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Boby vs State of Kerala

Criminal Appeal · 2023 INSC 23Decided 12 Jan 2023
Criminal Appeal No. 1439 of 2009
B.R. Gavai · M.M. Sundresh

Background

According to the complainant Leela, her husband Vishwanathan was taken away at knife-point from their home in Thrissur district on the night of 20 November 2000 by his brother Shibu (an escaped prisoner) and others, who feared he would inform the police. Days later, the police claimed that Boby (accused No. 3) was arrested on 25 November and that on his disclosure the body was found buried on the banks of the Bharathapuzha river and stolen jewellery was recovered from his house. The trial court convicted Shibu, Biju and Boby of murder and related offences and sentenced them to life imprisonment; the Kerala High Court acquitted Biju but upheld the convictions of Shibu and Boby. Boby appealed.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and acquitted Boby. Applying the "golden principles" for circumstantial-evidence cases from Sharad Birdhichand Sarda, it examined each link in the chain. It found that no statement of Boby had been recorded under Section 27 of the Evidence Act and no proper discovery panchnama with independent witnesses had been prepared, so the prosecution had failed to prove that the body was recovered at his instance. The trial court itself had found the jewellery recovery memo to be fabricated and "farce", yet still relied on it, which the Supreme Court called perverse. With those circumstances gone, the only remaining evidence was that the accused were "last seen" with the deceased, and with a gap of at least five days before the body was found, a conviction could not rest on that alone.

Lesson Learnt

In a case built purely on circumstantial evidence, every link must be proved beyond reasonable doubt; a recovery said to be based on an accused's disclosure is worthless unless the police properly record the statement and follow the Section 27 procedure. Being "last seen" with a victim days before the body is found is not, by itself, enough to convict.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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