State (NCT of Delhi) v. Navjot Sandhu (Parliament Attack)

Citation: (2005) 11 SCC 600

Court: Supreme Court of India

Bench: VENKATARAMA REDDI, NAOLEKAR

Case summary

Afsan Guru was acquitted of all the charges except the one under Section 123

Judgment text

CASE NO. : Appeal (crl. ) 373-375 of 2004 PETITIONER: STATE (N. C. T. OF DELHI) RESPONDENT: NAVJOT SANDHU@ AFSAN GURU DATE OF JUDGMENT: 04/08/2005 BENCH: P. VENKATARAMA REDDI & P. P. NAOLEKAR JUDGMENT: JUDGMENT WITH CRIMINAL APPEAL Nos. 376-378 OF 2004 STATE (N. C. T. OF DELHI) APPELLANT VERSUS SYED ABDUL REHMAN GILANI RESPONDENT CRIMINAL APPEAL Nos. 379-380 OF 2004 SHAUKAT HUSSAIN GURU APPELLANT VERSUS STATE (N. C. T. OF DELHI) RESPONDENT CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 381 OF 2004 MOHD. AFZAL APPELLANT VERSUS STATE (N. C. T. OF DELHI) P. VENKATARAMA REDDI, J. 1. The genesis of this case lies in a macabre incident that took place close to the noon time on 13th December, 2001 in which five heavily armed persons practically stormed the Parliament House complex and inflicted heavy casualties on the security men on duty. This unprecedented event bewildered the entire nation and sent shock waves across the globe.

In the gun battle that lasted for 30 minutes or so, these five terrorists who tried to gain entry into the Parliament when it was in session, were killed. Nine persons including eight security personnel and one gardener succumbed to the bullets of the terrorists and 16 persons including 13 security men received injuries. The five terrorists were ultimately killed and their abortive attempt to lay a seize of the Parliament House thus came to an end, triggering off extensive and effective investigations spread over a short span of 17 days which revealed the possible involvement of the four accused persons who are either appellants or respondents herein and some other proclaimed offenders said to be the leaders of the banned militant organization known as "Jaish-E-Mohammed". After the conclusion of investigation, the investigating agency filed the report under Section 173 Cr. P. C. against the four accused persons on 14. 5. 2002.

Charges were framed under various sections of Indian Penal Code (for short 'IPC'), the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (hereinafter referred to as 'POTA') and the Explosive Substances Act by the designated Court. The designated Special Court presided over by Shri S. N. Dhingra tried the accused on the charges and the trial concluded within a record period of about six months. 80 witnesses were examined for the prosecution and 10 witnesses were examined on behalf of the accused S. A. R. Gilani. Plethora of documents (about 330 in number) were exhibited. The three accused, namely, Mohd. Afzal, Shaukat Hussain Guru and S. A. R. Gilani were convicted for the offences under Sections 121, 121A, 122, Section 120B read with Sections 302 & 307 read with Section 120- B IPC, sub-Sections (2), (3) & (5) of Section 3 and Section 4(b) of POTA and Sections 3 & 4 of Explosive Substances Act. The accused 1 & 2 were also convicted under Section 3(4) of POTA. Accused No.

4 namely Navjot Sandhu @ Afsan Guru was acquitted of all the charges except the one under Section 123 IPC for which she was convicted and sentenced to undergo R. I. for five years and to pay fine. Death sentences were imposed on the other three accused for the offence under Section 302 read with Section 120-B IPC (it would be more appropriate to say Section 120-B read with Section 302 IPC) and Section 3(2) of POTA. They were also sentenced to life imprisonment on as many as eight counts under the provisions of IPC, POTA and Explosive Substances Act in addition to varying amounts of fine. The amount of Rs. 10 lakhs, which was recovered from the possession of two of the accused, namely, Mohd. Afzal and Shaukat Hussain, was forfeited to the State under Section 6 of the POTA. 2. In conformity with the provisions of Cr. P. C. the designated Judge submitted the record of the case to the High Court of Delhi for confirmation of death sentence imposed on the three accused.

Each of the four accused filed appeals against the verdict of the learned designated Judge. The State also filed an appeal against the judgment of the designated Judge of the Special Court seeking enhancement of life sentence to the sentence of death in relation to their convictions under Sections 121, 121A and 302 IPC. In addition, the State filed an appeal against the acquittal of the 4th accused on all the charges other than the one under Section 123 IPC. The Division Bench of High Court, speaking through Pradeep Nandrajog, J. by a well considered judgment pronounced on 29. 10. 2003 dismissed the appeals of Mohd. Afzal and Shaukat Hussain Guru and confirmed the death sentence imposed on them. The High Court allowed the appeal of the State in regard to sentence under Section 121 IPC and awarded them death sentence under that Section also. The High Court allowed the appeals of S. A. R. Gilani and Navjot Sandhu @ Afsan Guru and acquitted them of all charges.

This judgment of the High Court has given rise to these seven appeals two appeals preferred by Shaukat Hussain Guru and one appeal preferred by Mohd. Afzal and four appeals preferred by the State/Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi against the acquittal of S. A. R. Gilani and Navjot Sandhu. It may be mentioned that the accused Mohd. Afzal and Shaukat Hussain Guru are related, being cousins. The 4th accused Navjot Sandhu @ Afsan Guru is the wife of Shaukat Hussain. The third accused S. A. R. Gilani is a teacher in Arabic in Delhi University. It is he who officiated the marriage ceremony of Shaukat Hussain Guru and Navjot Sandhu who at the time of marriage converted herself to Islam. 3. (i) Now, let us make a brief survey of the incident and the investigation that followed, which led to the filing of the charge-sheet, as apparent from the material on record.

(ii) There is practically no dispute in regard to the details of actual incident, the identification of the deceased terrorists and the recoveries and other investigations made at the spot. (iii) Five heavily armed persons entered the Parliament House complex in a white Ambassador Car. The said five persons (hereinafter referred to as the 'slain' or 'deceased terrorists') were heavily armed with automatic assault rifles, pistols, hand and rifle grenades, electronic detonators, spare ammunition, explosives in the form of improvised explosive devices viz. , tiffin bombs and a sophisticated bomb in a container in the boot of the car made with enormous quantity of ammonium nitrate. The High Court observed: "The fire power was awesome enough to engage a battalion and had the attack succeeded, the entire building with all inside would have perished. " (iv) It was a fortuitous circumstance that the Vice President's carcade, which was awaiting departure from Gate No.

11 was blocking the circular road outside the Parliament building, with the result the deceased terrorists were unable to get free and easy access to the Parliament House building. The attack was foiled due to the immediate reaction of the security personnel present at the spot and complex. There was a fierce gun-battle lasting for nearly 30 minutes. As mentioned earlier, nine persons including eight security personnel and one gardener lost their lives in the attack and 16 persons including 13 security personnel, received injuries. The five assailants were killed. (v) From the evidence of PW5 who was the ASI in-charge of Escort-I vehicle of the Vice-President, we get the details of the origin of the incident. He stated that at about 11. 30 a. m. one white Ambassador car having red light entered the Parliament complex and came to the point where the carcade of the Vice-President was waiting near Gate No. 11. Since the escort vehicle was blocking the way, the car turned towards left.

He got suspicious and ordered the vehicle to stop. Then, the driver of the Ambassador car reversed the vehicle and while doing so struck the rear side of the car of the Vice- President. When the car was about to move away, he and the driver of the Vice- President's car ran towards the car and caught hold of the collar of the driver. As he was trying to drive away, PW5 took out his revolver. At that juncture, the five persons in the car got out of it and quickly started laying wires and detonators. Then PW5 fired a shot, which struck on the leg of one of the terrorists. The terrorist also returned the fire as a result of which he received a bullet injury on his right thigh. There was further exchange of fire. The evidence of other witnesses reveal that there was hectic movement of the terrorists from gate to gate within the complex firing at the security men on duty and the latter returning the fire. (vi) The Station House Officer of Parliament Street Police Station, Shri G. L.

