IMPORTANT POINT
Paramount consideration of Court in an appeal against acquittal is to ensure that miscarriage of justice is prevented.

Headnote:
A. Indian Penal Code, Section 302 - Murder - Delay in reaching special report to Ilaqa Magistrate- Trial court convicted two respondents and acquitted sthat the FIR was lodged after deliberation- There was no material to support such a conclusion-The distance between the police post and the Illaqa Magistrate was about 20 K.M-The special report reached the Magistrate within a few hours.-That by itself wasnot a suspicious circumstance-Moreover no question was put to the investigating officer as to why it took 3 hours for the report to reach the Magistrate- High Court without even indicating any plausible reason as to why the evidence was not acceptable, has chosen to ignore it and characterise it as unreliable - Order of the High Court set aside- Conviction upheld( paras 12 and 13)
B. Criminal Procedure Code, Section 378 - Appeal against acquittal - There is no embargo on the appellate Court reviewing the evidence upon which an order of acquittal is based. Generally, the order of acquittal shall not be interfered with because the presumption of innocence of the accused is further strengthened by acquittal- The golden thread which runs through the web of administration of justice in criminal cases is that if two views are possible on the evidence adduced in the case, one pointing to the guilt of the accused and the other to his innocence, the view which is favorable to the accused should be adopted.- The paramount consideration of the Court is to ensure that miscarriage of justice is prevented-A miscarriage of justice which may arise from acquittal of the guilty is no less than from the conviction of an innocent. [Para 9]

JUDGMENT

Arijit Pasayat, J.-Questioning correctness of judgment directing acquittal of the respondents as passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the State of Punjab has filed this appeal. Respondents were charged for commission of offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the IPC ). Originally, there were four accused persons. The learned Sessions Judge, Bathinda vide his judgment dated 29.9.1994 held that the present two respondents Phola Singh and Balkaur Singh were guilty of offences punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC and were sentenced for imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000/- each with default stipulation. Other two accused i.e. Raja Singh and Goga Singh were given the benefit of doubt. While the convicted accused questioned the legality of their conviction, a revision was filed to seek conviction of the acquitted accused and enhancement of the sentence passed against the convicted accused.

2. Prosecution version as unfolded during trial is as follows:

On 11.6.1991 Mandip Singh (hereinafter referred to as the deceased ) suffered homicidal death. The incident took place at about 5.30 a.m. on the aforesaid date. During the night between 10th and 11th of June, 1991 irrigation of certain lands under the cultivation of complainant Gurmail Singh (PW2) and others was being carried. During that night, deceased Mandip Singh who is the nephew of the complainant Gurmail Singh, was sleeping near the tubewell in the adjacent land belonging to Sukhdev Singh. Deceased Mandip Singh was to get up in the morning in order to undertake the agricultural work in the land which was being cultivated by Gurmail Singh (PW2) and others. Gurmail Singh (PW2), therefore, went towards the place where deceased was sleeping. Pal Singh (PW3) was then irrigating his land near the place of occurrence. When Gurmail Singh (PW2) came near the place where deceased was sleeping, he noticed that the two accused-respondents and acquitted accused Goga Singh armed with a Ghop near deceased. Accused-Pohla Singh then shouted to teach lesson to deceased for having developed illicit relations with Amar Kaur who is sister of accused-Pohla Singh. Thereupon deceased was dealt with by these accused with their respective weapons. Deceased sustained 13 injuries. On seeing that deceased was being, thus attacked; Gurmail Singh (PW2) and Pal Singh (PW3) raised alarm. Thereupon these assailants fled away with their respective weapons. Deceased succumbed to his injuries at the spot itself. Thereupon, Gurmail Singh (PW2) initially proceeded to the village in order to inform his brother Baldev Singh. Thereafter, he proceeded towards police station. On way, he happened to meet the police patrolling party at Jalal bus stand. His report was recorded at about 10.00 a.m. The said report was duly registered at the police station, Dialpura at 10.45 a.m. The special report regarding the registration of the said offence was sent to Magistrate, Phul who received it at 2.40 p.m. on the same date. The police arrived at the scene of occurrence and prepared the inquest report on the dead body. The dead body was duly sent for autopsy. The doctor found in all 13 injuries. The cause of death was stated to be shock and haemorrhage on the vital organs such as brain.

3. Accused persons pleaded innocence and false implication. Their specific case as revealed in the examination under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (in short the Code ) was that they were falsely implicated at the instance of one Balkar Singh who is a close relative of Gurmail Singh (PW2). They claimed that accused Goga Singh was formerly a partner in the cultivation with Balkar Singh and there was a dispute between them on the issue of sharing the money. Deceased was associated with terrorists and robbers and he was in all probability murdered by rival gang and they were falsely involved on suspicion. The trial Court fo

Click Here to Read the rest of this document

2003 Supreme(SC) 936

IMPORTANT POINTParamount consideration of Court in an appeal against acquittal is to ensure that miscarriage of justice is prevented.

Cases Referred (6)

IMPORTANT POINT
Paramount consideration of Court in an appeal against acquittal is to ensure that miscarriage of justice is prevented.