Harjinder Singh @ Kala Vs State Of Punjab - Criminal Trial - Murder Case - Extra Judicial Confession - Motive - Circumstantial Evidence - Disclosure Statement

Criminal Trial - Extra Judicial Confession - Extra-judicial confession must be accepted with great care and caution. If found reliable and convincing, an extra-judicial confession may be used as corroboration for other evidence to record conviction of the accused. (Para 16)

Criminal Trial - Murder Case - Motive - Proof of motive is not sine qua non in a case of murder. However, in a case based purely on circumstantial evidence, motive assumes significance and would provide an important corroborative link in the chain of incriminating circumstances. (Para 24)

Indian Evidence Act 1872- Section 27 - Importance of a perspicuous and detailed testimony when relying on a disclosure statement leading to recovery of the weapon used in the commission of crime - Referred to Babu Sahebagouda Rudragoudar v. State of Karnataka and Ramanand v. State of U.P. (Para 32-34)

Criminal Trial - Circumstantial Evidence - Golden Principles - Quoted from Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra: (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. (Para 13)