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Khokan Giri @ Madhab v. State of West Bengal

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 1399 of 2007)Decided 1 Dec 2016
Criminal Appeal No. 1399 of 2007
Justice A.K. Sikri · Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre

Background

The appellant, a servant employed in the office of one Mr. Khetwat, was convicted along with three co-accused for the 1991 murder of an elderly Kolkata couple, Girish and Bina Navalkha, allegedly killed by strangulation on the instructions of Mr. Khetwat's wife Bimala (who suspected her husband of an illicit relationship with the deceased wife), with valuables also stolen from the flat. One of the co-accused, Raju Rao, turned approver and gave a detailed account implicating the appellant, and the Trial Court and High Court both relied on this testimony along with corroborating evidence (fingerprints, recovered stolen articles, witness testimony) to convict and sentence the appellant to life imprisonment. The appellant challenged the conviction before the Supreme Court, arguing the courts gave undue weight to the approver's testimony without adequate independent corroboration.

Decision Breakdown

The Court reaffirmed the settled principle (citing Chandra Prakash v. State of Rajasthan) that while an accomplice's testimony is legally admissible and a conviction based on it is not automatically illegal, as a rule of prudence it should not be relied upon without material corroboration from an independent source connecting the accused to the crime. Reviewing the record, the Court found the Trial Court and High Court had both carefully examined substantial independent corroborative evidence, fingerprint and recovery evidence, witness testimony placing the appellant with the other accused before and on the night of the murder, and forensic findings, that supported Raju Rao's account. Finding no error in the High Court's reasoning, the Court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the conviction, while separately noting that any plea for remission of sentence (the appellant having already served over 25 years) was a matter for the executive/competent authority to consider, on which the Court expressed no view.

Lesson Learnt

A conviction can validly rest on an approver's testimony, but only if it is corroborated in material particulars by independent evidence connecting the accused to the crime: mere tender of pardon and approver status is not, by itself, enough to sustain a conviction.

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

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