LexGOVIND versus STATE OF HARYANA
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[2025] 12 S.C.R. 206 : 2025 INSC 1318 Govind v. State of Haryana (Criminal Appeal No. 5641 of 2024) 14 November 2025 [J.K. Maheshwari* and Vijay Bishnoi, JJ.] Issue for Consideration Whether the judgment of Trial Court, as affirmed by the High Court, convicting the appellant for the charges u/s.302, IPC and s.25, Arms Act and the sentence as directed, is based on cogent material and evidence sufficient to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. Headnotes† Evidence – Alleged recovery made from a place accessible to others – Mere recovery and the FSL report, if can sustain the conviction – Appellant convicted u/s.302, IPC and s.25, Arms Act and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life – Mere recovery and the FSL report, if by itself can sustain the conviction of the appellant when other co-accused having motive was acquitted and the eye-witness turned hostile and did not support the prosecution case; no evidence of ‘last seen’ was adduced and the alleged motive against the appellant was not proved: Held: Prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the appellant beyond reasonable doubt – PW-1, the brother of the deceased and the alleged eye-witness of her murder along with his brother, PW-5 have not supported the case of prosecution to prove the presence of the appellant on the spot – Any other circumstance connecting the accused in commission of the offence and to show his presence on spot or with deceased has not been proved by the prosecution – Accused was not named in the FIR initially – His name came up after five days of the incident on suggestion by PW-1 – Pursuant to the disclosure statement of the appellant, a country-made pistol and two live cartridges were allegedly recovered – However, the prosecution did not establish that the said recovery distinctly relates to the commission of the offence or that the weapon so recovered was the same which was used * Author [2025] 12 S.C.R. 207 Govind v. State of Haryana to commit murder so as to constitute a relevant fact distinctively related to the disclosure – The recovery was effected from an iron box lying in a room in the house of the appellant accessible to other family members, wherein various household articles were kept, which were neither seized nor proved examining any independent witness from neighborhood – After the recovery, the pistol and cartridges were kept in the Malkhana, but the record does not indicate on which date these were handed over to PW-6 for deposit to the FSL and the same article was sent for forensic examination – Chain of recovery linking the seizure, storage, and deposit of the material exhibits thus remains incomplete and was not duly proved – Though the FSL report indicates that the pistol and cartridges recovered correlate with the bullets found in the body of the deceased, such evidence by itself is not sufficient to establish the appellant’s guilt in the absence of any proof that the recovered pistol was indeed used in the commission of the offence – Judgment of the High Court and the Trial Court insofar they relate to the conviction and sentence of the appellant, set aside – Appellant acquitted. [Paras 22, 23, 25] Evidence Act, 1872 – s.27 – Words and Phrases – “distinctly” as used in s.27 – Meaning. [Para 15] Case Law Cited Manjunath & Ors. v. State of Karnataka [2023] 14 SCR 727 : 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1421; Jaikam Khan v. State of U.P. [2021] 14 SCR 767 : (2021) 13 SCC 716; Nikhil Chandra Mondal v. State of West Bengal [2023] 2 SCR 20 : (2023) 6 SCC 605 – relied on. State of Himachal Pradesh v. Jeet Singh [1999] 1 SCR 1033 : (1999) 4 SCC 370; State of Maharashtra v. Bharat Fakira Dhiwar [2001] Supp. 5 SCR 12 : (2002) 1 SCC 622; Lochan Srivas v. State of Chhattisgarh [2021] 14 SCR 809 : (2022) 15 SCC 401 – distinguished. Raja Khan v. State of Chhattisgarh [2025] 2 SCR 461 : (2025) 3 SCC 314 – referred to. Books and Periodical Cited Concise Oxford English Dictionary (10th Edition, Revised in 2002, Edited by Judy Pearsall; P Ramanatha Aiyar, Advanced Law Lexicon (3rd Edition, 2005) – referred to. 208 [2025] 12 S.C.R. Supreme Court Reports List of Acts Penal Code, 1860; Arms Act, 1959; Evidence Act, 1872. List of Keywords Guilt not proved beyond reasonable doubt; Country-made pistol and live cartridges allegedly recovered; Not established that recovery relates to commission of offence; Not established that weapon recovered was used to commit murder; Relevant fact; Relat
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