ANTER SINGH versus STATE OF RAJASTHAN

Citation: [2004] 2 S.C.R. 123 · Decided: 05-02-2004 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: DORAISWAMY RAJU · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Cited by 2 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

.. 
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ANTER SINGH 
A 
v. 
STATE OF RAJASTHAN 
FEBRUARY 5, 2004 
[DORAISWAMY RAJU AND ARIJIT PASA Y AT, JJ.] 
B 
Penal Code, 1860-Seclion 302-Appel/ant along with other accused 
tried for murder-Upon information of appellant while in custody, search 
made and a pistol recovered-Empty cartridges also found near the dead C 
body-Appellant found guilty of murdering deceased while other accused were 
acquitted-Held, there are several discrepancies and shortcomings in evidence 
which considerably corrode credibility of the prosecution version-Prosecution 
not being able to show that the pistol recovered was the one which was used 
for commission of the offence-Custody of empty cartridges purported to have 
been recovered from the spot, not established-Conflicting evidence of witnesses D 
as to the sealing ofpistol, empty cartridges, etc. found al the spot be.fore being 
sent to the expert for examination--Appella11l held entitled lo acquittal. 
Evidence- Appreciation of 
RecoveJ)J from an open space-Credibility of-Recove1J1 of pislol upon E 
in.formation by accused in cus1ody~Reco"ve1y having been made ji"om an open 
space accessible and visible from the place where tfie..dead body was lying 
and al close proximity-Held, it is improbable that the police official could 
have missed the weapon and would wait.for about 3 wJeks when the purported 
information was given by the accused. Further, when the M!itnesses who were 
supposed to have witnessed recovery have turned hostile, tl~e evidence relating F 
to alleged recovery is of really on consequence. 
Indian Evidence Act. 1872-Section 27-Scope and ambit of. discussed. 
Deceased was found lying dead in the premises of a Government 
College. On information by a witness, a cas.e was registered under Section 
302 IPC. During investigation, some empty cartridges and moulds of 
footprints found near the dead body, were collected. four accused persons 
were arrested. While in custody, accused-appellant gave information about 
a gun, whkh was treated to be information in terms of Section 27 of the 
123 
G 
H 
124 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2004] 2 S.C.R. 
A Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Search was made in presence of accused and 
a pistol was recovered. The empty cartridges and pistol were sent for 
forensic examination. During post-mortem of the deceased, bullets were 
recovered which were also sent for such examination. Trial Court found 
accused-appellant guilty of offences punishable under Section 302 IPC and 
B Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act. The other accused persons were found 
not guilty. High Court affirmed the conviction and sentence. Hence, the 
present appeal. 
On behalf of the appellant, it was contended that the prosecution case 
is based solely on evidence relating to alleged recovery purportedly on the 
C basis of information given by the accused while in custody; that the 
recovery was made from an open space accessible and visible to anyone 
passing by; and that the prosecution had failed to establish its case and 
presented a fabricated and improper case to falsely implicate the accused. 
D 
E 
F 
Allowing the appeal, the Court 
HELD: I. I. There are several discrepancies and shortcomings in 
e\'idence which considerably corrode credibility of the prosecution version. 
The prosecution has not established the accusations against the accused-
appcllant beyond a reasonable doubt and consequently he is entitled to 
be acquitt~d. 1132-GI 
1.2. The crucial question which needs to be considered in this case 
is whether the prosecution has been able to show that the pistol recovered 
was the one which was used for commission of the offence. There are 
several circumstances which affect credibility of the prosecution version. 
Firstly, the so-called information was recorded by the 10, and he does not 
even indicate that the gun to which reference was allegedly made was the 
weapon of assault. Further, the custody of empty cartridges purported to 
have been recovered from the spot has not been established. In fact, the 
claim is that on 11.4.1979 empty cartridges were recovered. They were 
sent to the .forensic science laboratory on 12.5.1979. It has not been 
G explained as to where the empty cartridges were till then lying and with 
whom. Similar is the situation with the two bullets claimed to have been 
extracted from the dead body by the doctor. Significantly, though the 
witnesses claimed that the moulds; chappals found at the spot, the empty 
cartridges, the two bulle

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