{"id":203110,"date":"2008-04-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-09T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ponusamy-vs-state-of-tamil-nadu-on-10-april-2008"},"modified":"2017-02-17T06:03:43","modified_gmt":"2017-02-17T00:33:43","slug":"ponusamy-vs-state-of-tamil-nadu-on-10-april-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ponusamy-vs-state-of-tamil-nadu-on-10-april-2008","title":{"rendered":"Ponusamy vs State Of Tamil Nadu on 10 April, 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Ponusamy vs State Of Tamil Nadu on 10 April, 2008<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: S Sinha<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: S.B. Sinha, Harjit Singh Bedi<\/div>\n<pre>           CASE NO.:\nAppeal (crl.)  429 of 2006\n\nPETITIONER:\nPonusamy\n\nRESPONDENT:\nState of Tamil Nadu\n\nDATE OF JUDGMENT: 10\/04\/2008\n\nBENCH:\nS.B. SINHA &amp; HARJIT SINGH BEDI\n\nJUDGMENT:\n<\/pre>\n<p>J U D G M E N T<br \/>\nREPORTABLE<\/p>\n<p>CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 429 OF 2006<\/p>\n<p>S.B. SINHA, J.\n<\/p>\n<p>1.\tThis appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 23rd June,<br \/>\n2005 passed by a Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Madras<br \/>\nin Criminal Appeal No. 937 of 1998 whereby and whereunder an appeal<br \/>\nfrom a judgment of conviction and sentence passed by the Ist Additional<br \/>\nDistrict Judge-cum-Chief Judicial Magistrate, Erode dated 12th October,<br \/>\n1998 in S.C. No. 93 of 1998 convicting  the appellant herein for commission<br \/>\nof an offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code as also under<br \/>\nSection 201 thereof and sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment<br \/>\nfor life and two years respectively, was dismissed.\n<\/p>\n<p>2.\tDeceased Selvi was the wife of the appellant.  She was earlier married<br \/>\nto one Easwaran, PW-9.  Allegedly Easwaran had married one Balamani and<br \/>\nafter divorcing her, he married the deceased.  He, however, continued to<br \/>\nhave relations with Balamani.  He purported to have divorced Balamani by a<br \/>\nletter.  The deceased was living with her mother Ramathal, PW-1.  Appellant<br \/>\nthereafter married the deceased.  He had been informed, about the fact of the<br \/>\nearlier marriage of the deceased.  He agreed to the proposal of marriage but<br \/>\nwanted two acres of land.  A Deed of Gift in favour of the deceased was<br \/>\nexecuted by her father.  Appellant wanted the same to be registered in his<br \/>\nname.  His request was not acceded to.   He left the house of PW-1 after<br \/>\nthree days of marriage.  A year thereafter, he intended to live with the<br \/>\ndeceased and approached Thangavel, PW-2, therefor.  As the deceased also<br \/>\nagreed to the said proposal, they left the house of PW-1 on 5th March, 1997.<br \/>\nShe was not seen thereafter.  Allegedly in the morning of 10th March, 1997,<br \/>\nthe appellant met PW-2 and informed him that the deceased had gone away<br \/>\nfrom his house on that date.  A search for her was carried out.  On the next<br \/>\ndate, the appellant was seen at the Sevoor bus stop.  Kannan Naicker, PW-10<br \/>\nwas also present there.  He asked the appellant and questioned the<br \/>\ndeceased&#8217;s whereabouts, in response whereto he allegedly disclosed that he<br \/>\nhad murdered her on 9th March, 1997.  PW-10 allegedly became panicky.<br \/>\nHe became sick.  He then requested Arunachalam @ Mani, PW-11, to take<br \/>\nhim to a doctor.  When they returned from the doctor&#8217;s clinic, they found the<br \/>\nappellant in the office of the Village Administrative Officer, PW-18.  He<br \/>\npurported to have made a confession again before PW-18 that he had<br \/>\nmurdered Selvi before PW-18.  He also had a packer of paper in his hand.\n<\/p>\n<p>3.\tPW-10 then requested PW-11 to inform PW-2 about the matter.  On<br \/>\nreceiving the said information an attempt was made to lodge a First<br \/>\nInformation Report at Sathyamangalam police station.  The First<br \/>\nInformation Report was refused to be registered thereat in the absence of any<br \/>\ndead body or any other evidence with regard to the murder.  