Supreme Court Affirms Rape and Murder Convictions but Quashes SC/ST Act Charges; Modifies Sentence to 25 Years

A bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and K. Vinod Chandran heard the criminal appeal filed by Shaik Shabuddin against his conviction and sentence, the limited notice being confined to quantum though the Court examined the judgment to satisfy itself on conviction. The appeal challenged convictions under Sections 302 and 376D read with Section 34 IPC, Section 404 IPC and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST Act), and the punishment imposed by the High Court.

The Court affirmed the convictions for rape and murder under Sections 376D and 302 read with Section 34 IPC but found serious infirmities in the High Court’s reliance on a confession allegedly made in police custody and on recoveries treated as Section 27 recoveries. It held that the offences under the SC/ST Act were not made out because the prosecution had failed to prove that the accused knew the caste status of the victim, an essential ingredient of those offences. The Court also acquitted the appellant of Section 404 IPC and the related SC/ST counts for want of proof and modified the sentence imposed on the appellant from life imprisonment till last breath to imprisonment for 25 years without remission, to be concurrent with the sentence for rape. The Court observed that "There can be no reliance placed on such a confession at the behest of the police ... for the reason also that it was made while in police custody." The Court, in its reasoning, observed: "There was no concealment and, in any event, when material objects could have been seized from the person of the accused on arrest, an attempt to treat such seizure as a recovery under Section 27 could not be accepted. The principle of Section 27 required that the disclosure relate to concealment and the recovery be effected in the presence of witnesses."

Background On November 24, 2019, the deceased, who hawked utensils with her husband, was dropped at Yellapatar Village and later found missing. Her body was discovered the next day in bushes near Ramnaik Thanda; an inquest and criminal proceedings followed. The prosecution alleged that three accused chased the woman, raped her one by one, and A1 slit her throat while A2 and A3 held her, with A2 and A3 appropriating the victim’s mobile and cash. The trial court convicted all three for murder, gang rape and offences under the SC/ST Act and Section 404 IPC; it sentenced one accused to death and others to life and varied terms. The High Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment without remission and upheld convictions broadly.

Before the Supreme Court, while the notice addressed quantum for the appellant, the Court reviewed the conviction itself. It recorded medical and forensic evidence indicating homicidal death and seminal stains matching the DNA profiles of two accused, which supported the rape and murder findings. However, the Court rejected the High Court’s reliance on a confession to PW15 – noting it was made while in police custody – and disallowed several recoveries being treated as Section 27 recoveries because the objects could have been seized at arrest and there was no concealment warranting Section 27 treatment. On the SC/ST Act counts, although the victim’s caste was proved, the Court held there was no evidence that the accused knew her caste status, an essential ingredient of the statutory offences, and therefore those convictions could not be sustained. The Supreme Court partly allowed the appeal, affirmed convictions under Sections 302 and 376D read with 34 IPC (with modifications on sentencing), acquitted the appellant of Section 404 IPC and the SC/ST Act offences, and directed that the sentences run concurrently. It also directed the Registry to facilitate legal assistance for the other accused to file appeals to this Court through the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee. Pending applications stood disposed of.

Case Details: Case No.: 2025 INSC 1449 Case Title: Shaik Shabuddin v. State of Telangana Appearances: For the Petitioner(s): Not indicated in the judgment For the Respondent(s): Not indicated in the judgment