Important Point
Appellate Court’s powers to review the evidence to come to its own conclusion must be exercised with great care and caution.

Judgment

Dalveer Bhandari, J. —

1.This appeal is directed against the Judgment of the High Court of Allahabad dated 11th November, 2005 passed in Criminal Appeal No. 365 of 1981.

2.This is a murder case in which the trial court acquitted the accused. The High Court reversed the trial court’s decision, finding the accused guilty. In doing so, the appellate court failed to give proper weight to the views of the trial court as to credibility of witnesses, thereby ignoring the standards by which the appellate courts consider appeals against acquittals.

3.We have endeavoured to set out the guidelines for the appellate courts in dealing with appeals against acquittal. An overriding theme emanates from the law on appeals against acquittals. The appellate court is given wide powers to review the evidence to come to its own conclusions. But this power must be exercised with great care and caution. In Order to ensure that the innocents are not punished, the appellate court should attach due weight to the lower court’s acquittal because the presumption of innocence is further strengthened by the acquittal. The appellate court should, therefore, reverse an acquittal only when it has “very substantial and compelling reasons.”

4.In giving our reasons for reversing the appellate court’s Judgment and restoring that of the trial court, we provide a brief review of the facts, the reasoning of the trial and High Court as well as the standards by which appeals against acquittals are reviewed according to settled principles of criminal jurisprudence in our country.

5.Before turning to the facts that were before the trial court, we note that there is an interesting coincidence in this case. The names of both the accused and the deceased are Ghurey Lal. Therefore, to avoid confusion, we have referred to them as “accused” and “deceased.”

6.Brief facts, according to prosecution, which are necessary to dispose of this appeal are recapitulated as under :-

It appears that at the heart of this matter lies a property dispute. The accused testified in favour of his great-grand daughter, Ram Devi. This testimony went against the deceased, creating enmity between the parties.

7.On 14.3.1979, the deceased, Shiv Charan P.W.1, Brij Raj Singh P.W.2, Yad Ram P.W.4, Nathi Lal (not examined) and Bishambhar (not examined) had taken the customary Gur (Jaggery) during the Holi festival.

8.On their way home, they happened to pass by the home of the accused. The accused was standing just outside his home and was holding a shot gun. The accused began to verbally abuse the deceased. Thereafter, the accused fired one single shot from his gun, killing the deceased with a bullet and causing injuries to Brij Raj Singh P.W. 2 with pellets. Hearing the gun shot, some people quickly assembled at the scene. The accused fled to his room, which he locked from inside. The uncle of the deceased, Shiv Charan, lodged the FIR that very evening, the 14th March, 1979 at 6.15 p.m., at the Barhan Police Station in the District of Agra.

9.The accused provided his own version of the event. According to the statement of the accused under section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, he went to the place of Kanchan Singh where Gur (Jaggery) was being distributed. One Bal Mukand told the accused to leave the Gur distribution ceremony, as the deceased, Brij Raj Singh P.W. 2, Yad Ram P.W.4, Nathi Lal and Bishambhar had collected pharsa, lathis and kattas declaring that they will deal with him (accused) when he comes there. On hearing this, the accused returned to his home and grabbed his gun. The deceased and others then arrived at his home, brandishing weapons. The deceased carried a pharsa, Nathi Lal had a katta, Brij Raj Singh a knife and Yad Ram and Bishambhar possessed lathis. To threaten and check them, the accused aimed his gun at them. This was to no avail. The deceased and others struck at the accused, hitting his gun. Nathi Lal fired his katta, causing pellet injuries to Brij Raj Singh P.W.2. A s