B.A. UMESH versus REGR.GEN.HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA

Citation: [2011] 2 S.C.R. 367 · Decided: 01-02-2011 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: ALTAMAS KABIR · Disposal: Dismissed

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

Judgment (excerpt)

[2011) 2 S.C.R.-367 
B.A. UMESH 
v. 
REGR.GEN.HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA 
(Criminal Appeal Nos.285-286 of 2011) 
FEBRUARY 1, 2011 
[ALTAMAS KABIR AND A.K. PATNAIK, JJ.) 
PENAL CODE, 1860 : 
A 
B 
ss. 302, 376 and 392 t- Conviction and sentence of death c 
awarded by trial court finding the chain of circumstantial 
evidence complete - Conviction upheld and death sentence 
'confirmed by High Court - Held :On the basis of oral 
evidence, the post mortem report, the evidence of the doctor 
who conducted the autopsy, the medical examination of, 0 
injuries on the person of the accused, his extra judi<ifal 
confession made to the doctor who examined him, the 
forensic report the report of the Finger-Print Expert and the 
recoveries made from the house in occupation of the 
accused, the courts below rightly held that the accused, and E 
none else, committed the offences -All the witnesses who 
claimed to be present at or near the place of occurrence 
remained unshaken in cross-examination, thereby 
completing the chain of circumstantial evidence in a manner 
that clearly indicates that no one other than the accused F 
committed .the offences with which he was charged -His 
conviction, therefore, upheld -Keeping in view the 
antecedents of the accused, the stolen/robbed articles 
recovered from the rented accommodation in his occupation, 
his remorseless attitude indicated by the fact that two days 
after the incident in question he was apprehended by public 
G 
for attempting similar offences, the manner in which the 
offences of rape and murder were committed by him, it has 
rightly been held by the courts below that the accused is a 
menace to society and incapable of rehabilitation -The 
367 
H 
J 
368 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2011) 2 S.C.R. 
A sentence of death is, therefore, confirmed -Sentence/ 
sentencing -Evidence -Circumstantial Evidence -Test 
Identification Parade -Extra-judicial confession -Identification _ 
of Prisoners Act, 1920 -s.5 -Karnataka Police Manual. 
8 
The appellant-accused was convicted by the trial 
court of offences punishable u/ss 376, 302 and 392 IPC 
and was sentenced to death. The High Court upheld the 
conviction and confirmed the death sentence. 
In the instant appeals, it was contended for the 
C appellant-accused that his conviction was based erltirely 
on circumstantial evidence which itself was based on 
inference which was of no evidentiary value; that the 
prosecution had almost entirely relied on the evidence of 
P.W.2, the son of the deceased, who was a minor of 7 
D years at the time of the incident, P;W.s 10 and 11, being 
;: ;. :· 
chance witnes'ses, who claimed to have seen the 
appellant coming out of the house of the deceased, and 
P.W. 17, the landlady of the appellant who identified him 
in the Test Identification Parade. It was submitted that a 
E photograph of the appellant had been published -in the 
newspapers throwing doubt on such identification. It was 
further submitted that even if conviction of the appellant 
u/ss 302, 392 and 376 l.P.C. was to be accepted, the case 
did not fall within the category of "rarest of rare cases". 
F It was submitted that the judges of the Division Bench of 
the High Court differed on the question of sentence and 
the matter was referred to another Judge who confirmed 
the death penalty imposed by the trial court. 
G 
H 
Dismissing the appeals, the Court 
HELD: 1.1 Since the conviction of the appellant is 
based on circumstantial evidence leading to the awarding 
of the death sentence to him along with his conviction 
u/ss 376 and 392 l.P.C., the Court has looked into the 
' 
B.A. UMESH v. REGR.GEN.HIGH COURT OF 
369 
KARNATAKA 
evidence adduced by the prosecution, with care and A 
caution. [para 41] (401-F] 
1.2 That, one ,'J', the mother of P.W.2, was murdered 
. inside her house on 28.2.1998 between 4.30 and 5.00 p.m. 
is not disputed, nor is it disputed that P,W.2 the son of 8 
the deceased, came back to the house after playing with 
his friends at about 5.00 p.m. and discovered the body 
- of his mother lying on the ground stained with blood, with 
both her hands tied with a sari at one end, while the other 
end of the sai;.i wa~ tied to a window. It has also been C 
established thcit P.W. 2, thereafter went to C.W.7, a 
neighbour, and told her what he had' seen. On i"eceiving 
the said information, C.W. 7 called C.W.6 and P.W. 8 and 
together they went to J's house with P.W.2 and through 
~-
" 
the window they saw 'J' lying on the gr

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