Gujarat High Court
State Of Gujarat vs Dahyabhai Haribhai Rabari on 8 September, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL APPEAL (AGAINST ACQUITTAL) NO. 1334 of 2013
FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:
HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE S.V. PINTO
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Approved for Reporting No
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STATE OF GUJARAT
Versus
DAHYABHAI HARIBHAI RABARI & ORS.
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Appearance:
MS. C.M. SHAH, APP for the Appellant(s) No. 1
MR N P CHAUDHARY(3980) for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 1,2
MR TUSHAR CHAUDHARY(5316) for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No.
1,2
NOTICE SERVED for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 3
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE S.V. PINTO
Date : 08/09/2025
ORAL JUDGMENT
1. The appeal is filed by the appellant State under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 against the judgement and order of acquittal passed by the learned 3rd Additional Sessions Judge, Deesa (hereinafter referred to as "the learned Trial Court") in Special Case No. 114/2010 on 22.07.2013, whereby, the learned Trial Court has acquitted the respondents for the offence punishable under Sections 504, 506(2) and 114 of Indian Penal Code, Page 1 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined 1860 and Section 3(1)(10) of Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter referred to as "the Atrocity Act" for short). 1.1 The respondents are hereinafter referred to as "the accused" in the rank and file as they stood in the original case for the sake of convenience, clarity and brevity.
2. The brief facts that emerge from the record of the case are as under:
2.1 The complainant Rajiben - widow of Chamanbhai Dharmabhai Valmiki had about 8 vighas of agricultural land in joint ownership situated in the outskirts of village Motakapara and the land was mortgaged to the accused by her husband thrice for the amounts of Rs. 24000/-, Rs.
27000/- and Rs. 28000/- and in all an amount of Rs. 79000/- was taken as mortgage amount. As per the agreement, the mortgage was to be released whenever the amount was paid and on 20.08.2009, the complainant - Rajiben Chamanbhai Valmiki and her brother-in-law - Khemabhai were going to return the mortgage amount to the accused. When they approached the accused, the Page 2 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined accused got angry and refused to take the amount and abused the complainant and her brother-in-law Khemabhai and hurled caste slurs against them. The complainant filed a complaint at the Bhildi Police Station under Sections 504, 506(2) and 114 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 3(1)(10) of the Atrocity Act which came to be registered at Bhildi Police Station I - C.R. No. 3066 of 2008. 2.2 The Investigating Officer recorded the statements of the connected witnesses and seized the necessary documents and after completion of investigation, a charge- sheet came to be filed before the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Deesa and as the said offences against the accused were exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions, the case was committed to the Sessions Court, Deesa as per the provisions of Section 209 of Code of Criminal Procedure and the case was registered as Special Case No. 114/2010.
2.3 The accused were duly served with the summons and the accused appeared before the learned Trial Court and it was verified whether the copies of all the police papers were Page 3 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined provided to the accused as per the provisions of Section 207 of the Code. A charge at Exh. 7 was framed against the accused and the statements of the accused were recorded at Exhs. 8 and 9 respectively, wherein, the accused denied the contents of the charge and the entire evidence of the prosecution was taken on record.
2.4 The prosecution examined 8 witnesses and produced 6 documentary evidences on record in support of their case and after the learned Additional Public Prosecutor filed the closing pursis, the further statement of the accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was recorded. After the arguments of the learned Additional Public Prosecutor and the learned advocate for the accused were heard, the learned Trial Court by the impugned judgement and order was pleased to acquit all the accused from the charges levelled against them.
3. Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the said judgment and order of acquittal, the appellant - State has filed the present appeal mainly stating that the impugned judgment and order of acquittal passed by the learned Trial Page 4 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined Court is contrary to law and evidence on record and the learned Trial Court has not appreciated the fact that all the witnesses have supported the case of the prosecution and during the cross-examination, nothing adverse has been elicited in favor of the respondents. The case has been proved beyond reasonable doubt and the prosecution has successfully established the case against the respondents and the judgment and order of acquittal is unwarranted, illegal, and without any basis in the eyes of the law and the reasons stated while acquitting the respondent are improper, perverse and bad in law. Hence the impugned judgment and order passed by the learned Trial Court deserves to be quashed and set aside.
4. Heard learned APP Ms. C.M. Shah for the appellant State and learned advocate Mr. N.P. Chaudhary for the respondent nos. 1 and 2. Perused the impugned judgement and order of acquittal and have reappreciated the entire evidence of the prosecution on record of the case.