Mehta (PW1) along with his team of police personnel reached the spot after receiving a wireless message. By that time, the firing spree was over. PW1 cordoned off the area. He found one deceased terrorist lying opposite Gate No. 1 of the Parliament building, one deceased terrorist at the porch of Gate No. 5 and three deceased terrorists lying in the porch of Gate No. 9. The Bomb Disposal Squad of NSG, a photographer and a crime team were summoned to the spot. PW1 then deputed three Sub-Inspectors (PWs2 to 4) to conduct investigation at the three gates. PW1 then examined the spot of occurrence, prepared a rough sketch of the scene of occurrence and seized various articles including arms and ammunition, live and empty cartridges and the car and the documents found therein. Blood samples were also lifted from various spots. The photographs of the five slain terrorists were caused to be taken. Then, he sent the dead bodies to the mortuary in the hospital for postmortem.

(vii) After the Bomb Disposal Squad had rendered the area safe and his preliminary observations were over, PW1 recorded the statement of S. I. Sham Singh (PW55) who was in the security team of Vice-President. On the basis of this statement, 'Rukka' (Ext. PW1/1) was prepared and PW1 despatched the same to the police station at about 5 p. m. This formed the basis for registration of First Information Report. The FIR was registered for offences under Sections 121, 121A, 122, 124, 120-B, 186, 332, 353, 302, 307 IPC, Sections 3, 4 & 5 of the Explosive Substances Act and Sections 25 & 27 of the Arms Act by the Head Constable (PW14) of the Parliament Street Police Station. The copy of FIR was sent to the Court on the same day, as seen from the endorsement on the document (PW 14/1). The further investigation was, taken up by the special cell of Delhi Police.

(viii) Investigations conducted by PW1 and his team of officers led to the recovery and seizure of the following articles inter alia: A white ambassador car, DL3CJ1527, with a VIP red light. The car had a sticker of the Home Ministry (subsequently found to be fake) on the windshield (Ex. PW 1/8) containing an inscription at the rear denigrating India and reflecting a resolve to 'destroy' it. Certain papers relating to the car were found inside the car. Six fake identity cards purportedly issued by Xansa Websity, 37, Bungalow Road, New Delhi to different students with their address as 120-A, Adarsh Nagar, Delhi and the telephone number as 9811489429. These identity cards were in the names of Anil Kumar, Raju Lal, Sunil Verma, Sanjay Koul, Rohail Sharma and Rohail Ali Shah (which were subsequently found to be fake names of the deceased terrorists).

One fake identity card of Cybertech Computer Hardware Solutions in the name of Ashiq Hussain which was being carried by the deceased terrorist Mohammed. Two slips of paper bearing five domestic mobile phone numbers, which were related to the instruments found on the deceased terrorists and two UAE numbers. Three SIM cards corresponding to the mobile phone numbers noted on the slips were found inside the aforementioned three instruments Ext. P28, P37 & P27. In addition, three other SIM cards were recovered from the purse of the deceased terrorist Mohammad at Gate No. 1. One sheet of paper on which the topographical details regarding the Parliament House building and the compound were handwritten. 4. (i) So far, about the incident and the preliminary investigations at the scene of occurrence regarding which there is practically no dispute.

We shall now narrate briefly the further factual details as unfolded by the prosecution: (ii) While investigations were on at the spot, PW20 came to the Parliament Complex and met PW1. PW20 provided the first leads to the investigating officials by informing PW1 that he had sold the Ambassador car used in the attack (DL 3C J 1527) on 11. 12. 2001. He had come to the spot after seeing the said car on the television screen. PW20 had brought with him a delivery receipt dated 11. 12. 2001, photocopy of the identity card of one Ashiq Hussain etc. PW20 identified the deceased terrorist (Mohammad) at Gate No. 1 as being the said Ashiq Hussain who had purchased the car. (iii) Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma of special cell PW66 undertook the investigations pertaining to the mobile phones. Phone call details were obtained and analysed from the respective cellular mobile service providers. Analysis of the call records indicated that the number 9811489429 which was found on the I. D.

cards, (subsequently discovered to be that of the accused Afzal) appeared to be integrally connected with the deceased terrorists and this number had been in frequent contact with the cell phone No. 9810693456 (recovered from the deceased terrorist Mohammad at Gate No. 1) continuously from 28. 11. 2001 till the date of the attack. It was further revealed that this number of Afzal, namely, 9811489429 was in contact with the above cell phone of Mohammad, just before the incident i. e. at 10. 40 a. m. , 11. 04 a. m. and 11. 22 a. m. It was also ascertained that the said number of Afzal was activated only on 6. 11. 2001 close to the attack. Further analysis of the cell phone call records showed that another cell phone number i. e.

9811573506 (subsequently discovered to be that of Shaukat and recovered from the 4th accused Afsan Guru) appeared to be in close contact with Afzal's number namely 9811489429 and these numbers were in contact with each other a few minutes before the attack on the Parliament commenced. It was also found that the said number of Shaukat was activated only on 7. 12. 2001 just a week prior to the attack. An analysis of the call records relating to Shaukat's mobile phone further revealed that soon after the attack i. e at 12. 12 hours, there was a call from Shaukat's number to the cell phone number 9810081228 (subsequently discovered to be that of SAR Gilani) and there was a call from Gilani's number to Shaukat's number 10 minutes later. Moreover, it was ascertained that Gilani's number was in constant touch with the other two accused namely Shaukat and Afzal. It transpired that Afzal's cell phone bearing number 9811489429 was reactivated on 7. 12.

2001 and the first call was from Gilani's number. With the recoveries of the cell phones and SIM cards and on an analysis of the details of phone numbers noted on the slips of papers in the light of the call records, the investigation narrowed down to three numbers, namely, 9811489429, 9811573506 and 9810081228 which belonged to Afzal, Shaukat and Gilani respectively. It was also found that the first two numbers were cash cards and hence the details regarding their ownership were not available. However, as regards 9810081228, the information was received from the service provider (AIRTEL) that SAR Gilani with the residential address 535, Dr. Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi was the regular subscriber. PW66 then took steps on December 13th for obtaining permission from the Joint Director, I. B. as per the requirements of Indian Telegraph Act for keeping surveillance and tapping of the mobile phone Nos. 9811489429, 9811573506 and 9810081228. On 14th December, at 12.

52 hours, an incoming call to Gilani's No. 9810081228 was intercepted by S. I. Harender Singh (PW70). The call was in Kashmiri language. A Kashmiri knowing person (PW71) was requested to interpret the call recorded on the tape. He translated the call in Hindi which was recorded in Ext. PW66/4. That was a call from the brother of Gilani which was made from Srinagar. On the same day, at 8. 12 P. M. a call was intercepted on the number 9811573506 which disclosed that one woman was talking in a state of panic to a male person whom she addressed as Shaukat. This conversation was transcribed by PW70 as per PW 66/3. The subsequent forensic analysis revealed that the male voice in the conversation was of the accused Shaukat Hussain and that the female voice was that of his wife accused No. 4 who was the recipient of the call. The call came from Srinagar. Both the intercepted conversations were analysed and considered by PW 66 (Inspector M. C. Sharma) at about 10 P. M. on 14th December.

PW 66 resultantly drew an inference that the persons who were conversing on the two mobile phones were having knowledge about the attack on Parliament and that two persons namely, Shaukat and Chotu who were connected with the case were in Srinagar. The calling No. 0194 492160 was sent to the Central Agency of Srinagar Police for surveillance. (iv) The next move was to arrest Gilani, which according to the prosecution was at about 10 A. M. on December 15th when he was entering his house at Mukherjee Nagar. Shri Gilani is alleged to have made disclosures to the investigating agency, the contents of which were recorded subsequently as Ex. PW 66/13. The disclosure statement implicated himself and the other accused in the conspiracy to attack the Parliament. According to the prosecution, he disclosed the facts on the basis of which further investigation was carried out, certain recoveries were effected and discovery of facts took place.

