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Raja etc. v. State by the Inspector of Police

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 1346Decided 10 Dec 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 740 of 2018
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Justice Indu Malhotra

Background

The appellants (six accused) were convicted by the trial court and the Madras High Court for a night-time dacoity at a house in Nallavumpatti village, Tamil Nadu, in which the appellants attacked and killed one Sengoda Goundar and assaulted his wife and other family members while they were asleep. Two sets of connected criminal appeals (Criminal Appeal No. 740/2018 and Criminal Appeal Nos. 1608-1609/2018) were filed before the Supreme Court challenging the common High Court judgment affirming conviction. The central dispute was the reliability of eyewitness identification of the accused, including questions about delay in holding the Test Identification Parade (TIP) and whether witnesses had been shown photographs of the accused beforehand.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the evidence of five injured eyewitnesses who identified the accused in court, and considered whether any infirmity in the TIP (delay, or prior photo-identification shown to some witnesses) undermined the prosecution case. The Court held that TIP and photo identification are only aids to investigation, not substantive evidence: the substantive evidence is identification made on oath in court. Finding the eyewitnesses' in-court identification truthful, reliable, and consistent, and noting each witness had ample opportunity to observe the attackers during a prolonged assault, the Court held the conviction was rightly made out and dismissed the appeals, affirming the conviction and sentence.

Lesson Learnt

In Indian criminal trials, a Test Identification Parade is only a corroborative investigative tool: a conviction can be sustained on credible, consistent in-court identification by eyewitnesses even if there were procedural delays or imperfections in the earlier TIP.

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

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