Paragraph numbers below are the court’s original numbering, recovered from the source text.
16. It is to be noted that Ramkumar (PW-5) is the brother-in-law of the deceased. A perusal of his evidence would reveal that he has admitted that, on his arrival in village Kunda, he was informed by his brother- in-law and nephew Narendra Kumar (PW-2) about the murder of the deceased which was done by the accused persons. He stated that, by that time they had not reached the spot and that is why they were not aware as to whether it was the body of Dharmendra or not. He further admitted that when they reached Bhatgaon, many people of the village were there. He has also admitted that because of the dead body, many people were there. He has further admitted that the accused persons had given their statements at Kunda police station. He has further admitted that they had reached Bhatgaon at around 04:30 pm to 05:00 pm and had reached Mungeli before sunset. He has also stated that he had signed the panchnama at Bhatgaon.
17. It could thus be seen that, according to this witness (PW-5), though the statement was taken at Kunda, it was signed at Bhatgaon.
18. Ajab Singh (PW-18) is another witness on the memorandum recorded under Section 27 of the Evidence Act and the subsequent recovery of the dead body. He states that Ravishankar informed the police that Dharmendra had been killed and thrown into the pond. However, he states in examination-in-chief that Umend and Dinesh did not tell anything to the police in front of him. It will be relevant to refer to his cross-examination, which reads thus: “4. It is true that I used to work as Kotwari. It is true that I did not have read the paper. It is true that I had signed 3-4 papers on the instructions of the police. It is true that due to being Kotwar had to visit police station regularly. It is true that I signed on documents on the instructions of the police. It is wrong to say that I signed in police station, Kunda. Witnesses say that it was signed in Dandaon.”
19. It could thus be seen that Ajab Singh (PW-18) has clearly admitted that he did not read the papers before putting his signature on them. [2024] 4 S.C.R. Ravishankar Tandon v. State of Chhattisgarh He has admitted that he had signed 3-4 papers on the instructions of the police. He has also stated that he had signed the statement at Dandaon.
20. Narendra Kumar (PW-2) is the brother of the deceased. He has stated that, after his brother went missing; on the next day at around 08:00 o’clock in the morning, the police came to his place and informed that his brother Dharmendra had been killed by Ravishankar, Satnami, Umend and Satyendra. After that, they went to Bhatgaon with the police. The extract of the evidence of Narendra Kumar (PW-2) is as under: “3. At around 8 in morning the police came to my place and informed that my brother Dharmendra was killed by Ravishankar, Satnami, Umend and Satyendra. After that we went to Bhatgaon with the police. Ramkumar, Krishna, Banshee had gone with me.”
21. A perusal of the evidence of Narendra Kumar (PW-2) read with that of Ramkumar (PW-5) would clearly reveal that the police as well as these witnesses knew about the death of Dharmendra Satnami occurring and the dead body being found at Bhatgaon prior to the statements of the accused persons being recorded under Section 27 of the Evidence Act. All the statements are recorded after 10:00 am whereas Ramkumar (PW-2) stated that at around 08:00 am, police informed him about the accused persons killing the deceased and thereafter they going to Bhatgaon. Ramkumar (PW-5) also admitted that he arrived at village Kunda and on his arrival, he was informed by his brother-in-law and nephew about the murder which was done by the accused persons.
22. We therefore find that the prosecution has utterly failed to prove that the discovery of the dead body of the deceased from the pond at Bhatgaon was only on the basis of the disclosure statement made by the accused persons under Section 27 of the Evidence Act and that nobody knew about the same before that. It is further to be noted that Ajab Singh (PW-18) has clearly admitted that he had signed the papers without reading them and that too on the instructions of the police.
23. The evidence of Ramkumar (PW-5) would show that though his statement was taken at Kunda police station, it was signed at Bhatgaon. As such, the possibility of these documents being created 574 to rope in the accused persons cannot be ruled out. In any case, insofar as the statement of Dinesh Chandrakar (accused No. 3) is concerned, even the statement recorded under Section 27 of the Evidence Act is not at all related to the discovery of the dead body of the deceased. As a matter of fact, nothing in his statement recorded under Section 27 of the Evidence Act has led to discovery of any incriminating fact.
24. Another aspect that needs to be noted is that, the only evidence with regard to recording of the memorandum of accused persons under Section 27 of the Evidence Act is concerned, is that of B.R. Singh, the then Investigating Officer (IO) (PW-16). The relevant part thereof reads thus: “1. ….I wrote the statement of accused Ravi Shankar as per memorandum Ex. P-10 after taking him into custody in which my signature is on part B to B. I wrote the statement of accused· Um end as per his memorandum Ex. P-11 and accused Dinesh as per his memorandum Ex. P-12 in which my signature is on part B to B.”
25. It could thus be seen that the IO (PW-16) has failed to state as to what information was given by the accused persons which led to the discovery of the dead body. The evidence is also totally silent as to how the dead body was discovered and subsequently recovered. We find that therefore, the evidence of the IO (PW-16) would also not bring the case at hand under the purview of Section 27 of the Evidence Act. Reliance in this respect could be placed on the judgments of this Court in the cases of Asar Mohammad and Others v. State of Uttar Pradesh3 and Boby v. State of Kerala4.
26. We therefore find that the prosecution has utterly failed to prove any of the incriminating circumstances against the appellants herein. In any case, the chain of circumstances must be so complete that it leads to no other conclusion than the guilt of the accused persons, which is not so in the present case.
27. In the result, we pass the following order: [2018] 13 SCR 248 : (2019) 12 SCC 253 : 2018 INSC 985 [2023] 1 SCR 335 : 2023 SCC OnLine SC 50 : 2023 INSC 23 [2024] 4 S.C.R. Ravishankar Tandon v. State of Chhattisgarh (i) The appeals are allowed; (ii) The judgment dated 2nd January 2023 passed by the High Court and the judgment dated 5th February 2013 passed by the trial court are quashed and set aside; and (iii) The appellants are directed to be acquitted of all the charges charged with and are directed to be released forthwith, if not required in any other case.
28. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey Result of the case: Appeals allowed.