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TMI Blog2018 (8) TMI 2142X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... before looking at the confessional statement made by the accused appellant in the light of Section 27 of the Evidence Act, may be taken into fold for limited purposes. From the aforesaid statement of the appellant, it is clear that he had explained the way in which the accused committed the crime and shared the spoils. He disclosed the fact that Munna Manjhi was the Chief/Head of the team of assailants and the crime was executed as per the plan made by him - The recoveries of used polythene pouches of wine, money, clothes, chains and bangle were all made at the disclosure by the accused which corroborates his confessional statement and proves his guilt. Therefore, the confessional statement of the appellant stands and satisfies the test of Section 27 of the Evidence Act. It is also clear from the statement of the accused appellant that the inmates of the house suffered injuries at the hands of the accused party as they had beaten them with the pieces of wood (sticks) and created terror among them. The recovery of bloodstained sticks from the orchard of Kamal Jain and the FSL report (Ext.X) proves the circumstance with no manner of doubt. Another facet of the case as portrayed b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ushed to the place of occurrence. He recorded statement (Ext. 4) of Kamdeo Singh (PW3), prepared injury reports in respect of the inmates of the house and sent them to hospital for treatment. As the injured Kameshwar Singh had succumbed to the injuries, charged under Section 396, IPC was replaced for the offence under Section 395, IPC against the accused. In the course of further investigation, police arrested some of the accused, recorded their statements, recovered some money from them. Out of the six accused persons charged with the offence, one Rameshwari Manjhi @ Umeshwari Manjhi has been declared as absconder. The accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to have been implicated falsely, therefore, wanted to be tried. 3. At the trial, the prosecution in support of its case examined as many as eleven witnesses. Relying upon the incriminating material as well as depositions and confessional statements of the accused, the trial Court came to the conclusion that the prosecution could prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Accordingly, the trial Court convicted the accused for the offence punishable under Section 396, IPC and sentenced them to suffer rigorous impr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... en the alleged confessional statement of the appellant, cannot be given legal validity as it was not made before a Magistrate. Particularly when the trial Court itself expressed doubt on the genuineness of the confessional statement as the alleged confessional statements of other accused were also under the same handwriting and drawn by the police, they cannot be taken into account. 8. It is further case of the appellant that the prosecution could not prove the motive of the appellant in committing the crime. There was no injury report brought on record in respect of PWs 1, 2 and 3 who were stated to have sustained injuries in the occurrence when the I.O. said to have drawn their injury reports. There were so many latches on the part of prosecution and the appellant herein had no criminal antecedents, yet the Courts below without taking into account the importance of all these circumstances simply believed the prosecution story and held the appellant guilty of the offence. Therefore, the impugned judgment calls for the interference of this Court and deserves to be set aside. 9. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the State of Bihar supported the view taken by the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion about the occurrence of dacoity, the FIR (Ext.5) was registered and thereafter he visited the place of occurrence and recorded the statement of the informant and other inmates of the house and sent the injured to Piligrim Hospital, Gaya for their treatment. Upon knowing that the alleged assailants were at Mohalla Balapar where they were consuming wine, he proceeded to that place and then rushed to the house of main accused Munna Manjhi and apprehended him at Samitee Bhawan. On his confession about the commission of the offence and disclosure of the names of other assailants, the I.O. raided the houses of other accused and apprehended them. He categorically stated that the appellant herein has made confessional statement which was prepared by him (Ext. 7/1). He has also visited one orchard belonging to Kamal Jain situated near Jag Jiwan College and from there he recovered two bloodstained wooden pieces (sticks) under Exts. III and III/1 allegedly used in the crime and also seized polythene wine bags under Exts. I to I/V, besides recovering money from the possession of accused in the denomination of Rs.100 x 3 and Rs. 50 x 4. The evidence of other prosecution witnesses and also ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Section 27 of the Evidence Act. 14. As regards the claim of appellant that non identification of the accused by the witness would not substantiate the prosecution case, admittedly no prosecution witness has identified the accused appellant which does not mean that the prosecution case against the accused is on false footing. As a general rule, identification tests do not constitute substantive evidence. The purpose of identification test is only to help the investigating agency as to whether the investigation into the offence is proceeding in a right direction or not. In our view, non identification of the appellant by any prosecution witness would not vitiate the prosecution case. It is evident from the confessional statement of the accused that at the time of occurrence he and another accused Rampati Manjhi were guarding outside the informant s house while other accused were committing dacoity inside. We do not think that there is any justification to the argument that as none of the prosecution witnesses could be able to identify the appellant, he cannot be termed as accused. In our view, such nonidentification would not be fatal to the prosecution case in the given facts ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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