Circumstantial Evidence:-
Introduction:- Legal arena is as good as a camera. Falsity of fact, embellishment of statement, filling up of holes in concocted story by untruthful witness, undeserved desire to suit a particular means to achieve the ends get reflected in the lens of such camera. It catches both the pictures of hopeless failure and splendid success. The case at hand reflects the former picture instilling no faith in the mind of the Court, as was held in Barun Mukherejee, In Re, 2013 SCC OnLine Cal 6060. In a case of circumstantial evidence, the circumstances on which the prosecution relies must be consistent with the sole hypothesis of the guilt of the accused. It is not to be expected that in every case depending on circumstantial evidence the whole of the law governing cases of circumstantial evidence should be set out in the judgment. Legal principles are not magic incantations and their importance lies more in their application to a given set of facts than in their recital in the judgment. The simple expectation is that the judgment must show that the finding of guilt, if any, has been reached after a proper and careful evaluation of circumstances in order to determine whether they are compatible with any other reasonable hypothesis. See. Shankarlal Gyarasilal Dixit’s case 1981 AIR 765. The well known rule governing circumstantial evidence is that each and every incriminating circumstance must be clearly established by reliable evidence and “the circumstances proved must form a chain of events from which the only irresistible conclusion about the guilt of the accused can be safely drawn and no other hypothesis against the guilt is possible.”
In Dhananjoy Chatterjee v. State of WB. (1994) 2 SCC 220, the Supreme Court held as under :
“In a case based on circumstantial evidence, the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn have not only to be fully established but also that all the circumstances so established should be of a conclusive nature and consistent only with the hypoth-esis of the guilt of the accused. Those circumstances should not be capable of being explained by any other hypothesis except the guilt of the accused and the chain of the evidence must be so complete as not to leave any reasonable ground for the belief consistent with the innocence of the accused. It needs no reminder that legally estab-lished circumstances and not merely indignation of the court can form the basis of conviction and the more serious the crime, the greater should be the care taken to scrutinize the evidence lest suspicion takes the place of proof.
Circumstantial Evidence: What Tests to be applied?
It is well settled that in a case dependent wholly on circumstantial evidence, the Court before recording a conviction on the bais therefore must be firmly satisfied –
(a) that the circumstances from which the inference of guilt is to be drawn, have fully established by unimpeachable evidence beyond a shadow of doubt;
(b) that the circumstances are of a determinative tendency unerringly pointing towards the guilt of the accused; and
(c) that the circumstances, taken collectively, are incapable of explanation on any reasonable hypothesis save that of the guilt sought to be proved against him. See. Mahmood vs State Of U.P., AIR 1976 SC 69.
It is well settled that when a case rests entirely on circumstantial evidence, such evidence must satisfy three tests. Firstly, the circumstances from which an inference of guilt is sought to be drawn, must be cogently and firmly established. Secondly, those circumstances should be of a definite tendency unerringly pointing towards the guilt of the accused. Thirdly, the circumstances, taken cumulatively, should form a chain so complete that there is no scape from the conclusion that within all human probability the crime was committed by the accused and none else. That is to say the circumstances should be incapable of explanation on any reasonable hypothesis save that of the accused’s guilt. See. Chandmal And Anr. vs State Of Rajasthan, AIR 1976 SC 917.
In Sharad Birdhichand Sarda’s case, it was held that the following conditions must be fulfilled before a case against an accused can be said to be fully established:
(1) the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn should be fully established.
(2) the facts so established should be consistent only with the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused, that is to say, they should not be explainable on any other hypothesis except that the accused is guilty,
(3) the circumstances should be of a conclusive nature and tendency,
(4) they should exclude every possible hypothesis except the one to be proved, and
(5) there must be a chain of evidence so complete as not to leave any reasonable ground for the conclusion consistent with the innocence of the accused and must show that in all human probability the act must have been done by the accused, Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra, (1984) 4 SCC 116.