The identity of the deceased terrorist Mohammad and others, the part played by Shaukat and Afzal and other details are said to have been given by him. According to the prosecution, Shri Gilani then led the Investigating Officer to the house of Shaukat which was also located at Mukherjee Nagar. The 4th accused Afsan Guru the wife of Shaukat was found there with cell phone No. 9811573506. The search of the premises resulted in the recovery of another cell phone 9810446375 which was in operation from 2nd November to 6th December. Accused Navjot, on interrogation, disclosed that Mohammad (deceased terrorist) gave Rs. 10 lac and laptop computer to Shaukat and asked him to go to Sri Nagar in the truck along with Afzal. The truck was registered in her name. The disclosure statement of Navjot is Ex. PW66/14. According to the prosecution, she was arrested at about 10. 45 a. m. on 15th December. The truck number given by her was flashed to Srinagar.

Srinagar police was successful in apprehending the two accused Afzal and Shaukat while they were in the truck belonging to Navjot. On their pointing out, the laptop computer and an amount of Rs. 10 lac were recovered from the truck by the SDPO, Srinagar (PW61). A mobile handset without any SIM card was also found. It transpired that this hand set was used in the operation i. e. No. 9811489429 which established contacts with deceased terrorists minutes before the attack. Mohd. Afzal and Shaukat Hussain, who were arrested by the Srinagar Police at about 11. 45 A. M. , were brought to Delhi in a special aircraft and were formally arrested in Delhi. The investigation was handed over the PW76 (Inspector Gill of Special Cell) on 16th December. (v) It is the case of the prosecution that on interrogation, they made disclosure statements (Ex. PW 64/1 and PW 64/2) in relation to their role in the conspiracy.

On December 16th, Afzal and Shaukat led the investigating team to the various hideouts, viz. , Indira Vihar and Gandhi Vihar where the terrorists stayed. On the search of these places, the police recovered chemicals, prepared explosives, detonators, gloves, mixer grinder, motor cycles one belonging to Shaukat and the other purchased by the deceased terrorist Mohammad from PW29 which was allegedly used for reconnaissance (reccee). On December 17th , the investigating officer took Mohd. Afzal to the mortuary at the L. H. Medical College Hospital where Afzal identified the bodies of the five deceased terrorists as Mohammad (dead body found at Gate No. 1), Raja, Rana, Hamza (dead bodies found at Gate No. 9) and Haider (dead body found at Gate No. 5).

From December 17th to December 19th, Afzal led the police to various shops from where the chemicals and other materials required for preparing explosives were purchased and also the shops from where red light found on the seized car, motor cycle, dry fruits, mobile phones etc. were purchased. From December 17th onwards, the laptop was analysed by the IO with the assistance of an expert PW72. PW72 submitted a report narrating the results of his examination. The laptop was also sent to BPR&D Office in Hyderabad and another report from PW73 was obtained. The forensic analysis revealed that the documents found at the spot with the deceased terrorists including various identity cards and sticker of the Home Ministry, were found stored in that laptop. (vi) On 19th December, the important development was that the provisions of Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance were invoked and the offences under the said Ordinance were also included in the relevant columns of crime documents.

According to the prosecution, this was done after due consideration of the material collected by then and upon getting definite information about the involvement of a banned terrorist organization Jaish e- Mohammad. The investigation was then taken over by the Assistant Commissioner of Police Shri Rajbir Singh (PW80). He recorded a supplementary disclosure statement being Ext. PW64/3. (vii) On the same day i. e. 19th December, there was another crucial development. According to the prosecution, the three accused Afzal, Shaukat and Gilani expressed their desire to make confessional statements before the authorized officer. On 20th December, PW80 made an application before the DCP (Special Cell) (PW60) for recording the confessional statements of these three accused. PW60 gave directions to PW18 to produce the three accused at the Officers Mess, Alipur Road, Delhi. On the next day i. e. 21st December, the accused Gilani was first produced before PW60 at the Mess building.

However, Shri Gilani refused to make a statement before PW60 and the same was recorded by him. Thereafter, Shaukat Hussain was produced before PW60 at 3. 30 P. M. Shaukat Hussain expressed his desire to make the confessional statement and the same was recorded by PW60 in his own handwriting which according to him was to the dictation of Shaukat. The confessional statement recorded purportedly in compliance with Section 32 is marked as Ex. PW60/6. The other accused Afzal was also produced before PW60 at 7. 10 P. M. on 21st December. After he expressed the desire to make the confession, his statement was recorded by PW60 in his own handwriting allegedly as per the dictation of the said accused. This is Ex. PW60/9. PW80 obtained copies of the confessional statements in sealed envelopes. In substance, both Afzal and Shaukat confessed having been parties to the conspiracy to launch an attack on the Parliament House. The details of the confessions will be adverted to later.

On 22nd December PW80 produced the accused persons before the Addl. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (PW63) in compliance with Section 32 of POTA. The learned Magistrate conducted the proceedings in respect of each of the accused persons in order to satisfy himself that the statements recorded by PW60 were not the result of any inducements or threats. No complaint of any such threat or inducement was made to PW63. Shaukat Hussain and SAR Gilani were remanded to judicial custody on 22nd December itself. However, the police custody of Mohd. Afzal was allowed for the purpose of conducting certain investigations in the light of the supplementary disclosure statement made by him to PW80. (viii) On 4. 5. 2002 sanction was accorded by the Lt. Governor of Delhi in view of the requirements of Section 50 POTA and Section 196 Cr. P. C. Sanction was also accorded by the Commissioner of Police on 12th April for prosecution under Explosives Substances Act.

On conclusion of the investigations, the Investigating Agency filed the report under Section 173 Cr. P. C. against the four accused. By the time the charge sheet was filed and the charges were framed, the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 was enacted and brought into force with effect from 28th March, 2002. By the same Act, the Prevention of Terrorism (2nd) Ordinance, 2001 was repealed subject to a saving provision. The charges were framed on 4th June, 2002 and the trial before the designated Judge commenced on 4th July. An Advocate was nominated by the court at State's expense for providing legal assistance to the accused Afzal as he did not engage any counsel on his own. Subsequently, the counsel was changed. Before the trial started, an order was passed by the learned designated Judge that certain documents viz. post-mortem reports and documents relating to recoveries of arms, explosives etc.

from the scene of occurrence shall be treated as undisputed evidence in view of the consent given by the accused persons and there was no need for formal proof of those documents. After the trial commenced, an application was moved on behalf of Gilani, Shaukat and Navjot challenging the admissibility of the intercepted conversations in evidence. The learned Judge of the designated Court rejected their contention by his order dated 11. 7. 2002. Assailing this order, the accused moved the High Court. The High Court set-aside the order of the designated court and allowed the applications of the accused. The SLP filed against that order was disposed of by this Court on 9. 5. 2003 during the pendency of the appeals in the High Court holding inter alia that the order passed by designated Judge was in the nature of an interlocutory order against which appeal or revision was barred under Section 34 POTA.

Without expressing any opinion on the merits, the parties were permitted to urge the point at issue before the Division Bench of the High Court. The decision is reported in (2003) 6 SCC 641. The verdict of the trial court was given on 16th and 18th December, 2002. The details of conviction and sentences have already been referred to. As noticed earlier, the High Court allowed the appeals of A3 and A4 and dismissed the appeals of A1 and A2 and their death sentences were confirmed. 5. Preliminary submissions: (i) There are certain issues which arise at the threshold viz. , validity of sanction orders, non-addition of POTA offences at the beginning and framing of charges which need to be addressed before we embark on a discussion of other questions. Sanction: (ii) Section 50 of POTA enjoins that no Court shall take cognizance of offences under the Act "without the previous sanction of the Central Government or as the case may be, the State Government".

So also, Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure enacts a bar against taking cognizance of any offence punishable under Chapter VI of the Indian Penal Code except with the previous sanction of the Central Government or the State Government. Some of the offences charged in the present case are under Chapter VI of IPC. (iii) It is first contended by the learned senior counsel Mr. Ram Jethmalani, that the sanctions were not given, nor signed by the competent authority. It is submitted that in relation to the Union Territory, only Central Government is competent. Delhi being a Union Territory known as the National Capital Territory of Delhi with effect from the date of commencement of the Constitution (69th Amendment Act), the Central Government alone is the competent authority to accord sanction. In the present case, both under POTA and Cr. P. C. sanctions have been accorded 'by order and in the name of the Lt. Governor of the National Capital Territory of Delhi'. The Lt.

