IMPORTANT POINT
Rape cases – Judiciary must exercise prudence and discernment, particularly in cases involving serious allegations such as rape, recognizing that false accusations are not uncommon – Principles of justice and fairness necessitate that guilt be established with unequivocal evidence and in absence of such proof, benefit of doubt must be given to accused.

JUDGMENT

Manoj Kumar Garg, J.—Instant criminal appeal has been filed by the appellant under Section 374(2) Cr.P.C. against the judgment dated 14.02.1995 passed by learned District & Sessions Judge, Banswara, in Sessions Case No.11/1993 by which the learned Judge convicted and sentenced the appellant as under :

2. Brief facts of the case are that complainant gave an order report at Police Station Loharia to the effect that the appellant had committed rape with her. On this report, Police registered a case against the accused appellant for offence under Sections 447 & 376 IPC and started investigation.

3. On completion of investigation, the police filed challan against the accused appellant for offence under Sections 323, 447 & 376 IPC. Thereafter, the charges of the case were framed against the appellant, who denied the same and claimed trial.

4. During the course of trial, the prosecution examined as many as 7 witnesses. Thereafter, statement of the appellant under section 313 Cr.P.C. was recorded. In defence, no witness was examined by the appellant.

5. Upon conclusion of the trial, the learned trial court vide impugned judgment dated 14.02.1995 convicted and sentenced the appellant as mentioned above.

6. Counsel for the appellant submits that the learned trial court has committed a grave error of law in convicting the appellants under Section 447 and 376 of IPC. Counsel submits that a false case has been fabricated against the appellant. It is contended that the FIR in this matter was lodged after a delay of three days from the date of the incident, and the prosecution has failed to furnish a satisfactory explanation for this delay. It is further argued that the agricultural fields of the appellant and the prosecutrix are adjacent, rendering them neighbours. Additionally, it is alleged that the prosecutrix’s husband, Hardariya, harbors animosity towards the appellant. In fact, it is claimed that both Hardariya and the prosecutrix assaulted the appellant, and that the false case has been instituted. Moreover, there are significant contradictions, omissions, and improvements in the statements of the prosecution witnesses as well as in the First Information Report. It is also noted that out of the two eyewitnesses to the incident, only one, namely Ramesh, was examined, while the prosecution failed to examine the other eyewitness, Raman. Further, the medical evidence does not corroborate the narrative presented by the prosecution. Counsel contends that the prosecutrix has concocted a completely false story to inflict harm upon the appellant. The learned trial court, in passing the impugned order of conviction, allegedly failed to properly evaluate the evidence and other pertinent aspects of the case, thereby erroneously convicting the appellant of the offences. Therefore, it is submitted that the judgment of conviction is fundamentally flawed and illegal, warranting its quashing and setting aside. The appellant may be acquitted from the aforesaid offences. To buttress his contentions, counsel has relied upon the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Bibhishan Vs. State of Maharashtra [2008(1) WLC (SC) Criminal 254] and the judgments of this Court in the cases of Sanwaliya Vs. State of Rajasthan [2008(2) Cr.L.R. (Raj.) 1071], Mahesh Chand Sharma Vs. State of Rajasthan [2009 (2) R.Cr.D. 51 (Raj.)].

7. On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor has opposed the submissions made by the learned counsel for the appellant and submitted that after proper consideration of the evidence, the learned trial court rightly convicted the appellant for the aforesaid offences. The impugned judgment is a detailed order and required no interference from