STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH versus WASIF HAIDER ETC.

Citation: [2018] 14 S.C.R. 1161 · Decided: 10-12-2018 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: N.V. RAMANA · Disposal: Dismissed

Cited by 2 judgment(s) · cites 1 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

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STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH
v.
WASIF HAIDER ETC.
(Criminal Appeal Nos. 1702-1706 of 2014)
DECEMBER 10, 2018
[N. V. RAMANA AND
MOHAN M. SHANTANAGOUDAR, JJ.]
Penal Code, 1860 – ss.302 and 307 r/w ss.149, 148 – Appeal
against acquittal – PW-2-Police Official got to know that a crowd
of around 200-300 rioters was causing rampage and destruction
at a temple – PW-2 accompanied by the police force and a senior
official proceeded towards scene of occurrence – Rioters started
firing upon them, injuring the senior official, who later succumbed
to the injuries – Respondents-accused persons arrested – Trial court
convicted the respondents – High Court set aside the conviction –
Held: In appeal against acquittal, the appellate court would interfere
only where there exists perversity of fact and law – Present case is
ridden with multiple investigative laches and flaws which go to the
root of the matter– Specific identification of the respondents, from
a group of 200-300 rioters, with 100% perfection; without a mention
of any distinguishing marks seems highly improbable considering
the distance of the witnesses from the place of occurrence– Test
Identification Parade (TIP)  has to be conducted timely, if not, then
the delay has to be explained – However, in the present case, not
only there was delay in conducting the TIP, but there was no
explanation for the same – This creates doubt about its genuineness
– Further, although the charges were framed u/s.307,IPC, the
prosecution failed to substantiate the charges by means of evidence
– Trial Court erred in convicting the respondents for the aforesaid
offence, without any evidence – Prosecution failed to link the chain
of circumstances to dispel the cloud of doubt about the culpability
of the respondents – Suspicion, however grave cannot take place
of proof – Investigative lapses have fortified the presumption of
innocence in favor of the respondents – Benefit of doubt arising
out of faulty investigation accrues in favor of the accused – No
perversity in the judgment of the High Court – Concurrent order of
[2018] 14 S.C.R. 1161
1161
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1162                    SUPREME COURT REPORTS            [2018] 14 S.C.R.
acquittal for offences under the Arms Act and Explosive Substances
Act also not interfered with - Arms Act, 1959 – ss.25, 27 – Explosive
Substances Act, 1908 – ss.4, 15 – Criminal Law Amendment Act,
1932.
Dismissing the appeals, the Court
HELD: 1.1 The present case is ridden with multiple
investigative laches and flaws which goes to the root of the matter.
Firstly, out of the seven eye witnesses who participated in the
TIP, five of them identified the accused-respondents without
committing any mistake. Accused no.3 has big protruding teeth,
the accused no.4 was suffering from polio hence, had permanent
physical disability, but surprisingly this fact was never mentioned
either in the F.I.R. or in the witness statements. The specific
identification of the four accused-respondents, from a group of
200-300 rioters, with 100% perfection; without a mention of any
distinguishing marks seems highly improbable considering the
distance of the witnesses from the place of occurrence. Moreover,
there existed an inordinate delay of 55 days in conducting the
TIP of the accused no.1 and 2. Although, the involvement of
accused no.3 and 4 was brought to light on 03.08.2001 itself, the
prosecution did not take any effort to arrest or interrogate them
for 6 weeks. But no reasonable explanation was provided for the
aforesaid inordinate delay. [Paras 13, 14][1168-D-H]
1.2 Furthermore, no documentary evidence has been
provided to prove that the identity of the accused was kept
concealed. TIP has to be conducted timely, if not, then the delay
has to be explained and such delay should not cause exposure of
the accused. However, in the case at hand, not only there was a
delay in conducting the TIP, but no explanation for the same has
been forthcoming from the prosecution. This creates a
considerable doubt about the genuineness of the TIP.
[Para 15][1169-A-D]
1.3 Secondly, it is surprising that, although the post-mortem
report describes that there were only two wounds in the body of
the deceased, one being the entry and the other being the exit
wound, allegedly a bullet was still recovered from the ashes of
the deceased. The recovery of bullet from the ashes of the
deceased is irreconcilable with the post-mortem report which
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allegedly states an exit wound, i

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