{"id":124027,"date":"2005-02-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-02-01T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/state-by-public-prosecutor-vs-ponnusamy-on-2-february-2005"},"modified":"2015-09-09T01:25:16","modified_gmt":"2015-09-08T19:55:16","slug":"state-by-public-prosecutor-vs-ponnusamy-on-2-february-2005","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/state-by-public-prosecutor-vs-ponnusamy-on-2-february-2005","title":{"rendered":"State By Public Prosecutor vs Ponnusamy on 2 February, 2005"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Madras High Court<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">State By Public Prosecutor vs Ponnusamy on 2 February, 2005<\/div>\n<pre>       \n\n  \n\n  \n\n \n \n IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS           \n\nDATED: 02\/02\/2005  \n\nCORAM   \n\nTHE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE  N.DHINAKAR           \nand \nTHE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE  A.KULASEKARAN             \n\nCriminal Appeal No. 709 of 1996\n\n\nState by Public Prosecutor,\nHigh Court, Madras.                             ... Appellant.\n\n-Vs-\n\nPonnusamy                                      ... Respondent\n\n\n        Prayer:  Appeal against the judgment passed by the learned  Additional\nSessions Judge, Erode, in S.C.No.  193 of 1992 dated :  29.9.1994.\n\n!For Appellant  :  Mr.V.M.R.Rajendran\n                Addl.  Public Prosecutor.\n\n^For Respondent :  Mr.A.K.Kumarasamy   \n\n:JUDGMENT   \n<\/pre>\n<p>(Judgment of the Court was delivered by N.  DHINAKAR,J) <\/p>\n<p>        The appellant is the State.   The  respondent  was  tried  before  the<br \/>\nlearned  Additional Sessions Judge, Erode, on the allegation that at 2.30 p.m.<br \/>\non 7.1.1992, he caused the death of Sivaraj, who hereinafter will be  referred<br \/>\nto  as  &#8220;D-1&#8221; and Kanniammal, who hereinafter will be referred to as &#8220;D-2&#8221;, by<br \/>\ncutting them with axe and that he also committed  theft  of  the  nose  screws<br \/>\nbelonging to Kanniammal, D-2.  Three charges were framed and two of which were<br \/>\nunder Section  302 IPC.  for causing the death of D-1 and D-2 and the other is<br \/>\nunder Section 404 IPC.  for removing the nose  screws.    The  respondent  was<br \/>\nacquitted of all the charges, which is being challenged in this appeal.\n<\/p>\n<p>        2.  The facts necessary to dispose of the appeal are as follows:-<br \/>\n        P.W.1 is the father of D-1 and D-2 is the wife of P.W.2 and she is the<br \/>\nsister-in-law of  P.W.1.   At about 9.00 a.m., D-1 left the house taking along<br \/>\nwith him the goats for grazing and he was accompanied by D-2.  At  about  6.00<br \/>\np.m.,  P.W.1  was invited by three of his friends and while they were going to<br \/>\nBannari Temple, they saw the dead bodies of D-1 and D-2 with cut injuries.  In<br \/>\nthe meantime, 10 or 20 villagers have also gathered.  A woman by name,  Pappa,<br \/>\ninformed  them that on the previous day, one Mohan, a Forest Guard, misbehaved<br \/>\nwith her and he could have committed the offence.  Therefore, P.W.1 and others<br \/>\nwent to the house of  Mohan  and  found  Mohan  with  injuries  on  his  face.<br \/>\nWatcher, Subban,  was also there.  When the villagers questioned them, both of<br \/>\nthem informed that the villgers can do anything they want.   Therefore,  P.W.1<br \/>\naccompanied by P.W.2 went to the Office of the Village Administrative Officer,<br \/>\nP.W.14, and gave a complaint, which was recorded by P.W.14 and the same stands<br \/>\nmarked as  Ex.P-23.    P.W.14  took the complaint, Ex.P-23, to Sathiyamangalam<br \/>\nPolice Station and handed over the  same  to  P.W.17,  the  Sub  Inspector  of<br \/>\nPolice,  who  registered a case in Crime No.3 of 1992 against unknown accused.<br \/>\nThe printed first information report is Ex.P-30 and investigation in the  case<br \/>\nwas  taken  up  by  P.W.18, Circle Inspector of Police, Sathiyamangalam Police<br \/>\nStation.