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State Of Gujarat vs Pravinbhai Ramjibhai Jogal
2024 Latest Caselaw 9121 Guj

Citation : 2024 Latest Caselaw 9121 Guj
Judgement Date : 20 November, 2024

Gujarat High Court

State Of Gujarat vs Pravinbhai Ramjibhai Jogal on 20 November, 2024

Author: Biren Vaishnav

Bench: Biren Vaishnav

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                                     IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

                                              R/CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 281 of 2000


                       FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:


                       HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIREN VAISHNAV

                       and
                       HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MAULIK J.SHELAT

                       ==========================================================

                                    Approved for Reporting                     Yes           No

                       ==========================================================
                                                         STATE OF GUJARAT
                                                                Versus
                                                     PRAVINBHAI RAMJIBHAI JOGAL
                       ==========================================================
                       Appearance:
                       MR.UTKARSH SHARMA, APP for the Appellant(s) No. 1
                       NOTICE SERVED for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 1
                       ==========================================================

                          CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIREN VAISHNAV
                                and
                                HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MAULIK J.SHELAT

                                                           Date : 20/11/2024

                                             ORAL JUDGMENT

(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIREN VAISHNAV)

1. This appeal has been 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 Sessions

Judge, Amreli, in Sessions Case No.99 of 1995 on

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20.12.1999. By the aforesaid judgement, the

Trial Court has acquitted the respondent-accused

of the offenses punishable under Section 302 of

the Indian Penal Code.

2. The brief case of the prosecution is that on

30.09.1995, at around 15:00 hours, the accused

at his house, had sprinkled kerosene on the

deceased Manishaben Pravinbhai-the wife of the

accused, causing her death by burns. According

to the prosecution, the motive of the accused was

that he had a doubt that his wife had an illicit

relation with the distant relative. The accused

was tried for offenses under Section 302 of the

Indian Penal Code.

3. In pursuance of the investigation, a First

Information Report was lodged with the

Bagasara Police Station for the offenses

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punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal

Code. During the investigation, several

statements were recorded of the witnesses,

various panchnamas were drawn including the

panchnama of the scene of the offense. Medical

evidence was collected for proving the case of

the prosecution.

4. Upon committal of the case to the learned

Sessions Judge, Amreli, the Sessions Judge

framed charges vide Exh.2 against the

respondent-accused for the aforesaid offenses.

The respondent-accused pleaded not guilty. The

prosecution had examined 14 witnesses and

produced various documentary evidences. The

details of the evidences led by the prosecution

are as under:

Relevant Oral Evidences

PW Exh Pg. Name Remarks Relevant No. No. No. Para

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Judgment/ Pg.No. 1 7 51 Dr.AS Vadher, P.M.-relevant para Issue-1-

Amreli Civil 7-Pg.No.54. pg.156, Issue-2- Para14, pg.159 2 10 61 Natwarlal Panch of Scene of Para-

                                                     Nandalal         Offence.                  20,pg.171
                        3         12      67         Kirtilal         Panch         Inquest-
                                                     Harjivandas      Hostile
                        4         14      74         Lilaben Jilubhai Panch         Inquest-
                                                                      Hostile
                        5         15      76         Alabhai          Panch Clothes of
                                                     Devdanbhai       deceased
                        6         17      79         Bhalubhai        Panch of Arrest and
                                                     Nanjibhai        condition Accused-
                                                                      Does not support
                                                                      prosecution      case,
                                                                      signed       prepared
                                                                      panchanama as per
                                                                      cross-examination.
                        7         20      85         Jayaben          Mother                of Para-17,
                                                     Bavbhai          Mansukhbhai-who           pg.164
                                                                      had alleged illicit
                                                                      relationship       with
                                                                      deceased
                        8         23      95         Mansukhbhai      Alleged           Illicit Para-18,
                                                     Bavanjibhai      relationship       with pg.168
                                                                      deceased. Cousin of
                                                                      deceased
                        9         26      102        Govind           Relative                  Para-22,
                                                     Dosalbhai                                  pg.171
                        10        29      105        Dadubhai         PSO- Amreli City Para-22,
                                                     Suragbhai        Police Station, does pg.171
                                                                      not know about non-
                                                                      recording of DD.
                        11        36      114        Laljibhai        H.C.        Recorded Para-16,
                                                     Arjanbhai        complaint of the pg.161-163
                                                                      deceased-





