Crl.An (MD)No.-353 of 2010
MADRAS HIGH COURT
Bench: Hon’ble S.Nagamuthu J., Hon’ble V.S. Ravi J.
Date of Judgment: 04.08.2015
Relevant Acts/Sections:
- Section 347(2) of Cr.P.C (When Registrar or Sub- Registrar to be deemed a Civil Court.)
- Section 120B of IPC (Punishment of criminal conspiracy)
- Section 364 of IPC (Fraudulent use of a false instrument for weighing.)
- Section 302 r/w 34 of IPC (Punishment for murder / Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention)
- Section 506 (ii) of IPC (Punishment for criminal intimidation)
- Section 201 r/w 302 of IPC (Causing disappearance of evidence of the offence, or giving false information to screen offender/ Punishment for murder)
Backstory
Appellants/Accused1.Kumar @ Nagarajan
Appellants/Accused 2.Kannan
Appellants/Accused 3.Thirumal Pillai
Deceased: Mr.Sakthivel
PW1- Mrs.Valli
PW3- Kalimuthu
PW23- Rengaraj
PW29 – Sub Inspector of Police
PW15 – Village Administrative Officer of Shanarpatti Village
PW16 – Tahsildar
PW20 – Dr.Natarajan
In this case the deceased was Mr.Sakthivel. Mrs.Valli is his wife. PW1 had illicit intimacy with the first accused. On 05.06.2004 the accused 1 & 2 took a TVS 50 Motorcycle belonging to one Mr.Rathinam and went to Dindigul. The deceased was then working as a tailor in a tailoring shop in Natham. The third accused also had joined with them. The accused 1 & 3 waited at Vadakkampatti. The second accused alone was instructed by the first accused to bring the deceased by deceiving him.
Around 11.00 p.m. on 05.06.2004, at the said place, the second accused caught hold the hands of the deceased, and the third accused caught hold the legs of the deceased so as to facilitate the first accused to kill the deceased. The first accused took out a rope and constricted the neck of the deceased. Due to the said strangulation, the deceased instantaneously died. It is alleged that two persons by name Kalimuthu and Rengaraj viz., PW3 and PW23, saw the occurrence and the accused intimidated them not to disclose the above occurrence to anybody. Thereafter, they put the body into a gunny bag and buried the same near one Rajarathinam Pillai Mango grove, by putting the body into a pit which was already made to erect an electric post.
PW1 was in search of the deceased from 05.06.2004 as he did not return from the tailoring shop at Natham. After five or six days of the disappearance of the deceased, PW1 received a cover through the post containing Rs.1,000/-. Again, within the next four or five days, yet another cover reached her through the post containing Rs.700/-. But, PW1 did not receive the second cover. Since PW1 had suspicion over the first accused, she made a complaint to the Police. PW29 was the then Sub Inspector of Police, attached to Shanarpatti Police Station, Dindigul District. He registered the FIR case for man missing.
On 24.11.2004 at about 2.00 p.m. the first accused appeared before PW15, who was the then Village Administrative Officer of Shanarpatti Village. The first accused made a confession statement orally in the presence of one Muthusamy and one MappillaiKani. the Inspector of Police arrested the first accused. At 3.00 p.m. on 24.11.2004, the first accused gave a voluntary confession. He had disclosed the place where the dead body was buried and the place where he had hidden the rope. He took PW31 and the witnesses to the place of occurrence and identified the place where the dead body had been buried. At about 5.30 p.m. on the same day, he produced the rope from his house, which PW31 recovered under the mahazar in the presence of witnesses
On 25.11.2004, PW31 arrested the accused 2 & 3 at the Gopalpatti Bus stop. The second accused gave a voluntary confession at 5.00 p.m. The third accused also gave a voluntary confession at 5.30 p.m. On 26.11.2004 at 11.45 a.m. the Tahsildar, arrived at the place of occurrence and in the presence of Dr.Natarajan, started exhuming the dead body. The body was in a highly decomposed condition, kept inside a gunny bag. The body was beyond recognition. PW31 had recovered the bloodstained earth from the pit where the body was found and sample earth for chemical examination. Both the hands were found tied together and the legs were also found tied together. There was a rope around the chest of the deceased. PW31 recovered all these materials under a mahazar in the presence of witnesses. There was a yellow color talisman attached with a black color rope on the body of the deceased. That was also recovered under a mahazar. The body was beyond recognition, PW1 and other family members identified the same as that of the deceased from out of the dress materials, talisman, etc.
PW20 Dr.Natarajan in whose presence the body was exhumed conducted an autopsy on the body of the deceased. From the appearance of the body, he estimated the age of the deceased as between 30 to 40 years.
In this case except the circumstances relating to the motive and the identity of the dead body, there were no other circumstances proved by the prosecution to connect the accused with the homicide of the deceased. The prosecution had not proved the circumstances beyond reasonable doubts pointing unerringly to the guilt of the accused.
Postmortem Findings
PW20 Dr.Natarajan in whose presence the body was exhumed, conducted autopsy on the body of the deceased. From the appearance of the body, he estimated the age of the deceased as between 30 to 40 years. The doctor found the following in the body of the deceased;
Decomposed and skeletonized body of a male aged about 35 years. Decomposed muscle masses were found adherent over the chest area in patches. A portion of scalp hair found adherent with skull 6 cm in length black in color.
Eyeballs were found missing in the orbital sockets. Postmortem disarticulation of all the joints noted. All the limbs are found skeletonized. All the available bones are wet and are belongs to human origin, male, aged about 30 to 40 years. The hyoid bone was intact. No evidence of any bone injuries noted in the available bones. Decomposed greasy visceral enemas and soil above, below, and sides of the body are collected and sent for chemical analysis.
He preserved the skull for the superimposition test.
As per the Chemical Analysis Report, no poison was detected in the internal organs. Having considered all the above, PW20 gave his final opinion on 28.01.2005 that No definite opinion could be given regarding the cause of death due to advanced decomposition and skeletonization. He has further opined that the death would have occurred four to six months before the autopsy.
PW31 collected the photographs of the deceased and requested superimposition. The learned jurisdictional Magistrate forwarded the skull and the photographs to the Forensic Lab for superimposition. On conducting the superimposition, the Assistant Director, Tamil Nadu Forensic Science Department, Anthropology Division, Chennai, gave an opinion that the skull can very well belong to a male individual seen in the photograph. Thus, during the investigation, it was confirmed that the dead body which was exhumed in the place identified by the first accused was that of the deceased.
Judgment
As the result, the conviction and sentence imposed on the appellants/accused by the trial court are set aside and they are acquitted. The bail bond, if any, executed by them shall stand terminated. The fine amount, if any, paid by them shall be refunded.