In Rai Sandeep @ Deepu v. State (NCT of Delhi) , (2012) 8 SCC 21wherein the characteristics of a sterling witness were summarized as follows:
“A ‘sterling witness’ should be of a very high quality and calibre whose version should, therefore, be unassailable. The court considering the version of such witness should be in a position to accept it for its face value without any hesitation. To test the quality of such a witness the status of the witness would be immaterial and what would be relevant is the truthfulness of the statement made by such a witness. What would be more relevant would be the consistency of the statement right from the starting point till the end, namely, at the time when the witness makes the initial statement and ultimately before the court. It should be natural and consistent with the case of the prosecution qua the accused. There should not be any prevarication in the version of such a witness. The witness should be in a position to withstand the cross-examination of any length and howsoever strenuous it may be and under no circumstances should give room for any doubt as to the factum of the occurrence, the person involved, as well as the sequence of it. Such a version should have co-relation with each and every one of other supporting material such as the recoveries made, the weapons used, the manner of offence committed, the scientific evidence and the expert opinion. The said version should consistently match with the version of every other witness. It can even be stated that it should be akin to the test applied in the case of circumstantial evidence where there should not be any missing link in the chain of circumstances to hold the accused guilty of the offence alleged against him. Only if the version of such a witness qualifies the above test as well as other such similar tests to be applied, can it be held that such a witness can be called as a ‘sterling witness’ whose version can be accepted by the court without any corroboration and based on which the guilty can be punished. To be more precise, the version of the said witness on the core spectrum of the crime should remain intact while all other attendant materials, namely, oral, documentary and material objects should match the said version in material particulars in order to enable the court trying the offence to rely on the core version to sieve the other supporting materials for holding the offender guilty of the charge alleged.”
Hanumant Govind Nargundkar v. State of Madhya Pradesh reported in AIR 1952 SC 343, wherein the Apex Court held as under:
“10. It is well to remember that in cases where the evidence is of a circumstantial nature, the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn should in the first instance be fully established, and all the facts so established should be consistent only with the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused. Again, the circumstances should be of a conclusive nature and tendency and they should be such as to exclude every hypothesis but the one proposed to be proved. In other words, there must be a chain of evidence so far complete as not to leave any reasonable ground for a conclusion consistent with the innocence of the accused and it must be such as to show that within all human probability the act must have been done by the accused.”
Hon‟ble Supreme Court in Naseem Ahmed v. Delhi Administration reported in (1974) 3 SCC 668, wherein it was observed as under:
“10. This is a case of circumstantial evidence and it is therefore necessary to find whether the circumstances on which prosecution relies are capable of supporting the sole inference that the appellant is guilty of the crime of which he is charged. The circumstances, in the first place, have to be established by the prosecution by clear and cogent evidence and those circumstances must not be consistent with the innocence of the accused. For determining whether the circumstances established on the evidence raise but one inference consistent with the guilt of the accused, regard must be had to the totality of the circumstances. Individual circumstances considered in isolation and divorced from the context of the over-all picture emerging from a consideration of the diverse circumstances and their conjoint effect may by themselves appear innocuous. It is only when the various circumstances are considered conjointly that it becomes possible to understand and appreciate their true effect.”
In Sharad Birdhichand Sarda vs. State of Maharashtra, AIR 1984 SC 1622, it was held by this Court that, the onus is on the prosecution to prove, that the chain is complete and that falsity or untenability of the defence set up by the accused, cannot be made the basis for ignoring any serious infirmity or lacuna in the case of the prosecution. The Court then proceeded to indicate the conditions which must be fully established before a conviction can be made on the basis of circumstantial evidence. These are:
(1) the circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn should be fully established. The circumstances concerned ‘must’ or ‘should’ and not ‘may be’ established;
(2) the facts so established should be consistent only with the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused, that is to say, they should not be explainable on any other hypothesis except that the accused is guilty;
(3) the circumstances should be of a conclusive nature and tendency;
(4) they should exclude every possible hypothesis except the one to be proved; and (5) there must be a chain of evidence so complete as not to leave any reasonable ground for the conclusion consistent with the innocence of the accused and must show that in all human probability the act must have been done by the accused.