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                                                                              contradictions and
                                                                              unclear whether she
                                                                              could speak or not.
                                                                              Admits no DD could
                                                                              be recorded-relevant
                                                                              pg.115-116
                        12        39      120        Kiritsinh                PSI, Bagasra- Does            Para-23,
                                                     Bapalsinh                not           support         pg.172
                                                                              prosecution     case
                                                                              and gives version of
                                                                              accident as narrated
                                                                              by negihbors.
                        13        48      139        Dr.Prahlad               Dr. Who treated               Para-17,
                                                     Manilal Patel.           deceased         and          pg.166
                                                                              accused for burn              Para-
                                                                              injuries.                     19,pg.170
                        14        56      144        Dr.B.L. Dabhi            Dr. Who treated
                                                                              accused for burn
                                                                              injuries.


                                                      Documentary Evidences

                                     Exh.No.                 Pg.No.                    Details
                                     2                       44                        Charge-Frame
                                     5                       49                        Muddamal list.
                                     8                       56                        PM Note-Report
                                     18                      81                        Arrest
                                                                                       Panchanama
                                     40                      124                       Station      Diary-
                                                                                       Amreli
                                     49                      141                       Pravin Ramji injury
                                                                                       certificate.
                                     50                      142                       Ramji Jetha injury
                                                                                       certificate.
                                     57                      145                       Certificate    MO
                                                                                       Amreli


                           5. The          prosecution           examined            these        witnesses





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including the Medical Officer and the police

witness. At the end of the evidence, a statement

under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal

Procedure was recorded. The Trial Court

recorded acquittal of the accused.

6. Mr.Utkarsh Sharma learned Additional Public

Prosecutor appearing for the State would submit

that the order acquitting the accused was

contrary to law and evidence on record and the

same is based on the irrelevant material.

6.1 Mr.Sharma would submit that the Trial

Court has committed an error in acquitting the

respondent and not properly appreciating the

evidence produced on record. He would submit

that the Trial Court has given waitage to the

minor omissions and contradictions in the

statement of the witnesses. The reasons

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assigned by the Trial Court while acquitting the

accused are unjust, improper, perverse and

unwarranted.

7. Though served, nobody has appeared on behalf

of the respondent.

8. We have perused the judgement of the Trial

Court and we found that having gone into the

aspects of the expert evidence and medical

witnesses and the deposition of doctors, the

Sessions Court found that it was not possible to

consider the evidence to suggest that the burn

injuries caused were actually out of an incident

as made out by the prosecution. We have

therefore assessed the evidence of each of the

witnesses and having independently applied our

mind. For the reasons stated hereunder, we see

no reason to take a view different from the one

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taken by the Sessions Court.

8.1 As per the case of the prosecution, the

deceased was married to the accused Pravinbhai

Ramjibhai. It was the case of the prosecution

that on the date of the incident, the accused had

blamed the deceased that she had illicit

relationship with the cousin of the accused, as a

result of which, the accused sprinkled kerosene

and striking a matchstick, caused burn injuries,

as a result of which, she died after being

transferred to Civil Hospital from the

Government Hospital at Bagasara. The

prosecution story further takes a turn that a

night previous to the date of the incident on

29.09.1995, Mansukhbhai Bavanjibhai Harijan

who was the cousin of the deceased had visited

the home. That he had interacted with the

deceased Manishaben and the accused Pravin

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Ramji and had tea during the night. The

deposition of Mansukh Bavanjibhai Harijan - the

cousin has been recorded at Exh.23 as PW-8. He

in his deposition would submit that after having

tea, Pravinbhai called his wife Manisha, told her

to admit that if she had an illicit relationship with

Mansukhbhai, she should slap him, which she

did. After this incident, Mansukhbhai left the

home. This is a version also given by the

deceased whose statement was recorded in the

FIR at Exh.37.

