LexBHAGWAN KAUR versus MAHARAJ KRISHAN SHARMA & ORS.
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J02 BHAGWAN KAUR A V. MAHARAJ KRISHAN SHARMA & ORS. October 25, 1972 i.H. R. KHANNA AND Y. V. CHANDRACHUD, JJ.] Critninal trial-Appraisal of evidence in case of alleged nu1rder by B .sulphuric acid poisoning-Murder or suicide-Conduct of accused- Opinion of handwriting expert providing alleged dying declaration to be in deceased's handwriting-Evidence of handwriting expert not re/iable- Appeal under Art. 136, Constitution of India-This court does not re. apprise evidence except when there is some glaring infirn1iry in High Court's ji1dgn1ent resulting in n1iscarriage of justice. "'· The first respondent and his mother were charged with i:he murder of his wife on the allegation that they had forcibly administered sulphuric acid poison to the deceased. Immediately after finding his wife in a serious condit:on the first respondent had sent for a doctor \Vho had .advised him to take her to hospital and had also informed the police. In the hospital, according to th~ prosecution, the deceased had recovered consciousness 'for et while and had given a piece of writing P.W.l/A to her mother charging the husband with poisoning her; she had also made a similar oral statement to h~r mother and another woman. A handwriting ·expert gave his opiniori that the writing in document P.W. l/A \Vas similar to the ;yJmitt~d \Vr!tings of the deceased. At their trial the two accused stated that the acid was not administered to the deceased but had been swallowed by herself. The Additional Sessions Judges relying on P.W.l/A held tho.~ the accused were guilty. He did not rely on the oral dying declaration of the deceased to her mother and another woman. The High Court in appeal held that the dee.eased had r.ommitted suicide. It found inherent weaknesses a:rxl improbabilities in document P.W.1 /A. Against the High Court's judgment acquitting the accused the mother of the deceased appealed to this Court. HELD : This Court in an appeal under Art. 136 of the Constitution does not normally reappraise evidence unless it finds some gl2ffing infirmity in the judgment of the High Court as might have resulted in miscarriage of justice. No such infirmity was pointed out in the present case. On the contrary the High Court had properly appraised the evidence and had arrived at its conclusion in a. well~reasoned judgment. Tue evidence of the medical expert showed that the quantity of acid which caused the injuries on the internal organs of the deceased could not have been forcihly administered. The conduct Of the occused in calling the doctor while the deceased V.'M alive was con;;istent with their innocence rather than guilt. While the accused had come out with the version of suicide at a very early stage, the complainant had come out with the alle- gation of murder at a very late stage. Not much value could be attached to the evidence df. t~e hand\\Titing expert who proved P.W.l/A. Th.e evidence of a handwntmg expert, un· like that of a fingerprint .expert ts generally of a frail character and its fallibilities have been quite often noticed. The courts shout~,. therefore, be warv to give too much weight to the evidence of handwnhng expert. [7120-E] Sri .Sri Sri Kishore Chandra SinRh Dea v. Babu Ganesh Prasad Bhagat & Ors., A.LR. 1954 S.C. 316, referred to. c D E F G H A BHAGWAN KAUR v. M. K. SHARMA (Kha1111a, !.) 703 The various circumstances of the case irresistibly pointed to the con- clusion that the deceased committed suicide by taking sulphuric acid. The appeal must consequently fail. CR!MI~AL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal '."o. 235 of 1969. H Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated January 31, J 969 of the Delhi High Court at New Delhi in Cri- n1inal Appeal No. 28 of 1968. c Bawa G11rcharan Singh and HarballS Singh, for the appellant. f':lumdcli11 Ahmea and B. Dutta, for respondent No. I. N111wldi11 ;l/m1etl and G. D. Gupta, for respondent No. ~ The hldgment of the Court was delivered by • KHANNA, J. Maharaj Krishan Sharma (34) and his mother Shanti Devi (55) were convicted by the Additional Sessions Judge o Delhi under section 302 read with section 34 Indian Penal Code on the allegation that they caused the death of Shanti Devi alias Prem Lata (25), wife of Maharaj Krishan accused, by forcibly pouring sulphuric acid in her mouth, and were sentenced to under- go imprisonment for life. On appeal the Delhi High Court acquit- te
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