Thus, in a case of circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must establish each instance of incriminating circumstance, by way of reliable and clinching evidence, and the circumstances so proved must form a complete chain of events, on the basis of which, no conclusion other than one of guilt of the accused can be reached. Undoubtedly, suspicion, however grave it may be, can never be treated as a substitute for proof. While dealing with a case of circumstantial evidence, the court must take utmost precaution whilst finding an accused guilty, solely on the basis of the circumstances proved before it.”
Sir Alfred Wills in his admirable book `Wills’ Circumstantial Evidence’ (Chapter VI) lays down the following rules specially to be observed in the case of circumstantial evidence:
(1) the facts alleged as the basis of any legal inference must be clearly proved and beyond reasonable doubt connected with the factum probandum;
(2) the burden of proof is always on the party who asserts the existence of any fact, which infers legal accountability;
(3) in all cases, whether of direct or circumstantial evidence the best evidence must be adduced which the nature of the case admits.
(4) in order to justify the inference of guilt, the inculpatory facts must be incompatible with the innocence of the accused and incapable of explanation, upon any other reasonable hypothesis than that of his guilt; and (5) if there be any reasonable doubt of the guilt of the accused, he is entitled as of right to be acquitted.
In State of U.P. v. Ashok Kumar Srivastava[1992]1SCR37 it was pointed out that great care must be taken in evaluating circumstantial evidence and if the evidence relied on is reasonably capable of two inferences, the one in favour of the accused must be accepted. It was also pointed out that the circumstances relied upon must be found to have been fully established and the cumulative effect of all the facts so established must be consistent only with the hypothesis of guilt.
In Padala Veera Reddy v. State of A.P. AIR1990SC79 it was laid down that when a case rests upon circumstantial evidence, such evidence must satisfy the following tests:
1) the circumstances from which an inference of guilt is sought to be drawn, must be cogently and firmly established;
2) those circumstances should be of a definite tendency unerringly pointing towards guilt of the accused;
3) the circumstances, taken cumulatively, should form a chain so complete that there is no escape from the conclusion that within all human probability the crime was committed by the accused and none else; and
4) the circumstantial evidence in order to sustain conviction must be complete and incapable of explanation of any other hypothesis than that of guilt of the accused and such evidence should not only be consistent with the guilt of the accused but should be inconsistent with his innocence.
Law with regard to the conviction on the basis of circumstantial evidence has been discussed in detail by the Supreme Court in the case of Harishchandra Ladaku Thange vs. State of Maharashtra, reported at AIR 2007 SC 2957. It would be useful to reproduce the relevant paragraphs:-
“8. It has been consistently laid down by this Court that where a case rests squarely on circumstantial evidence, the inference of guilt can be justified only when all theincriminating facts and circumstances are found to be incompatible with the innocence of the accused or the guilt of any other person. (See Hukam Singh v.State of Rajasthan1977CriLJ639, Eradu v. State of Hyderabad 1956CriLJ559, Earabhadrappa v. State of Karnataka, State of U.P. v. Sukhbasi and Ors. 1985CriLJ1479, Balwinder Singh alias Dalbir Singh v. State of Punjab, 1987CriLJ330 and Ashok Kumar Chatterjee v. State of M.P. 1989CriLJ2124. The circumstances from which an inference as to the guilt of the accused is drawn have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt and have to be shown to be closely connected with the principal fact sought to be inferred from those circumstances. In Bhagat Ram v. State of Punjab AIR1954SC621 it was laid down that where the case depends upon the conclusion drawn from circumstances the cumulative effect of the circumstances must be such as to negative the innocence of the accused and bring home the offences beyond any reasonable doubt.
