Indian Penal Code, 1860
Sections 391, 412—Conviction—Stolen Property—Conviction under Section 412 IPC, must be proven that the stolen property was obtained through dacoity, which requires involvement of at least five people—Evidence showed that only four individuals were involved in robbery, which does not qualify as dacoity—Conviction under Section 412 IPC was found to be inappropriate.
[Para 10, 11]
Section 411—Change of Conviction—Robbery did not meet criteria for dacoity, Court changed conviction from Section 412 to Section 411 IPC, which deals with dishonestly receiving stolen property—Appellant No. 2 was accordingly convicted under Section 411 IPC instead.
[Para 11]
Evidence Act, 1972
Section 25—Confession to Police—Not Admissible —Law is clear that any confession made to a police officer, whether during custody or not, cannot be used as evidence against accused—Court emphasized that such confessions cannot be relied upon for convicting someone.
[Para 12, 13, 14]
Release—Appellant No. 1 had already undergone three years of actual custody and that there was no admissible evidence against him apart from the police confession, he was ordered to be released.
[Para 15, 16]