Penal Code, 1860 – ss.307, 353, 332, 225, 186, and 120B – Arms Act, 1959 – Criminal conspiracy – Prosecution case that Head Constables-PW 1 and PW 2 escorted undertrial prisoner from one place to another for the court proceedings – AppellantJail official accompanied them, and after court, suggested the constables to return in a private vehicle driven by PW 10, who was known to him – They all sat in the vehicle along with the two unidentified youths who occupied the rear seat and when the vehicle stopped, the youths threw red chilli powder at the constables, stabbed them, and attempted to help the undertrial to escape, however he failed as was handcuffed – Alarm raised, the appellant and the two youths fled and the prisoner was caught – Trial court convicted and sentenced all accused, including the appellant who was summoned later u/s.319 CrPC, for the offences u/ss.307, 353, 332, 225, 186, and 120B and s.25 of the 1959 Act – High Court upheld the said order – Interference with:
Held: Conviction and sentence imposed commensurate with the appellant’s culpability and call for neither reduction nor interference – Findings recorded by the courts below based on cogent reasoning and unimpeachable evidence – Considering the nature and gravity of the offence committed by the appellant, and more so, keeping in view his position as Assistant Superintendent of Jail, a role that demands the highest standards of integrity, responsibility and adherence to the rule of law, thus, no mitigating factor to warrant any leniency in sentence – Detailed, consistent, and credible testimony of the head constable-injured escort officer, clearly implicates the appellant – In light of this direct and incriminating evidence, the trial court rightly exercised its jurisdiction u/s.319 Cr.P.C to summon the appellant – Prosecution convincingly established the existence of a prior concert of action between the appellant and the assailants – All incidents form a continuous chain of incriminating circumstances that point toward his complicity in the conspiracy – Appellant’s conduct was not peripheral but integral to the execution of the plan to facilitate the escape of the undertrial – His behaviour before, during, and after the incident establishes his culpability u/s.120B, thus, his conviction for the substantive offences with the aid of s.120B legally sustainable – Partial hostility of PW 1 regarding the identification of the accused, does not undermine the testimony of PW 2 who remained firm, consistent, and unshaken on all material particulars – His account of the events further corroborated by medical evidence and the surrounding circumstances – His status as injured witness further enhances the reliability of his version – In the absence of any evidence of prior enmity or other animus, and the appellant being PW.2’s superior officer, theory of false implication appears inherently implausible – Prosecution evidence clearly demonstrates that the attack on the police escort team was not a spontaneous occurrence, but a carefully orchestrated plan – Appellant’s conduct during and after the incident wholly inconsistent with that of a law-abiding officer, rather, reveals the mindset of a conspirator attempting to evade accountability – Prosecution rightly characterized entire episode as premeditated conspiracy, in which appellant played a key role. [Paras 16.1, 16.2, 17.4, 18.7, 18.8, 19-21]
Police – Police /Jail Officials – Accountability – Elucidation – When public functionaries betray the institutional trust, the consequences are profound and far-reaching – In a constitutional democracy governed by the rule of law, custodial officers must be held to the highest standards of integrity – Role of the police/jail official demands the highest standards of integrity, responsibility and adherence to the rule of law – Any deviation amounts not only to legal delinquency, but to a grave institutional and moral breach. [Para 20]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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