A search was<br \/>\nconducted for the dead body.  On the bank of L.B.P. canal dead body was<br \/>\nfound on 14th March, 1997 which fell within the jurisdiction of Kadathur<br \/>\npolice station.  A complaint was made before Ramasamy, Inspector of<br \/>\nPolice, PW-13, at 10.30 a.m. on the same day, whereupon a First<br \/>\nInformation Report was registered under Section 302 and Section 201 of the<br \/>\nIndian Penal Code.  Investigation was taken up by PW-22, the Deputy<br \/>\nSuperintendent of Police of Gobichettipalayam.\n<\/p>\n<p>4.\tPW-1 identified the dead body on the basis of a talisman, which was<br \/>\nfound on her hand, as also on identification of her saree.  A key was found<br \/>\ntagged in the saree.  The key was removed.  On a query enquiry made by<br \/>\nPW-22, in regard to the lock for which the key was used, it was stated that<br \/>\nthe lock was fitted to a trunk.  The trunk was brought.  The key was fitted in<br \/>\nthe lock of the trunk.  It was opened with the said key.\n<\/p>\n<p>5.\tAn inquest was conducted.  The dead body was also subjected to<br \/>\npostmortem examination.  In the said report it was stated :-\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Highly decomposed with maggots all over the body.<br \/>\nTeeth 1\/3 nose, eye, mouth absent.  Thorax : No fracture<br \/>\nribs.  Heart : Partially decomposed.  Lungs :\n<\/p>\n<p>Decomposed.  Hyoid Bone : Intact.  Stomach, Liver,<br \/>\nSpleen and Kideny : Partially liquefied with greenish<br \/>\ndiscolouration.  Intestine, Bladder and Uterus : Partially<br \/>\ndecomposed.  Head : No fracture skull.  Brain :<br \/>\nCompletely liquefied.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>6.\tPW-18, the Village Administrative Officer, in the meantime took the<br \/>\nappellant to the Tahsildar, PW-19.  Not only he confessed that he had<br \/>\nmurdered his wife and thrrown the dead-body in the canal but also produced<br \/>\na &#8216;thali chain&#8217; , M.O. 1 and ear rings, M.O.2 belonging to the deceased.<br \/>\nConfessional statement of the appellant was reduced into writing.  He was<br \/>\nthereafter produced before the Judicial Magistrate.\n<\/p>\n<p>7.\tAdmittedly, there was no eye witness to the occurrence.\n<\/p>\n<p>8.\tThe entire prosecution case is based on circumstantial evidence.  The<br \/>\nLearned Sessions Judge in his judgment found the following circumstances<br \/>\nto arrive at his conclusion with regard to the guilt of the appellant. :-\n<\/p>\n<p>1)\tDeceased was last seen in his company on 5th March,<br \/>\n1997.\n<\/p>\n<p>2)\tShe was not seen in anybody else&#8217;s company between 5th<br \/>\nMarch, 1997 and 10th March, 1997.\n<\/p>\n<p>3)\tAppellant made an extra judicial confession not only<br \/>\nbefore PW-2 but also before PWs. 10 &amp; 18.\n<\/p>\n<p>4)\tOn the basis of his confession that the dead body had<br \/>\nbeen thrown in L.B.P. canal a search for the dead body<br \/>\nwas made and recovered.\n<\/p>\n<p>5)\tDead body was that of a female.  It was identified to be<br \/>\nthat of the deceased with reference to the manglasutra<br \/>\nand some other jewellery which were found on her<br \/>\nperson.  Photograph of the deceased  was superimposed<br \/>\non the photograph of the dead-body and it was found to<br \/>\nbe that of her.\n<\/p>\n<p>6)\tAppellant produced the belongings of the deceased<br \/>\nbefore the Village Administrative Officer, PW-18,<br \/>\nwhich admittedly belonged to her.\n<\/p>\n<p>9.\tThe appeal preferred thereagainst by the appellant has been dismissed<br \/>\nby the High Court by reason of the impugned judgment.\n<\/p>\n<p>10.\tMr. A.T.M. Rangaramanajam, learned Senior Counsel appearing on<br \/>\nbehalf of the appellant, in support of the appeal would submit :-\n<\/p>\n<p>1)\tIt was improbable that the appellant had confessed his guilt<br \/>\nbefore PW-2.\n<\/p>\n<p>2)\tThe purported extra judicial confession by the appellant before<br \/>\nPW-10 should not be relied upon, having regard to the latter&#8217;s<br \/>\nconduct, inasmuch, he did not report thereabout to the police on<br \/>\nthe pretext of his becoming sick in respect of which no material<br \/>\nwas brought on record.