SHASHI SHEKHAR ALIAS RAJU Vs. STATE OF DELHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant stands convicted for the offences of robbery and murder vide judgment dated 23rd April, 2004 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, New Delhi in Sessions case No. 335/96 arising out of FIR No. 509/95 of Vasant Kunj police station and sentenced to life imprisonment and fine of Rs. 1000/- with default stipulation under Section 302 IPC vide order dated 28th April, 2004. Feeling aggrieved the appellant has preferred this appeal.

(2.) The appellant, as per the prosecution case, had on 31-10-95 at about 8.45 a.m. entered into the house of the complainant Smt. Kausar Wizarat Hashmi(PW-8) in Vasant Kunj when she was away to her office and her daughter Sara Hashmi had also left for her school while her husband Sushil Hashmi was away to Calcutta. Their maid servant Anita alone was in the house. The appellant first of all raped Anita and then killed her and before leaving took away many valuables from the house including VCR, cameras, jewellery items. As per the further prosecution case the deceased Anita used to go to the school of complainant's daughter to bring her back around 2 p.m. every day. However, on the day of the incident, the maid servant did not go to the school and so the complainant's daughter came to her house of her own and it appears that when she reached home she found the house open and the maid servant lying dead. She raised alarm. It appears that someone from the neighbourhood informed the police control room about the incident which in turn passed over the information to the Vasant Kunj police station. Sub-Inspector Sushil Kumar(PW-18) was assigned the investigation and then he reached house No. B-5/6/4232, Vasant Kunj and then he called the complainant who came from her office and got recorded her statement Ex. PW-8/A. SI Sushil Kumar made his endorsement on that statement and got the FIR of this case registered. Crime team was summoned. Some chance prints were lifted from steel glasses and one almirah by PW-9 ASI Chetram. The complainant had found a number of valuable items including one Yashika camera, BPL Sanyo VCR, jewellery items and some cash amount missing. A list of missing articles Ex. PW-8/B was handed over to the police. The dead body of the deceased was sent for post-mortem examination which was conducted by PW-1 Dr. A.K.Sharma on 11-11-95. He gave his report Ex. PW-1/A according to which the cause of death of the deceased Anita was asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem strangulation caused by ligature material. At the time of post-mortem examination vaginal swabs of the deceased were prepared and sent to Central Forensic Scientific Laboratory(CFSL) and based on the CFSL report Dr. Sharma also gave his opinion to the effect that the possibility of the deceased having been raped could not be ruled out.

(3.) It appears that the investigating agency could not nab the culprit for quite some time. On 18-3-96 the appellant was apprehended by the police officials of Chittaranjan Park police station when they had raided one house in Munirka village on the basis of some secret information in connection with a case of robbery-cum-murder in their area which was registered vide FIR No. 76/96. At the time of apprehension of the appellant the police recovered from him certain jewellery articles kept in a pouch and since he had no explanation for the possession of those articles the police seized the same under Section 102 of the Code of Criminal' Procedure vide seizure memo Ex. PW-14/B. The appellant also got recovered some more articles from that house in Munirka village which he claimed to have stolen from different houses where he had committed robbery as well as murders. Those items included one Yashika camera also which, as per prosecution case, belonged to the complainant of this case and the same were seized vide separate seizure memo Ex. PW-14/D. As per the further prosecution case the appellant then got recovered some more valuables from his house in Arjun Nagar on 20-3-96. Those articles were also seized by the police under Section 102 Cr. P.C. While in police custody the appellant had made a confession about his having committed robbery in many houses including the house of the complainant of the present case. That information was passed over to the concerned police stations including Vasant Kunj police station by the Chittaranjan Park police officials who had apprehended the appellant on 18-3-96. On getting that information PW-26 Inspector Lalit Mohan, who had by that time taken over the investigation of the present case, took the copies of the confessional statement made by the appellant on 18-3-96 when he was apprehended by the police officials of Chittaranjan Park police station in case FIR No. 76/96 and also the copies of seizure memos in respect of the recoveries made from the appellant on 18-3-96 from the house in Munirka village and then from his house in Arjun Nagar, from PW-14 Inspector Hawa Singh. Inspector Lalit Mohan also made formal arrest of the appellant in the present case on 28-3-96. As per the further prosecution case before the formal arrest of the appellant in the present case his formal arrest had been made in another case pertaining to FIR No. 538/95 of Vasant Kunj police station and during his interrogation in police custody by the investigating officer of that case (PW-22 Inspector Ishwar Singh) the appellant - accused had made a disclosure statement Ex. PW-22/A pursuant to which he had got recovered some more stolen articles including one VCR Ex.P-1 from the shop of PW-23 Sushil Verma, a jeweller with whom he had kept the stolen articles as security for the loan taken by him from the said Sushil Verma. Those articles were seized vide memo Ex. PW-22/B. PW-22 Sushil Verma had also handed over to the investigating officer one Girwinama which the appellant - accused had executed in his favour in respect of the loan transaction of Rs. 50,000/- against the security of jewellery items and VCR. That Girwinama was also seized vide memo Ex. PW-22/B. Inspector Lalit Mohan got information-about that recovery also and he took into possession the copies of the disclosure statement of the appellant - accused as well as the seizure memo Ex. PW-22/B from Inspector Ishwar Singh. As per the prosecution case the VCR got recovered by the appellant from the shop of Soni Jewellers and Yashika camera got recovered by him from the house in Munirka on 18-3-96 were claimed by the complainant of the present case to be belonging to him.