{"id":41655,"date":"2009-05-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-04T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009"},"modified":"2018-02-27T14:20:04","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T08:50:04","slug":"ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009","title":{"rendered":"Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: S Sinha<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: S.B. Sinha, Cyriac Joseph<\/div>\n<pre>                                                                     REPORTABLE\n\n                   IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA\n\n                 CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION\n\n                 CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.________ OF 2009\n                  (Arising out of SLP (Crl.) No.4601 of 2006)\n\n\nRam Suresh Singh                                        ... Appellant\n\n                                   Versus\n\nPrabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr.                     ... Respondents\n\n\n\n\n                              JUDGMENT\n<\/pre>\n<p>S.B. Sinha, J.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>1.    Leave granted.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>2.    Respondent no.1 is facing trial in Nava Nagar P.S. Case No.102 of<\/p>\n<p>2003 on the charge of committing murder of one Tribhuvan Singh.<\/p>\n<p>Appellant before us is the uncle of the deceased.<\/p>\n<p>3.    Before the learned trial Judge, a plea was raised by him that he was a<\/p>\n<p>juvenile.    In support of the said plea, entries in the admission<\/p>\n<p>register\/certificate in the Government Secondary School, Navanagar, Buxar,<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                       2<\/span><\/p>\n<p>in which he took admission on 22nd January 1996 and studied up to 31st<\/p>\n<p>December 1999, were produced. The said certificate was issued on 23rd<\/p>\n<p>February 2000, the relevant portion whereof reads as under :<\/p>\n<pre>      \"1.    Name of Student           :     Prabhat Ranjan\n\n      2.     Father's\/Guardian's Name:       Shri Rajkishor Singh\n\n      3.     Permanent Address         :     Vill-Amir Pur, Post\n                                             Navanagar Distt-Buxar\n                                             (Bihar)\n\n      4.     Date of first admission\n             in the school             :     22.01.1996\n\n                    XXX                XXX                XXX\n\n      7.     Date of Birth in Admission\n             Register (in number and :       10.02.1987\n             Words)                   :      Tenth February Eighty\n                                             Seven\n\n      8.     Date of Leaving the School:     31.12.1999\n\n      9.     At the time of leaving\n             School studying in which\n             Class                    :      8th\"\n\n\n\n<\/pre>\n<p>4.    The said admission register\/certificate, thus, shows that the date of<\/p>\n<p>birth of the accused is 10.02.1987.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>5.    A xerox copy of another certificate dated 12.11.2003 was also brought<\/p>\n<p>on record which was issued by the Principal, Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav<\/p>\n<p>High School. The said certificate also shows the date of birth of the first<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                       3<\/span><\/p>\n<p>respondent to be 10.02.1987. It was proved by a teacher of the said school,<\/p>\n<p>Shri Raj Kumar who examined himself as PW -2 as also by the father of the<\/p>\n<p>accused, namely, Raj Kishore Singh.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>6.    The learned Magistrate, however, appointed a Medical Board. The<\/p>\n<p>Medical Board, in its report dated 10th February 2005, inter alia, upon taking<\/p>\n<p>ossification test, estimated his age to be within 20 to 22 years.<\/p>\n<p>      By an order dated 03rd August 2005, the Principal Magistrate, Juvenile<\/p>\n<p>Justice Board, Patna held that on the date of occurrence, i.e., 10th September<\/p>\n<p>2003, the age of the respondent no.1 was more than 20 years stating :<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>                    &#8220;Considering the evidence on record, there<br \/>\n             is only evidence which is the Report of the<br \/>\n             Medical Board. The statement of the father of the<br \/>\n             accused and the teacher of the school supported<br \/>\n             with the certificate which are not conclusive and<br \/>\n             sufficient under rules of Juvenile Justice (Care &amp;<br \/>\n             Protection) Rules, 2001. Accordingly, on the basis<br \/>\n             of the report of the Medical Board and on physical<br \/>\n             appearance of the accused and conclusion arrived<br \/>\n             at that this accused is not Juvenile at this stage nor<br \/>\n             at the time of alleged commission of offence.