\n<\/p>\n<p>2)\tPost-mortem report clearly established that the body recovered<br \/>\nwas in a highly decomposed stage which was, thus, not in a<br \/>\nposition to be identified, and, in that view of the matter, the<br \/>\ncorpus delicti having not been proved, the impugned judgment<br \/>\ncannot be sustained.\n<\/p>\n<p>4)\tNo fracture having been found on hyoid bone, it is evident that<br \/>\nthe deceased did not die of strangulation which was the positive<br \/>\ncase of the prosecution.\n<\/p>\n<p>5)\tNo explanation having been furnished for the delay in lodging<br \/>\nthe First Information Report, the entire prosecution case is<br \/>\nsuspicious.\n<\/p>\n<p>67)\tConduct of the prosecution witnesses and in particular that of<br \/>\nPW-1, PW-2 and PW-10 is such, that would lead to the<br \/>\nconclusion that they are not trustworthy witnesses.\n<\/p>\n<p>7)\tExtra judicial confession, in any event, being a weak evidence,<br \/>\nit was obligatory on the part of the prosecution to lead<br \/>\nevidence corroborating thereto.\n<\/p>\n<p>8)\tExtra judicial confession in any event being contrary to or<br \/>\ninconsistent with the medical report, it would not be safe to rely<br \/>\nthereupon.\n<\/p>\n<p>10.\tMr. R. Shunmugasundaram, learned Senior Counsel appearing on<br \/>\nbehalf of the State, on the other hand urged :-\n<\/p>\n<p>1)\tThe dead body having been identified with reference to<br \/>\nmanglasutra, key and saree, the courts below rightly held that<br \/>\nthe dead-body was that of the deceased &#8216;Selvi&#8217;.\n<\/p>\n<p>2)\tThe jewellery items which were handed over by the appellant<br \/>\nhimself in a packet, were identified by PW-1 when she was<br \/>\nafforded an opportunity to do so.\n<\/p>\n<p>3)\tIt is not correct to contend that PW-10, despite extra judicial<br \/>\nconfession made before him, did not take any step in that behalf<br \/>\nas he had immediately sent PW-11, Mani, to inform PW-2<br \/>\nthereabout.  It is thereafter only, that they went to the police<br \/>\nstation.\n<\/p>\n<p>4)\tSufficient explanation had been offered by PW-1, in regard to<br \/>\nthe delay in lodging of the First Information Report, having<br \/>\nregard to the fact that Sathyamangalam police station had<br \/>\nrefused to record the First Information Report in the absence of<br \/>\nthe dead body and\/or any other record.  A First Information<br \/>\nReport was lodged only after the dead body was seen and<br \/>\nidentified with reference to the talisman, M.O.4;  key, M.O. 5<br \/>\nand the silver ring which was found on her toe.\n<\/p>\n<p>5)\tThiru Devarajan, who examined himself as PW-22, and was<br \/>\nworking as Deputy Superintendent of Police, was a witness to<br \/>\nthe identification of the dead-body to be that of Selvi from the<br \/>\nninji, &#8220;dayath&#8221; tied on the hand and from the key tied to the end<br \/>\nof the saree.  Only at his instance, the trunk was brought and the<br \/>\nlock opened with the key.\n<\/p>\n<p>6)\tRequisition, Ext.P.3, was made by the Superintendent of the<br \/>\npolice for chemical test and the Chemical Text Report, Ext.P.5<br \/>\ncategorically established the identity of the deceased.\n<\/p>\n<p>7)\tAbsence of fracture on the hyoid bone itself would not lead to<br \/>\nthe conclusion that the deceased did not die of strangulation as<br \/>\nmedical jurisprudence suggests that only in a fraction of such<br \/>\ncases, a fracture of hyoid bone is found.\n<\/p>\n<p>11.\tThe relationship of the appellant with that of the deceased is not in<br \/>\ndispute.  That they were married and immediately thereafter started living in<br \/>\nthe house of P-1 is also not denied or disputed.  It further stands established<br \/>\nthat PW-2 is the husband of Rukmani, another daughter of PW-1.  It has also<br \/>\nnot been disputed that the deceased was earlier married to Easwaran, PW-9.<br \/>\nThe prosecution has also brought on record a Deed of Gift dated 25th<br \/>\nJanuary, 1996 executed by the husband of PW-1 in favour of the deceased.<br \/>\nThere is also no serious dispute that the appellant did not maintain any<br \/>\nrelationship with the deceased for about a year.  They were last seen together<br \/>\non 5th March, 1997, when they travelled together from the house of PW-1.