Governor did not act on behalf of the Central Government nor did he act as Administrator of U. T. He acted as the Constitutional head of the Government of NCT of Delhi and played the role assigned to him under Section 41 of NCT of Delhi Act, as the authentication in the order shows. Therefore, it is submitted that the sanction purportedly granted under Section 50 of POTA is a nullity. (iv) We find no substance in these contentions. Section 2(h) of POTA read with Articles 239 & 239AA of the Constitution of India furnish complete answers to these arguments and that is what the learned senior counsel for the State has highlighted. 'State Government' is defined in Section 2(h) of POTA and it says that "in relation to a Union Territory, 'State Government' means the Administrator thereof". The expression 'Administrator' finds place in Article 239 of the Constitution of India.

Article 239(1) reads "Save as otherwise provided by Parliament by law, every Union Territory shall be administered by the President acting to such an extent as he thinks fit through an Administrator to be appointed by him with such designation as he may specify". Article 239AA inserted by the Constitution (69th Amendment Act, 1991) effective from 1. 2. 1992 lays down that from that date, the Union Territory of Delhi shall be called the NCT of Delhi and "the Administrator thereof appointed under Article 239 shall be designated as the Lt. Governor. " By such designation as the Lt. Governor, the constitutional functionary contemplated by Article 239, namely, the Administrator has not lost his status as Administrator. The designation of Administrator gets merged into the new designation of Lt. Governor in keeping with the upgraded status of this particular Union Territory. Thus, the Lt.

Governor who continues to be the Administrator also derives his or her authority to grant sanction under Section 50 of POTA by virtue of the legislative fiction created by Clause (h) of Section 2 read with Article 239. The Administrator is deemed to be the State Government for the purpose of Section 50 of POTA. In effect and in substance, there is a clear delegation of power statutorily conferred in favour of the Administrator (designated as Lt. Governor) in respect of granting sanction under POTA. The fact that the sanction order carries the designation of the Lt. Governor is of no consequence and does not in any way impinge on the operation of Section 2(h) read with Article 239. POTA is a Parliamentary enactment.

Sub-Clause (b) of Clause 3 of Article 239AA makes it explicit that notwithstanding the law making power conferred on the Legislative Assembly of NCT, the Parliament retains its power under the Constitution to make laws with respect to any matter for a Union Territory or any part thereof. The reliance sought to be placed on Goa Sampling Employees' Association Vs. G. S. Co. of India Pvt. Ltd. [(1985) 1 SCC 206] is rather misconceived. That case turned on the interpretation of the expression 'appropriate Government' occurring in Section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The industrial dispute pertained to the workmen employed at Mormogao Port which is located in the then union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu. It was contended by the employer that the Central Government was not competent to refer the dispute to the Tribunal for adjudication.

This contention found favour with the High Court of Bombay which held that the Administrator appointed under Article 239 of the Constitution is the State Government for the Union Territory of Goa and is the appropriate Government within the meaning of Section 2(a) of the Industrial Disputes Act. The judgment of the High Court was reversed by this Court after referring to Articles 239 and 239 A and the provisions of the Govt. of Union Territories Act, 1963 and the definitions of General Clauses Act and observed thus: "On a conspectus of the relevant provisions of the Constitution and the 1963 Act, it clearly transpires that the concept of State Government is foreign to the administration of Union Territory and Article 239 provides that every Union Territory is to be administered by the President. The President may act through an administrator appointed by him. Administrator is thus the delegate of the President. His position is wholly different from that of a Governor of a State.

Administrator can differ with his Minister and he must then obtain the orders of the President meaning thereby of the Central Government. Therefore, at any rate the administrator of Union Territory does not qualify for the description of a State Government. Therefore, the Central Government is the 'appropriate Government'. That decision, in our view, has no relevance. This Court was not called upon to consider a specific provision like Section 50 or Section 2(h) of POTA. We are, therefore, of the view that by virtue of specific statutory delegation in favour of the Administrator who is constitutionally designated as Lt. Governor as well, the sanction accorded by the said authority is a valid sanction under Section 50 of POTA. It is of relevance to note that the order of sanction under POTA (Ext. P11/1) itself recites that the Lt. Governor acted in exercise of powers conferred by Section 50 read with Clause (h) of sub-Section (1) of Section 2 of POTA.

We find on the perusal of relevant file that the Lt. Governor saw the file and he himself approved the proposed sanction. The grant of sanction was not an act done by a delegate of the Lt. Governor under the Business Rules. It may be noted that the sanction file was produced before the trial Court and was allowed to be perused by the defence counsel vide para 149 of the trial Court's judgment. (v) As regards the sanction under Section 196 Cr. P. C. it is recited in the sanction order (Ext. P11/2) that the Lt. Governor acted in exercise of powers conferred by sub-Section (1) of Section 196 Cr. P. C. read with the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs notification dated 20th March, 1974. Under that notification, there was delegation of powers to the Lt. Governor to grant sanction.

The said notification which finds place in the Annexures to the written submissions made on behalf of Gilani shows that it was issued under Article 239(1) of the Constitution enabling the Administrator of the Union Territory to discharge powers and functions of the State Government under the Cr. P. C. We accept the submission of the learned senior counsel for the State that the delegation of power contained in the said notification will continue to operate unless the Parliament by law provides otherwise. The Government of NCT of Delhi Act, 1991 does not in any way affect the validity of delegation contained in the Presidential Notification issued under Article 239. We therefore hold that the sanctions under Section 50 of POTA and Section 196 of Cr. P. C. were accorded by a competent authority. (vi) Touching on the validity of sanction, the next point urged by Mr. Ram Jethmalani was that there was no proper application of mind by the authority granting the sanction.

There was no sanction for the offences under POTA whereas sanction was given for inapplicable offences under the Indian Penal Code. The facts constituting the offence have not been stated in the sanction order and no evidence has been adduced to show that the competent authority addressed himself to the relevant facts and material. The careless and inept drafting of the sanction order has given scope for some of these comments. Surprisingly, in the first para of the order containing recital as to the prima facie satisfaction of the Lt. Governor the POTA offences are not specifically mentioned. They are however embraced within the residuary terminology "along with other offences". Instead of mentioning the POTA offences specifically and conspicuously in the order passed under Section 50 of the POTA, the drafter reversed that process by mentioning the POTA offences under the residuary expression "apart from other offences".

However, in our view, this careless drafting cannot deal a fatal blow to the sanction order. Looking at the substance and reading the entirety of the order, we come to the irresistible conclusion that the sanction was duly given for the prosecution of the accused for the offences under POTA after the competent authority (Lt. Governor) had reached the satisfaction prima facie in regard to the commission of the POTA offences as well. A specific reference to the POTA offences mentioned in FIR is contained in the opening part of the order. The order then contains the recital that the Lt. Governor was satisfied that the four accused persons "have prima facie committed offences punishable under Sections 121, 121A, 122, 124 and 120B of the IPC being involved in criminal conspiracy to commit the said offences with intention of waging war against the Government of India along with other offences.

" In the context in which the expression 'along with other offences' occurs, it must be reasonably construed so as to be referable to POTA offences mentioned in the opening clause. The operative part of the order is more explicit inasmuch as the Lt. Governor granted sanction for the prosecution of the four accused in a competent Court "for committing the said offences punishable under Sections 3, 4, 5, 20 & 21 of the POTA". It is pertinent to notice that in the sanction order under Section 196 Cr. P. C. the POTA offences do not find specific mention at all. Thus, a distinction was maintained between the sanction under POTA and the sanction under Cr. P. C. The other submission that the addition of the offence under Section 120B which does not require sanction, reveals total non-application of mind, does not appeal to us.