5. Learned APP Ms. C.M. Shah has taken this Court Page 5 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined through the entire evidence of the prosecution on record of the case and submitted that the complainant has fully supported the facts of his complaint. The impugned judgement and order is perverse and learned APP has urged this Court to quash and set aside the same and find the respondent guilty for the offences.
6. At the outset, before discussing the facts of the present case, it would be appropriate to refer to the observations of the Apex Court regarding the scope of interference in acquittal appeals in the case of Chandrappa & Ors. Vs. State of Karnataka reported in 2007 (4) SCC 415, wherein, the Apex Court has observed as under:
Recently, in Kallu Vs. State of M.P. (2006) 10 SCC 313, this Court stated:
"While deciding an appeal against acquittal, the power of the Appellate Court is no less than the power exercised while hearing appeals against conviction. In both types of appeals, the power exists to review the entire evidence. However, one significant difference is that an order of acquittal will not be interfered with, by an appellate court, where the judgment of the trial court is based on evidence and the view taken is reasonable and plausible. It will not reverse the decision of the trial court merely because a different view is possible.Page 6 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined The appellate court will also bear in mind that there is a presumption of innocence in favour of the accused and the accused is entitled to get the benefit of any doubt. Further if it decides to interfere, it should assign reasons for differing with the decision of the trial court".
From the above decisions, in our considered view, the following general principles regarding powers of appellate Court while dealing with an appeal against an order of acquittal emerge;
(1) An appellate Court has full power to review, reappreciate and reconsider the evidence upon which the order of acquittal is founded;
(2) The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 puts no limitation, restriction or condition on exercise of such power and an appellate Court on the evidence before it may reach its own conclusion, both on questions of fact and of law;
(3) Various expressions, such as, 'substantial and compelling reasons', 'good and sufficient grounds', 'very strong circumstances', 'distorted conclusions', 'glaring mistakes', etc. are not intended to curtail extensive powers of an appellate Court in an appeal against acquittal. Such phraseologies are more in the nature of 'flourishes of language' to emphasize the reluctance of an appellate Court to interfere with acquittal than to curtail the power of the Court to review the evidence and to come to its own conclusion. (4) An appellate Court, however, must bear in mind Page 7 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined that in case of acquittal, there is double presumption in favour of the accused. Firstly, the presumption of innocence available to him under the fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence that every person shall be presumed to be innocent unless he is proved guilty by a competent court of law. Secondly, the accused having secured his acquittal, the presumption of his innocence is further reinforced, reaffirmed and strengthened by the trial court.
(5) If two reasonable conclusions are possible on the basis of the evidence on record, the appellate court should not disturb the finding of acquittal recorded by the trial court.
7. The law with regard to acquittal appeals is well crystallized and in acquittal appeals, there is presumption of innocence in favour of the accused and it has finally culminated when a case ends in an acquittal. The learned Trial Court has appreciated all the evidence and when the learned Trial Court has come to a conclusion that the prosecution has not proved the case beyond reasonable doubts, the presumption of innocence in favour of the accused gets strengthened. There is no inhibition to re appreciate the evidence by the Appellate Court but if after Page 8 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined re appreciation, the view taken by the learned Trial Court was a possible view, there is no reason for the Appellate Court to interfere in the same.
8. To prove the offence against the accused, the prosecution has in all examined eight witnesses. PW1 - Rajiben Chamanbhai Valmiki examined at Exh. 14 is the complainant who has supported the facts of the complaint which is produced at Exh. 25. In the cross examination, the complainant has admitted that the survey number of the agricultural land is not mentioned in the complaint and whenever they were in need of money, they would take the money from the accused and a writing for the same would be executed. She is not aware of the writing as she was not with her husband whenever the amount was taken and she does not remember which survey number was given to the accused on mortgage. The witness has admitted that the property was in joint ownership and she and her brother- in-law - Khemabhai had gone to the well of Pachabhai Haribhai. They had gone to get some money and the accused no. 2 refused to give them money and they Page 9 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined returned home. That prior to this incident, she did not have any dispute with the accused and she has not given the accused any notice regarding release of the mortgage. At the time of the incident, the accused were alone in the field and there is a narrow pathway to approach the field. A number of persons use that pathway and the agricultural land of her brother-in-law is survey no. 127 which is being tilled by the accused no. 2. The witness has admitted that the land was mortgaged and they had gone to the house of the accused no. 2.