8.2 After the sustaining of burn injuries,

Manishaben was examined at the Amreli Civil

Hospital. Dr.Arshi Sidibhai Vadher was the

Medical Officer who was present at the Civil

Hospital, Amreli. He is the Prosecution Witness-1

at Exh.7. Perusal of his testimony indicates that

Manishaben who was brought to the Civil

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Hospital from the Bagasara Government Hospital

as she was referred from the Bagasara

Government Hospital. The referral note is at

Exh.51. The deceased Manishaben had suffered

burn injuries to the extent of 80 to 90%. The

testimony of Dr.Vadher when read, proceeds to

indicate that Manishaben had suffered severe

burn injuries and was in pain. She was therefore

under a medication Fortwin. Fortwin has an

element of morphine and is administered to a

patient who has sustained burn injuries and is

undergoing severe pain. His testimony indicates

that since this injection was administered to the

deceased Manishaben when she came to the

hospital, was in a state of dizziness and that she

had also been given analgesic injection which is

a treatment given for the burn injuries. The

deposition of Dr.Vadher indicates that as a result

of this, the patient would go into a shock and in

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such circumstances, such a victim would avoid

interaction so as to be able to give any

statement. The nature of testimony of this

Medical Officer would therefore indicate that

before recording the complaint, it was seriously

in doubt that Manishaben could give a statement

of having sustained burn injuries directly

implicating the accused.

8.3 There is one more reason why incident in

question is in doubt inasmuch as in the history

recorded by the Medical Officer at Bagasara

Hospital who treated the deceased viz.

Dr.Prahlad Patel was examined at Exh.48

suggested while recording the medical history,

Manishaben had stated that she had sustained

these burn injuries as a result of she catching

fire while engaging with a stove. It has also

come on record from the evidence of Dr.Vadher

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that though the Executive Magistrate Shri

Chauhan was called to record a dying

declaration, looking to the medical condition of

the deceased Manishaben, no dying declaration

was recorded by Dr.Chauhan and the deceased

succumbed to her injuries in the evening at

19:05.

8.4 Dr.Prahlad Patel who was the Medical

Officer of the Community Health Center at

Bagasara and was examined at Exh.48, testified

that when the deceased Manishaben was

brought to the hospital, she has sustained 80 to

90% of the burn injuries and therefore it was

decided that she should be immediately

transferred to the Civil Hospital as she was in a

critical condition. Further reading of the

evidence of Dr.Patel would indicate that she was

brought in a very critical condition and she was

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not in a position to give any statement. This

evidence also therefore would question the

genuineness and the veracity of the complaint

recorded at Exh.37.

8.5 The police head constable of the Amreli City

Police Station - Laljibhai Arjanbhai has been

examined at Exh.36. According to his testimony,

on 13.09.1995, when he was working at the

Amreli City Mobile Police Station and while he

was patrolling, he received a wireless message

and therefore at 5:35 he went to the police

station and he was directed to go to the Civil

hospital Burns Ward to record the complaint.

When he reached to the Burns Ward, he found

Manishaben laying having sustained burn

injuries. On he trying to question the deceased,

it is his version that Manishaben refused to

testify and insisted that she be served with

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water. She was refused water. She therefore

could not testify. After having waited for some

time and recorded the complaint in whatever

manner that happened, Laljibhai Arjanbhai

Chavada left the place. The evidence therefore

suggest one more reason as to why the FIR's

version cannot be believed. The medical

condition as explained Dr.Vadher and Dr.Prahlad

Patel when read together with the evidence of

the police constable Lalji Arjan who recorded the

complaint, when read in conjunction, could

therefore seriously create doubt on the veracity

of the version recorded in the FIR filed recording

the statement of the deceased, particularly when

she was found to be in a sedated condition as a

result of injection morphine and that she was

incoherent in her speech.

