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Ramesh Dasu Chauhan and Another v. The State of Maharashtra

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 722Decided 4 Jul 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 1682 of 2012
Justice Deepak Gupta · Justice Surya Kant

Background

An elderly woman living alone at home during the day was found strangled to death in her Nagpur apartment, with her television set missing. A neighbour saw two young men arrive on a motorcycle, enter the building, and leave shortly after, leading police to apprehend the appellants, from whom the stolen items were later recovered. The Sessions Court convicted them of murder and robbery, a sentence upheld by the Bombay High Court's Nagpur Bench, and the appellants brought a second appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the eyewitness testimony of the neighbour who saw the appellants near the scene, finding him a credible, disinterested witness whose account was corroborated by other prosecution witnesses and was never seriously challenged in cross-examination. The Court held that the recovered stolen items, duly identified by the victim's family, conclusively linked the appellants to the crime, and that their failure to explain their presence near the apartment or to offer any credible defence under Section 313 Cr.PC further supported the prosecution's case. Finding no factual or legal infirmity in the concurrent findings of the trial court and High Court, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction and life sentence.

Lesson Learnt

Courts can safely rely on consistent eyewitness identification corroborated by recovery of stolen property, and an accused's failure to offer any credible explanation for incriminating circumstances strengthens rather than weakens the case against them.

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

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