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Chakarai @ Chakaravarthi v. State Rep. by Inspector of Police

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 87Decided 24 Jan 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 1016 of 2010
Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar · Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Background

The deceased, a bank loan collection agent, had seized two motorcycles from the appellant and a co-accused after they failed to repay vehicle loans, and refused to return the vehicles until repayment. The prosecution alleged the accused, holding a grudge, conspired with others to abduct and kill him; his body was later found near an advocate's house in Salem. The trial court convicted all accused, but the Madras High Court acquitted everyone except the appellant, upholding only his conviction under Section 302 IPC (murder) based essentially on an extra-judicial confession.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found that nearly every circumstance relied on by the prosecution, motive, eyewitness sighting of the abduction, and conspiracy, had already collapsed because key witnesses turned hostile, leaving only the extra-judicial confession as evidence. Examining that confession, the Court found it suspiciously detailed and polished, running nearly five pages and narrating events with a completeness unlikely from a genuine spontaneous confession, and relied on its own precedent (Thangavelu v. State of Tamil Nadu) holding that such an overly elaborate confession suggests it was manufactured by the investigation rather than voluntarily given. Since a conviction cannot safely rest on a sole, questionable circumstance like this, the Court set aside the conviction and acquitted the appellant of all charges, ordering his release.

Lesson Learnt

A conviction cannot be sustained on an extra-judicial confession alone if it bears signs of being too detailed or rehearsed to be genuine, especially once every other piece of corroborating circumstantial evidence has failed: courts treat uncorroborated confessions of this kind with deep suspicion.

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

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