LexSUBHASH & ANOTHER versus STATE OF U.P.
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, • • ·• ' 587 SUBHASH & ANOTHER v. STATE OF U.P. May .6. 1976 [Y. V. CHANDRACHL'D, R. S. SARKARIA AND P. N. Sil!NGHAL, JJ.] CoJe of Crin1itl[;./ Procedure, S. 314-Referen€e far c£>nfirmatlon of deatli sentence, wheth~r High Court obliged to examine entire evidence independently. Ram Sanehi received tv.ro gun-shot v;ounds on his chest, and died' within ten minutes. Tw·o of hi> children claimed to have witnessed the occurrence .. The dead body v.as subfected to post-mortem only after about 24 hours had elapsed. The same evenine. appellant Subhash surrendered, and appellant Sbyam Narain B \\.·as arrested, though for another offence altogether. The Sessions Court con- C victed ttem under s. 302 I.P.C. and sentenced Subhash to death and Shyam Narain to imprisonment for life. The accused moved the High Court in appeal, \vhile the Se:.si.ons Court referred the matter to it under s. 374, for confirmation of the de;;.tlrsentence. ;. The question before this Court was, \\'hetb~r· i~· iiie case of such references. the High Court was obliged to examine the entire evidence. independe.ntly. · AIJowing the appeal, the Court, U> HELD : On a reference for confirmation of the senrence of death, the High Court is under an obligation to proreed in accordance with the provisions of sections 375 and 376 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The High Court must not only see \\ heth~r the other order passed by the Sessions Court is correct but it is under an obligation to examine the entire evidence for itself, apart from and independently of the Sessions Court's appraisal and assessment of that evi<lence. f589A-BJ J1llnmGn and Ors. v. The State ·of Punjab AIR 1957 S.C. 460;. Ram Shanker Singh and Ors. v. State of JVest Bengal [1962] Supp. 1 SCR 49 &t 59 and B!tupendra Shu:f1 v. Tf1e State of Punjab [1968] 3 SCR 404. folIO\vcd. CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 420 of 1974. Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated 27-11-74 of the Allahabad High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 2646( 73 and Referred No. 95 /73. Frank Anthony, E. C. Agarwala and A. T. M. Sampatft; for· the Appdlams. 0. P. Rana; for the Respondent. The J udgmcnt of the Court was delivered by CHAKDRACHUD, J. The appellants, Subhash and Shyam Narairr, E were convicted by the learned Civil and Sessions Judge, Farrukhabad under section 302 of the Penal Code on the charge that at abouh 9 a.m. on June 9, 1972 they committed the murder of one Ram Sanehi~ t Subhash was sentenced to death and Shyam ~arain to imprisonment~ HI for life. The judgment of the trial court having been confirmed .i.n. appeal by the High Court of. Allahabad, the two accused have filed this appeal by special leave of this Court. · A B D E F SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1976] SUPPLEMENTARY The case of the prosecution is briefly as follows : Oa the morning of June 9, 1972 the deceased Ram Sanehi had gone to his field along with his son Bal Kishorc and his daughter Kusuma Devi for eatin!J Kharbuzas. While they were returning from the field al about 9 a.m. the appellants, who were lying in wait near a culvert, suddenly accosted Ram Sanehi. The appellant Subhash pointed the barrel of his gun towards the chest of Ram Sanehi and said that since he, Ram Sanehi, was a witness against him in a complaint filed by Pooran Lal and since he was also doing Pairvi on behalf of Pooran Lal he would not be allowed to remain alive. The appellant Shyam Narain was armed with a lathi. Bal Kishore and Kusuma Devi pleaded .vith the appel- lants to spare their father but Sh yam Narain asked Sub hash not to delay the matter and finish Ram Sanehi quickly. Subhash thereupon fired three shots from his double-barrelled gun, the last of which mis- fired. Ram Sanehi fell down, whereupon the appellants dragged him by his legs over a distance of 6 or 7 paces. Bal Kishore and Kusuma Devi then raised an alarm whereupon Brij Bhusan, Shyam Lal, Man- gali Prasad and Jhabbo Singh Thakur reached the place of occurrence and challenged the appellants. Before running away, the appellant Subhash told his companion Shyam Narain that he on his own part was going to surrender before a court and that Shyam Narain should make his own arrangements. Ram Sanehi died within about 10 minutes after receiving the injuries. Bal Kishore first went to his house which is at about a distailce of 120 yards from the scene of offence. At about 12 O'clock at n
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