MOOT PROBLEM A
On 20th December 2018, 16 years old Miss Mandira Singh was found murdered
in her own bungalow in Borivali which was owned by her parents Mr. Raj Singh & Mrs.
Anita Singh, both being successful surgeons. Mandira's dead body was found by her mother,
early morning at around 7 am in her bedroom which was adjacent to her parent's room. Mr.
Raj called police at 7:30 am informing about his daughter being found murdered and their 22
year old domestic help Mr. Amit Gupta and one of their cars and some valuables from
Mandira's room missing. Amit stayed with the Singhs in servant's quarters inside the
bungalow compound. Police arrived at the crime spot at 8 am and upon initial investigation
found that Mandira's room seemed to have been cleaned up with only the bed-sheets stained
with blood but no murder weapon was discovered. Police found a whiskey bottle in servant's
quarters. Mandira's body was sent for autopsy and police declared Amit as prime suspect in
the case and began searching for him.
In the evening Mr. Ashok, who was Amit's uncle, was questioned by the Police.
He admitted that he was sleeping in the servant's quarters last night. Ashok claims he would
come to sleep occasionally but Mr. & Mrs. Singh had no clue about this. Ashok stated that he
came at around 11:45 pm and found Amit sleeping in the quarters, so he got drunk alone and
went to sleep too and didn't know when Amit left the quarters. Ashok further stated that Amit
usually starts work at 5 am in the morning and so when he woke up at 5:30 am he assumed
Amit must have left already and so he left the room at 5:45 am so as to reach his own work
place where he is a security guard. Police didn't find the missing valuables at Ashok's
residence also Ashok claims that he doesn't know how to drive.
The autopsy results of Mandira's body showed that the time of death was
between 2 am to 2:30 am her throat was slit and seemed to have been done with a surgical
instrument by some expert. The autopsy report also said that Mandira might have had sexual
intercourse without any sign of struggle.
On 23rd December a forest guard found a car half submerged in a swamp inside
the forest near Mr. &Mrs. Singh's bungalow. The police pulled out the car from the swamp
and found out it was Mr. Raj Singh's missing car. Amit's dead body was recovered from the
trunk of the car but no valuables were found. Autopsy of Amit's body reported his throat
being slit in similar fashion as that of Mandira and his skull was ruptured by a blow from
behind.
On further investigation it was found that internet router in Mandira's room was
switched off at 3:45 am and the table at the corner had one of its edges broken due to some
hard impact. Mr. & Mrs. Singh claim they heard nothing alarming from their daughter's room
that night. Also they said their Air conditioner was making noise which was confirmed by the
police. Police arrested Mr. & Mrs. Singh for the murder of Mandira and Amit. In a press
conference police claimed that, this was a case of honour killing and Mandira and Amit were
killed by Mr. & Mrs. Singh as they suspected an affair between the two. However Mr. and
Mrs. Singh denied that they had any knowledge about any illicit relation their daughter had
with Amit or about Ashok being present in servants’ quarter that night.
The case has become a national sensation after the media's extensive coverage of
this case and invoked society sentiments pressurizing the police to act swiftly. Mr. & Mrs.
Singh have said that the investigation was not carried on properly and that they are being
framed by the police; and that the actual culprit is Ashok.
The case is now for final arguments in the trial court.
ISSUES:
1) Whether the above grounds are sufficient to decide the guilty of accused?
2) What is the evidentiary value of FIR and statements made under section 161 of
Cr.P.C? Can the accused be punished only on basis of these evidences?
3) What is the evidentiary value of expert opinion? Can an accused be punished on
the basis of Autopsy/Post Mortem Report?
Students are allowed to create other sub-issues also.
