ALAGUPANDI @ ALAGUPANDIAN versus STATE OF TAMIL NADU

Citation: [2012] 4 S.C.R. 342 · Decided: 08-05-2012 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: A.K. PATNAIK · Disposal: Dismissed

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

A 
B 
[2012] 4 S.C.R. 342 
ALAGUPANDI @ ALAGUPANDIAN 
v. 
STATE OF TAMIL NADU 
(Criminal Appeal No. 1315 of 2009) 
MAY 8, 2012 
[A.K. PATNAIK AND SWATANTER KUMAR, JJ.] 
Penal Code, 1860: 
c 
s.302 - Accused committing murder of his step mother 
- Conviction and sentence of life imprisonment awarded by 
trial court, affirmed by High Court - Held: The prosecution 
case is to a very limited extent, based upon circumstantial 
evidence and largely there exists ocular and documentary 
0 
evidence to support the prosecution case - The evidence of 
the brother of the deceased, whose presence in the house was 
natural, supported by evidence of t,·,e witnesses, medical 
evidence, the recovery weapon of crime made on disclosure 
statement of accused, the serological reports and the motive 
E 
for the crime, lead to the irresistible conclusion that the 
accused had committed the crime - The concurrent findings 
of fact recorded by the courts below based on proper 
appreciation of evidence clearly prove the guilt of the accused 
- In the circumstances, there is no reason to interfere with the 
finding of guilt as well as the order of sentence -
F 
Circumstantial evidence. 
Criminal Law: 
Motive - Existence of a motive for committing a crime 
G is not an absolute requirement of law but it is always a relevant 
factor, which will be taken into consideration by the courts as 
it will render assistance to the courts while analysing the 
prosecution evidence and determining the guilt of the 
accused. 
H 
342 
ALAGUPANDI @ ALAGUPANDIAN v. STATE OF 
343 
TAMIL NADU 
Evidence Act, 1872: 
A 
s. 27 - Disclosure statement of accused while in police 
custody leading to recovery of weapon of crime - Accused 
a/so stating that he stabbed her step mother - Held: Except 
the part of the disclosure statement of the accused which led 8 
to the recovery of the knife, the rest of the statement of the 
accused would be inadmissible in evidence as per s. 27. 
Evidence: 
Evidence of sole witness - Held: Court can record a c 
finding of guilt while entirely or substantially relying upon the 
statement of the sole witness, provided his statement is 
trustworthy, reliable and finds corroboration from other 
prosecution evidence. 
Witnesses: 
Child witnesses - Stated to have seen their mother being 
murdered - Trial court after putting certain questions to them, 
D 
did not permit recording of their statements - Held: It has not 
been claimed by either party that these two child witnesses E 
should have been examined and that their non-examination 
has caused any prejudice to any of the parties in the appeal. 
RELATED WITNESS -
Evidence of deceased's brother -
Every witness, who is related to the deceased cannot be said F 
to be an interested witness who will depose falsely to implicate 
the accused - In the instant case, the presence of the witness 
at the house of his sister is natural - His evidence is worthy 
of credence. 
The appellant was prosecuted for committing the G 
murder of his step-mother. The prosecution case was 
that the deceased, after the death of her husband and 
father of the accused, was enjoying the properties left by 
him and collecting the rent from the properties, and 
because of this there used to be quarrels between her H 
344 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2012] 4 S.C.R. 
A and the accused; that on the night of the incident, when 
the deceased was sleeping with her two sons, the 
accused entered the house with a knife and caused 
injuries to her which resulted in her death on the spot; 
that P.W.1, the brother of the deceased, who was sleeping 
B outside the house, heard the screams of the victim and 
when he entered the house, he saw the accused coming 
out with a knife in his hand. He found his sister lying in a 
pool of blood. He went to the village headman and also 
to the Sarpanch. He was directed to go to the police 
c station where he lodged the FIR. The accused also made 
a confessional statement on the basis of which the 
weapon of crime, viz., a blood stained knife and a blood 
stained shirt were recovered. The trial court convicted the 
accused u/s 302 IPC and sentenced him to imprisonment 
0 
for life. The High Court upheld the conviction and the 
sentence. 
In the instant appeal filed by the accused, it was 
contended for the appellant that P.W.1 being the 
interested witness and himself an accused in another 
E murder case, his evidence should not have been relied 
upon by the courts below; and that there was no 
corrob

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