Supreme Court of India Judgements

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Category: Acquittal

Acquittal

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Sections 143, 147, 148, 506(2) and 302 read with Section 149 – The appellants were convicted for the murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court, reversing their earlier acquittal by the trial court – The main issue was the reliability of eyewitness testimonies and the admissibility of evidence, such as the FIR and recovery of weapons – The appellants argued that the High Court erred in reversing the acquittal, contending that the eyewitnesses were unreliable and the FIR was a post-investigation document – The State contended that the eyewitness testimonies were credible and the FIR was lodged promptly without undue delay – The Supreme Court reversed the High Court’s decision, acquitted the appellants, and discharged their bail bonds – The Court found inconsistencies in the eyewitness accounts and issues with the FIR and recovery of weapons – The Court applied principles regarding the appellate court’s power in appeals against acquittal, emphasizing the need for the High Court to find perversity or illegality in the trial court’s judgment to reverse an acquittal – The Supreme Court concluded that the High Court’s judgment was flawed and restored the trial court’s acquittal of the appellants.

Apr 27, 2024 sclaw

2024 INSC 320 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH BABU SAHEBAGOUDA RUDRAGOUDAR AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta,…

Acquittal

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Sections 302, 304 and 34 – Acquittal – Benefit of Doubt – The Supreme Court acquitted the appellant, citing unreliable witness testimonies and lack of corroborative evidence – The Court’s reasoning focused on the credibility of the key witnesses and the absence of corroborative material to support the prosecution’s case – The legal reasoning included the principle of ‘falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus’ not being applicable in Indian jurisprudence – The conclusion was that the appellant deserved acquittal due to the benefit of doubt – The judicial opinion emphasized the quality of evidence over quantity in determining the truth.

Apr 27, 2024 sclaw

2024 INSC 312 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH KIRPAL SINGH — Appellant Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. ) Criminal…

Acquittal

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 302 – Murder – Appellant was convicted for the murder – Supreme Court acquitted the appellant, giving him the benefit of doubt, as the prosecution failed to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt – The Court found inconsistencies in the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses and deemed them unreliable – The Court applied the principle that extra judicial confessions are weak evidence and require corroboration – The appellant was acquitted due to the prosecution’s inability to prove the charges with certainty.

Apr 27, 2024 sclaw

2024 INSC 307 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH DHARAMBIR @ DHARMA — Appellant Vs. STATE OF HARYANA — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. )…

Acquittal

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 302, read with 34 – Murder – The Supreme Court found that the High Court did not properly address whether the Trial Court’s acquittal was a plausible conclusion from the evidence – The Supreme Court emphasized that the burden of proof lies with the prosecution and that the accused do not have to prove their innocence unless there is a statutory reverse onus – The Supreme Court concluded that the evidence did not warrant overturning the acquittal, as the Trial Court’s view was possible and not perverse.

Apr 14, 2024 sclaw

2024 INSC 295 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH BHUPATBHAI BACHUBHAI CHAVDA AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal…

Acquittal

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 302 read with 34 and 120B – Murder – The Court found that the prosecution failed to establish that the discovery of the body was solely based on the appellants’ statements and that the chain of evidence was incomplete – The Court applied the principles for circumstantial evidence, emphasizing that the circumstances must fully establish the guilt and exclude all other hypotheses – The Supreme Court concluded that the prosecution did not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt, leading to the acquittal of the appellants.

Apr 14, 2024 sclaw

2024 INSC 299 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH RAVISHANKAR TANDON — Appellant Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. ) Criminal…

Acquittal

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Sections 302 and 201 – Evidence Act, 1872 – Section 27 – Murder – Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender – How much of information received from accused may be proved – The Court found the circumstances not conclusive and not consistent only with the hypothesis of the appellant’s guilt – The Court applied the principles for circumstantial evidence, emphasizing that the circumstances must fully establish the conclusion of guilt and exclude other hypotheses – The appellant’s conviction was not sustained due to doubts about the prosecution’s story and the failure to prove all circumstances forming the chain of evidence – Acquittal.

Apr 14, 2024 sclaw

2024 INSC 298 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH ARUN SHANKAR — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan,…

Acquittal Cheque Dishonour

Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 – Section 138 – Dishonour of Cheque – Acquittal -The High Court’s judgment, which upheld the acquittal, was based on the absence of valid documentary evidence of any enforceable debt or liability – Both appellate courts found no evidence of an “enforceable debt or other liability,” which is crucial for the petitioner’s case under Section 138 – The courts applied the principle of balance of probabilities and concluded that the respondent’s defence was plausible – The Supreme Court dismissed the petitions, finding no perversity in the appellate courts’ findings and no point of law warranting interference.

Apr 14, 2024 sclaw

2024 INSC 288 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH M/S RAJCO STEEL ENTERPRISES — Appellant Vs. KAVITA SARAFF AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Kumar,…

Acquittal Narcotics

Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 – Sections 29 read with 20(b)(ii)(c) and 25, 67, 41 to 44 – The court discussed the applicability of Section 67 statements and the compliance with Sections 41 to 44 of the NDPS Act – By virtue of the decision in Tofan Singh, the benefit is to be granted to the appellants herein in regard to the inadmissibility of their statements under Section 67 of the NDPS Act 1985 – These appeals are allowed by setting aside the impugned judgment of the High Court as well as that of the Trial Court – The appellants are acquitted of the charges framed against them by giving benefit of doubt.

Apr 14, 2024 sclaw

2024:INSC:290 SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SMT. NAJMUNISHA SOLE APPELLANT IN CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 2319 OF 2009 AND ABDUL HAMID CHANDMIYA ALIAS LADOO BAPU SOLE APPELLANT IN CRIMINAL APPEAL…

Acquittal

The court found that the eyewitnesses were tutored by the police, which undermined the prosecution’s case – The absence of independent eyewitness testimony further weakened the case – The court acquitted the appellants due to the substantial doubt raised about the prosecution’s case and ordered an inquiry into the police’s conduct – The appellants had already served over 10 years of incarceration.

Apr 7, 2024 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MANIKANDAN — Appellant Vs. STATE BY THE INSPECTOR OF POLICE — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Criminal…

Acquittal

Supreme Court found that the High Court’s judgment was based on conjectures and did not properly consider the trial court’s detailed analysis of evidence – The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, quashed the High Court’s judgment, and acquitted the appellants, stating that the prosecution failed to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Apr 3, 2024 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH BALLU @ BALRAM @ BALMUKUND AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai and Sandeep…

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