8.1 PW2 - Khemabhai Dharmabhai examined at Exh. 17 is the brother-in-law of the complainant and an eye witness to the incident and he has supported the say of the complainant. In the cross-examination, the witness has admitted that they have in all eight vighas of land and his brother had taken money in parts from the accused but there is no document regarding this amount. He has stated that the land was mortgaged in his statement before the police but he does not know the conditions for the mortgage.
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NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined 8.2 PW3 - Karshanbhai Chamanbhai Valmiki examined at Exh. 18 is the son of the complainant and he has supported the case of the prosecution but in the cross- examination, the witness has admitted that he does not know which survey number was mortgaged to the accused. The land was in the joint ownership of the family and the dealings were being done by his father and whenever his father was in need of some money, he would take the same from the accused. The witness has stated that his mother and his uncle had gone to pay the amount and he did not accompany them.
8.3 PW4 - Mithabhai Jogabhai Desai examined at Exh. 20 and PW5 - Rajanbhai Pratapbhai Luhar examined at Exh. 22 are the panch witnesses of the panchnama of the place of offence which is produced at Exh. 21. Both the witnesses have not supported the case of the prosecution and have been declared hostile. The panchnama produced at the Exh. 21 shows the place of offence as the place where the buffaloes were kept below a sesame tree in the field of Khemabhai Dharmabhai in the outskirts of village Page 11 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined Motkapara.
8.4 PW6 - Khemabhai Gulabhai examined at Exh. 24 is the PSO who has recorded the complaint of the complainant which is produced at Exh. 25.
8.5 PW7 - Mahendrasingh Ratansingh Rathod examined at Exh. 27 and PW8 - Zalabhai Manjibhai Varsad examined at Exh. 28 are the Investigating Officers who have investigated the offence and have narrated in detail the procedure undertaken by them during investigation. The caste certificate of the complainant is produced at Exh. 29 and the FIR is produced at Exh. 30.
9. On minute appreciation of the entire evidence of the prosecution, if the complaint produced at Exh. 25 is perused, there is no survey number of the land that was mortgaged to the accused as stated by the complainant in the complaint and the complainant has admitted that she does not know which field was mortgaged to the accused. The transaction regarding the land was done by her husband who had expired six months prior to filing of the complaint and she has stated that she and her brother-in- Page 12 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined law were going to pay the amount but the complaint does not clearly state the place where they met the accused. There is no iota of evidence on record that the land was mortgaged to the accused and except for the bald allegations of the complainant and her brother-in-law - Khemabhai, there is no evidence that any such incident has occurred. There are no independent witnesses examined by the prosecution and no document regarding any land being in the ownership of the complainant have been produced on record. There are no copies of village form no. 7/12, village form no. 8A or village form no. 6 that have been produced and there is no evidence that the possession of the land was in fact given to the accused or whether it was in the possession of the complainant. Moreover, the caste certificate has been produced by the Investigating Officer at Exh. 29 but there is no iota of evidence as to whether any investigation regarding the caste of the complainant was carried out by the Investigating Officers.
10. In view of the settled position of law, the learned Trial Court has appreciated the entire evidence in proper Page 13 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined perspective and there does not appear to be any infirmity and illegality in the impugned judgment and order of acquittal. The learned Trial Court has appreciated all the evidence and this Court is of the considered opinion that the learned Trial Court was completely justified in acquitting the accused of the charges leveled against them. The findings recorded by the learned Trial Court are absolutely just and proper and no illegality or infirmity has been committed by the learned Trial Court and this Court is in complete agreement with the findings, ultimate conclusion and the resultant order of acquittal recorded by the learned Trial Court. This Court finds no reason to interfere with the impugned judgment and order and the present appeal is devoid of merits and resultantly, the same is dismissed.
11. The impugned judgement and order of acquittal passed by the learned 3rd Additional Sessions Judge, Deesa in Special Case No. 114/2010 on 22.07.2013, is hereby confirmed.
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NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.A/1334/2013 JUDGMENT DATED: 08/09/2025 undefined
12. Bail bond stands cancelled. Record and proceedings be sent back to the concerned Trial Court forthwith.
Sd/-
(S. V. PINTO,J) VASIM S. SAIYED Page 15 of 15 Uploaded by VASIM SHABBIR SAIYED(HC01902) on Fri Sep 12 2025 Downloaded on : Sat Sep 13 04:40:11 IST 2025