\n<\/p>\n<p>        3.  P.W.18, on taking up investigation  in  the  crime,  proceeded  to<br \/>\nSathiyamangalam Police  Station,  and  reached  it at 2.15 a.m.  on 8.1.1992 ,<br \/>\nwhere he was given a copy of the first information report.   He  proceeded  to<br \/>\nthe  scene  of  occurrence  accompanied  by  P.W.17  and  P.W.14,  the Village<br \/>\nAdministrative Officer as well as the other Police Constables.  He also sent a<br \/>\nrequisition to the Sniffer Dog Squad to go over to the  scene  of  occurrence.<br \/>\nP.W.18, at 6.00 a.m., prepared an observation mahazar, Ex.P-25, where the dead<br \/>\nbody of  D-2  was  lying.   At 6.3 0 a.m., he prepared an observation mahazar,<br \/>\nEx.P-26, where the dead body of D-1 was  lying.    He  drew  a  rough  sketch,<br \/>\nEx.P-31.  P.W.10,  the photographer, took photographs of the dead bodies.  The<br \/>\ninquest over the dead body of D-2 was conducted between 7.00 a.m.  and 9.30 a.<br \/>\nm.  and the inquest report is Ex.P-32.  On the dead body of D-1,  inquest  was<br \/>\nconducted between 9.30  a.m.    and  11.00  a.m.    and  the inquest report is<br \/>\nEx.P-33.  P.Ws.1, 2 and  others  were  questioned  during  inquest  and  their<br \/>\nstatements were recorded.  After the inquest, the bodies were handed over with<br \/>\ntwo requisitions, Exs.P-15 and P-16, for conducting autopsy.\n<\/p>\n<p>        4.  On receipt of the requisitions, P.W.13, Assistant Resident Medical<br \/>\nOfficer attached to Government Hospital, Sathiyamangalam, conducted autopsy on<br \/>\nthe dead body of D-1 and found the following injuries:-\n<\/p>\n<p>1.A cut  injury  on  the  right  side  of  the  neck  measuring 5x4x4 cms.  On<br \/>\ndissection, he found that the sterno-mastoid muscle was cut.\n<\/p>\n<p>2.A lacerated injury on the parietal bone measuring 7 x 3 cm x bone depth  and<br \/>\non internal examination, the parietal bone was found fractured.\n<\/p>\n<p>3.An incised wound measuring 2.5 x 0.5 cm on the back of neck.\n<\/p>\n<p>4.An  incised  injury  on  the  left  side of neck near mastoid bone measuring<br \/>\n0.5&#215;0.5&#215;2 cms with the depth of 2 cms.\n<\/p>\n<p>The doctor issued Ex.P-21, the post-mortem certificate, with his opinion  that<br \/>\nthe  deceased  (D-1)  died  on  account  of  shock  and haemorrhage due to the<br \/>\ninjuries about 18 to 26 hours prior to post-mortem.\n<\/p>\n<p>        5.  The post-mortem over the dead body of D-2 was conducted  by  P.W.1<br \/>\n2,  the Assistant Surgeon attached to Government Hospital, Sathyamangalam, who<br \/>\nfound the following injuries:-\n<\/p>\n<p>1.An irregular lacerated injury measuring 5&#215;3  cms  with  bone  depth  on  the<br \/>\nforehead.  On dissection, the right frontal bone was found fractured.\n<\/p>\n<p>2.An  incised wound measuring 7x5x5 cms on the right side of the back of neck.<br \/>\nOn dissection, C-5 and C-6 vertebrae were found fractured.\n<\/p>\n<p>3.An irregular lacerated injury measuring 3&#215;2 cms with bone depth on the right<br \/>\nside of the back of head and on dissection, no fracture was seen.\n<\/p>\n<p>4.A linear contusion measuring 27 cms on the right thigh  and  on  dissection,<br \/>\nblood clots were noticed.\n<\/p>\n<p>The  doctor issued Ex.P-14, the post-mortem certificate, with his opinion that<br \/>\nthe deceased (D-2) would have died on account of shock and  haemorrhage  about<br \/>\n18 to 26 hours prior to autopsy.\n<\/p>\n<p>        6.   P.W.18,  in the meantime, seized blood-stained earth, M.O.27, and<br \/>\nsample earth, M.O.28, and M.Os.29 to 32, from the place, where the  dead  body<br \/>\nof D-2 was lying, under a mahazar Ex.P-27 attested by P.W.1 4.  He also seized<br \/>\nM.Os.38 to 41 from the same place under a mahazar Ex.P-29 attested by the same<br \/>\nwitnesses.   M.Os.33  to 37 were seized from the place, where the dead body of<br \/>\nD-1 was lying, under a mahazar Ex.P-28 attested by  witnesses.    