<br \/>\n             Accordingly, this case record is remitted back to<br \/>\n             the court concerned for disposal in accordance<br \/>\n             with law.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                     4<\/span><\/p>\n<p>7.    Respondent no.1 filed a revision application thereagainst before the<\/p>\n<p>High Court of Patna which, by reason of the impugned order dated 17th May<\/p>\n<p>2006, was allowd by a learned Single Judge, holding :<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>            &#8220;Considering the submission made by the parties<br \/>\n            and the decision relied on by them, find that the<br \/>\n            evidence which was produced by the petitioner<br \/>\n            before the Juvenile Justice Court were sufficient<br \/>\n            for determination of his age. The certificate<br \/>\n            granted by the Headmaster by Ram Lakhan Singh<br \/>\n            High School stating the date of birth of the<br \/>\n            petitioner as 10.02.1987 was issued on 23.02.2000<br \/>\n            and the date of occurrence is 10.09.2003, much<br \/>\n            after issuance of certificate by the headmaster of<br \/>\n            Ram Lakhan Singh High School where the date of<br \/>\n            birth of the petitioner has been mentioned as<br \/>\n            10.02.1987. In support of the age, the admission<br \/>\n            register of the school was also produced wherein<br \/>\n            the petitioner&#8217;s name has been mentioned in<br \/>\n            Sl.No.134. There also the date of birth of the<br \/>\n            petitioner has been mentioned as 10.02.1987 and<br \/>\n            the date of issuance of school leaving certificate is<br \/>\n            mentioned as 23.02.2000. There is no reason for<br \/>\n            doubting or suspecting the genuineness of these<br \/>\n            two documents. In the impugned order also no<br \/>\n            reason has been assigned for disbelieving the<br \/>\n            transfer certificate and the photo copy of the<br \/>\n            certificate issued from Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav<br \/>\n            High School, Nava Nagar. Rule 22(5) of the<br \/>\n            Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children)<br \/>\n            Act, 2000, order of priority has been given to the<br \/>\n            certificate of birth issued by the school in<br \/>\n            preference to the opinion of the duly constituted<br \/>\n            medical board. Only in case of some dispute<br \/>\n            regarding genuineness of these documents, the<br \/>\n            Juvenile Justice Board can seek opinion of duly<br \/>\n            constituted medical board for ascertaining the age<br \/>\n            of an accused for declaring him Juvenine.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                       5<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>                    Considering the fact that there is nothing on<br \/>\n             record to disbelieve these documents the evidence<br \/>\n             of the father as well as teacher, the Juvenile Justice<br \/>\n             Board should have decided in favour of the<br \/>\n             petitioner and declared him Juvenile. The Apex<br \/>\n             Court also in similar matters have decided that the<br \/>\n             liberal view should be taken by Juvenile Justice<br \/>\n             Board as well as courts while ascertaining the age<br \/>\n             of accused for the purpose of declaring him<br \/>\n             Juvenile. Relying upon the certificate produced<br \/>\n             before the Juvenile Justice Board and the evidence<br \/>\n             of father and teacher, certainly the petitioner was a<br \/>\n             Juvenile on the date of occurrence.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                    Accordingly the order dated 03.08.2005<br \/>\n             passed by the Juvenile Justice Board Patna City in<br \/>\n             J.J.B.o.492 of 2005 is set aside and this application<br \/>\n             is allowed.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>8.     Mr. Praneet Ranjan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the<\/p>\n<p>appellant would contend :-\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>(i)    Having regard to the provisions of Section 35 of the Indian<br \/>\n       Evidence Act, 1872 the High Court committed a serious error in<br \/>\n       relying upon the entries made in the School register in<br \/>\n       preference to the opinion of the Medical Board.<\/p>\n<p>(ii)   An entry in regard to date of birth of a student recorded in<br \/>\n       admission register, being not a public document, must be<br \/>\n       proved to have been recorded at the instance of a person who<br \/>\n       was the guardian of the student.