8.6 What is also further evident is that though

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the complaint was sought to be recorded at 5:45

in the evening, what is evident from the police

records is that the Police Station Officer who

reached after recording this complaint at 8:30 in

the evening, the FIR was only lodged in the

police station at 22:13 hours. The delay is

unexplained in lodging the FIR and therefore, the

finding of the learned Sessions Judge that this

seriously creates a doubt on the veracity of the

complaint compounded by the background on

which it was recorded, cannot be believed.

8.7 There is one more reason why the case of

the prosecution cannot be accepted. On

sustaining of burn injuries, Manishaben was

shifted to the Amreli Civil Hospital, where,

Jayaben, Manishaben's aunt with whose son, she

was alleged to have illicit relationship with, has

reached to the ward according to her version.

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She has inquired from Manishaben as to what

has happened. Jayaben's evidence is recorded at

Exh.20. According to her, on she having come to

know of the incident, while she was at Moti

Marad, she immediately left for Junagadh at

10:30. The bus would take her to Junagadh from

Dhoraji. The distance from Moti Marad to

Junagadh is about 18 to 19 kms. She reached

Junagadh at about 11:00 A.M. and from there at

around 12.30, she left Junagadh for Bagasara.

She reached Bagasara Bus Station at 4:45 in the

evening. She went to the residence of

Pravinbhai where the parents of Pravinbhai and

the in-laws of Manisha were present where she

told that Manisha has been taken to the Civil

Hospital, Amreli. As a result of this, she left for

Amreli Civil Hospital where she found that there

are others waiting outside the burns ward. She

has reached the Civil Hospital, Amreli, at 6.30 in

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the evening. According to her deposition,

Manishben was in proper condition and she has

told her about the incident. There is obviously a

contradiction between the testimony of Jayaben

who met her with with the medical evidence of

Dr.Vadher which indicates that when the patient

was brought to him at 5:20 in the evening, she

was in a critical condition having suffered 80 to

90% of burns. She was heavily sedated as a

result of having administered Fortwin injection.

Coupled with this fact, the medical evidence of

Dr.Prahlad Patel at Bagasara, it was therefore

found that the testimony of Jayaben who met her

more than an hour and a half, after the version

so given by the Doctor, cannot be believed.

8.8 Perusal of the evidence of Govindbhai

Dosabhai Harijan at Exh.26 also would indicate

that Manishaben was not in a position to speak.

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This was therefore directly contradict the

evidence of Jayaben. When the testimony of

Mansukh Bavanjibhai at Exh.23 is also examined,

what is also found from the evidence is that

Pravinbhai-the accused has sustained the burn

injuries. He had been taken to the Bagasara

Medical Center where doctor Prahladbhai who

has examined and whose testimony is at Exh.48

indicates that the Pravinbhai was brought to the

hospital on 01.10.1995 and he has sustained

burn injuries on the hand. The fingers on the

rear side has sustained second degree burns.

Both the hands had sustained first degree burns.

A certificate of injury is on record at Exh.49.

Dr.Patel's testimony indicates that when the

injured accused Pravin was brought in and was

asked about his history, he had said that he had

sustained these burn injuries as he was trying to

save his wife. This version therefore seriously

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put in doubt the prosecution story that it was the

accused who was responsible having committed

the incident.

8.9 Based on the appreciation of evidence

entirely, in light of the FIR at Exh.37 which was

found to be not genuine, the absence of any

dying declaration recorded and the contradiction

of the version of the witnesses, the Trial Court

found that the prosecution was not able to bring

home the charge against the accused of having

committed an offense under Section 302 of the

Indian Penal Code.