Though the conspiracy to commit the offences punishable by Section 121 is covered by Section 121A, probably Section 120B was also referred to by way of abundant caution though the prosecution for the said offence does not require sanction. At any rate, the insertion of a seemingly overlapping provision does not and cannot affect the validity of the sanction order. Nor can it be said that the addition of Section 124 which has really no application to the present case by itself vitiates the sanction order. From the insertion of one inapplicable provision, a reasonable inference cannot be drawn that there was no application of mind by the competent authority. A meticulous and legalistic examination as to the offences applicable and not applicable is not what is expected at the stage of granting sanction. It was observed by the Privy Council in Gokulchand Dwarkadas Vs.

The King [AIR 1948 Privy Council 82] that, "the charge need not follow the exact terms of the sanction, though it must not relate to an offence essentially different from that to which the sanction relates". In any case we do not think that the mention of an inapplicable Section goes to the root of the matter or otherwise makes it vulnerable to attack. On the validity of sanction, we have to consider yet another contention of the learned senior counsel Mr. R. Jethmalani that in the absence of recital of facts to sustain prosecution or proof of consideration of such facts, the sanction order must be held to have been vitiated on the ground of non-application of mind. Relying on the dicta of the Privy Council in Gokulchand's case, it has been pointed out that no facts constituting the relevant offences were set out in the order nor any extraneous evidence was let in to show that the sanctioning authority was seized of the facts alleged to constitute the relevant offence.

In Gokulchand's case (supra), the sanction order of the Government was a bald order stating that the Government was "pleased to accord sanction under Clause 23 of Cotton Cloth and Yarn (Control) Order to the prosecution of Mr. Gokulchand Dwarkadas for breach of the provisions of Clause 18(2) of the said order". The Privy Council held that the sanction read with the evidence adduced at the trial was not in compliance with the provisions of Clause 23 of the said Control Order. The following observations in that judgment may be noted: " In their Lordships' view, in order to comply with the provisions of clause 23, it must be proved that the sanction was given in respect of the facts constituting the offence charged. It is plainly desirable that the facts should be referred to on the face of the sanction, but this is not essential, since clause 23 does not require the sanction to be in any particular form, nor even to be in writing.

But if the facts constituting the offence charged are not shown on the face of the sanction, the prosecution must prove by extraneous evidence that those facts were placed before the sanctioning authority " The ruling of the Privy Council was cited with approval by this Court in Jaswant Singh Vs. State of Punjab [AIR 1958 SC 124] and certain other cases. Ultimately, the test to be applied is whether relevant material that formed the basis of allegations constituting the offence was placed before the sanctioning authority and the same was perused before granting sanction. We are of the view that this test has been amply satisfied in the instant case. The sanction orders on their face indicate that all relevant material viz. , FIR, disclosure statements, recovery memos, draft charge sheet and other material on record was placed before the sanctioning authority. The fact that the sanctioning authority perused all this material is also discernible from the recital in the sanction orders.

The sanction orders make it clear that the sanctioning authority had reached the satisfaction that prima facie the accused committed or conspired to commit the offences mentioned therein. The elaborate narration of facts culled out from the record placed before the sanctioning authority and the discussion as to the applicability of each and every Section of the penal provision quoted therein is not an imperative requirement. A pedantic repetition from what is stated in the FIR or the draft charge-sheet or other documents is not what is called for in order to judge whether there was due application of mind. It must be noted that the grant of sanction is an executive act and the validity thereof cannot be tested in the light of principles applied to the quasi-judicial orders vide the decisions in State of Bihar Vs. P. P. Sharma [(1992) supp. 1 SCC 222] and Superintendent of Police Vs. Deepak Chowdary [(1995) 6 SCC 225].

Apart from this, the oral evidence of PW11 Deputy Secretary, Home who dealt with the file also reveals that the notes prepared by himself and the Principal Secretary, Home had drawn the attention of the Lt. Governor to the role of individual accused and the Principal Secretary's note was approved by the Lt. Governor. Various documents placed before the sanctioning authority were also mentioned by PW11. PW11 brought the original sanction file and it is seen from the judgment of the trial Court that the learned trial Judge had gone through the file apart from making it available to the defence counsel. The oral evidence let in by the prosecution by examining PW11 dispels any doubt as to the consideration of the matter by the sanctioning authority before according the sanction. The decision of this Court in Rambhai Nathabhai Gadhvi & Ors. Vs.

State of Gujarat [(1997) 7 SCC 744] which invalidated the sanction granted by the competent authority under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act does not come to the aid of the accused in the present case. The Bench consisting of A. S. Anand and K. T. Thomas, JJ. , after referring to the infirmities in the sanction order, observed thus: "In such a situation, can it be said that the sanctioning authority granted sanction after applying its mind effectively and after reaching a satisfaction that it is necessary in public interest that prosecution should be launched against the accused under TADA.

As the provisions of TADA are more rigorous and the penalty provided is more stringent and the procedure for trial prescribed is summary and compendious, the sanctioning process mentioned in Section 20-A(2) must have been adopted more seriously and exhaustively than the sanction contemplated in other penal statutes " The above observations do not mean that different standards should be applied for judging the validity of a sanction made under the provisions of TADA or POTA and the sanctions under ordinary laws. That is not the ratio of the decision. The learned Judges were only pointing out that enough seriousness was not bestowed in the process of granting sanction for prosecution under a stringent law. The observations contained in para 10 turned on the facts of that case which are telling.

It was noticed that the only document sent to the sanctioning authority, namely, the Director General of Police, was the FIR and the letter of the Superintendent of Police giving only skeletal facts. It was further noticed that the Director-General did not even grant sanction for the prosecution but what he did was to give permission to add certain Sections of TADA. Thus, it was a case of utter non-compliance with the elementary requirements governing sanction. The facts of the present case are vastly different. No separate argument was addressed in relation to the sanction given under the Explosive Substances Act. Suffice it to say that we find no legal infirmity in the said order passed by the Commissioner of Police which is Ext. PW11/3. Addition of POTO/POTA offences (6) (i) The next question is whether the addition of offences under Sections 3, 4 & 5 of POTO?

was justified and whether POTO should have been invoked by the Investigating Officer on the very first day when the FIR was registered. This question will have a bearing on the admissibility of intercepted telephonic conversations which took place prior to 19th December and the compliance with the provisions of Section 52 of POTA which lays down certain safeguards from the point of view of the accused. Chapter V contains provisions relating to interception of communications. Section 45 which starts with a non-obstante clause lays down that the evidence collected through the interception of wire, electronic or oral communication under Chapter V shall be admissible as evidence against the accused during the trial of the case. There are two provisos to the Section and the 1st proviso reads as follows.

"Provided that, the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication intercepted pursuant to this Chapter or evidence derived therefrom shall not be received in evidence or otherwise disclosed in any trial, hearing or other proceeding in any court unless each accused has been furnished with a copy of the order of the Competent Authority and accompanying application, under which the interception was authorized or approved not less than ten days before trial, hearing or proceeding:" It is common ground that the embargo placed by the first proviso comes into operation in the instant case inasmuch as no orders were obtained for interception from a competent authority in compliance with the various provisions of Chapter V. The embargo under proviso to Section 45 is equally applicable when the special Court tries along with the POTA offences, the offences under other enactments viz. , IPC, Explosives Act and Arms Act. That is one aspect.

Secondly, there are certain procedural safeguards that are laid down in Section 52 when a person is arrested for the offences under POTA. These safeguards were apparently introduced in keeping with the guidelines laid down in D. K. Basu's case. They are discussed in detail later on. The question arises whether there was deliberate failure on the part of the investigating agency to invoke POTA initially in order to circumvent the requirements of Sections 45 & 52. (ii) Incidentally, another question raised is whether there was manipulation of FIR by not showing the POTA offences though in fact POTA was resorted to by that date. In regard to the latter aspect, the learned counsel for the accused has drawn our attention to the letter of AIRTEL (Cell phone service provider) addressed to the I. O. M. C. Sharma (PW66). In that letter (Ext. PW35/1), while giving the reference to the FIR dated 13. 12.

