LexRAMESH versus STATE OF RAJASTHAN
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
• [2011] 4 S.C.R. 585 RAMESH V. STATE OF RAJASTHAN (Criminal Appeal No. 1236 of 2006) FEBRUARY 22, 2011 [V.S SIRPURKAR AND T.S. THAKUR, JJ.] Penal Code, 1860- ss. 120-B, 457, 302, 379, 404, 201, A B 414 and s. 34 - Double murder - RL and his wife were engaged in the business of money lending by pledging gold C and silver ornaments - Robbery committed at the house-cum- shop of RL - RL and his wife found dead in the pool of blood - Four accused arrested - Trial court convicted A 1 to A 3 u/ ss. 120·8, 457, 302, 379, 404 and 201 -A 1 awarded death sentence whereas A2 and A3 sentenced to life imprisonment D - Accused convicted on other counts also - A 4 convicted u/ ss. 201, 404 and 414 - High Court upheld the order passed by the trial court- On appeal by A 1 to A 3, held: A 3 found in possession of huge haul of gold weighing one kilo and cash immediately after theft - Ornaments recovered from A 2 and E A 1 - There was en effort to melt the ornaments - Recovery of clothes and shoes of accused stained with human blood - Recovery of blood stained murder weapon at the instance of A 3 - Weapon was stained with human blood of blood group A which was the blood group of deceased - Clothes of F deceased found stained with his own blood of blood group A - No explanation -offered by accused of this highly incriminating circumstance - Theft of the articles, ornaments more particularly, the melting apparatus machine and Katordan and tiffin on which the name of the deceased was G engraved fully established - Identification of the property also established - Investigation not tainted - Though police was not able to recover ornaments in one go, but merely because recoveries were made from the same place which was already 585 H 586 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2011] 4 S.C.R. A visited by the police, would not dispel the evidence of discovery and recovery - A4 was receiver of stolen property and had helped in melting of some of the gold items with the machines removed from the house of deceased - Conviction of A 1 to A3 upheld, however, no evidence as to who was the B actual author of the injuries on the deceased though all the three were participants of the crime - Thus, death sentence awarded to A 3 modified to life imprisonment and life imprisonment imposed on A 1 and A2 upheld - Sentence/ c Sentencing. Sentence/Sentencing - Death sentence - Award of - Commission of double murder - Award of death sentence to A 3 by courts below - On appeal held: Though it was a double murder, but it could not be said to be brutal, grotesque and 0 diabolical - Crime could not be said to be of enormous proportion - A 3 was not in a dominating position - It was a murder of gains - Case was purely based on circumstantial evidence - No definite evidence about the acts on the part of each of the accused - Difficult to say that A 3 alone was author of injuries on the deceased - A 3 was young and this E was his first proved offence - It could not be said that there was no possibility of reformation of A 3 - It was not established that alternative punishment of life imprisonment would be futile and would serve no purpose - Also, it could not be established that hairs in the hands of the deceased belonged F to A 3 - A 3 languishing in death cell for more than 6 years - Thus, death sentence is modified to life imprisonment. 'RL' alongwith his wife 'SD' were engaged in the business of money lending by pledging gold and silver G ornaments and were selling steel utensils. On the fateful day, they were found lying dead in the pool of blood. According to the prosecution, A-1 conspired with A-2, A- 3 and A-4 to commit a robbery at the place of 'RL'. They trespassed into the house of 'RL' by night and looted the H house and decamped with the looted ornaments, cash • • RAMESH v. STATE OF RAJASTHAN 587 and other articles. Both the deceased persons had human A hair in their hands. A blood-stained needle and syringe was found near the dead body of 'SD'. The clothes of the deceased persons and some other materials were seized. The accused persons as also accused No. 4 were arrested. The murder weapon 'Jharbad' was recovered B from A-3. The clothes and the shoes worn by the accused at the time of incident as also the ornaments stolen from the house of 'RL' were recovered. The stolen gold ornaments were melted at the house of A-4 and converted into a nugget (Dhalia). The instrument used for
Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.