9. Conscious of the fact that this is a judgement by

which the accused has earned an acquittal and in

light of the decisions of the Supreme Court,

when two views are possible, the judgment and

order of acquittal passed by the trial Court

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should not be interfered with by the Appellate

Court unless for the special reasons. A beneficial

reference of the decision of the Supreme Court

in the case of State of Rajasthan versus Ram

Niwas reported in (2010) 15 SCC 463 be

made in this regard. In the said case, it has been

observed as under:-

"6. This Court has held in Kalyan v. State of U.P., (2001) 9 SCC 632 :

"8. The settled position of law on the powers to be exercised by the High Court in an appeal against an order of acquittal is that though the High Court has full powers to review the evidence upon which an order of acquittal is passed, it is equally well settled that the presumption of innocence of the accused persons, as envisaged under the criminal jurisprudence prevalent in our country is further reinforced by his acquittal by the trial court. Normally the views of the trial court, as to the credibility of the witnesses, must be given proper weight and consideration because the trial court is supposed to have watched the demeanour and conduct of the witness and is in a better position to appreciate their testimony. The High Court should be slow in disturbing a finding of fact arrived at by the trial court. In Kali Ram V. State of Himachal Pradesh, (1973) 2 SCC 808, this Court observed that the golden thread which runs through the web of

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administration of justice in criminal case 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 favourable to the accused should be adopted. The Court further observed:

"27. It is no doubt true that wrongful acquittals are undesirable and shake the confidence of the people in the judicial system, much worse, however, is the wrongful conviction of an innocent person. The consequences of the conviction of an innocent person are far more serious and its reverberations cannot but be felt in a civilized society. Suppose an innocent person is convicted of the offence of murder and is hanged, nothing further can undo the mischief for the wrong resulting from the unmerited conviction is irretrievable. To take another instance, if an innocent person is sent to jail and undergoes the sentence, the scars left by the miscarriage of justice cannot be erased by any subsequent act of expiration. Not many persons undergoing the pangs of wrongful conviction are fortunate like Dreyfus to have an Emile Zola to champion their cause and succeed in getting the verdict of guilt annulled. All this highlights the importance of ensuring, as far as possible, that there should be no wrongful conviction of an innocent person. Some risk of the conviction of the innocent, of course, is always there in any system of the administration of criminal justice Such a risk can be minimised but not ruled out altogether It may in this connection be apposite to refer to the following observations of Sir Carleton Alien quoted on page 157 of "The Proof of Guilt" by Glanville Williams, second edition:

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"I dare say some sentimentalists would assent to the proposition that it is better that a thousand, or even a million, guilty persons should escape than that one innocent person should suffer; but no responsible and practical person would accept such a view. For it is obvious that if our ratio is extended indefinitely, there comes a point when the whole system of justice has broken down and society is in a state of chaos."

28. The fact that there has to be clear evidence of the guilt of the accused and that in the absence of that it is not possible to record a finding of his guilt was stressed by this Court in the case of Shivaji Sahebrao, (1973) 2 SCC 793, as is clear from the following observations:

"Certainly it is a primary principle that the accused must be and not merely, may be guilty before a court, can be convicted and the mental distinction between 'may be' and 'must be' is long and divides vague conjectures from sure considerations."

"9. The High Court while dealing with the appeals against the order of acquittal must keep in mind the following propositions laid down by this Court, namely, (i) the slowness of the appellate court to disturb a finding of fact; (ii) the noninterference with the order of acquittal where it is indeed only a case of taking a view different from the one taken by the High Court."

8. In Arulvelu and another versus State reported in (2009) 10 Supreme Court Cases 206, the Supreme Court after discussing the earlier judgments,

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observed in para No. 36 as under:

"36. Careful scrutiny of all these judgments lead to the definite conclusion that the appellate court should be very slow in setting aside a judgment of acquittal particularly in a case where two views are possible. The trial court judgment can not be set aside because the appellate court's view is more probable. The appellate court would not be justified in setting aside the trial court judgment unless it arrives at a clear finding on marshaling the entire evidence on record that the judgment of the trial court is either perverse or wholly unsustainable in law."

