ROSHAN LAL & ORS. vs STATE OF PUNJAB

The Supreme Court held that under Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code, the punishment for removing evidence of a crime is determined by the actual offence committed, not by what the accused believed to have occurred. The Court clarified that the expressions 'knowing or having reason to believe' and 'knows or believes' in Section 201 are used interchangeably, and the punishment cannot exceed the maximum for the actual offence. The Court set aside the High Court's sentence of three years rigorous imprisonment, emphasizing that the appellants could only be punished based on the offences actually proven, which were under Sections 330 and 348 IPC.