Paragraph numbers below are the court’s original numbering, recovered from the source text.
26. Having surveyed the relevant legal provisions and the case laws on the subject, let us now deal with the material prosecution witnesses.
27. PW-2 is Jayabalaben Dashrathbhai Parmar, the informant. In her evidence in chief, she stated that the incident had occurred on the (2024) SCC Online SC 3541 2024 INSC 1020 (2002) 5 SCC 371 [2025] 3 S.C.R. Patel Babubhai Manohardas & Ors. v. State of Gujarat 25th of the fourth month (April). She deposed that she worked as a clean worker in the water park, having studied up to 10th standard. Her husband Dashrathbhai Karsanbhai Parmar was serving in the postal department. Her husband’s last posting was at Linch. They had 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys. She stated that she came to know later that there was a misappropriation case against her husband in his office. 27.1. Geetaben of Linch (appellant/accused No. 3) befriended and became close to them. That way she started coming home. PW-2 alleged that by performing some ‘black art’ and giving her husband some liquid substance, she made him her own. Geetaben left her husband after taking away his money. 27.2. On 25.04.2009, PW-2 had gone to the water park in connection with her service. During noon, one Jayantibhai Kalabhai Parmar came to her office and told her that her mother-in-law was ill. On hearing this, she came back home. In front of her residence, she saw a huge crowd. As she entered her house, she saw the dead body of her husband. She tried to wake him up by shaking him but there was no response. 27.3. PW-2 stated that she had some ornaments but those had been taken away by the accused persons. She stated that she did not notice anything at the time of the death of her husband but later on she found one slip (note). She read that note wherefrom she could gather that lot many things were written in that letter. In the note, it was written that the appellants had trapped him and after making video cassette, they used to blackmail him. Fed up with such harassment, he committed suicide by consuming poison. 27.4. She, therefore, lodged a complaint before the police on 14.05.2009 (Ex. 22/1). 27.5. PW-2 was cross-examined. She stated in her cross-examination that the incident had occurred on 25.04.2009. Police had taken her two statements on 14.05.2009 and 15.05.2009. In so far the misappropriation case of her husband is concerned, PW-2 stated that she and her husband had paid back Rs. 1,20,000.00 to the postal department, receipt of which was given. She also admitted that there was a case against her husband for which he was arrested by the police though released on 444 bail subsequently. She however admitted that the chit (note) was found by her elder brother-in-law (PW-7) and not by her. Before she reached her home on 25.04.2004, relatives had taken her husband to the hospital. 27.6. Jayantibhai, the elder brother-in-law (PW-7), told PW-2 about the note on the next day and that is how she came to know that her husband had written the note. When panchnama was drawn on 25.04.2009, no note was found. From the time of death till the lodging of complaint, the note was with PW-7. PW-2 did not go to the police station to say about the note. She described the relationship between the accused as follows: Geetaben (appellant/accused No. 3) who used to work in the office of her husband; appellant/accused No. 4 is the mother of Geetaben; appellant/accused No. 2 is the husband of Geetaben; and appellant/accused No. 1 is a relative of the other accused persons. PW-2 stated that neither Geetaben nor the accused persons had ever come to her residence. 27.7. PW-2 stated that her husband was suspended from service about 2 years back. He was worried about the misappropriation case. PW-2 denied the suggestion that the note was not written by her husband and that the accused persons had not taken away money from him.
28. Amrutbhai Karshanbhai Parmar is PW-6. Deceased was his brother. On that fateful day, while he was having lunch at home, his niece came to him and told him that something had happened to her father. Then he went to the house of his brother Dashrathbhai and found him lying motionless. He believed that he had consumed poison. When he took his brother to the hospital, he was declared dead. At that time, his other brother Jayantibhai (PW-7) was also there. On searching the body of his brother, PW-6 stated that they found one note from his pocket. In that note, the deceased had mentioned 3-4 names further stating that they were blackmailing him; so he had committed suicide. It was in the own handwriting of Dashrathbhai. However, he stated that he did not know the persons whose name were mentioned in the note.
