Judgment K. JAYACHANDRA REDDY, J. :- The appellant Balai Chandra Biswas, who is a Doctor by profession, has been found guilty of an attempt to cause disappearance of evidence by issuing a false certificate regarding the cause of death of Smt. Sabita Banerjee and is accordingly convicted u/Ss. 201 read with 511, I.P.C. and sentenced to undergo one years RI. by the trial Court. The appeal preferred by him was dismissed by the High Court. Hence the present appeal. 2. Smt. Sabita Banerjee was the wife of Pronab Banerjee who was living in a rented house at Purulia where he was posted. On 30-6-76 he went to Calcutta where his wife was living who was sick and suffering from chronic illness. She died on 2-7-76. It is alleged that the accused met P.W. 11, as A.S.I. of Police attached to Control Room, Alipore, who was known to him. The accused is alleged to have told P. W. 11 secretly that his wife had expired during the previous night and requested P.W. 11 to come to his flat after the arrival of the Doctor, namely the accused and to help him in getting a death certificate. P.W. 11 went to the flat of Pronab Banerjee and he felt suspicious about the cause of death of Smt. Sabita Banerjee. However, later the accused also came there as requested and in the presence of P.W. 11, the accused examined her and he just wrote a certificate Ex.P.7 and in that certificate he simply mentioned thus : "This is to certify that Smt. Sabita Banerjee aged about 35 years wife of Sri Pronab Banerjee of Jadavpur Police Quarter, Calcutta-32 expired on 2-7-76. I found her dead, the cause of which I cannot say." There was a commotion in the locality and some people in the locality seemed to have taken interest in the case and the dead body was sent for post-mortem and it was found that the death was due to strangulation. It appears that Pronab Banerejee was tried for the offence of murder and he was convicted. However, we are not concerned with that case. 3. It appears that Pronab Banerejee was tried for the offence of murder and he was convicted. However, we are not concerned with that case. 3. The further case of the prosecution is that during the search of the house of Pronab Banerjee the police recovered another certificate marked as Ex, P. 33 which was in the handwriting of the accused and was written on his letter-head and the same reads as follows : "This is to certify that Smt. Sabita Banerjee wife of Pronab Banerjee of Flat No. 1/2/1, Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Calcutta-32, has been suffering from Schizophrenia with nutrition deficiency. She expired at 3-15 a.m. on this date due to respiratory failure. Her age was about 37 years." It may be mentioned here that the Investigating Officer while searching the house of Pronab Banerjee came across Ex.P. 7 and Ex. P. 33. P.W. 50, a police officer who was a patient of Dr. Biswas and who was familiar with his hand-writing, proved both Ex.P. 7 and Ex.P. 33. There is little dispute that the accused granted Ex.P. 7, the certificate. As there was some dispute about Ex.P. 33, the same was sent to the handwriting expert along with admitted handwriting of the appellant. P.W. 55, an expert opined that both Ex.P. 7 and Ex.P. 33 bore the signatures of the appellant and the same is accepted by both the Courts below. 4. Both the Courts reached the conclusion that the fact that such a certificate as Ex. P. 33 was issued, would show that the same was given with a view to facilitate cremation of the dead body of Smt. Sabita Banerjee with a view to screen her murder. and cause disappearance of evidence and therefore he has committed an offence punishable u/Ss. 201 read with 511, I.P.C. 5. It may be mentioned that both the Courts below held that the accused first issued Ex.P. 7 and later issued Ex.P. 33. and cause disappearance of evidence and therefore he has committed an offence punishable u/Ss. 201 read with 511, I.P.C. 5. It may be mentioned that both the Courts below held that the accused first issued Ex.P. 7 and later issued Ex.P. 33. A perusal of Ex.P. 7 would show that the same does not disclose the cause of death and this certificate was given in the presence of P.W. 11, a police officer, the contents of which would show that there was a doubt about the cause of death thereby suggesting that it could be an unnatural death in which case the police had to take action and it was the duty of the husband also to inform the police. If, as found by both the Courts below, Ex.P. 7 was given earlier, then we are unable to see as to how the accused gave Ex.P. 33 giving the cause of death. In any event there is no material whatsoever to show that Ex.P. 33, which according to the prosecution was issued to faciliate the cremation, was used. The fact remains that the dead body was sent for regular post-mortem and a case of murder was also registered against Pronab Banerjee, the husband of the deceased. In such an event, we fail to see as to how, even assuming that Ex.P. 33 was issued by the appellant, it would amount to an attempt to commit an offence u/S. 201, I.P.C. There is marked difference between preparation and attempt and in this case it is highly doubtful whether the appellant attempted to commit an offence u/S.201, IPC. According to the prosecution and as held by both the Courts below, the appellant issued Ex.P. 7 in the first instance and the contents of Ex.P. 7 do not in any manner indicate that he intended to faciliate the cremation by issuing such a certificate. On the other hand the contents of Ex.P. 7 which was issued in the presence of the police officer, had in one sense paved the way for further investigation regarding the cause of death. In such a situation merely because Ex. P-33 was seized from the house of Pronab Banerjee, the same would not fully incriminate the appellant for an offence u/Ss. In such a situation merely because Ex. P-33 was seized from the house of Pronab Banerjee, the same would not fully incriminate the appellant for an offence u/Ss. 201 read with 511, I.P.C. At any rate, a reasonable doubt arises about the guilt of the appellant particularly in view of the fact that there is absolutely no material to show whether anybody had seen Ex.P. 33 earlier and whether there was any attemp to put the same to use for facilitating the cremation. Accordingly the appeal is allowed. The conviction and sentence awarded to the accused are set aside. If he is on bail, Ibis bad bonds shall stand cancelled. Appeal allowed. For Citation : AIR 1994 SC 914