Raju Vs. The State by Inspector of Police – AIR 2009 SC 2171, as regards circumstantial evidence, theHon’ble Apex Court observed as under:
“7. It has been consistently laid down by this Court that where a case rests squarely on circumstantial evidence, the inference of guilt can be justified only when all the incriminating facts and circumstances are found to be incompatible with the innocence of the accused or the guilt of any other person. (See Hukam Singh v. State of RajasthanAIR (1977 SC 1063); Eradu and Ors. v. State of Hyderabad(AIR 1956 SC 316); Earabhadrappa v. State of Karnataka(AIR 1983 SC 446); State of U.P. v. Sukhbasi and Ors. (AIR 1985 SC 1224); Balwinder Singh v. State of Punjab (AIR 1987 SC 350); Ashok Kumar Chatterjee v. State of M.P. (AIR 1989 SC 1890). The circumstances from which an inference as to the guilt of the accused is drawn have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt and have to be shown to be closely connected with the principal fact sought to be inferred from those circumstances. In Bhagat Ram v. State of Punjab (AIR 1954 SC 621), it was laid down that where the case depends upon the conclusion drawn from circumstances the cumulative effect of the circumstances must be such as to negative the innocence of the accused and bring the offences home beyond any reasonable doubt.
Conclusion: A fact in issue or a relevant fact can either be established by way of direct evidence or through indirect or circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is based on inferential reasoning whereas direct evidence is not. It is well settled that in order to base a conviction on circumstantial evidence, each and every piece of incriminating circumstance must be clearly established by reliable and clinching evidence and the circumstances so proved must form such a chain of events as would permit no conclusion other than the one of guilt of the accused and the circumstances cannot be explained on any hypothesis other than the guilt of the accused. The court has to be cautious and avoid the risk of allowing mere suspicion, howsoever strong, to take the place of proof. A mere moral conviction or a suspicion howsoever grave it may be cannot take the place of proof.( Anil Kumar Singh Vs. State of Bihar (2003) 9 SupremeCourt Cases 67). Undoubtedly in cases of circumstantial evidences motive bears importantsignificance. Motive always locks up in the mind of the accused and some time it is difficult to unlock. People do not act wholly without motive. The failure to discover the motive of an offence does not signify its non-existence. The failure to prove motive is not fatal as a mater of law. Proof of motive is never an indispensable for conviction. When facts are clear it is immaterial that no motive has been proved. Therefore, absence of proof of motive does not break the link in the chain of circumstances connecting the accused with the crime, nor militates against the prosecution case. It is a well settled principle that in a case of circumstantial evidence when the accused offers an explanation and that explanation is found to be untrue then the false explanation of accused offers an additional link in the chain of circumstances to complete the chain. {See Swepan Patra v State of West Bengal (1999) 9 SCC 242; Anthony D’Souza & ors v State of Karnataka 2002 (10) AD 37 (SC)}. A false answer offered by the accused when his attention was drawn to a circumstance renders that circumstance capable of inculpating him. In such a situation a false answer can also be counted as providing ‘a missing link’ for completing the chain. {See State of Maharashtra v Suresh 2000 (1) SCC 471, 2000 SCC (Cr) 263; Kuldeep Singh & ors v State of Rajasthan 2001 Cr LJ 479 (SC), (2000) 5 SCC 7; Joseph v State of Kerala AIR 2000 SC 1608, (2000) 5 Sec 197; Jalasab Shaikh v State of Goa AIR 2000 SC 571, 2000 AIR SCW 111}. Where the accused on being asked, offers no explanation or explanation offered is found to be false, then that itself forms an additional link in the chain of circumstances to point out the guilt. {See Chandrasekhar Kao v Ponna Satyanarayana AIR 2000 SC 2138, JT 2000 (6) 465 SC; State of Tamil Nadu v Rajendran AIR 1999 SC 3535, 1999 Cr LJ 4552; Hari Lal v State 2001 Cr LJ 695 (All) (DB); Madho Singh & etc v State of Rajasthan 2001 Cr LJ 2159 (Raj) (DB); Sonatan Mahalo v State of West Bengal 2001 Cr LJ 3470 (Cal) (DB)}.