2001, the offences under various Sections of POTO were mentioned in addition to other offences. From this, an inference is sought to be drawn that the FIR was tampered with by deleting reference to POTO Sections so as to make it appear that on the 13th & 14th December when the interceptions took place, the investigation was not extended to POTO offences. We find it difficult to accept this contention. We find no basis for the comment that the FIR would have been manipulated by deleting the POTO offences. No such suggestion was ever put to the police officials concerned, namely, PWs 1, 9 & 14 connected with the registration of FIR and they were not even cross-examined. The original FIR register was produced by PW14. The trial Court perused the same while recording the depositions and returned it. In fact, this contention about the manipulation of FIR was not even raised in the trial Court. The High Court rightly found no substance in this contention.

As regards the letter of AIRTEL, no question was put to PW35 the Security Manager of AIRTEL as to the basis on which the reference was given to the FIR mentioning various POTO offences. When the question was raised for the first time before the High Court, the High Court perused the case diaries and found that the addressee of the letter (Inspector M. C. Sharma) had sent up a written request on 25. 12. 2001 to furnish the requisite information to him. By that time, the POTO provisions were invoked. According to the High Court, there was every possibility that in that letter of 25. 12. 2001, the POTO provisions were mentioned and based on that, the same would have been noted in the AIRTEL's letter. The High Court also observed that the possibility of the date 17th being a mistake cannot be ruled out. Irrespective of the question whether the High Court was justified in observing that the date 17th noted in (Ext.

PW35/1) could be a mistake, we do not consider it necessary to delve further into this aspect, in view of the fact that none of the witnesses pertaining to FIR were cross examined. By reason of the purported description of FIR given in the letter of AIRTEL (Ext. PW35/1) alone, we cannot reach the conclusion that POTO offences entered initially in the FIR were deleted for extraneous reasons. It is pertinent to note that the letters addressed by the Essar Cell phone provider (vide Exts. 36/6 and 36/7, dated 13th and 18th December) do not contain any reference to POTO. (iii) It was next contended by the learned counsel appearing for Shaukat and Gilani that from the beginning it was crystal clear that the persons who attempted to take control of the Parliament House were terrorists and there was no apparent reason why the offences under POTO were not entered in the FIR. Attention is drawn to the fact that the language used in the narration given by PW1 in the 'rukka', viz.

"the terrorist organizations in order to disintegrate the unity and integrity of India and to carry out destructive activities in a planned manner . " is a clear pointer that the investigating authority was conscious of applicability of POTO from the beginning, it is contended. Though we feel that POTO provisions could have been invoked on the very first day having regard to the nature and manifestations of this grave crime, we find no justification to characterize the action of the concerned police officers as malafide or motivated. It cannot be disputed that POTA contains drastic and stringent provisions both substantive and procedural, for dealing with special categories of offences which have bearing on the security and integrity of the country. In view of this special feature of the law, it is necessary to bestow sufficient care and thought before prosecuting an offender under this special law instead of proceeding under the ordinary law.

This aspect has been emphasized in more than one decision of this Court dealing with TADA provisions. In Niranjan Singh Karam Singh Punjabi Vs. Jitendra Bhimraj Bijiaya [(1990) 4 SCC 76] this Court after noticing the views expressed in Usmanbhai Dawoodbhai Memon Vs. State of Gujarat [(1988) 2 SCC 271] observed thus: " the provisions of the Act need not be resorted to if the nature of the activities of the accused can be checked and controlled under the ordinary law of the land. It is only in those cases where the law enforcing machinery finds the ordinary law to be inadequate or not sufficiently effective for tackling the menace of terrorist and disruptive activities that resort should be had to the drastic provisions of the Act.

While invoking a criminal statute, such as the Act, the prosecution is duty-bound to show from the record of the case and the documents collected in the course of investigation that facts emerging therefrom prima facie constitute an offence within the letter of the law. " In Usmanbhai's case it was said; "Before dealing with the contentions advanced, it is well to remember that the legislation is limited in its scope and effect. The Act is an extreme measure to be resorted to when the police cannot tackle the situation under the ordinary penal law. The intendment is to provide special machinery to combat the growing menace of terrorism in different parts of the country. Since, however, the Act is a drastic measure, it should not ordinarily be resorted to unless the Government's law enforcing machinery fails. " Having regard to these observations, we cannot find fault with the Investigating Officers in going slow in bringing POTA into picture.

At any rate, it may be a case of bona fide error or overcautious approach. Once the action of the police authorities in deferring the invocation of POTA is held to be not mala fide, it is not possible to countenance the contention that the provisions of POTA especially those contained in Chapter V and Section 52 ought to have been complied with even before 19th December. It is a different matter that D. K. Basu's guidelines were already there. The learned counsel Mr. Gopal Subramanium has referred to the judgment of this Court in State of West Bengal Vs. Mohammed Khaleed [(1995) 1 SCC 684] to buttress his contention that the non- invocation of POTA on the first day cannot be faulted. The learned counsel also argued that POTA was invoked on 19th when further evidence came to light revealing a planned terrorist act at the behest of certain terrorist organizations.

Be that as it may, we find nothing on record to hold that the investigating officials deliberately and without semblance of justification decided to bypass the provisions of POTO. Charges whether defective? 7 (i) We now turn to the next contention of the charges being defective. According to Shri Ram Jethmalani, the first charge which is a charge under Section 120B IPC is utterly confusing. It is pointed out that a conspiracy to wage war and to commit a terrorist act is punishable under Section 121A IPC and Section 3(3) of the POTA respectively. Therefore, according to the learned counsel, the charge under Section 120B is misplaced. It is also contended that the charge does not set out in clear terms, the exact period during which the conspiracy was allegedly hatched.

The learned counsel further submits that the alleged confessional statements on which the prosecution relied would clearly show that the conspiracy started only in the first week of December, 2001, yet the period of offence was stated to be "on or before 13. 12. 2001". (ii) It is settled law that a 'fundamental defect' should be found in the charges if the Court has to quash it. Whether the accused was misled and whether there was reasonable possibility of prejudice being caused to the accused on account of defective charges are relevant considerations in judging the effect of wrong or deficient charges. Section 215 of Cr. P. C. makes it clear that no error or omission in stating either the offence or the particulars required to be stated shall be regarded as material unless the accused was in fact misled by such error or omission and it has occasioned a failure of justice.

The test of prejudice or reasonable possibility of prejudice was applied by this Court in William Slaney's case [AIR 1956 SC 116] in testing the argument based on the omission, error or irregularity in framing the charges. The same test was also applied in State of A. P. Vs. C. Ganeswar Rao [(1964) 3 SCR 297]. It has not been demonstrated in the instant case as to how the accused or any of them were misled or any prejudice was caused to them on account of the alleged defects in framing of charges. No such objection was even taken before the trial Court. As pointed out in William Slaney's case (para 45 of AIR), it will always be material to consider whether the objection to the nature of charge was taken at an early stage. To the same effect are the observations in Ganeswar Rao's case (supra). It is difficult to spell out with exactitude the details relating to the starting point of conspiracy. As pointed out in Esher Singh Vs. State of A. P.

[(2004) (1 SCC page 585, 607], it is not always possible "to give affirmative evidence about the date of formation of the criminal conspiracy". We do not think that if instead of mentioning 'the first week of December, 2001' the wording 'before December, 2001' is employed, the prosecution should fail merely for that reason. The accused cannot be said to have been misled or prejudiced on that account. On the other hand, it is more than clear that the accused did understand the case they were called upon to meet. The question whether Section 120B applies to POTA offences or Section 3(3) alone applies is not a matter on which a definite conclusion should be reached ahead of the trial. It is not uncommon that the offence alleged might seemingly fall under more than one provision and sometimes it may not be easy to form a definite opinion as to the Section in which the offence appropriately falls. Hence, charges are often framed by way of abundant caution.

