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Subhash vs. State of Uttar Pradesh

Criminal Appeal · 2022 INSC 127Decided 1 Feb 2022
Criminal Appeal No. 158 of 2022
Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud · Surya Kant · Vikram Nath

Background

Six persons, including Subhash and Gyanvati, were convicted by a Sessions Court and the Allahabad High Court for the 2002 murder of one Surender in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, based mainly on the testimony of two witnesses: the deceased's brother Vedram (the informant) and a "chance witness," Jagdish, who claimed to have seen the incident while passing by. The prosecution's case was that the accused, some armed with pistols and others with an axe/knife, attacked the deceased, allegedly in revenge for the earlier murder of a co-accused's father (a case in which the deceased and the informant were themselves accused). Subhash and Gyanvati appealed to the Supreme Court, pointing to contradictions between the FIR, witness statements, and the post-mortem report.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found that both eyewitnesses had made material improvements to their accounts between the FIR, their police statements, and their court testimony, for instance, the FIR said all four armed accused fired at the deceased, but under cross-examination the informant said only two had actually fired while others fired in the air. The post-mortem report showed only one firearm injury and one neck injury, which contradicted the prosecution's claim that multiple accused had fired and that two different accused had separately struck the neck with a farsa (axe) and a knife. The Court also noted the unexplained failure to examine the deceased's father, who was allegedly present at the scene. Given these fundamental, not minor, contradictions going to the root of the prosecution's case, the Court held the presence of both witnesses at the scene was itself in serious doubt, and gave Subhash and Gyanvati the benefit of the doubt.

Lesson Learnt

A murder conviction cannot stand on eyewitness testimony that materially shifts between the FIR, police statement, and court deposition, especially when it directly conflicts with objective medical evidence like a post-mortem report. Courts must treat such contradictions as going to the root of the case, not dismiss them as minor.

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

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