\n<\/p>\n<p>       Strong reliance was placed on a decision of this Court in case of <a href=\"\/doc\/658363\/\">Birad<\/p>\n<p>       Mal Singhvi v. Anand Purohit<\/a> [1988 (Supp.) SCC 604] and a decision<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                       6<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        of the Calcutta High Court in the case of Raja Janaki Nath Roy v.<\/p>\n<p>        Jyotish Chandra Acharya Chowdhury [AIR 1941 Cal. 41].<\/p>\n<p>(iii)   As the age of a person required to be determined by a person having<\/p>\n<p>        regard to the provisions contained in Section 35 of the Evidence Act<\/p>\n<p>        both in civil as also in criminal proceeding involve the same legal<\/p>\n<p>        principle, the High Court failed to consider the depositions of the<\/p>\n<p>        witnesses examined in the enquiry, namely, Raj Kumar and Raj<\/p>\n<p>        Kishore Singh, in their proper perspective.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>9.      Mr. Shishir Pinaki, learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondent<\/p>\n<p>no.1, on the other hand, urged :\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>(a)     as the admission register of the school in respect of the respondent<\/p>\n<p>        no.1 showing his date of birth has been proved, the impugned order is<\/p>\n<p>        unassailable.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>(b)     It was, however, submitted that in the event the medical report is<\/p>\n<p>        taken into consideration [which otherwise may not be necessary in<\/p>\n<p>        view of Rule 22(5) of the Juvenile Justice (Care &amp; Protection of<\/p>\n<p>        Children) Rules, 2001], the respondent&#8217;s age would be 18 years<\/p>\n<p>        having regard to the fact that an error of two years or either side is<\/p>\n<p>        possible.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                      7<\/span><\/p>\n<p>(c)   Bihar Education Code having a statutory status, as Article 242<\/p>\n<p>      whereof provides for maintenance of a school register, presumption of<\/p>\n<p>      correctness in respect thereof should be raised.<\/p>\n<p>10.   Determination of age of a person sometimes poses a difficult question.<\/p>\n<p>In the absence of any statutory rule having been framed, no doubt, the<\/p>\n<p>provisions of Section 35 of the Evidence Act were required to be strictly<\/p>\n<p>complied with.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>      Section 6 of the Juvenile Justice (Care &amp; Protection of Children) Act,<\/p>\n<p>2000 deals with the power of the Juvenile Justice Board which is extracted<\/p>\n<p>below :\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>                  &#8220;6. Powers of Juvenile Justice Board.-(1)<br \/>\n            Where a Board has been constituted for any district<br \/>\n            or a group of districts, such Board shall,<br \/>\n            notwithstanding anything contained in any other<br \/>\n            law for the time being in force but save as<br \/>\n            otherwise expressly provided in this Act, have<br \/>\n            power to deal exclusively with all proceedings<br \/>\n            under this Act relating to juvenile in conflict with<br \/>\n            law.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>            (2) The powers conferred on the Board by or under<br \/>\n            this Act may also be exercised by the High Court<br \/>\n            and the Court of Session, when the proceeding<br \/>\n            comes before them in appeal, revision or<br \/>\n            otherwise.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                      8<\/span><\/p>\n<p>11.      Respondent no.1 claims himself to be a juvenile. An enquiry was<\/p>\n<p>directed to be conducted. In the said enquiry, evidently, the original register<\/p>\n<p>maintained by the Government Secondary School, Nava Nagar was<\/p>\n<p>produced. Date of birth of the said respondent was stated to be 10.02.1987.<\/p>\n<p>Before us, a contention was raised as to whether column no.5 thereof was<\/p>\n<p>filled up or not. An affidavit was filed to show that column no.5 is statement<\/p>\n<p>on the declaration of the father. We would, therefore, proceed on the said<\/p>\n<p>basis.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>12.      Respondent no.1 was admitted in the Govt. Secondary School, Nava<\/p>\n<p>Nagar on 22nd January 1996. He left the school on 31st December 1999.<\/p>\n<p>Certificate was issued on 23rd February 2000 so as to enable him to take<\/p>\n<p>admission in another school, namely, Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav High<\/p>\n<p>School. We may not consider the certificate granted by the Principal of the<\/p>\n<p>latter school as only a xerox copy thereof was filed inasmuch as the original<\/p>\n<p>having been not produced, the same was inadmissible in evidence.<\/p>\n<p>13.      