasons given for not accepting such evidence in the case of the two appellants were based on conjectures and surmises and therefore did not warrant its rejection. The High Court took the view that so far as the two appellants were concerned the recovery witnesses were reliable and independent and their testimony could be made basis of conviction. It is this view of the High Court that is being challenged before us by the appellants in this appeal.

(3.) At the outset we might state that there is unimpeachable evidence on record to prove that the currency notes recovered from the two appellants (20 notes from Vishnu Shanker and 31 notes from the cash box of Satish Chandra) are the subject matter of robbery that took place during the night in question. In that FIR lodged promptly at about 5.30a. m. (within an hour and half from the time the offence was discovered) the numbers of 87 notes of Rs. 100 each that were found missing have been mentioned and the 20 notes and 31 notes that were respectively recovered from the two appellants bear numbers which tally with the numbers mentioned in the FIR. Unless therefore, the recoveries of these notes from these two appellants said to have been made on April 8, 1968 are shown to be doubtful or fictitious the appellants will have to be regarded as having received stolen property with requisite knowledge and their convictions will have to be upheld, both in the trial Court as well as the High Court the plea put forward on behalf of the appellants was that these notes were distributed and planted on the accused persons by the police and a mere show was made that these were recovered from their possession. Counsel for the appellants pressed that very plea for our acceptance in this appeal.