\n<\/p>\n<p>12.\tVoluntary statement made by the appellant to PW-2 on 10th March,<br \/>\n1997 that she had been missing was found by both the courts below to be<br \/>\nuntrue.\n<\/p>\n<p>13.\tIndisputably, some delay took place in lodging the First Information<br \/>\nReport.  Till 11th March, 1997 PW-1 or for that matter PW-2, was not sure<br \/>\nabout the death of the deceased.  Only when an extra judicial confession was<br \/>\nmade by the appellant, an attempt was made to lodge a First Information<br \/>\nReport.\n<\/p>\n<p>14.\tThe contention of the learned counsel  that the statement to the said<br \/>\neffect, purported to have been made,  by PW-1 should not be relied upon as<br \/>\nno officer from the police station had been examined to establish the said<br \/>\nfact, cannot be accepted for more than one reason.  PW1 is a rustic villager.<br \/>\nShe is an illiterate lady.  According to her, she had been turned away from<br \/>\nthe police station on the premise that no dead body was recovered or there<br \/>\nbeing no other evidence relating to her death.  No exception to such a<br \/>\nstatement can be taken.  The courts cannot be oblivious of such conduct on<br \/>\nthe part of the police officers. Apathy on the part of the police officers to<br \/>\naccept complaints promptly is well known phenomena.\n<\/p>\n<p>They were searching for the deceased earlier but without success.<br \/>\nOnly on the disclosure statement made by the appellant before PW-10 and<br \/>\nthe police officer at Sathyamangalam police station having refused to record<br \/>\nthe First Information Report, they started searching for the body on the bank<br \/>\nof the canal.  The Investigating Officer, Village Administrative officer as<br \/>\nalso other prosecution witnesses , clearly proved the discovery of a dead<br \/>\nbody.  Identification of the dead body on the basis of the manglasutra, saree<br \/>\nas also the sliver ring on the toe of the deceased is not in dispute.<br \/>\nSignificantly, a key was also recovered.  PW-22, a responsible officer, with<br \/>\na view to satisfy himself as regards the identity of the dead body, with<br \/>\nreference to the key tied at the end of the saree, asked PW-2 to bring the<br \/>\ntrunk and found it to be of the lock put on the said trunk.\n<\/p>\n<p>15.\tAttempts on the part of the prosecution to establish identity of the<br \/>\ndead body to be that of the deceased did not stop there.  It was sent for<br \/>\nopinion of a Chemical Examiner.  It was opined :-\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8221;\tDuring superimposition, the following<br \/>\nobservations were made :-\n<\/p>\n<p>a)\tThe anthroposcopic land mark on the fact in item 1<br \/>\nand those on the skull item 2 fitted fairly well.\n<\/p>\n<p>b)\tThe outline of the face in item 1 and the outline of<br \/>\nskull item 2 were found to be in fair congruence.\n<\/p>\n<p>OPINION<\/p>\n<p>The skull item 2 could very well have belonged to<br \/>\nthe female individual seen in photograph item 1.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>The said report has been proved.  Its&#8217; veracity is not disputed before<br \/>\nus.  We do not find any cogent reason to doubt its correctness thereof.\n<\/p>\n<p>16.\tAppellant is said to have thrown the dead-body in the canal.  The fact<br \/>\nthat there was sufficient water in the canal has also been established.   In a<br \/>\nsituation of this nature, a presumption about the knowledge of the appellant<br \/>\nin regard to location of the dead body of &#8216;Selvi&#8217; can be drawn.   His<br \/>\nconfession led to a discovery of fact which had a nexus with commission of<br \/>\na crime.\n<\/p>\n<p>17.\tThis Court in <a href=\"\/doc\/1037935\/\">State of Mahasrashtra  vs.  