EMPEROR Vs. BHAGWANDAS TULSIDAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE accused are being tried for the murder of one Dharamsey, and Mr. Haji, the learned Counsel for two of the accused, wants to tender in evidence the Coroner's inquisition based on the verdict of the jury at the inquest. THE learned committing Magistrate admitted it in spite of the objection urged on behalf of the prosecution. He held it to be relevant under Section 42 of the Indian Evidence Act as a judgment in rent, relating to a matter of a public nature, relying upon the following observation in para. 1767 on p. 1111 of Taylor on Evidence (twelfth edition): THE general admissibility of inquisitions rests upon the ground that they contain the result of inquiries made under competent authority concerning matters in which the public is interested.

(2.) THIS may apply to inquisitions like "the survey and report made by a surveyor in discharge of a duty imposed upon him by statute", as held in Evans v. Merthyr Tydfil, Urban Council [1899] 1 Ch. 241. The learned Magistrate has also referred to Taylor's remark in para. 1674 (on p. 1051) that: Inquisitions in lunacy, inquisitions post mortem, or other inquisitions, which though regarded as judgments in rem, so far as to be admissible in evidence of the facts determined against all mankind, are considered as not conclusive evidence.

(3.) I respectfully think that even the accused cannot be said to be a party to the proceedings, as in many cases the suspect is not present at the inquest. It is a general inquiry for further action by the police if necessary. Hence the inquisition is not a judgment, nor can it be admitted as an opinion, since it represents the opinion of laymen, often arrived at even before the police investigation is complete. In this case the police refused to accept the verdict of the Coroner's jury that Dharamsey was stabbed by Kaku, and sent a charge-sheet against these three accused and Mulji. If the verdict of the Coroner's jury be adverse to the accused, it would certainly prejudice the accused if the inquisition be admitted and brought to the notice of the jury as a piece of relevant evidence.