Before the courts below, Shri Raj Kumar, a teacher of Ram Lakhan<\/p>\n<p>Singh Yadav School examined himself. Although he was not present when<\/p>\n<p>the respondent no.1 was admitted in the school, but he proved the contents<\/p>\n<p>of the admission register. It is, therefore, not correct to contend that the<\/p>\n<p>contents of the admission register were not proved. Raj Kishore Singh,<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                        9<\/span><\/p>\n<p>father of the respondent no.1 also examined himself. He also proved the<\/p>\n<p>date of birth of the respondent no.1.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>14.    In terms of the provisions of Section 68 of the Juvenile Justice (Care<\/p>\n<p>&amp; Protection of Children) Act, 2000, the Central Government has framed<\/p>\n<p>Juvenile Justice (Care &amp; Protection of Children) Rules, 2001. Rule 22 of the<\/p>\n<p>said Rules provides for the procedure to be followed in respect of<\/p>\n<p>determination of the age of a person. It indicates that the opinion of the<\/p>\n<p>Medical Board is to be preferred only when a date of birth certificate from<\/p>\n<p>the school first attended is not available.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>15.    The condition laid down in Section 35 of the Evidence Act for<\/p>\n<p>proving an entry pertaining to the age of a student in a school admission<\/p>\n<p>register is to be considered for the purpose of determining the relevance<\/p>\n<p>thereof. But in this case, the said condition must be held to have been<\/p>\n<p>satisfied.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>16.    An entry in a school register may not be a public document and, thus,<\/p>\n<p>must be proved in accordance with law, as has been held by this Court in the<\/p>\n<p>case of Birad Mal Singhvi (supra), but, in this case the said entry has been<\/p>\n<p>proved.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                       10<\/span><\/p>\n<p>17.      Even if we had to consider the medical report, it is now well known<\/p>\n<p>that an error of two years in determining the age is possible.<\/p>\n<p>         In the case of <a href=\"\/doc\/203168\/\">Jaya Mala v. Home Secretary, Government of Jammu<\/p>\n<p>and Kashmir &amp; Ors.<\/a> [AIR 1982 SC 1297 = (1982) 2 SCC 202], this Court<\/p>\n<p>held :\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>               &#8220;However, it is notorious and one can take judicial<br \/>\n               notice that the margin of error in age ascertained<br \/>\n               by radiological examination is two years on either<br \/>\n               side.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>18.      There cannot furthermore be any doubt whatsoever that same standard<\/p>\n<p>is required to be applied for the purpose of Section 35 of the Evidence Act<\/p>\n<p>both in civil as also criminal proceedings, as was held by this Court in the<\/p>\n<p>case of <a href=\"\/doc\/1045688\/\">Ravinder Singh Gorkhi v. State of U.P.<\/a> (2006) 5 SCC 584, stating :<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>                      &#8220;38. The age of a person as recorded in the<br \/>\n               school register or otherwise may be used for<br \/>\n               various purposes, namely, for obtaining admission;<br \/>\n               for obtaining an appointment; for contesting<br \/>\n               election; registration of marriage; obtaining a<br \/>\n               separate unit under ceiling laws; and even for the<br \/>\n               purpose of litigating before a civil forum e.g.<br \/>\n               necessity of being represented in a court of law by<br \/>\n               a guardian or where a suit is filed on the ground<br \/>\n               that the plaintiff being a minor he was not<br \/>\n               appropriately represented therein or any<br \/>\n               transaction made on his behalf was void as he was<br \/>\n               a minor. A court of law for the purpose of<br \/>\n               determining the age of a party to the lis, having<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                      11<\/span><\/p>\n<p>             regard to the provisions of Section 35 of the<br \/>\n             Evidence Act will have to apply the same standard.<br \/>\n             No different standard can be applied in case of an<br \/>\n             accused as in a case of abduction or rape, or<br \/>\n             similar offence where the victim or the prosecutrix<br \/>\n             although might have consented with the accused, if<br \/>\n             on the basis of the entries made in the register<br \/>\n             maintained by the school, a judgment of conviction<br \/>\n             is recorded, the accused would be deprived of his<br \/>\n             constitutional right under Article 21 of the<br \/>\n             Constitution, as in that case the accused may<br \/>\n             unjustly be convicted.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>      However, the medical opinion rendered in this case corroborates the<\/p>\n<p>entry made in the register. Admission register of the school having been<\/p>\n<p>proved in accordance with law, we do not see any reason as to why the same<\/p>\n<p>should not be taken into consideration.