Suresh<\/a> : (2000) 1 SCC 471<br \/>\nopined :-\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;26. We too countenance three possibilities when an<br \/>\naccused points out the place where a dead body or an<br \/>\nincriminating material was concealed without stating that<br \/>\nit was conceded by himself. One is that he himself would<br \/>\nhave concealed it. Second is that he would have seen<br \/>\nsomebody else concealing it. And the third is that he<br \/>\nwould have been told by another person that it was<br \/>\nconcealed there. But if the accused declines to tell the<br \/>\ncriminal court that his knowledge about the concealment<br \/>\nwas on account of one of the last two possibilities the<br \/>\ncriminal court can presume that it was concealed by the<br \/>\naccused himself. This is because accused is the only<br \/>\nperson who can offer the explanation as to how else he<br \/>\ncame to know of such concealment and if he chooses to<br \/>\nrefrain from telling the court as to how else he came to<br \/>\nknow of it, the presumption is a well justified course to<br \/>\nbe adopted by the criminal court that the concealment<br \/>\nwas made by himself. Such an interpretation is not<br \/>\ninconsistent with the principle embodied in Section 27 of<br \/>\nthe Evidence Act.\n<\/p>\n<p>18.\tWe have to consider the factual background of the present case in the<br \/>\nlight of the relationship between the parties.  If his wife was found missing,<br \/>\nordinarily, the husband would search for he.  If she has died in an unnatural<br \/>\nsituation when she was in his company, he is expected to offer an<br \/>\nexplanation therefor.  Lack of such explanation on the part of the appellant<br \/>\nitself would be a circumstantial evidence against him.\n<\/p>\n<p>19.\t<a href=\"\/doc\/845834\/\">In Trimukh Maroti Kirkan  vs.  State of Maharashtra<\/a> : (2006) 10 SCC<br \/>\n681, it was observed :-\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;22.  Where an accused is alleged to have committed the<br \/>\nmurder of his wife and the prosecution succeeds in<br \/>\nleading evidence to show that shortly before the<br \/>\ncommission of crime they were seen together or the<br \/>\noffence takes placed in the dwelling home where the<br \/>\nhusband also normally resided, it has been consistently<br \/>\nheld that if the accused does not offer any explanation<br \/>\nhow the wife received injuries or offers an explanation<br \/>\nwhich is found to be false, it is a strong circumstance<br \/>\nwhich indicates that he is responsible for commission of<br \/>\nthe crime.\n<\/p>\n<p>[See also Raj Kumar Prasad Tamarkar  vs.  State of Bihar and another : 2007<br \/>\n(1) SCALE 19].\n<\/p>\n<p>20.\tIt is true that the autopsy surgeon, PW-17, did not find any fracture on<br \/>\nthe hyoid bone.  Existence of such a fracture lead to a conclusive proof of<br \/>\nstrangulation but absence thereof does not prove contra.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tIn Taylor&#8217;s Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence,<br \/>\nThirteenth Edition, pages 307-308, it is stated :-\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8221;\t The hyoid bone is &#8216;U&#8217; shaped and composed of<br \/>\nfive parts : the body, two greater and two lesser horns.  It<br \/>\nis relatively protected, lying at the root of the tongue<br \/>\nwhere the body is difficult to feel.  The greater horn,<br \/>\nwhich can be felt more easily, lies behind the front part<br \/>\nof the strip-muscles (sternomastoid), 3 cm below the<br \/>\nangle of the lower jaw and 1.5 cm from the midline.  The<br \/>\nbone ossifies from six centres, a pair for the body and<br \/>\none for each horn.  The greater horns are, in early life,<br \/>\nconnected to the body by cartilage but after middle life<br \/>\nthey are usually united by bone.  The lesser horns are<br \/>\nsituated close to the junction of the greater horns in the<br \/>\nbody.  They are connected to the body of the bone by<br \/>\nfibrous tissue and occasionally to the greater horns by<br \/>\nsynovial joints which usually persist throughout life but<br \/>\noccasionally become ankylosed.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tOur own findings suggest that although the<br \/>\nhardening of the bone is related to age there can be<br \/>\nconsiderable variation and elderly people sometimes<br \/>\nshow only slight ossification.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tFrom the above consideration of the anatomy it<br \/>\nwill be appreciated that while injuries to the body are<br \/>\nunlikely, a grip high up on the neck may readily produce<br \/>\nfractures of the greater horns.  