The  officer<br \/>\ntook steps  to  trace  the  accused, but he could not get any information.  On<br \/>\n9.1.1992, he examined P.W.3 and other witnesses.  He examined P.Ws.12 and  13,<br \/>\nthe two  doctors,  and  recorded  their statements.  On examining one Maniyal,<br \/>\ndaughter of Sriranga Gounder, he came to know that the nose screws of D-2 were<br \/>\nstolen and therefore, an offence under Section 379 IPC.    was  added  to  the<br \/>\ncrime and  a  special  report,  Ex.P-34,  was  sent  to Court on 9.1.1992.  On<br \/>\n10.1.1992, he questioned P.Ws, 10, 15, 16 and others,  whose  statements  were<br \/>\nrecorded.   On 11.1.1992, 12.1.1992 and 15.1.1992 he searched for the accused,<br \/>\nbut could not get any information.  On 14 .1.1992, on the  directions  of  the<br \/>\nSuperintendent of Police, he handed over investigation to P.W.19.\n<\/p>\n<p>        7.   P.W.19,  on  taking  up  investigation  from P.W.18 on 14.1.1992,<br \/>\nexamined P.W.8 and other witnesses and on 15.1.1992, went to  Bannari  forest,<br \/>\nwhere he examined P.Ws.4, 9, 10 and others.  At 2.15 p.m.  on the same day, he<br \/>\nwent  to  the tea stall of P.W.9, where the respondent was working, and seized<br \/>\nM.O.2, a towel, under a mahazar Ex.P-1 attested by witnesses.   On  16.1.1992,<br \/>\nhe  proceeded  to  SathiyamangalamThimman road and at Bannari forest, arrested<br \/>\nthe respondent and he gave  a  statement  in  the  presence  of  P.W.9.    The<br \/>\nadmissible portion  of the said statement is Ex.P-2.  In pursuance of the said<br \/>\nstatement, Ex.P-2, the respondent took the police  party  to  the  forest  and<br \/>\nproduced M.O.3 , an axe, and M.O.4, a shirt.  They were seized under a mahazar<br \/>\nEx.P-3.  At 5.45 p.m., he took the police party to a tree and from the hole in<br \/>\nthe  tree,  produced  M.O.1  series,  nose  screws,  which were seized under a<br \/>\nmahazar Ex.P-14.  The nose screws were identified  by  P.Ws.2  and  3  at  the<br \/>\npolice station.   Their  statements were recorded.  The respondent was sent to<br \/>\nhospital with a requisition to examine him and accordingly, he was examined by<br \/>\nthe doctor for his potency.  After the examination, the respondent was sent to<br \/>\nCourt for remand.  He gave a requisition under Ex.P-35 to the  Court  to  send<br \/>\nthe  material objects for analysis and the Court, by forwarding them, obtained<br \/>\nEx.P-37, the report of the Chemical Analyst and Ex.P-38,  the  report  of  the<br \/>\nSerologist.   He  gave  a requisition to Judicial Magistrate, Erode, to record<br \/>\nthe statement of the respondent\/accused under Section 164 Cr.P.C.\n<\/p>\n<p>        8.  On receipt of the requisition, P.W.11, Judicial Magistrte,  Erode,<br \/>\ndirected  the  jail  authorities  to  produce  the  respondent  before him and<br \/>\naccordingly, he was produced on  21.1.1992.    He  was  questioned  and  after<br \/>\nsatisfying  that  the respondent is in a mood to confess, sent him back to the<br \/>\njail with a direction to the jail authorities to keep him in a  separate  cell<br \/>\nso  as  to  enable  the  respondent to reflect and with a further direction to<br \/>\nproduce the respondent before him on the next day.  Accordingly, on 22.1.1992,<br \/>\nthe respondent was produced before P.W.11 at about 2.45 p.m.  with Ex.P-6, the<br \/>\nreport of the jail authorities that the respondent was detained in a  separate<br \/>\ncell.  P.W.11, after following the procedure, questioned the respondent and he<br \/>\ngave a  statement.    Ex.P-7  are  the  proceedings  of the learned Magistrate<br \/>\ncontaining the statement of the respondent and Ex.P-8 are the  proceedings  of<br \/>\nP.W.11  dated  21.1.1992  and  Ex.P-9  are the proceedings dated 22.1.1992 and<br \/>\nEx.P-10 is the statement given by the  respondent.    The  learned  Magistrate<br \/>\ncorrected  the  words  &#8220;fk;ky;&#8221;  by  scoring it off and the said correction is<br \/>\nmarked as Ex.P-11.  