Supreme Court: The court should not rely on FSL report if prosecution has failed to prove chain of custody

 The trial Court as well as the High Court heavily relied upon the FSL reports(Exhibits 111-115) to hold that blood group found on the weapons of offence incriminated the Accused for the crime as the same matched with the blood group of the deceased. In this regard, it is suffice to say that the two weapons which were picked up by Demistalkumar(PW-12) from the place of occurrence were formally seized at the Anand Town Police Station around 2:30 am on 5th May, 2011. Only one of the panchas Mohammad Hussain(PW-5) was examined at the trial. The seizure panchnama(Exhibit -38) records that the three Accused who had inflicted deadly blows to the deceased with dagger, gupti and knife, threw away their weapons near the garden and fled away from the crime scene and that police personnel brought all the weapons to the police station. However, the panchnama(Exhibit P-38) does not bear the signatures of the police constable, Demistalkumar(PW-12) who admittedly collected the weapons from the crime scene and presented them to the police station. Thus, no credence can be given to seizure panchnama(Exhibit P-38) because it suffers from the lacuna of not being attested by the witness who had actually presented the weapons at the police station. In addition, thereto, we may further note that Demistalkumar(PW-12), the police constable who deposited the weapons at the police station, did not state in his evidence as to whom he had given the knife and the gupti which he picked up from the crime scene. These weapons were seized vide seizure panchnama(Exhibit-38) which was admittedly prepared at 2:30 am. However, the Police Constable, Demistalkumar(PW-12) stated that he reached the police station at about 9:15 pm and stayed there for only 20 minutes. These infirmities create a doubt on the very process of seizure of the weapons. {Para 42}

43. The trial Court as well as the High Court heavily relied upon the FSL reports(Exhibits 111-115) for finding corroboration to the evidence of the eyewitnesses and in drawing a conclusion regarding culpability of the Appellants for the crime. We may reiterate that the testimony of the so-called eyewitnesses has already been discarded above by holding the same to be doubtful. Thus, even presuming that the FSL reports(Exhibits 111-115) conclude that the blood group found on the weapons recovered at the instance of the Accused matched with the blood group of the deceased, this circumstance in isolation, cannot be considered sufficient so as to link the Accused with the crime. In this regard, reliance can be placed on the judgment of Mustkeem alias Sirajudeen v. State of Rajasthan   MANU/SC/0795/2011 : 2011:INSC:487 : (2011) 11 SCC 724, wherein this Court held that sole circumstance of recovery of bloodstained weapon cannot form the basis of conviction unless the same was connected with the murder of the deceased by the Accused. The relevant portion is extracted hereinbelow:

19. The AB blood group which was found on the clothes of the deceased does not by itself establish the guilt of the Appellant unless the same was connected with the murder of the deceased by the Appellants. None of the witnesses examined by the prosecution could establish that fact. The blood found on the sword recovered at the instance of Mustkeem was not sufficient for test as the same had already disintegrated. At any rate, due to the reasons elaborated in the following paragraphs, the fact that the traces of blood found on the deceased matched those found on the recovered weapons cannot ipso facto enable us to arrive at the conclusion that the latter were used for the murder.

(emphasis supplied)

44. On a perusal of the deposition of the Investigating Officer(PW- 18), we find his evidence on the aspect of disclosure statements made by the Accused-Appellant leading to the recoveries to be totally perfunctory and unacceptable. The witness did not elaborate upon the words spoken by the Accused-Appellant at the time of making the disclosure statements.

45. On a threadbare analysis of the entire record, we do not find that the prosecution examined any witness who had deposed about the link evidence/safe custody of the mudammal articles right from the time they were received at the police station and seized till the time the same reached the FSL. Hence, otherwise also, the FSL report(Exhibits 111-115) pales into insignificance. Investigating Officer(PW-18) deposed that he arrested the Accused persons. A detailed enquiry was made from all three Accused-Appellants, and they were examined for the injuries found on their bodies. Thereafter, all the Accused-Appellants conveyed their willingness to show the place of the offence and thereafter, panchnama as per Section 27 of the Evidence Act was prepared. Since the place of incident was also known to police, this disclosure is irrelevant. Search of the houses of the Accused-Appellant was undertaken in presence of the panch witnesses and a big knife was seized from the house of the Accused Mohmedfaruk @ Palak, vide panchnama(Exhibit-52).

46. Hence, we are of the firm view that neither the disclosure statements made by the Accused were proved as per law nor the same resulted into any discovery which could be accepted as incriminating inasmuch as the requisite link evidence was never presented by the prosecution so as to establish that the recovered articles remained in the self-safe condition from the date of the seizure till the same reached the FSL.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

Criminal Appeal Nos. 2828-2829 of 2023 and 112 of 2024

Decided On: 08.08.2024

Allarakha Habib Memon and Ors. Vs. State of Gujarat

Hon'ble Judges/Coram:

B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta, JJ.

Author: Sandeep Mehta, J.

Citation:  MANU/SC/0856/2024.

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