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>19.   We are not oblivious of the fact that it is difficult to lay down a law as<\/p>\n<p>to whether in a case of this nature, the lower or the upper age or the average<\/p>\n<p>age should be taken into consideration. Each case depends on its own facts.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of Jyoti Prakash Rai @ Jyoti Prakash v. State of Bihar 2008(3)<\/p>\n<p>SCALE 348 this Court, upon consideration of large number of decisions,<\/p>\n<p>opined :\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>                   &#8220;19. Appellant herein had produced a large<br \/>\n             number of documents to prove his age purported to<br \/>\n             be as on the date of commission of the crime. The<br \/>\n             genuineness of the school certificate and the<br \/>\n             horoscope had been questioned. The school<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                      12<\/span><\/p>\n<p>             certificate produced by the appellant was found to<br \/>\n             be forged and fabricated and as a matter of fact a<br \/>\n             criminal case was directed to be instituted against<br \/>\n             the Head of the Institution.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                    20. The court, therefore, had no other<br \/>\n             option but to determine the age on the basis of the<br \/>\n             Medical Reports. Both the medical reports dated<br \/>\n             24.04.2001 and 29.06.2001 opined the age of the<br \/>\n             appellant between 18 and 19 years. In terms of<br \/>\n             first medical report, the age of the appellant came<br \/>\n             to be 18 years 5 months 8 days and in terms of the<br \/>\n             second medical report, it came to be between 18<br \/>\n             and 19 years. The High Court opined that the<br \/>\n             appellant on 1.04.2001 was definitely above 18<br \/>\n             years of age and not below 18 years of age.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                    21. The courts have considered this aspect<br \/>\n             of the matter on earlier occasions also. If, thus, on<br \/>\n             the basis of several factors including the fact that<br \/>\n             school leaving certificate and the horoscope<br \/>\n             produced by the appellant were found to be forged<br \/>\n             and fabricated and having regard to two medical<br \/>\n             reports the courts below have found the age of the<br \/>\n             appellant as on 1.04.2001 to be above 18 years, we<br \/>\n             are of the opinion that no exception thereto can be<br \/>\n             taken.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>      In this case, however, the documents produced by the respondent no.1<\/p>\n<p>were not found to be forged, fabricated or otherwise inadmissible in law. If<\/p>\n<p>a document is proved to be genuine and satisfies the requirements of law, it<\/p>\n<p>should be, subject to just exceptions, relied upon.<\/p>\n<p>20.   However, in the case of <a href=\"\/doc\/226549\/\">Vimal Chadha v. Vikas Choudhary &amp; Anr.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>2008(8) SCALE 608, this Court remitted the matter back for consideration<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                     13<\/span><\/p>\n<p>of the age in terms of the rules keeping in view of the provisions contained<\/p>\n<p>in Section 472 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.<\/p>\n<p>21.   Mr. Praneet Ranjan, learned counsel appearing for the appellant has<\/p>\n<p>relied upon certain observations made by one of us in the case of Pratap<\/p>\n<p>Singh v. State of Jharkhand &amp; Anr. (2005) 3 SCC 551 to contend that model<\/p>\n<p>rules have no application, but as the statutory rules have come into force in<\/p>\n<p>the procedure laid down therein should be followed.<\/p>\n<p>22.   As in this case, the date of birth entered into the school register has<\/p>\n<p>been proved, we are of the opinion that there is no reason as to why the same<\/p>\n<p>should not be given effect to.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>23.   We, therefore, find no legal infirmity in the order passed by the High<\/p>\n<p>Court. This appeal is dismissed.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>                                            &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.J.\n<\/p>\n<p>                                            [S.B. Sinha]<\/p>\n<p>                                             &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.J.\n<\/p>\n<p>                                            [Cyriac Joseph]<br \/>\nNew Delhi.\n<\/p>\n<p>May 5, 2009<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009 Author: S Sinha Bench: S.B. Sinha, Cyriac Joseph REPORTABLE IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.