He has also made his note under Ex.P-11  stating  that  he<br \/>\nhas corrected by scoring the words &#8221; fk;ky;&#8221; (ear rings), which was written by<br \/>\nmistake, and Ex.P-12 is the certificate given by P.W.11.\n<\/p>\n<p>        9.   P.W.19  handed over investigation back to P.W.18 on 25.1.1992, on<br \/>\nthe  orders  of  the  Superintendent  of  Police  and  P.W.18,  on  taking  up<br \/>\ninvestigation  from  P.W.19  on  27.1.1992, questioned P.W.12 and recorded his<br \/>\nstatement.  After the completion of investigation, he filed the  final  report<br \/>\nagainst the respondent.\n<\/p>\n<p>        10.   The  respondent  was questioned under Section 313 of the Cr.P.C.<br \/>\non the  incriminating  circumstances.    He  denied  all   the   incriminating<br \/>\ncircumstances.   He filed a written statement, in which, he has stated that he<br \/>\nwas not arrested as claimed by P.W.19 near a temple at Bannari and that he did<br \/>\nnot produce the axe, the nose screws and other materials.  He has also  stated<br \/>\nthat  he  did  not give any confession statement voluntarily before P.W.11 and<br \/>\nthat the said statement was given by him on account of the threat given to him<br \/>\nby P.Ws.18 and 19.  He has  further  stated  that  the  real  assailants  were<br \/>\nidentified  by  the  sniffer  dog, but since they were employees of the Forest<br \/>\nDepartment, they were let off and a false case had been foisted upon him.   He<br \/>\nexamined  D.W.1  to  state that the respondent was working in the tea stall of<br \/>\nP.W.9 and that he was taken into custody three days after the incident by  the<br \/>\npolice.  D.W.2 was examined to say that on the date of incident, while she was<br \/>\ngrazing cattle  and  goats,  she  saw D-1 and D-2 in the forest.  She has also<br \/>\nstated that she found the Forest Guard, Mohan, holding the hands of D-2 and on<br \/>\nseeing this, she ran away from the place along with her friend,  Shanthi,  and<br \/>\ninformed the  same  to the villagers.  According to her, the villagers came to<br \/>\nthe scene of occurrence and found the dead bodies of  D-1  and  D-2  and  that<br \/>\nthereafter,  a  sniffer dog was brought, which went to the house of Mohan, the<br \/>\nForest Guard.  According to her, she was also taken  to  the  police  station,<br \/>\nwhere Mohan, the Forest Guard, was brought and questioned.  D.W.3 was examined<br \/>\nto  show that he took the sniffer dog, Rambo, in connection with Crime No.3 of<br \/>\n1992 to the scene of occurrence and the said sniffer dog went into the  forest<br \/>\nand  stood  in  front  of  the  house  of  the  Forest  Guard, Mohan, and that<br \/>\nthereafter, he returned to the Headquarters with  the  dog.    Ex.D-4  is  the<br \/>\nletter  addressed  by  P.W.18 to the Assistant Commissioner of Police, wherein<br \/>\nP.W.18 has stated that the sniffer dog had gone to the  house  of  the  Forest<br \/>\nGuard,  Mohan,  and after going around the house two times, it stood there and<br \/>\nthe said document was marked through D.W.4.\n<\/p>\n<p>        11.  The learned Additional Public Prosecutor submits that  the  trial<br \/>\nJudge  was not justified in acquitting the respondent in the background of the<br \/>\nevidence of P.W.3, who had seen D-2 in the company of the respondent and  that<br \/>\nthereafter, she  was not seen alive.  The Additional Public Prosecutor further<br \/>\nsubmits that M.O.1 series, nose screws, were recovered at the instance of  the<br \/>\nrespondent  and  therefore,  the  trial  Court  ought  to  have  accepted  the<br \/>\nprosecution version and the acquittal of the respondent is bad in law.  On the<br \/>\nabove contentions, we  have  heard  the  learned  counsel  appearing  for  the<br \/>\nrespondent.\n<\/p>\n<p>        12.   The cause of death of D-1 and D-2 stands established through the<br \/>\ndoctors, P.Ws.12 and 13.  The cause of death  is  also  not  disputed  by  the<br \/>\nrespondent.   