29. PW-7 is the elder brother of the deceased, Jayantibhai Karshanbhai Parmar. Narrating about the incident, he stated that while he was at home during noon, his brother Amrutbhai came and told him that [2025] 3 S.C.R. Patel Babubhai Manohardas & Ors. v. State of Gujarat Dashrathbhai was lying unconscious. They rushed to Dashrathbhai’s house and found him in an unconscious condition. They dialled 108 and also informed the police. They took Dashrathbhai to the hospital where he was declared dead. PW-7 stated that though he searched the body of his brother Dashrathbhai, he did not find anything. Contradicting the above statement, he stated that though one note was found, who found that note and what was written in it, he did not know. He stated that he did not know for what reason, his brother died. 29.1. This witness was declared hostile. 29.2. In his cross-examination, he stated that he had no idea that in his statement before the police he had stated that one note was found in his brother’s pocket wherein it was written that he had an affair with Geetaben (appellant No. 3) and for that reason he had committed suicide. He denied making any statement before the police on 15.05.2009 that his brother Dashrathbhai had given the misappropriated money to Geetaben and that the accused persons were blackmailing his brother by showing him compromising photos and videos of him and Geetaben. He also denied making any statement before the police that his deceased brother had given ornaments meant for his daughter’s marriage to the appellants.
30. PW-11 is Champaben Nathalal, women head constable. In her evidence, she stated that while she was on duty in the afternoon on 14.05.2009, the complaint came to be registered. In her cross-examination, she stated that as per Diary No. 17/09 dated 24.04.2009 (sic), she was on duty when inquest was carried out. She stated that no note was found at the time of the inquest and no such note was presented at the police station.
31. On a careful analysis of the evidence tendered by the above prosecution witnesses, it would reveal that though the incident had occurred on 25.04.2009, the complaint was lodged by PW-2 on 14.05.2009, thus there being a delay of 20 days. Though there is a GD entry on 25.04.2009, it appears that barring postmortem and inquest, no FIR was registered and no other investigation was carried out by the police. It was only after lodging of the complaint that police recorded the statement of PW-2 on 14.05.2009 and 15.05.2009 and of the other witnesses thereafter. Though delay in lodging of first 446 information is not always fatal but considering the fact that in this case, the delay is of 20 days which has remained unexplained, it would have a material bearing on the prosecution case.
32. PW-11 who served as the head constable in the concerned police station, deposed that she was on duty in the afternoon of 14.05.2009 when the complaint came to be registered. In her cross-examination, she stated that she was also on duty when Diary Entry No. 17/09 dated 24.04.2009 was made. She was categorical in her statement that no suicide note was found at the time of the inquest; no such note was presented at the police station either.
33. There are significant inconsistencies in the evidence of the prosecution witnesses regarding the occurrence. PW-2 stated in her substantive evidence that on being informed about her mother-in-law’s illness, she had come home from her office. On reaching home, she saw a huge crowd in front of her residence. As she entered her house, she saw the dead body of her husband. However, in her cross-examination, she stated that when she reached home on that fateful afternoon, the relatives had already taken her husband to the hospital. Such inconsistent testimony cast serious doubts about the veracity of the evidence of the said prosecution witness.
34. In so far the suicide note is concerned, PW-2 stated that PW-7 had told her on the next day about the same. It was only then that she came to know that her husband had written a suicide note. In fact, when the panchnama was drawn on 25.04.2009, no note was found on the body of the deceased. She stated that from the time of death till the lodging of complaint, the suicide note was with PW-7. This again cast serious aspersions about the credibility of the suicide note.
35. There is another significant inconsistency. PW-6 stated that while he was at home having lunch, his niece came and told him that something had happened to her father (Dashrathbhai Karsanbhai Parmar). So he went to the residence of his brother and found him lying motionless. At that time, PW-7 was also present. On the other hand, PW-7 stated that while he was at home, his brother PW-6 came and told him that brother Dashrathbhai was lying unconscious. It was thereafter that he rushed to Dashrathbhai’s house. Such inconsistencies clearly impeach the credibility of the above two prosecution witnesses. [2025] 3 S.C.R. Patel Babubhai Manohardas & Ors. v. State of Gujarat
36. That apart, there is nothing on record to show recovery of any jewellery (ornaments) by the police from the accused persons. No signed cheques of the deceased or cheque book or passbook of the deceased were recovered and exhibited in court. In such circumstances, the very sub-stratum of the prosecution case that the accused persons were making illegal gain by blackmailing the deceased falls flat.
37. Before we move on to the alleged suicide note, it would be appropriate to advert to the postmortem report. As per the said report, cause of death was due to consumption of Dichlorvos Organophosphorus Non-thio poison. The doctor who carried out the postmortem examination, Dr. Prakash Laxmandas, deposed as PW-1. He stated that in the course of postmortem examination, 400 cc of coffee coloured foul smelling liquid was found in the small intestine and as per postmortem note, the same was Dichlorvos Organophosphorus Non-thio poison. He stated that if anybody drinks such poisonous substance then this type of death can happen.
