K. N. WANCHOO, J. C. SHAH, B. P. SINHA
K. Chinnaswamy Reddy – Appellant
Versus
State Of A. P. – Respondent
Certainly. Based on the provided legal document, here are the key points:
The appeal was against the High Court's order to remand the case for a retrial, following an acquittal by the trial court. The appellant challenged this on the grounds that the High Court's intervention was not justified, especially since it was a revision by a private party and no exceptional circumstances were present to warrant interference (!) (!) .
The jurisdiction of the High Court to interfere with an order of acquittal in revision is limited. It should only do so in exceptional cases where there is a manifest legal error, procedural defect, or a gross miscarriage of justice. The High Court should avoid re-evaluating evidence in detail when ordering a retrial unless certain specific conditions are met (!) (!) (!) .
The High Court's detailed re-examination of evidence was deemed inappropriate, especially when the case was to be remanded for a re-hearing. The proper course in such cases is to direct the appellate or trial court to re-hear the case without re-assessing the evidence previously considered inadmissible or improperly excluded (!) (!) .
The admissibility of statements made by the accused under the Evidence Act hinges on whether the statement relates distinctly to the fact discovered, particularly in relation to the recovery of evidence. The entire statement that the accused would show the place where the ornaments were hidden is considered admissible, as it directly relates to the discovery process, and excising part of it would render the remaining statement meaningless (!) (!) .
When evidence is improperly excluded or ruled inadmissible by the appellate court, but was admitted by the trial court, the appropriate remedy is to remand the case for re-hearing, allowing the appellate court to consider the evidence properly. This approach ensures the case is decided on the complete and correct evidentiary record (!) (!) .
The Court emphasized that the High Court should exercise its revisional jurisdiction only in exceptional circumstances, such as procedural irregularities or legal errors, and should refrain from indirectly converting an acquittal into a conviction through procedural maneuvers like ordering a retrial (!) (!) (!) .
The Court ultimately allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court's order of retrial, and directed that both the appellant and the other accused be re-heard on appeal, considering the evidence that was previously excluded. The appellate court is to re-examine the case without influence from the earlier observations, ensuring a fair and proper evaluation of the evidence (!) (!) .
The decision underscores the importance of limiting the scope of revisionary powers to prevent misuse and emphasizes that the appellate and trial courts should re-hear cases when evidence has been improperly excluded, rather than re-assessing evidence in detail during a revision process.
Judgment
WANCHOO, J. : This is an appeal by special leave against the judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The appellant was convicted under S. 411 of the Indian Penal Code by the Assistant Sessions Judge of Kurnool. Along with him another person Hussain Saheb was also tried and was convicted under Ss. 457 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code. The case for the prosecution briefly was that the house of Ramayya in Dudyla was burgled on the night of April 20, 1957. Ramayya and his wife were sleeping outside and on waking in the morning they found that the house had been burgled and valuable property stolen. The matter was reported to the police and during the course of investigation the police recovered 17 ornaments on the information given by the appellant. The other accused had also given information on the basis of which another stolen ornament was recovered. The Assistant Sessions Judge on a consideration of the evidence came to the conclusion that the other accused had actually committed house breaking and had removed ornaments from the house of Ramayya and had handed over 17 ornaments out of that properly to the appellant. He also came to the conclusion that the seventeen ornam
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