On  the  medical  evidence, we, therefore, hold that D-1 and D-2<br \/>\ndied on account of homicidal violence.\n<\/p>\n<p>        13.  Before the trial Court, the prosecution wanted to  establish  the<br \/>\ncase  by  relying  upon  circumstantial  evidence,  as  the occurrence was not<br \/>\nwitnessed by anyone.  The first circumstance  was  sought  to  be  established<br \/>\nthrough the  evidence  of P.W.3.  P.W.3 is the wife of one Subban, an employee<br \/>\nof the Forest Department.  According to her, she had seen the  respondent  and<br \/>\nD-2 on  the  date  of  incident  at  about  2.30  p.m.    and that D-2 and the<br \/>\nrespondent were seen going into the Forest.  It is the case of the prosecution<br \/>\nthat after D-2 was seen alive by P.W.3, she was not seen by  anyone  and  that<br \/>\nher  dead body was seen by P.W.1, who was proceeding to Bannari along with his<br \/>\nfriend.  When P.W.3 was cross-examined, she has admitted that she did not  see<br \/>\nthe respondent&#8217;s  face  and only she saw his back.  She has also admitted that<br \/>\nwhen she was examined during investigation, she did not tell the officer  that<br \/>\nshe saw the respondent along with D-2.  This shows that P.W.3 never had a case<br \/>\nduring  investigation that she saw the respondent and D-2 together on the date<br \/>\nof incident and the present evidence is not only  an  improvement,  but  is  a<br \/>\nfresh case  put  forth by her for the first time in the Court.  She has denied<br \/>\nthat  her  husband,  Subban,  and  Mohan,  another  employee  of  the   Forest<br \/>\nDepartment, were detained by the police.\n<\/p>\n<p>        14.   In  the  background  of the evidence of P.W.3 and the suggestion<br \/>\nmade to her, when we look at the evidence of P.W.5, who was  examined  by  the<br \/>\nprosecution  to show that Mohan was on duty on 7.1.1992, it could be seen that<br \/>\nthe prosecution  did  not  succeed  in  establishing  the  said  fact.      In<br \/>\ncross-examination,  P.W.5,  though  has stated that he gave orders to Mohan to<br \/>\nmake enquiries as to the missing of elephant tusk and that he has  to  go  for<br \/>\nraid,  has  admitted that he has not passed any written orders to that effect.<br \/>\nHe has also admitted that if records are summoned from  the  office,  it  will<br \/>\nshow  as  to  the  duties  assigned  to  the Forest Guard, Mohan, and to other<br \/>\nemployees of the Forest Department.  The prosecution did not summon any of the<br \/>\ndocuments from the Forest Department to show that actually Mohan was  assigned<br \/>\nthe duty to trace the missing elephant tusk and to go for a raid.  He has also<br \/>\nadmitted in cross-examination that he did not inform the investigating officer<br \/>\nthat  he came to know that Mohan had gone to Bannai by travelling in a bus and<br \/>\nthat he also came to know that on 7.1.1992 Mohan was drunk and that he did not<br \/>\ninitiate any steps against him.  In this connection,  the  evidence  of  P.W.7<br \/>\nalso assumes  importance.    He was a driver of a private bus, in which, Mohan<br \/>\ntravelled on the date of incident and according  to  P.W.7,  Mohan  was  fully<br \/>\ndrunk, when he was travelling in the bus.\n<\/p>\n<p>        15.   The  evidence  of P.W.2, when perused, shows that the complaint,<br \/>\nEx.P-1, was not actually given by P.W.1, but the thumb impression of P.W.1 was<br \/>\ntaken by P.W.17, the Inspector of Police.  He  has  further  admitted  in  the<br \/>\ncross-examination  that  since  the  police  officers  did not take any action<br \/>\nagainst the real culprit, they conducted road roko and that thereafter, on the<br \/>\norders of the Deputy Superintendent of Police,  a  sniffer  dog  was  brought,<br \/>\nwhich,  after  visiting  the  scene  of  occurrence  and sniffing the two dead<br \/>\nbodies, ran to the house of Mohan and stood there, from where,  the  axe,  the<br \/>\nnose screws and some clothes were recovered by the police officers and that he<br \/>\nidentified  the  clothes  as  clothes belonging to his wife, who is D-2 in the<br \/>\ncase.  