Supreme Court of India Judgements

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Category: Acquittal

Acquittal

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 302 and 149 – Murder – Acquittal – Appeal against – A sole eyewitness, happens to be the most interested witness being the father of the deceased and having long enmity with the group to which the accused persons belong, therefore, his testimony was to be examined with great caution and the High Court was justified in doing so and in doubting it so as to uphold the conviction on his solitary evidence

Dec 17, 2023 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH CHHOTE LAL — Appellant Vs. ROHTASH AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No.…

Acquittal

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 304-Part II – Culpable homicide not amounting to murder – The appellant is entitled to an acquittal as the prosecution cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accusation of culpable homicide is not murder – HELD If the evidence is inseparable and attempting to separate it would destroy the prosecution’s foundation, the court can discard the entire evidence – The court must assess the evidence on record, considering the legal limits of separating the evidence and determining if the evidence is sufficient to prove guilt.

Dec 17, 2023 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FULL BENCH SEKARAN — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF TAMIL NADU — Respondent ( Before : B.R. Gavai, Dipankar Datta and Aravind Kumar, JJ. ) Criminal…

Acquittal

HELD “as the doctor has not certified that the deceased was fit enough to give a statement when Surjit Singh (PW-10) allegedly recorded her dying declaration, the same will have to be discarded. He urged that the first dying declaration has been made before Dr. Manvir Gupta (PW-13), who was the prosecution witness. He stated that the deceased disclosed to him that she herself consumed the aluminium phosphide tablets” the case made out by the prosecution is not free from doubt and, therefore, we have no hesitation in holding that the guilt of the appellant has not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Dec 17, 2023 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SURJIT SINGH — Appellant Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S.Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal No. 565…

Acquittal SC/ST

Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 – Sections 3(2)(v) and 14A(1) – – Acquittal -There must be an allegation that the accused not being a member of Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe committed an offence under the IPC punishable for a term of 10 years or more against a member of the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe knowing that such person belongs to such ‘community’

Dec 2, 2023 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SHASHIKANT SHARMA AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND ANOTHER — Respondent ( Before : Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Sandeep Mehta,…

Acquittal I P C

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Section 306 – Abetment of Suicide – Acquittal – The said incident allegedly happened more than two weeks before the date of suicide. There is no allegation that any act was done by the appellants in the close proximity to the date of suicide – By no stretch of the imagination, the alleged acts of the appellants can amount to instigation to commit suicide

Dec 2, 2023 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MOHIT SINGHAL AND ANOTHER — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF UTTARAKHAND AND OTHERS — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal,…

Acquittal Narcotics

(CrPC) – Section 313 – NDPS,1985 – Indeed, the appellant may not have earlier raised the issue regarding the inadequacy of examination under Section 313 of CrPC – However, in this case, the omission goes to the root of the matter as far as the appellant is concerned – Appellant has undergone incarceration of five and a half years – If, after the lapse of more than twenty­two years, he is again subjected to examination under Section 313 of CrPC, it will cause prejudice to him – Appellant’s conviction cannot be sustained – Appeal allowed.

Nov 28, 2023 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH NABABUDDIN @ MALLU @ ABHIMANYU — Appellant Vs. STATE OF HARYANA — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. )…

Acquittal Dying Declaration

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) – Evidence Act, 1972 – Section 32 – Murder by poisoning – Dying declaration – A statement made by a person who is dying is made exception to the rule of hearsay and has been made admissible in evidence under Section 32 of the Evidence Act, it would not be prudent to base conviction, relying upon such dying declaration alone – Conviction and sentence set-aside – Appeal allowed.

Nov 12, 2023 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH HARIPRASAD @ KISHAN SAHU — Appellant Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH — Respondent ( Before : Bela M. Trivedi and Dipankar Datta, JJ. ) Criminal…

Acquittal

Criminal Law – Acquittal – Presumption of innocence in favour of the accused is bolstered if the trial court hands down an acquittal – A Court of Appeal should be circumspect in overturning its judgment of acquittal, is not a principle that requires reiteration – Time and again that an acquittal will only be overturned in the presence of very compelling reasons.

Nov 12, 2023 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH MANJUNATH AND OTHERS — Appellant Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Sanjay Karol, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Acquittal

All factors taken together create a serious doubt about the correctness of the dying declaration. Therefore, the dying declaration will have to be kept out of consideration. In any case, the dying declaration is not of that sterling quality on which the conviction can be based in absence of any other evidence. Therefore, the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of the appellant beyond a reasonable doubt. The appeal succeeds and the impugned orders are quashed and set aside. The appellant is acquitted.

Nov 12, 2023 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH SHAMBHUBHAI KALABHAI RAVAL — Appellant Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT — Respondent ( Before : Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. ) Criminal Appeal…

Acquittal

Penal Code, 1860 (IPC)- Sections 302, 376, 511, 454, 380 read with Section 34 – Murder and attempt to rape – Order of acquittal reversed by High Court – Appeal – Double Presumption – Non-Examination of Material Witnesses – When a circumstance has been brought to the notice of the Court by the defense and the Court is convinced that a prosecution witness has been deliberately withheld, as it in all probability would destroy its version, it has to take adverse notice – Anything contrary to such an approach would be an affront to the concept of fair play – Appellant is entitled to the benefit of doubt as the prosecution has not proved its case beyond reasonable doubt – Conviction and sentence set-aside – Appeal allowed.

Oct 28, 2023 sclaw

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA DIVISION BENCH HARVINDER SINGH @ BACHHU — Appellant Vs. THE STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH — Respondent ( Before : M.M. Sundresh and J.B. Pardiwala, JJ. )…

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Cr P C

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Sections 451 & 457 — Release of Seized Property — Trial Court rejecting release application for iron ore on grounds of applicant’s failure to substantiate ownership — High Court setting aside trial court’s order without examining correctness of its finding on ownership — High Court should have either agreed with trial court’s finding on ownership or recorded reasons for disagreeing — Failure to do so warrants interference and remand.

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Evidence Act

Evidence Act, 1872 — Section 50 — Opinion as to relationship, when relevant — Opinion expressed by conduct of person with special knowledge on relationship is relevant — Essentials are court’s opinion, expression through conduct, and person having special knowledge — Conduct alone is not proof but an intermediate step to infer opinion — Opinion must be proved by direct evidence — Court needs to weigh evidence to form its own conclusion; Trial Court erred in treating opinion of witnesses as fact rather than evidence to be weighed and failed to independently assess credibility.

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Anticipatory Bail Corruption

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Bail — Anticipatory Bail — Supreme Court granted leave to appeal against High Court’s rejection of bail in anticipation of arrest — Custodial interrogation not required — Appellant may be admitted to bail in anticipation of arrest upon arrest, subject to terms and conditions fixed by the trial court — Appellant directed not to dissuade witnesses from disclosing facts to authorities.

Oct 12, 2025 sclaw
Cr P C

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) — Section 366 — Death Sentence Reference — Sentencing Procedure — Conviction and death penalty were pronounced on the same day without a proper inquiry into aggravating and mitigating circumstances, psychological evaluation, or jail conduct report. This haste violated established sentencing principles and vitiated the death sentence.

Oct 12, 2025 sclaw