Sometimes it would<br \/>\nappear that the local pressure from the thumb causes a<br \/>\nfracture on one side only.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tWhile the amount of force in manual strangulation<br \/>\nwould often appear to be greatly in excess of that<br \/>\nrequired to cause death, the application of such force, as<br \/>\nevidenced by  extensive external and soft tissue injuries,<br \/>\nmake it unusual to find fractures of the hyoid bone in a<br \/>\nperson under the age of 40 years.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tAs stated, even in older people in which<br \/>\nossification is incomplete, considerable violence may<br \/>\nleave this bone intact.  This view is confirmed by Green.<br \/>\nHe gives interesting figures : in 34 cases of manual<br \/>\nstrangulation the hyoid was fractured in 12 (35%) as<br \/>\ncompared with the classic paper of Gonzales who<br \/>\nreported four fractures in 24 cases.  The figures in<br \/>\nstrangulation by ligature show that the percentage of<br \/>\nhyoid fractures was 13.  Our own figures are similar to<br \/>\nthose of Green.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>22.\tIn &#8216;Journal of Forensic Sciences&#8217; Volume 41 under the Title<br \/>\nFracture of the Hyoid Bone in Strangulation : Comparison of Fractured and<br \/>\nUnfractured Hyoids from Victims of Strangulation, it is stated :-\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8221;\tThe hyoid is the U-shaped bone of the neck that is<br \/>\nfractured in one-third of all homicides by strangulation.<br \/>\nOn this basis, postmortem detection of hyoid fracture is<br \/>\nrelevant to the diagnosis of strangulation. However, since<br \/>\nmany cases lack a hyoid fracture, the absence of this<br \/>\nfinding does not exclude strangulation as a cause of<br \/>\ndeath. The reasons why some hyoids fracture and others<br \/>\ndo not may relate to the nature and magnitude of force<br \/>\napplied to the neck, age of the victim, nature of the<br \/>\ninstrument (ligature or hands) used to strangle, and<br \/>\nintrinsic anatomic features of the hyoid bone. We<br \/>\ncompared the case profiles and xeroradiographic<br \/>\nappearance of the hyoids of 20 victims of homicidal<br \/>\nstrangulation with and without hyoid fracture (n = 10,<br \/>\neach). The fractured hyoids occurred in older victims of<br \/>\nstrangulation (39 1 14 years) when compared to the<br \/>\nvictims with unfractured hyoids (30 1 10 years). The age-<br \/>\ndependency of hyoid fracture correlated with the degree<br \/>\nof ossification or fusion of the hyoid synchondroses. The<br \/>\nhyoid was fused in older victims of strangulation (41 1<br \/>\n12 years) whereas the unfused hyoids were found in the<br \/>\nyounger victims (28 1 10 years). In addition, the hyoid<br \/>\nbone was ossified or fused in 70% of all fractured hyoids,<br \/>\nbut, only 30% of the unfractured hyoids were fused. The<br \/>\nshape of the hyoid bone was also found to differentiate<br \/>\nfractured and unfractured hyoids. Fractured byoids were<br \/>\nlonger in the anterior-posterior plane and were more<br \/>\nsteeply sloping when compared with unfractured hyoids.<br \/>\nThese data indicate that hyoids of strangulation victims,<br \/>\nwith and without fracture, are distinguished by various<br \/>\nindices of shape and rigidity. On this basis, it may be<br \/>\npossible to explain why some victims of strangulation do<br \/>\nnot have fractured hyoid bones.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>23.\tMr. Rangaramanajam, however, relied upon Modi&#8217;s &#8216;Medical<br \/>\nJurisprudence and Toxicology&#8217;, Twenty-Third Edition at page 584 wherein a<br \/>\ndifference between hanging and strangulation has been stated.  Our attention<br \/>\nin this connection has been drawn to point No.12 which reads as under :-\n<\/p>\n<p>         Hanging<br \/>\n       Strangulation<br \/>\nFracture of the larynx and<br \/>\ntrachea  Very rare and that<br \/>\ntoo in judicial hanging.\n<\/p>\n<p> Fracture of the larynx and<br \/>\ntrachea  Often found also<br \/>\nhyoid bone.\n<\/p>\n<p>24.