Assuming that an inapplicable provision has been mentioned, it is no ground to set aside the charges and invalidate the trial. Other legal issues We shall, now, deal with certain legal issues, which have been debated before us in extenso. These issues have a bearing on the admissibility/relevancy of evidence and the evidentiary value or weight to be attached to the permissible evidence. 8. Law regarding confessions We start with the confessions. Under the general law of the land as reflected in the Indian Evidence Act, no confession made to a police officer can be proved against an accused. 'Confessions'-which is a terminology used in criminal law is a species of 'admissions' as defined in Section 17 of the Indian Evidence Act. An admission is a statement-oral or documentary which enables the court to draw an inference as to any fact in issue or relevant fact.

It is trite to say that every confession must necessarily be an admission, but, every admission does not necessarily amount to a confession. While Section 17 to 23 deals with admissions, the law as to confessions is embodied in Sections 24 to 30 of the Evidence Act. Section 25 bars proof of a confession made to a police officer. Section 26 goes a step further and prohibits proof of confession made by any person while he is in the custody of a police officer, unless it be made in the immediate presence of a Magistrate. Section 24 lays down the obvious rule that a confession made under any inducement, threat or promise becomes irrelevant in a criminal proceeding. Such inducement, threat or promise need not be proved to the hilt. If it appears to the court that the making of the confession was caused by any inducement, threat or promise proceeding from a person in authority, the confession is liable to be excluded from evidence.

The expression 'appears' connotes that the Court need not go to the extent of holding that the threat etc. has in fact been proved. If the facts and circumstances emerging from the evidence adduced make it reasonably probable that the confession could be the result of threat, inducement or pressure, the court will refrain from acting on such confession, even if it be a confession made to a Magistrate or a person other than police officer. Confessions leading to discovery of fact which is dealt with under Section 27 is an exception to the rule of exclusion of confession made by an accused in the custody of a police officer. Consideration of a proved confession affecting the person making it as well as the co-accused is provided for by Section 30. Briefly and broadly, this is the scheme of the law of evidence visa-vis confessions. The allied provision which needs to be noticed at this juncture is Section 162 of the Cr. P. C.

It prohibits the use of any statement made by any person to a police officer in the course of investigation for any purpose at any enquiry or trial in respect of any offence under investigation. However, it can be used to a limited extent to contradict a witness as provided for by Section 145 of the Evidence Act. Sub-section (2) of Section 162 makes it explicit that the embargo laid down in the Section shall not be deemed to apply to any statement falling within clause (1) of Section 32 or to affect the provisions of Section 27 of the Evidence Act. In the Privy Council decision of P. Narayana Swami vs. Emperor [AIR 1939 PC 47] Lord Atkin elucidated the meaning and purport of the expression 'confession' in the following words: " . A confession must either admit in terms the offence, or at any rate substantially all the facts which constitute the offence. An admission of a gravely incriminating fact, even a conclusively incriminating fact is not of itself a confession.

" Confessions are considered highly reliable because no rational person would make admission against his interest unless prompted by his conscience to tell the truth. "Deliberate and voluntary confessions of guilt, if clearly proved are among the most effectual proofs in law". (vide Taylor's Treatise on the Law of Evidence Vol. I). However, before acting upon a confession the court must be satisfied that it was freely and voluntarily made. A confession by hope or promise of advantage, reward or immunity or by force or by fear induced by violence or threats of violence cannot constitute evidence against the maker of confession. The confession should have been made with full knowledge of the nature and consequences of the confession. If any reasonable doubt is entertained by the court that these ingredients are not satisfied, the court should eschew the confession from consideration.

So also the authority recording the confession be it a Magistrate or some other statutory functionary at the pre-trial stage, must address himself to the issue whether the accused has come forward to make the confession in an atmosphere free from fear, duress or hope of some advantage or reward induced by the persons in authority. Recognizing the stark reality of the accused being enveloped in a state of fear and panic, anxiety and despair while in police custody, the Indian Evidence Act has excluded the admissibility of a confession made to the police officer. Section 164 of Cr. P. C. is a salutary provision which lays down certain precautionary rules to be followed by the Magistrate recording a confession so as to ensure the voluntariness of the confession and the accused being placed in a situation free from threat or influence of the police.

Before we turn our attention to the more specific aspects of confessions under POTA, we should have a conspectus of the law on the evidentiary value of confessions which are retracted - which is a general feature in our country and elsewhere. As to what should be the legal approach of the Court called upon to convict a person primarily in the light of the confession or a retracted confession has been succinctly summarized in Bharat vs. State of U. P. [1971 (3) SCC 950]. Hidayatullah, C. J. , speaking for a three-Judge Bench observed thus: "Confessions can be acted upon if the court is satisfied that they are voluntary and that they are true. The voluntary nature of the confession depends upon whether there was any threat, inducement or promise and its truth is judged in the context of the entire prosecution case. The confession must fit into the proved facts and not run counter to them.

When the voluntary character of the confession and its truth are accepted, it is safe to rely on it. Indeed a confession, if it is voluntary and true and not made under any inducement or threat or promise, is the most patent piece of evidence against the maker. Retracted confession, however, stands on a slightly different footing. As the Privy Council once stated, in India it is the rule to find a confession and to find it retracted later. A court may take into account the retracted confession, but it must look for the reasons for the making of the confession as well as for its retraction, and must weigh the two to determine whether the retraction affects the voluntary nature of the confession or not. If the court is satisfied that it was retracted because of an after-thought or advice, the retraction may not weigh with the court if the general facts proved in the case and the tenor of the confession as made and the circumstances of its making and withdrawal warrant its user.

All the same, the courts do not act upon the retracted confession without finding assurance from some other sources as to the guilt of the accused. Therefore, it can be stated that a true confession made voluntarily may be acted upon with slight evidence to corroborate it, but a retracted confession requires the general assurance that the retraction was an after-thought and that the earlier statement was true. This was laid down by this Court in an earlier case reported in Subramania Gounden v. The State of Madras (1958 SCR 428). " The same learned Judge observed in Haroom Hazi Abdulla v. State of Maharashtra [1968 (2) SCR 641] that a "retracted confession must be looked upon with greater concern unless the reasons given for having made it in the first instance are on the face of them false. " There was a further observation in the same paragraph that retracted confession is a weak link against the maker and more so against a co-accused.

With great respect to the eminent Judge, the comment that the retracted confession is a "weak link against the maker" goes counter to a series of decisions. The observation must be viewed in the context of the fact that the Court was concentrating on the confession of the co-accused rather than the evidentiary value of the retracted confession against the maker. Dealing with retracted confession, a four-Judge Bench of this Court speaking through Subba Rao, J, in Pyare Lal v. State of Assam (AIR 1957 SC 216), clarified the legal position thus: "A retracted confession may form the legal basis of a conviction if the court is satisfied that it was true and was voluntarily made. But it has been held that a court shall not base a conviction on such a confession without corroboration. It is not a rule of law, but is only rule of prudence.

It cannot even be laid down as an inflexible rule of practice or prudence that under no circumstances such a conviction can be made without corroboration, for a court may, in a particular case, be convicted of the absolute truth of a confession and prepared to act upon it without corroboration; but it may be laid down as a general rule of practice that it is unsafe to rely upon a confession, much less on a retracted confession, unless the court is satisfied that the retracted confession is true and voluntarily made and has been corroborated in material particulars. " As to the extent of corroboration required, it was observed in Subramania Gounden's case (1958 SCR 428) that each and every circumstance mentioned in the retracted confession regarding the complicity of the maker need not be separately and independently corroborated.

The learned Judges observed : "it would be sufficient in our opinion that the general trend of the confession is substantiated by some evidence which would tally with what is contained in the confession". Then we have the case of Shankaria v. State of Rajasthan [1978 (3) SCC 435] decided by a three-Judge Bench. Sarkaria, J, noted the twin tests to be applied to evaluate a confession: (1) whether the confession was perfectly voluntary and (2) if so, whether it is true and trustworthy. The learned Judge pointed out that if the first test is not satisfied the question of applying the second test does not arise. Then the Court indicated one broad method by which a confession can be evaluated. It was said: "The Court should carefully examine the confession and compare it with the rest of the evidence, in the light of the surrounding circumstances and probabilities of the case.

