LexK.P. TAMILMARAN versus THE STATE BY DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE
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[2025] 4 S.C.R. 1865 : 2025 INSC 576 K.P. Tamilmaran v. The State by Deputy Superintendent of Police (Criminal Appeal No. 2253 of 2025) 28 April 2025 [Sudhanshu Dhulia* and Prashant Kumar Mishra, JJ.] Issue for Consideration Whether the High Court was justified in upholding the conviction and sentence of A-15 under Sections 217, 218, Penal Code, 1860 and ss.3(2)(i), 4, SC/ST Act, 1989 and modifying the conviction and sentence of A-14, while upholding the conviction and sentence of the other co-accused. Headnotes† Penal Code, 1860 – ss.302 r/w 149, 217, 218 – Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 – ss.3(2)(i), 4 – Murder of a young couple in the name of honour killing where the girl belonged to the Vanniyar community and the boy was a Dalit – Eventually, 11 accused were convicted and sentenced by the High Court wherein A-14 and A-15 were the police officers who were convicted by the Trial Court u/ss.217, 218, IPC and ss.3(2)(i), 4, SC/ST Act, 1989 and were sentenced to life imprisonment – However, High Court modified the conviction and sentence of A-14 by acquitting him for offences u/s.3(2)(i), SC/ST Act, 1989 and s.218, Penal Code, 1860 but, maintained his conviction u/s.4, SC/ST Act and s.217, IPC; the conviction and sentence of A-15 was upheld – Present appeal by eleven accused: Held: A-14 (Sub-inspector) and A-15 (Inspector-IO) both committed the offences u/s.217, IPC and s.4, SC/ST Act as they did not register the FIR at the first instance with the intention to save the culprits – In addition, A-15 was the main architect behind the FIR which falsely implicated the four members of Schedule Caste community – Further, A-15 was in-charge of the investigation which led to the filing of the charge-sheet against the innocent persons belonging to Dalit community – A-15 did this entire exercise to absolve the culprits belonging to the Vanniyar community of their complicity * Author 1866 [2025] 4 S.C.R. Supreme Court Reports in the crime, and he knowingly and deliberately falsely implicated some of the Dalits in an offence punishable with death – A-15 also manufactured the extra-judicial confessions and evidence – High Court rightly upheld the conviction of A-15 u/ss.217, 218, IPC and ss.4, 3(2)(i), SC/ST Act and the sentence of life imprisonment – Impugned judgment not interfered with. [Paras 74, 75] Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.154 – Penal Code, 1860 – ss.302 r/w 149, 217, 218 – Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 – ss.3(2)(i), 4 – Murder of a young couple in the name of honour killing – A-14 and A-15 were the police officers who were convicted by the Trial Court u/ss.217, 218, IPC and ss.3(2)(i), 4, SC/ST Act, 1989 and were sentenced to life imprisonment – High Court upheld the conviction of A-14 but modified his sentence by acquitting him of charges u/s.3(2)(i), SC/ST Act, 1989 and s.218, Penal Code, 1860 however, the conviction and sentence of A15 was not modified – One of their defence was that nobody came forward to lodge a complaint for registration of FIR: Held: Such defence is unacceptable in light of the law as well as the facts of the case and was rightly disbelieved by High Court – s.154, CrPC should not be misunderstood to mean that the police is empowered to register FIR only in cases where some informant comes forward and provides information regarding the commission of a cognizable offence to the police – Once the police gets information regarding the commission of a cognizable offence, whether it is through any informant/complainant or otherwise, police is empowered to register the case and proceed with the investigation – In the present case, A-14 (Sub-inspector) and A-15 (Inspector-IO) had the information regarding the incident on the day of the incident itself – However, they still did not register the FIR. [Para 69] Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – ss.156, 157(1) – Police Act, 1861 – ss.23, 24 – Penal Code, 1860 – ss.302 r/w 149, 217, 218 – Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 – ss.3(2)(i), 4: Held: The purpose of an investigation is to reach to the truth – Duty of an Investigating Officer is to lawfully collect evidence – In the present case, the Investigating Officer (A-15) not only covered evidence but fabricated his own – Instead of collecting evidence, he created evidence and tried to implicate the innocent and set the
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