Failure To Examine Weapon Which Forms 'Vital Link' In Circumstantial Evidence Cases Is Fatal: Calcutta HC Sets Aside Conviction

The Calcutta High Court bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Prasenjit Biswas has held that failure to examine the weapon recovered and alleged to have been used in the commission of the crime is not always fatal but in cases based on the circumstantial evidence, it becomes a vital link to establish a connection between the weapon and the crime.The present appeal has been filed against a judgment passed by the Additional Session Judge. The court convicted the Appellant under sections 364, 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to life imprisonment without remission. A fine of Rs. 10000 was also imposed with a further provision of two years' simple imprisonment in case of default in payment.The Appellant submitted that the prosecution failed to establish three links of chain which is essential in the case of circumstantial evidence i.e. motive, last seen, and recovery of weapon of assault. In reply, the State submitted that the evidences of the witnesses as well as the exhibits unerringly point towards guilt of the appellant and therefore, the conviction and sentence of the appellant may be upheld and the appeal may be dismissed. The court observed that in cases based on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must establish three key links- motive, last seen and recovery of the weapon. In the present case, since there are no eyewitnesses, the prosecution relies solely on the circumstantial evidence. It further added that it is well settled that to convict a person based on the circumstantial evidence, the chain of events must point towards the guilt of the accused and there should be no other hypothesis except that the offence must have been committed by the accused.It further observed that it is very much difficult to understand that when the witness specifically stated the name of the victim at the time of recording her statement before the Magistrate what prevented her for naming the victim at the time of giving deposition. The court observed that failure to chemically examine the weapon is not always fatal if there is other evidence to support the charge. However, in cases based on the circumstantial evidence, this becomes a vital link therefore such failure hinders establishing a clear connection between the weapon and the crime.The court also noted that the alleged weapon was recovered days after the incident at the instance of the Appellant. However, the IO did not send it for forensic examination. Therefore, merely on the basis of the doctor's opinion that the injuries could have been inflicted by the same weapon is not sufficient to establish it as a weapon of crime. The witnesses who signed on the seizure memo also turned hostile thereby casting further doubts on the story of the prosecution whether the weapon recovered was the weapon of offence.It concluded that the last seen establishes presence of the accused upto a point and does not complete the chain of circumstances. The testimony of the PW 6 is also not creditworthy. There are suspicions against the accused but they do not implicate the accused. In the facts of the present case, the prosecution has failed to establish the chain of events which unerringly points towards the guilt of the accused. Since the evidence is neither clinching nor conclusive, the Trial court's order cannot be sustained.Case Title:Rasan @ RaisanHansda @ Raison Hansda -Versus- The State of West Bengal Case Number: C.R.A. 696 of 2019 Judgment Date: 10/07/2025For the Appellants Ms. Suchismita Dutta, Adv. For the State:Mr. Suman De, Adv.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Failure To Examine Weapon Which Forms 'Vital Link' In Circumstantial Evidence Cases Is Fatal: Calcutta HC Sets Aside Conviction

Mohd Malik Chauhan

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