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TMI Blog2007 (2) TMI 704X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nsive 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. In our view, the submission of the learned Counsel for the appellants is well founded that it is not material whether Accused No. 1 had or had not filed a complaint or he was or was not examined by a do ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... unless their presence is required in any other case. X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ned that the injuries were ante mortem in nature. She found a punctured wound over the left 3rd inter costal space extending from medial edge of the areola of left nipple obliquely downwards and medially 2" x 2" size with clean cut margin and fat protruding through the wound the depth of which was 3= inches. Likewise, injuries to PWs 2 to 4 were also proved by PW 12, Dr. Chandrasekhara Prasad. 4. After completion of investigation, all the accused were charged for offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 148, 324, 302read with Section 149 of IPC. In order to substantiate its case, the prosecution examined 13 witnesses. PWs 1 to 4 were portrayed as eye witnesses and amongst them, PWs 2 to 4 were shown to be injured persons. They supported the case of the prosecution as to Chit Transaction, the incident which took place at about 5.30 p.m. on October 30, 1989 as also the assault at 9.30 p.m. on the same day. 5. The learned Additional Sessions Judge, however, considering contradictions and discrepancies in the deposition of eye witnesses, non-examination of Nagraj who was the root cause of quarrel and Krishniah, son of Obalaiah, who accompanied deceased Anjinappa to hosp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lly ill-founded or wholly misconceived; the Court had 'obstinately blundered' or reached the conclusion, 'wholly wrong', 'manifestly erroneous' or 'demonstrably unsustainable', which resulted in miscarriage of justice. According to him, the view taken by the Trial Court was legal, proper and in consonance with law and the High Court, in an appeal against acquittal, ought not to have disturbed the order even if two views were possible. He, therefore, submitted that the appeal deserves to be allowed and the appellants are entitled to acquittal. 9. Mr. Hegde, learned Counsel for the respondent-State supported the order passed by the High Court. He submitted that once an order of acquittal is challenged by the State, the appellate course has all the powers which were exercised by the Trial Court and it is open to the appellate Court to reappreciate and review such evidence and to come to its own conclusion. On facts, the counsel submitted that the High Court, considering the ground reality as to possibility of contradictions and omissions held that they did not affect the genesis or substratum of prosecution case and convicted the accused. The order doe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h Court. (5) No application under Sub-section (4) for the grant of special leave to appeal from an order of acquittal shall be entertained by the High Court after the expiry of six months, where the complainant is a public servant, and sixty days in every other case, computed from the date of that order of acquittal. (6) If, in any case, the application under Sub-section (4) for the grant of special leave to appeal from an order of acquittal is refused, no appeal from that order of acquittal shall lie under Sub-section (1) or under Sub-section (2). Whereas Sections 379-380 cover special cases of appeals, other sections lay down procedure to be followed by appellate courts. 11. It may be stated that more or less similar provisions were found in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (hereinafter referred to as 'the old Code') which came up for consideration before various High Courts, Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as also before this Court. Since in the present appeal, we have been called upon to decide the ambit and scope of the power of an appellate Court in an appeal against an order of acquittal, we have confined ourselves to one aspect only, i.e. an app ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... m that of the Trial Judge, recorded an order of conviction. A petition was presented to His Majesty in Council for leave to appeal on the ground that conflicting views had been expressed by the High Courts in different parts of India upon the question whether in an appeal from an order of acquittal, an appellate Court had the power to interfere with the findings of fact recorded by the Trial Judge. Their Lordships thought it fit to clarify the legal position and accordingly upon the 'humble advice of their Lordships', leave was granted by His Majesty. The case was, thereafter, argued. The Committee considered the scheme and interpreting Section 417 of the Code (old Code) observed that there was no indication in the Code of any limitation or restriction on the High Court in exercise of powers as an appellate Tribunal. The Code also made no distinction as regards powers of the High Court in dealing with an appeal against acquittal and an appeal against conviction. Though several authorities were cited revealing different views by High Courts dealing with an appeal from an order of acquittal, the Committee did not think it proper to discuss all the cases. Lord Russel summed u ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ovincial Government preferred an appeal which was allowed and the accused was convicted for offences punishable under Sections 302 and 323 IPC. The High Court, for convicting the accused, placed reliance on certain eye-witnesses. 15. Upholding the decision of the High Court and following the proposition of law in Sheo Swarup, a six- Judge Bench speaking through Fazl Ali, J. unanimously stated: It must be observed at the very outset that we cannot support the view which has been expressed in several cases that the High Court has no power under Section 417, Criminal P. C, to reverse a judgment of acquittal, unless the judgment is perverse or the subordinate Court has in some way or other misdirected itself so as to produce a miscarriage of justice. (emphasis supplied) 16. In Surajpal Singh v. State 1952CriLJ331 , a two-Judge Bench observed that it was well established that in an appeal under Section 417 of the (old) Code, the High Court had full power to review the evidence upon which the order of acquittal was founded. But it was equally well-settled that the presumption of innocence of the accused was further reinforced by his acquittal by the trial court, and the findings of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of acquittal as in the case of an appeal against an order of conviction, subject to the riders that the