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P. Sasikumar vs. The State rep. by the Inspector of Police

Not available · 2024 INSC 474Decided 8 Jul 2024
Not available
Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia · Justice Prasanna B. Varale

Background

In November 2014, a 14-year-old girl was brutally murdered inside her home in Salem, Tamil Nadu, allegedly by two men: one reportedly obsessed with and stalking the victim's elder sister, and the appellant, described as an accomplice. There was no direct evidence against the appellant; the case rested on circumstantial evidence, including identification by two witnesses who had never seen him before and had only glimpsed him from a distance while he wore a monkey cap covering most of his face. No formal Test Identification Parade (TIP) was conducted by police before the witnesses identified him in court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court set aside the appellant's conviction and life sentence, and acquitted him. It held that when an accused is a complete stranger to eyewitnesses, a court identification made for the first time during trial ("dock identification") is inherently weak evidence unless corroborated by a properly conducted TIP before trial, especially where witnesses only saw the accused's partially covered face from a distance. Since no explanation was given for skipping the TIP, and the identification evidence was doubtful, the prosecution failed to prove the appellant's identity beyond reasonable doubt. The Court ordered his immediate release after eight years in custody, clarifying that this acquittal had no bearing on the separate case against the other accused.

Lesson Learnt

When police fail to conduct a proper identification parade before an unfamiliar accused is put up for a courtroom identification, that identification becomes weak evidence, and a conviction cannot rest on it if serious doubt remains about who actually committed the crime.

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

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