\tA bare perusal of the opinion of the learned Author by itself does not<br \/>\nlead to the conclusion that fracture of hyoid bone, is a must in all the cases.\n<\/p>\n<p>25.\tWe must also take into consideration the fact that the dead-body was<br \/>\ndecomposed with maggots all over it.   Other marks of strangulation which<br \/>\ncould have been found were not to be found in this case.  The dead body was<br \/>\nfound after a few days.   We are, therefore, of the opinion that medical<br \/>\nevidence does not negate the prosecution case.\n<\/p>\n<p>26.\tThere cannot be any doubt that extra judicial confession is evidence of<br \/>\nweaks nature as has been held in Kuldip Singh and another  vs.  State of<br \/>\nPunjab : (2002) 6 SCC 757  <\/p>\n<p>However, it must also be noticed that therein, not only the confession<br \/>\nmade by the appellant was found to be unbelievable, even the recovery of<br \/>\nthe dead body, pursuant to the disclosure statement made, was also found to<br \/>\nbe so.  There was no other evidence on record on the basis of which the<br \/>\nconviction of the appellant could be sustained.\n<\/p>\n<p>In this case, however, not only an extra judicial confession was made<br \/>\nby the appellant before PW-10, the same was also made before PW-11.  The<br \/>\njewellery which had been put on by the deceased was produced by the<br \/>\nappellant.  Only upon the disclosure made by the appellant that the dead<br \/>\nbody had been thrown in the canal, a search was made and it was found.<br \/>\nThe dead body was also identified to be that of the deceased.\n<\/p>\n<p>27.\tIn Vinayak Shivajirao Pol  vs.  State of Mahasrashtra : (1998) 2 SCC<br \/>\n233 this Court opined :-\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;10. There is no ambiguity in the above statement. It<br \/>\nshows that the appellant killed his wife. Both the Courts<br \/>\nhave found that the statement was made voluntarily by<br \/>\nthe appellant. The sequence of events shows that at the<br \/>\ntime when the appellant made a confession, neither he<br \/>\nnor the military authorities had any knowledge of the<br \/>\nrecovery of the headless trunk of the appellant&#8217;s wife.<br \/>\nThe military authorities were in no way biased or<br \/>\ninimical to the appellant. Nothing is brought out in the<br \/>\nevidence in respect of the military officers which may<br \/>\nindicate that they had a motive for attributing an<br \/>\nuntruthful statement to the appellant. The statement has<br \/>\nbeen proved by one of the officers to whom it was made.<br \/>\nThe said officer has been examined as PW 32. A perusal<br \/>\nof the evidence shows that the vague plea raised by the<br \/>\nappellant that the statement was obtained from him on<br \/>\ninducement and promise is not true. In such<br \/>\ncircumstances it is open to the Court to rest its conclusion<br \/>\non the basis of such statement and no corroboration is<br \/>\nnecessary.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>28.\tWe have been taken through the evidence of PW-10 and PW-18.   We<br \/>\nhave no reason to differ with the findings of the learned trial Judge as also<br \/>\nthe High Court that the extra judicial confession was voluntary or truthful.<br \/>\nWe, therefore, are of the opinion that no case has been made out for<br \/>\ninterference with the impugned judgment.  The appeal fails and is dismissed<br \/>\naccordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India Ponusamy vs State Of Tamil Nadu on 10 April, 2008 Author: S Sinha Bench: S.B. Sinha, Harjit Singh Bedi CASE NO.: Appeal (crl.) 429 of 2006 PETITIONER: Ponusamy RESPONDENT: State of Tamil Nadu DATE OF JUDGMENT: 10\/04\/2008 BENCH: S.B. SINHA &amp; HARJIT SINGH BEDI JUDGMENT: J U D G M E [&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":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-203110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ponusamy vs State Of Tamil Nadu on 10 April, 2008 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ponusamy-vs-state-of-tamil-nadu-on-10-april-2008\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ponusamy vs State Of Tamil Nadu on 10 April, 2008 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; 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