Category: Acquittal

HELD in the impugned judgement, there is neither any reasoning, nor any appreciation of evidence on record. We cannot convict the accused on the basis of the principles of preponderance of probability. It is our duty to make sure that miscarriage of justice is avoided at all costs and the benefit of doubt, if any, given to the accused.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH UDAYAKUMAR — Appellant Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Sanjay Karol, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No. 1741…

Acquittal HELD save and except for the confessional statement of the accused, the Prosecution is not able to link the weapon with the accused. There was no scientific evidence, or the marks of his fingerprints, other identification marks or any tell-tale signs of the blood found on body of the deceased, linking it to the metal pellets of the bullet fired from the weapon recovered during investigation.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH NARENDRASINH KESHUBHAI ZALA — Appellant Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol, JJ. ) Criminal…

HELD proceeded with the acquired assumption of the guilt of the accused for the reason that he was lastly seen with the deceased, and lodged a false report, forgetting that as per the version of the father of the deceased, father of the accused had himself apprised him of his missing daughter, at least two days prior to the incident. Doubt and suspicion cannot form basis of guilt of the accused. The circumstances linking the accused to the crime are not proven at all, much less beyond reasonable doubt.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH GUNA MAHTO — Appellant Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Sanjay Karol, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No. 108…

Murder – Acquittal – Conviction based on oral testimony of witnesses – Delay in lodging the FIR – Names not mentioned in FIR – Taking into consideration the delay in lodging the FIR, with the circumstance of their names not being mentioned in the contemporaneous documents, the possibility of the accused being falsely implicated cannot be ruled out – Appeal allowed.

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH NAND LAL AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF CHHATTISGARH — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol, JJ.…

Extra ­Judicial Confession – Evidentiary value of such confession also depends on the person to whom it is made. Going by the natural course of human conduct, normally, a person would confide about a crime committed by him only with such a person in whom he has implicit faith – Normally, a person would not make a confession to someone who is totally a stranger to him –

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH PAWAN KUMAR CHOURASIA — Appellant Vs. STATE OF BIHAR — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Rajesh Bindal, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

HELD where a reversal of acquittal is sought, the courts must keep in mind that the presumption of innocence in favour of the accused – mother of the deceased, an interested witness evidence was not reliable – F S L Report, no blood was present on the weapons recovered except for traces of blood on one lathi, and even that could not be linked with the blood of the deceased – Order of acquittal is upheld

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH ROOPWANTI — Appellant Vs. STATE OF HARYANA AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Krishna Murari and B.V. Nagarathna, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No.…

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 376 – Rape – False promise to marry – Acquittal – It would be a folly to treat every breach of promise to marry as a false promise and to prosecute a person for the offence of rape under Section 376 – There is a difference between giving a false promise and committing breach of promise by the accused

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NAIM AHAMED — Appellant Vs. STATE (NCT OF DELHI) — Respondent ( Before : Ajay Rastogi and Bela M. Trivedi, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

You missed

“Husband Has No Right On Wife’s Stridhan” Matrimonial Law – The appeal concerns a matrimonial dispute involving misappropriation of gold jewellery and monetary gifts – The appellant, a widow, married the first respondent, a divorcee, and alleged misappropriation of her jewelry and money by the respondents – The core issue is whether the appellant established the misappropriation of her gold jewellery by the respondents and if the High Court erred in its judgment – The appellant claimed that her jewellery was taken under the pretext of safekeeping on her wedding night and misappropriated by the respondents to settle their financial liabilities – The respondents denied the allegations, stating no dowry was demanded and that the appellant had custody of her jewellery, which she took to her paternal home six days after the marriage – The Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s judgment, upheld the Family Court’s decree, and awarded the appellant Rs. 25,00,000 as compensation for her misappropriated stridhan – The Court found the High Court’s approach legally unsustainable, criticizing it for demanding a criminal standard of proof and basing findings on assumptions not supported by evidence – The Court emphasized the civil standard of proof as the balance of probabilities and noted that the appellant’s claim for return of stridhan does not require proof of acquisition – The Supreme Court concluded that the appellant had established a more probable case and directed the first respondent to pay the compensation within six months, with a 6% interest per annum in case of default.