________ OF 2009 (Arising out of SLP (Crl.) No.4601 of 2006) Ram Suresh Singh &#8230; Appellant [&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-41655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009 - 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\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-05-04T18:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-27T08:50:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Legal India Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@legaliadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Legal_india\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Legal India Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Legal India Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea\"},\"headline\":\"Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-05-04T18:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-27T08:50:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009\"},\"wordCount\":2638,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Supreme Court of India\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009\",\"name\":\"Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-05-04T18:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-27T08:50:04+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/\",\"name\":\"Free Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\",\"description\":\"Search and read the latest judgements, orders, and rulings from the Supreme Court of India and all High Courts. A comprehensive database for lawyers, advocates, and law students.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Free judgements of Supreme Court & High Court of India | Legal India\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\",\"alternateName\":\"Legal India\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Legal_india\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea\",\"name\":\"Legal India Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Legal India Admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/legaliadmin\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/author\/legal-india-admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","og_url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009","og_site_name":"Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/","article_published_time":"2009-05-04T18:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-02-27T08:50:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":512,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Legal India Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@legaliadmin","twitter_site":"@Legal_india","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Legal India Admin","Est. reading time":"14 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009"},"author":{"name":"Legal India Admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea"},"headline":"Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009","datePublished":"2009-05-04T18:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-27T08:50:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009"},"wordCount":2638,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Supreme Court of India"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009","name":"Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-05-04T18:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-27T08:50:04+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-suresh-singh-vs-prabhat-singh-chhotu-singh-anr-on-5-may-2009#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ram Suresh Singh vs Prabhat Singh @ Chhotu Singh &amp; Anr on 5 May, 2009"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/","name":"Free Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India","description":"Search and read the latest judgements, orders, and rulings from the Supreme Court of India and all High Courts. A comprehensive database for lawyers, advocates, and law students.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Free judgements of Supreme Court & High Court of India | Legal India","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#organization","name":"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India","alternateName":"Legal India","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/legal-india-icon.jpg","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Judgements of Supreme Court & High Court | Legal India"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LegalindiaCom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Legal_india"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/0bfdffe9059fb8bb24a86d094609c5ea","name":"Legal India Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4faa9d728ed1af3b73d52225c7f12901ac726fe6f7ea0a3348a1d51f3a930987?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Legal India Admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.legalindia.com","https:\/\/x.com\/legaliadmin"],"url":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/author\/legal-india-admin"}]}},"modified_by":null,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41655\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}