PREM THAKUR versus STATE OF PUNJAB

Citation: [1983] 1 S.C.R. 822 · Decided: 17-11-1982 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: Y.V. CHANDRACHUD · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Judgment (excerpt)

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B 
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D 
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b22 
PREM THAKUR 
• 
v. 
STATE OF PUNJAB 
November 17, 1982 
[Y.V. CHANDRACHUD, C.J. AND 0. CHINNAPPA REDDY, J.J 
' 
Evidence-Circumstanlial evidence-How evaluated-Circumstances relied 
upon as establishing involvement of accused must clinch the issue of guilt. 
The prosecution case against the ;lppeUant was that he, along ~ith five 
wo.rkers migrated from Nepal and that at the time of occurrence all of them 
were working in Pujnab as agricultural labourers. Out of a large sum of money 
eained by them as wages' they spent a part and the balance was left with one 
of the five deceased. On the evening prior to the day of occurrence the appellant 
was found by the employer cooking food for himself and his companions but 
when he went to his field the following mllrning be noticed the five dead bodies 
Or the co-workers were' smouldering ·ill the pit of his tube well. Post-mortem 
examination of the dead bodies revealed several ante-mortem injuries, most of 
which were lacerated wounds. From that day onwards the appellant was found 
missing. 
The trial Court, accepting the circumstantial evidence,· convicted and 
sentenced the appellant to. death. The High Court affirmed the conviction. on 
three grounds : (i) since the money was not found on the person of the deceased 
with whom it was kept, the motive' was theft ; (ii) the appellant was last seen 
in the company of all the deceased and (iii) the appeHant absconded thereafter 
to coraceal his presence. 
\ 
Allowing the appeal, 
HELD : It is impossible to believe that the crime was committed in 
the mann~r alleged by the prosecution or that the appellant could possibly have 
cotnmitted it in the circums~ances alleged. [826 C-D] 
In a case which depends wholly upon circumstantial evidence, the 
· circumstances must be of such a nature as to be capable of supporting· the 
exclusive hypothesis that the accused is guilty of the crime of which he is charged. 
That is to say, the circumstances relied upon as establishing the involvement of 
the accused in the crime must clinch the issue of "guilt. Very often, circumstances 
which establish the commission of an offence in the ·abstract are identified as 
circumstances which prove that the prisoner before the Court is guilty of a 
~rime imputed to him. An a priori suspicion that the accused bas committed 
• 
. 
j 
PREM THAIW!l v. PUNJAB ( Chandrachud, C.J.) 
. 823 
the crime transforms itself into a facile belief that it is he who has committed 
the crime. Human rD.ind plays that trick on proof of the commission of a crime 
by resisting the frustrating feeling that no one can be identified as the author 
of that crime. [826 G-H] 
~· 
In. the instant case the circumstances attendant upon the incident 
militate entirely against the conclusion that the five· murders were Committed 
by the appellant. 
The fact that the assailant rtlbbcd the victims of the 
money cannot necessarUy lead to the conclusion that it was. the 
appellant~ 
who robbed them of their money. That the appellant and his co-workers were 
p&id a. fairly large sum of money was known to others apart from the appellant 
and his companions. No part of the money was traced to the appellant and 
therefore he could not be connected with tho crime. [825 C-E] 
Assumina that the deceased were administered liquor, medical evidence 
did not show that the liquor consumed would have indu~d such stupor verging 
upon hypnosis. It is also incredible .that the five persons doiie to death. by a 
. single individual were under such a heavy spell of sleep that none of them woke · 
up when the other or others were attacked. [826 D·Fl 
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B 
c 
The fact that the appellant was last seen in the company of the deceased 
D 
and that he was not present at the place from which the dead bodies were 
recovered the next morning are equivocal circumstances on which it is hazardous 
to base the conviction. [827 DJ 
The circumstance that the appellant absconded from the place of 
occurrence does not lead to the conclusion that he had made himself scarce in 
order to conceal his presence. If he· ·was found by the team of investigating 
officers in Nep
1al going about openly, it is difficult to hold that he had absconded 
to Nepal. (825 G-H] 
E 
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 187 
. of 1982. 
F 
Appeal by special leave from the . jndgment and order dated 
7.10.81 of tile Punjab and Haryana High Court in Criminal No. 
466-DB/81. 
N.K. Agarwala 
Amicus Curiae 

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