LexDELHI ADMINISTRATION versus TRIBHUVAN NATH AND ORS.
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A DELHI ADMINISTRATION v. TRIBHUVAN NATH AND ORS. APRIL 11, 1996 B [B.L. HANSARIA AND K. VENKATASWAMI, J.J.] Indian Penal Code, 1860 : Ss. 3021149, 147, 148-Delhi Riots of 1984--Tliree accused identified C as pa1t of mob which had killed two pe!!On--T1ial Cowt convicting the accused-High Coiat setting aside conviction for contradictions in evidence of eye witnesses and non production of cmpus delicti-Held High Cozat not justified in recording acquittal--When the mob mu1·dered several persons and thrown tlze bodies in adjoining nullah, it would be too much to expect production of copus delictj,-What a witness had said during investigation D cannot be used to discredit him unless that statement was put to the witness while deposing in Court-Prosecution succeeded in establishing that the accused were pan of the mob which had murdered two persons-Conviction under section 302/149 and sentence of imprisonment for life, as recorded by trial court restored. E CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 84 of 1996. From the Judgment and Order dated 2.1.95 of the Delhi High Court in Cr!. A No.55 of 1991. F Uday Umesh Lalit for the Appellant. R.K. Khanna, Deepak and C.S. Ashri for the Respondents. The following Order of the Court was delivered : G Delhi had seen a carnage about a decade back. The country had then lost its Prime Minister at the hands of an assassin. Delhi thereafter lost thousands of innocent humans and what is more shocking that the victims belonged to one community, namely, Sikh. The wrath fell on that com- munity because the assassin of the Prime Minister was supposed to be a Sikh. The materials on record portray a hair raising scenario of Delhi H starting from Isl November, 1984 - the assassination of the Prime Minister 184 DELHIADMN. v. TR!BHUVANNATI1 185 having taken place on 31st October, 1984. 2. It seems that !st November, 1984 onwards, mob had taken control of the city for a few days and Sikhs of different localities subjected to all sorts of atrocities. They were murdered, thrown into drains or set ablaze. Their properties were looted and their houses were burnt. The three respondents are among those who were subsequently put on trial for such offences. The trial court found all of them guilty under various sections of law, to wit, 302/149, 436/149, 395/147 and 148 of Penal Code. Various sentences were awarded on the respondents. We may mention about the one under section 302/149 which was imprisonment for life. All the senten- ces were ordered to run concurrently. 3. On appeal being preferred by the convicts, the High Court of Delhi by the impugned judgment has, however, acquitted them of all the charges. Hence this appeal by the Delhi Administration. A B c 4. We have heard Shri Lalit for the appellant and Shri Kharin~ for D the respondents. Both the learned counsel have taken us through all. the relevant material on record, which includes the testimonies of PW.1 - Mohan Singh, PW.2 - Satnam Kaur, PW.4 - Rukki Kaur, PW.6 - Desh Singh and PW.8 - Harvinder Singh. We have also been referred to the relevant portion of the judgment of the High Court by Shri Khanna wherein reasons for disbelieving the witnesses, have been set out. 5. If the evidence of aforesaid PWs is read as a whole, which has to be, what we found is on 1.11.1984, at first around 11 a.m., a mob of about E 200 people came to Block No. P-1, Sultan Puri, which then had 30 to 35 jhuggies. Deceased Himmat Singh and Wazir Singh used to live in those F jhuggies. The mob which came around 11 a,m. was said to have been armed with iron rods and sticks; but then it was not causing any damage. Rather, it was being advised by this mob that the persons staying in jhuggies should get their hairs cut if they wanted to save their lives. The inmates felt inclined to accept this advice and they were io the process of cutting their G hairs. But then another mob came which, accordiog to PW.1, considered of 200-250 persons - this number has been given as 1000-lWO by PW.2. According to PW.4 the mob consisted of 100 persons. PW.8 did not give the number. We are really not concerned with the number as such. Suffice it to say that _the mob was a big one. This mob caused havoc and the · members of this mob too were armed with iron rods and sticks. It is at the H 186 SUPREMECOURTREPORts [1996] SUPP.1 S.C.R. A hands of this mob that, according to the aforesaid PW s, Himmat Singh
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