10.As observed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the

case of Rajesh Singh & Others vs. State of

Uttar Pradesh reported in (2011) 11 SCC

444 and in the case of Bhaiyamiyan Alias

Jardar Khan and Another vs. State of

Madhya Pradesh reported in (2011) 6 SCC

394, while dealing with the judgment of

acquittal, unless reasoning by the learned trial

Court is found to be perverse, the acquittal

cannot be upset. It is further observed that High

Court's interference in such appeal in somewhat

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circumscribed and if the view taken by the

learned trial Court is possible on the evidence,

the High Court should stay its hands and not

interfere in the matter in the belief that if it had

been the trial Court, it might have taken a

different view.

11.Scope of appeal against acquittal is well laid

down in case of Chandrappa and ors. vs. State

of Karnataka reported in (2007) 4 SCC 415,

it was observed:

"42. 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

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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 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."

12.Even recently, the Apex Court in the case of

Babu Sahebagouda Rudragoudar and Others

vs. State of Karnataka [(2024) 8 SCC 149]

has held as under:

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"39. This Court in the case of Rajesh Prasad v. State of Bihar and Another, (2022) 3 SCC 471 encapsulated the legal position covering the field after considering various earlier judgments and held as below: -

"29. After referring to a catena of judgments, this Court culled out the following general principles regarding the powers of the appellate court while dealing with an appeal against an order of acquittal in the following words: (Chandrappa case [Chandrappa v. State of Karnataka, (2007) 4 SCC 415] " 42. From the above decisions, in our considered view, the following general principles regarding powers of the 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 Criminal Procedure Code, 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 emphasise 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 that in case of acquittal, there is double presumption in favour of the accused. Firstly, the presumption of innocence is available to him under the fundamental

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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."

40. Further, in the case of H.D. Sundara & Ors. v. State of Karnataka, (2023) 9 SCC 581 this Court summarized the principles governing the exercise of appellate jurisdiction while dealing with an appeal against acquittal under Section 378 of CrPC as follows: -

"8.1.The acquittal of the accused further strengthens the presumption of innocence;

8.2. The appellate court, while hearing an appeal against acquittal, is entitled to reappreciate the oral and documentary evidence;

8.3. The appellate court, while deciding an appeal against acquittal, after re-appreciating the evidence, is required to consider whether the view taken by the trial court is a possible view which could have been taken on the basis of the evidence on record;

8.4. If the view taken is a possible view, the appellate court cannot overturn the order of acquittal on the ground that another view was also possible; and

NEUTRAL CITATION

R/CR.A/281/2000 JUDGMENT DATED: 20/11/2024

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8.5. The appellate court can interfere with the order of acquittal only if it comes to a finding that the only conclusion which can be recorded on the basis of the evidence on record was that the guilt of the accused was proved beyond a reasonable doubt and no other conclusion was possible."

41. Thus, it is beyond the pale of doubt that the scope of interference by an appellate Court for reversing the judgment of acquittal recorded by the trial Court in favour of the accused has to be exercised within the four corners of the following principles:-

41.1 That the judgment of acquittal suffers from patent perversity;

41.2 That the same is based on a misreading/omission to consider material evidence on record;

41.3 That no two reasonable views are possible and only the view consistent with the guilt of the accused is possible from the evidence available on record.

42. The appellate Court, in order to interfere with the judgment of acquittal would have to record pertinent findings on the above factors if it is inclined to reverse the judgment of acquittal rendered by the trial Court."

13.We find no reason to interfere with the

judgement and order of acquittal passed by the

learned Sessions Judge, Amreli, in Sessions Case

NEUTRAL CITATION

R/CR.A/281/2000 JUDGMENT DATED: 20/11/2024

undefined

No.99 of 1995 on 20.12.1999. The appeal is

accordingly dismissed. Resultantly, the

impugned judgment and order of the trial court

is hereby confirmed. Bail bond, if any, shall stand

cancelled. Record and proceedings, if called for,

be sent back to the concerned Trial Court

forthwith.

(BIREN VAISHNAV, J)

(MAULIK J.SHELAT,J) ANKIT SHAH

 
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