He has further stated in the cross-examination that he  and  the  other<br \/>\nvillagers  complained  to  the  Member  of  the Legislative Assembly about the<br \/>\ndishonest investigation that was being co nducted by the investigating  agency<br \/>\nand   finally  concluded  in  the  cross-examination  by  admitting  that  the<br \/>\nrespondent has no connection with the case and that he was threatened  by  the<br \/>\nInspector  of  Police  not  to give any evidence against Mohan and Subban, the<br \/>\nForest Officers.\n<\/p>\n<p>        16.  The last piece of evidence is the recovery.  Though according  to<br \/>\nP.W.18,  he  came  to  know,  on  examining  one Maniyal, daughter of Sriranga<br \/>\nGounder, on 9.1.1992 that D-2 was wearing nose screws on the date of  incident<br \/>\nand  he  sent  a  special  report,  Ex.P-34, the prosecution did not choose to<br \/>\nexamine the said Maniayal.  In fact,  in  the  complaint,  Ex.P-23,  given  by<br \/>\nP.W.1,  it is not found mentioned that D-2 was wearing nose screws on the date<br \/>\nof incident.  The non examination of Maniyal, and the absence of any  averment<br \/>\nin  the  complaint  that  D-2 was wearing nose screws on the date of incident,<br \/>\nwhen looked it in the background of the evidence as regards the  recovery,  it<br \/>\ncreates a  doubt whether the prosecution had come out with a true version.  We<br \/>\nhave also adverted to the evidence of P.W.2, the husband of D-2.  He  has  not<br \/>\nonly  stated  that  the  sniffer dog went to the house of Mohan and Subban and<br \/>\nthat they resorted to road roko, but also stated that Mohan  and  Subban  were<br \/>\ntaken  to custody on the same day and M.O.1 series were also shown to them and<br \/>\nthat later, Mohan and Subban were let off, which means that even on  8.1.1992,<br \/>\nthe  sniffer  dog  reached  the scene of occurrence and after sniffing the two<br \/>\ndead bodies, went to the house of Mohan and that M.O.1 series  were  shown  to<br \/>\nthem and that Mohan and Subban were detained by the police.  M.O.1 series were<br \/>\nshown  to P.W.2, who identified it to be the jewels belonging to his wife; but<br \/>\nthe prosecution strangely, through the evidence of P.W.18, came out  with  the<br \/>\nversion  that  only  on 9.1.1992, he came to know through Maniyal, who was not<br \/>\nexamined, that D-2 was wearing the nose screws, when she met her end.\n<\/p>\n<p>        17.  In the above background, we do not attach any importance  to  the<br \/>\nevidence  as  regards  the  recovery  and  finally  coming  to the confession,<br \/>\nEx.P-10, alleged to have been given by the respondent to P.W.11, we feel  that<br \/>\nthe said confession must have been given by the respondent on being threatened<br \/>\nby  the  police  officers as stated by the respondent in his written statement<br \/>\nfiled under Section 313 Cr.P.C.   P.W.11,  the  Judicial  Magistrate,  in  his<br \/>\nevidence,  has  stated  that  the  respondent,  while  narrating the incident,<br \/>\nmentioned the word &#8220;fk;ky;&#8221; and later,  after  the  completion  of  narration,<br \/>\ninformed the Judicial Magistrate that he did not mention the word &#8220;fk;ky;&#8221; and<br \/>\ntherefore, it  was  struck off.  It is nobody&#8217;s case that the ear rings, which<br \/>\nwere on the dead body of D-2, were removed by the assailant, as it  was  found<br \/>\non the  ears  of  D-2.  If the assailant had taken the trouble of removing the<br \/>\nnose screws, then, there could not have  been  any  difficulty  for  the  said<br \/>\nassailant to  have  removed  the ear rings also.  