LexNAND KUMAR & OTHERS versus STATE OF RAJASTHAN
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IHI Pr•blb. .. ~tat• of U. P. DasJ. IHI 890 SUPREME COURT REPOR'l'S [1963] ·the production of a blood stained weapon. We are unable to agree. The ciroumsta.ntla.I cha.in in that case did not depend merely on the production of the gandasa, but on other circumstance a.e well. The Court held in that case that the oiroumsta.ntial oha.in was complete a.nd the decision did not prooeed merely on the production of a blood stained weapon. For the reasons given above we would allow the appeal and set a.side the conviction and eentenoe pa11eed against the appellant. The appellant must now be released forthwith. A.ppeal allowed. NAND KlJMAR & OTHERS ti. STATE OF RAJASTHAN (K. C. DAS GUPTA. and J. R. MUDHOLKA.B, JJ.) Criminal Trial- Retraclld can/~ Oorroboralion- nlfkiencr. The appellants were convicted under 1. 302 Indian Penl Code and also s. 377 and s. 395 of the Indian Penal Code. The Trial Court and the High Court had based the Convict ions on the retracted confessions of each of the 6nt three app- ellants supported by other circumstances in evidence and o circumstantial and other evidence in the case of the four!• appellant. On special leave it was contended that the con fessions of the first three appellants were not voluntary and even if voluntarily they were not suff'iclently corroborated by other circnmstances and that the conviction of the fourth app- ellant was not based on sufficient evidence. ' Held, 1hat what is sufl'icient corroboration for this purpose has to be decided in each case on Its own facts and CIJ'Cumst- ances. It may, however, be generally stated that where the prosecution by the production of reliable evidence which is indepcadent of the confaaion and which i1 alto not lainted .. -\ . \ S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 891 evidence like the evidence of an accomplice or the evidence of a co-accused, establishes the truth of certain parts of the acc- ount given in the confession and these parts are so integrally connected with other parts of the accmed's confession, that a prudent judge of facts would think it reasonable to believe, in view of the established truth of these parts, that what the accused has stated in the confession as regards his own partici- pation in the crime is also true, that issufficient corroboration. More than this-is not needed; less than this is ordinarily insuffi- cient. . Held, further, that in the case of the first three appellants there was sufficient corroboration and that there was suffici- , ~~ ent evidence in the ca•e of the fourth appellant. CRIMINAL APFELLATE JuruSDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 181 of 1961. , Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated October 14, J 961, of the Rajasthan High Court in D. B. Cr. As. Nos. 263, 264, 278 and 280 to 282 and D. B. Cr. (Death Sentence and con- \.-- firmation) Case No. 5 of 19Jl. 0. 0. Chatterjee, Renu Ohatterjee and 8. N. M ukhe,rjee, for the appellants. _ · .4. 8. R. Chari, Kan Singh and P. D. Me:non, for the respondent. 1962. May 3. The following Judgment of the Court was delivered by , DAS GuPTA, J.-On June 4, 1960 eight boys (1) Munna son of Manohar Lal; (2) Ram Prakash son of Ram Baboo; (3) Laxrni son of Vidhya Ram; (41 Pooran sou of Guiab Chand; (5) Kedar son of Ram Kumar; (6) Mohan son of Banke Lal; 17) Buresh son of Chandra Shekhar and ( b) Jagdish son of Mitthan Lal, all of Dholpur · City went to the temple of Mange.I Bharti for a picnic. None of them returned home. On the morning of June 6, all these boys were found dead near a well in Gundarai forest. Each of the bodies bore numer- ous injuries, which according to the evjdenoe of 1961 Nan4 'Kumar •• Bio.I# qf Ra_.'a1lllao Daa Gupla .J. 1HI NaNl Kum•' .. St9'4 •f ll•.;•s'i.on 892 SUPREME OOUR!' REPORTS (1963) doctor, who held the post mortem examination, caused the deaths. Seven of the bodies were found naked; only the dead body of Munna had clothes on. The hands of each were tied from be- hind with ribbons of thdr trournrs and their mouths were found gagged. Watches and ringa, buttons and currency nows, which some of these boys had with them had disappeared. The four appellants, viz., Nand Kumar, Brij Kishore, alias Kalua, Lskhan and .Murari along with one Jagdish were all convicted for the murder of these eight boys under s. 302 of the Indian Penal Code and were all sentenced to death. All of them were also convicted by the additional SeBBions Jud
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