38. However, there is no recovery of any trace of the poison consumed by the deceased at the place of occurrence. No bottle/container of such poison was recovered from the residence of the deceased. Moreover, the prosecution could not place before the court any material as to wherefrom the deceased had procured the poison.
39. In Kumar @ Shiva Kumar versus State of Karnataka,10 this Court opined that in a case of death due to consumption or administering of poison, be it homicidal or suicidal, recovery of the trace of such poison is crucial. This Court held thus: 46. …….As a general principle, it can be said that in a case of death by poisoning, be it homicidal or suicidal and which is based on circumstantial evidence, recovery of the trace of poison consumed by or administered to the deceased is of critical importance. It forms a part of the chain; rather it would complete the chain to prove homicide or suicide.
40. This takes us to the suicide note (Ex. 33). We have already noted the delayed and controversial circumstances under which the suicide 2024 INSC 156 448 note surfaced which makes it highly suspect. Nonetheless, since it was exhibited, let us deal with the same. Sum and substance of the suicide note allegedly written by Dashrathbhai Karsanbhai Parmar (the deceased) with the date given as 24.04.2009 is that appellant No. 3 had joined his office following the illness of the existing cleaner. She used to come to the office daily for cleaning purposes. Slowly they developed intimacy. It is alleged that appellant No. 3 had performed ‘black art’ on the deceased so much so that, he fell in love with her. Taking advantage of the situation, she took photographs and video of them in compromising position. All the accused persons were shameless persons. As they started blackmailing him, he initially paid Rs. 80,000.00 to them and thereafter started giving them ornaments. He also gave them his passbook and cheque books after signing on the cheques. Because of such blackmailing, he had to misappropriate money from his office for which he was suspended. It is stated that he was totally ruined and, therefore, he had committed suicide as he had no other alternative.
41. The suicide note was sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for examination. The Deputy Chief Handwriting Expert of FSL, Gandhinagar opined that the handwriting was of the deceased. However, the prosecution did not examine the Deputy Chief Handwriting Expert as an expert witness. The records also do not indicate that the accused had admitted genuineness of the report of the handwriting expert.
42. In Shashi Kumar Banerjee versus Subodh Kumar Banerjee (since deceased),11 this Court observed that expert’s evidence as to handwriting is opinion evidence. It can rarely, if ever, take the place of substantive evidence. Before acting on such opinion evidence, it is necessary to see if it is corroborated either by clear direct evidence or by circumstantial evidence.
43. In the case of Murari Lal versus State of M.P.,12 this Court opined that having due regard to the imperfect nature of the science of identification of hand-writing, the approach of the court should be one of caution. Reasons for the opinion must be carefully probed and examined. In an appropriate case, corroboration may be sought. AIR 1964 SC 529 (1980) 1 SCC 704 [2025] 3 S.C.R. Patel Babubhai Manohardas & Ors. v. State of Gujarat Where the reasons for the opinion are convincing and there is no reliable evidence throwing a doubt, uncorroborated testimony of a handwriting expert may be accepted.
44. This Court dealt with the effect of placing reliance on the opinion of handwriting expert without examining him in court in Keshav Dutt versus State of Haryana.13 One of the questions which fell for consideration in that case was whether the opinion of a handwriting expert can be admitted in evidence without examination of the handwriting expert. In this connection, this Court took the view that when the trial court chose to rely on the report of the handwriting expert, it ought to have examined the handwriting expert in order to give an opportunity to the accused to cross-examine the said expert. In that case, it was found that there was nothing on record to show that the accused persons had admitted to the report of the handwriting expert.
45. Finally, even if we take the suicide note as correct and genuine, we do not find any act of incitement on the part of the appellants proximate to the date on which the deceased committed suicide. No act is attributed to the appellants proximate to the time of suicide which was of such a nature that the deceased was left with no alternative but to commit suicide. In such circumstances, it cannot be said that any offence of abetment to commit suicide is made out against the appellants.
46. Accordingly and in the light of the above, we allow this appeal. Consequently, the impugned judgment and order of the High Court dated 17.12.2013 and of the trial court dated 12.05.2011 are hereby set aside. Since the appellants are already on bail, their bail bonds stand discharged. Result of the case: Appeal allowed. †Headnotes prepared by: Ankit Gyan (2010) 9 SCC 286