If on such examination and comparison, the confession appears to be a probable catalogue of events and naturally fits in with the rest of the evidence and the surrounding circumstances, it may be taken to have satisfied the second test. " In Parmanand Pegu v. State of Assam [2004 (7) SCC 779] this Court while adverting to the expression "corroboration of material particulars" used in Pyare Lal Bhargava's case clarified the position thus: "By the use of the expression 'corroboration of material particulars', the Court has not laid down any proposition contrary to what has been clarified in Subramania Goundan case as regards the extent of corroboration required. The above expression does not imply that there should be meticulous examination of the entire material particulars. It is enough that there is broad corroboration in conformity with the general trend of the confession, as pointed out in Subramania Goundan case.

" The analysis of the legal position in paragraphs 18 & 19 is also worth noting: "Having thus reached a finding as to the voluntary nature of a confession, the truth of the confession should then be tested by the court. The fact that the confession has been made voluntarily, free from threat and inducement, can be regarded as presumptive evidence of its truth. Still, there may be circumstances to indicate that the confession cannot be true wholly or partly in which case it loses much of its evidentiary value. In order to be assured of the truth of confession, this Court, in a series of decisions, has evolved a rule of prudence that the court should look to corroboration from other evidence. However, there need not be corroboration in respect of each and every material particular. Broadly, there should be corroboration so that the confession taken as a whole fits into the facts proved by other evidence.

In substance, the court should have assurance from all angles that the retracted confession was, in fact, voluntary and it must have been true. " The use of retracted confession against the co-accused however stands on a different footing from the use of such confession against the maker. To come to the grips of the law on the subject, we do no more than quoting the apt observations of Vivian Bose, J, speaking for a three-Judge Bench, in Kashmira Singh v. State of Madhya Pradesh (AIR 1952 SC 159). Before clarifying the law, the learned Judge noted with approval the observations of Sir Lawrence Jenkins that a confession can only be used to "lend assurance to other evidence against a co-accused. " The legal position was then stated thus: "Translating these observations into concrete terms they come to this.

The proper way to approach a case of this kind is, first to marshall the evidence against the accused excluding the confession altogether from consideration and see whether, if it is believed, a conviction could safely be based on it. If it is capable of belief independently of the confession, then of course it is not necessary to call the confession in aid. But cases may arise where the Judge is not 'prepared set on the other evidence as it stands even though, if believed, it would be sufficient to sustain a conviction. In such an event the Judge may call in aid the confession and use it to lend assurance to the other evidence and thus fortify himself in believing what without the aid of the confession he would not be prepared to accept. " The crucial expression used in Section 30 is "the Court may take into consideration such confession".

These words imply that the confession of a coaccused cannot be elevated to the status of substantive evidence which can form the basis of conviction of the co-accused. The import of this expression was succinctly explained by the Privy Council in Bhuboni Sahu vs. King (AIR 1947 PC 257) in the following words: "The Court may take the confession into consideration and thereby, no doubt, makes its evidence on which the Court may act; but the section does not say that the confession is to amount to proof. Clearly there must be other evidence. The confession is only one element in the consideration of all the facts proved in the case; it can be put into the scale and weighed with the other evidence". (emphasis supplied) After referring to these decisions, a Constitution Bench of this Court in Haricharan Kurmi v. State of Bihar [1964 (6) SCR 623] further clarified the legal position thus: " .

In dealing with a case against an accused person, the Court cannot start with the confession of co-accused person; it must begin with other evidence adduced by the prosecution and after it has formed its opinion with regard to the quality and effect of the said evidence, then it is permissible to turn to the confession in order to receive assurance to the confession of guilt which the judicial mind is about to reach on the said other evidence. " (emphasis supplied) What is the legal position relating to CONFESSIONS UNDER THE POTA is the next important aspect. Following the path shown by its predecessor, namely TADA Act, POTA marks a notable departure from the general law of evidence in that it makes the confession to a high ranking police officer admissible in evidence in the trial of such person for the offence under POTA. As regards the confession to the police officer, the TADA regime is continued subject to certain refinements.

Now, let us take stock of the provisions contained in Section 32 of POTA. Sub-Section of (1) of this Section starts with a non obstante provision with the words "Notwithstanding anything in the Code of Criminal Procedure or in the Indian Evidence Act .. " Then it says: "a confession made by a person before a police officer not lower in rank than a Superintendent of Police and recorded by such police officer either in writing or on any mechanical or electronic device . shall be admissible in the trial of such person for an offence under the Act or the rules, subject to other provisions of the section". By this provision, the ban against the reception of confessional statements made to the police is lifted. That is why the non-obstante clause. This sub-section is almost identical to Section 15(1) of TADA excepting that the words "or co-accused, abettor or conspirator occurring after the expression "in the trial of such person" were omitted.

The other four sub-sections (2) to (5) of Section 32 are meant to provide certain safeguards to the accused in order to ensure that the confession is not extracted by threat or inducement. Sub-section (2) says that the police officer, before recording a confession should explain in writing to the person concerned that he is not bound to make a confession and that the confession if made by him can be used against him. The right of the person to remain silent before the police officer called upon to record the confession is recognized by the proviso to sub-section (2). Sub-section (3) enjoins that the confession shall be recorded in a threat-free atmosphere. Moreover, it should be recorded in the same language as that used by the maker of the confession.

The most important safeguard provided in sub-sections (4) & (5) is that the person from whom the confession was recorded is required to be produced before a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate or Chief Judicial Magistrate, within hours, together with the original statement of confession in whatever manner it was recorded. The CMM or the CJM shall then record the statement made by the person so produced. If there is any complaint of torture, the police shall be directed to produce the person for medical examination and thereafter he shall be sent to the judicial custody. 9. Section 15 of TADA It is necessary to advert to the exposition of law on the probative quality of the confession recorded by the empowered police officer under Section 15 of TADA Act. We may recall that under Section 15, the confession is admissible in the trial of the person who made the confession or the coaccused/abettor/conspirator. In State vs.

Nalini (supra), Thomas, J took the view that the confession coming within the purview of Section 15 is a substantive evidence as against the maker thereof but it is not so as against the co-accused/abettor or conspirator in relation to whom it can be used only as a corroborative piece of evidence. Wadhwa, J, held that the confession of an accused serves as a substantive evidence against himself as well as against the co-accused, abettor or conspirator. S. S. M. Quadri, J, broadly agreed with the view taken by Wadhwa, J. The following observations made by the learned Judge reflect his view-point: "On the language of sub-section (1) of Section 15, a confession of an accused is made admissible evidence as against all those tried jointly with him, so it is implicit that the same can be considered against all those tried together.

In this view of the matter also, Section 30 of the Evidence Act need not be invoked for consideration of confession of an accused against a co-accused, abettor or conspirator charged and tried in the same case along with the accused. " The learned Judge further observed that in view of the non obstante provision of Section 15(1), the application of Section 30 of the Evidence Act should be excluded and therefore the considerations germane to Section 30 cannot be imported in construing Section 15(1). Quadri, J, therefore dissented from the view taken by Thomas, J. At the same time the learned Judge was of the view that in so far as the use of confession against the co-accused is concerned, rule of prudence requires that it should not be relied upon "unless corroborated generally by other evidence on record".

In paragraph 705, the learned Judge made the following observations: "But I wish to make it clear that even if confession of an accused as against a co-accused tried with the accused in the same case is treated as 'substantive evidence' understood in the limited sense of fact in issue or relevant fact, the rule of prudence requires that the court should examine the same with great care keeping in mind the caution given by the Privy Council in Bhuboni Sahu case", keeping in view the fact that the confession of a co-accused is not required to be given under oath and its veracity cannot be tested by cross-examination is yet another reason given by the learned Judge for insisting on such corroboration. Thus the learned Judge struck a balance between two extreme arguments. The view taken by Quadri, J. does not seem to conflict with the view of Wadhwa, J. Though Wadhwa, J.

observed that confession of the accused is admissible with the same force in its application to the coaccused and it is in the nature of substantive evidence, the learned Judge, however, qualified his remarks by observing thus: `"Substantive evidence, however, does not necessarily mean substantial evidence. It is the quality of evidence that matters. As to what value is to be att