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Tara Singh v. State through Home Secretary, Uttarakhand

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 859 of 2007)Decided 25 Feb 2014
Criminal Appeal No. 859 of 2007
Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan · Justice A.K. Sikri

Background

A five-year-old boy disappeared while grazing cattle and was found dead in a cave the next day. Two men were convicted of his murder and concealing evidence, and the High Court upheld their sentences. They challenged the witness accounts and argued that the investigation by a revenue official was invalid.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeals and upheld the convictions. The proven hostility and prior threat, witnesses seeing the accused with and carrying away the child, his disappearance and the medical finding of strangulation formed a complete circumstantial chain. The Court accepted the witnesses' evidence after examining the suggested inconsistencies and cross-examination. The objection to the investigator also failed because the applicable official notification authorised the local patwari to register crimes and investigate as a police officer.

Lesson Learnt

A criminal case can be proved without an eyewitness to the actual killing when reliable circumstances form a complete chain. Whether a particular official may investigate depends on the law conferring powers in that area, rather than their job title alone.

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

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