Therefore, it becomes highly<br \/>\ndoubtful, whether M.O.1 series, nose screws, were removed from the  dead  body<br \/>\nof  D-2  and  the  statement of the respondent to P.W.11, Judicial Magistrate,<br \/>\nErode, mentioning that he has removed the ear rings and later, going  back  on<br \/>\nthe  said statement, shows the confused state of mind, in which the respondent<br \/>\nwas in, when he gave the statement to the Judicial Magistrate and the confused<br \/>\nstate of mind, therefore, indicates that in all probabilities, the  respondent<br \/>\nwould  have given the statement on account of threats given by P.Ws.18 and 19.<br \/>\nIn the absence of any other material and in the absence of any statement about<br \/>\nthe missing of nose screws either in the complaint or in the evidence  and  in<br \/>\nthe  background  of  the  non-examination  of  Maniyal from whom, according to<br \/>\nP.W.18, he came to know that D-2 was wearing the nose screws and  in  view  of<br \/>\nthe  admission  of  P.W.2, the husband of D-2, that M.O.1 series were shown to<br \/>\nhim even on 8.1.1992 after Mohan and Subban were taken into custody, create  a<br \/>\ndoubt  that  all  is  not  well  with the prosecution and no importance can be<br \/>\nattached to the statement, Ex.P-10, given by the respondent,  as  a  statement<br \/>\ngiven by  him  without any threat or coercion.  We, therefore, reject the said<br \/>\nconfession, as it was not a confession given by a man with free  mind  and  it<br \/>\nwas also not voluntary in nature.\n<\/p>\n<p>        18.   We have to remember that this is an appeal against acquittal and<br \/>\nif two views are possible  and  if  the  said  views  are  not  perverse,  the<br \/>\nAppellate  Court cannot substitute its views with the views of the trial Court<br \/>\nby holding that another view in favour of the prosecution could also be taken.\n<\/p>\n<p>        19.  In the background of the discussion made above, and  in  view  of<br \/>\nthe  settled  principles of law, and on the reasons given by the learned trial<br \/>\nJudge, we find no reason to interfere with the order of  acquittal  except  to<br \/>\nstate that the investigating agency acted in a dishonest manner with a view to<br \/>\nscreen  some  of  the  officials  of  the  Forest  Department, and it was also<br \/>\ncondemned by the trial Court in no uncertain terms.    We  approve  the  views<br \/>\nexpressed  by  the  trial  Court as regards the investigation conducted by the<br \/>\ninvestigating agency in the case and we hope and trust  that  in  future,  the<br \/>\nofficers concerned, who conducted investigation in grave offences like murder,<br \/>\ndo  not  try to shield the real culprits on the only ground that they happened<br \/>\nto be Government Officials and rope in some ignorant and illiterate persons as<br \/>\naccused, so that they can improve the statistics in their police  stations  as<br \/>\nregards  the  detection  of  crimes  and  claim  credit  and  medals  from the<br \/>\nGovernment.\n<\/p>\n<p>        20.  The appeal is dismissed with the above observations.\n<\/p>\n<p>Index:Yes <\/p>\n<p>Internet:Yes<\/p>\n<p>bs\/<\/p>\n<p>To<\/p>\n<p>1.The Additional Sessions Judge, Erode.\n<\/p>\n<p>2.-do- through the Principal Sessions Judge, Erode.\n<\/p>\n<p>3.The Inspector of Police, Sathiyamangalam Police Station, Erode.\n<\/p>\n<p>4.The District Collector, Erode District.\n<\/p>\n<p>5.The Director General of Police, Madras.\n<\/p>\n<p>6.The Public Prosecutor, High Court, Madras.\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Madras High Court State By Public Prosecutor vs Ponnusamy on 2 February, 2005 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED: 02\/02\/2005 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE N.DHINAKAR and THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE A.KULASEKARAN Criminal Appeal No. 709 of 1996 State by Public Prosecutor, High Court, Madras. &#8230; Appellant. -Vs- Ponnusamy &#8230; Respondent Prayer: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-court","category-madras-high-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>State By Public Prosecutor vs Ponnusamy on 2 February, 2005 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; 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