presumption of innocence with which the accused person starts in the trial court continues even up to the appellate stage and the appellate court should attach due weight to the opinion of the trial court which recorded the order of acquittal. If the appellate court reviews the evidence, keeping those principles in mind, and comes to a contrary conclusion, the judgment cannot be said to have been vitiated. (emphasis supplied) 19. In Aher Raja Khima v. State of Saurashtra 1956CriLJ426 , the accused was prosecuted under Sections 302 and 447 IPC. He was acquitted by the trial Court but convicted by the High Court. Dealing with the power of the High Court against an order of acquittal, Bose, J. speaking for the majority (2:1) stated; "It is, in our opinion, well settled that it is not enough for the High Court to take a different view of the evidence; there must also be substantial and compelling reasons for holding that the trial Court was wrong (emphasis supplied). Venkatarama Ayyar, J. (minority), in his dissenting judgment stated: Do the words "compelling re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iciently cogent reasons", and (iii) "strong reasons" are not intended to curtail the undoubted power of an appellate court in an appeal against acquittal to review the entire evidence and to come to its own conclusion; but in doing so it should not only consider every matter on record having a bearing on the questions of fact and the reasons given by the court below in support of its order of acquittal in its arriving at a conclusion on those facts, but should also express those reasons in its judgment, which lead it to hold that the acquittal was not justified. 21. Again, in M.G. Agarwal v. State of Maharashtra [1963]2SCR405 , the point was raised before a Constitution Bench of this Court. Taking note of earlier decisions, Gajendragadkar, J. (as His Lordship then was) laid down the principle in the following words: In some of the earlier decisions of this Court, however, in emphasising the importance of adopting a cautious approach in dealing with appeals against acquittals, it was observed that the presumption of innocence is reinforced by the order of acquittal and so, 'the findings of the trial Court which had the advantage of seeing the witnesses and hea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sprudence owes to individual liberty constrains the higher court not to upset the holding without very convincing reasons and comprehensive considerations." 23. Putting emphasis on balance between importance of individual liberty and evil of acquitting guilty persons, Krishna Iyer, J. said; Even at this stage we may remind ourselves of a necessary social perspective in criminal cases which suffers from insufficient forensic appreciation. The dangers of exaggerated devotion to the rule of benefit of doubt at the expense of social defence and to the soothing sentiment that all acquittals are always good regardless of justice to the victim and the community, demand especial emphasis in the contemporary context of escalating crime and escape. The judicial instrument has a public accountability. The cherished principles or golden thread of proof beyond reasonable doubt which runs through the web of our law should not be stretched morbidly to embrace every hunch, hesitancy and degree of doubt. The excessive solicitude reflected in the attitude that a thousand guilty men may go but one innocent martyr shall not suffer is a false dilemma. Only reasonable doubts belong to the accuse ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... w the entire evidence and to come to its own conclusion, bearing in mind the considerations mentioned by the Privy Council in Sheo Swarup's case. Occasionally phrases like 'manifestly illegal', 'grossly unjust', have been used to describe the orders of acquittal which warrant interference. But, such expressions have been used more, as flourishes of language, to emphasise the reluctance of the Appellate Court to interfere with an order of acquittal than to curtail the power of the Appellate Court to review the entire evidence and to come to its own conclusion. In some cases (Ramabhupala Reddy and Ors. v. State of A.P. 1971CriLJ422 , Bhim Singh Rup Singh v. State of Maharashtra 1974CriLJ337 , it has been said that to the principles laid down in Sanwat Singh's case may be added the further principle that "if two reasonable conclusions can be reached on the basis of the evidence on record, the Appellate Court should not disturb the finding of the Trial Court". This, of course, is not a new principle. It stems out of the fundamental principle of our criminal jurisprudence that the accused is entitled to the benefit of any reasonable doubt. If two reason ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 26. In Bhagwan Singh and Ors. v. State of M.P. 2002CriLJ2024 , the trial Court acquitted the accused but the High Court convicted them. Negativing the contention of the appellants that the High Court could not have disturbed the findings of fact of the trial Court even if that view was not correct, this Court observed; We do not agree with the submissions of the learned Counsel for the appellants that under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure the High Court could not disturb the finding of facts of the trial court even if it found that the view taken by the trial court was not proper. On the basis of the pronouncements of this Court, the settled position of law regarding the powers of the High Court in an appeal against an order of acquittal is that the Court has full powers to review the evidence upon which an order of acquittal is based and generally it will not interfere with the order of acquittal because by passing an order of acquittal the presumption of innocence in favour of the accused is reinforced. The golden thread which runs through the web of administration of justice in criminal case is that if two views are possible on the evidence adduced in the case, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... The paramount consideration of the Court is to ensure that miscarriage of justice is prevented. A miscarriage of justice which may arise from acquittal of the guilty is no less than from the conviction of an innocent. In a case where admissible evidence is ignored, a duty is cast upon the appellate Court to re-appreciate the evidence in a case where the accused has been acquitted, for the purpose of ascertaining as to whether any of the accused committed any offence or not". 29. Recently, in Kallu v. State of M.P. 2006CriLJ799 , 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. The appellate court will also bear in mind that there is a presumption of innocenc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at the prosecution had failed to examine certain persons who could have unfolded the genesis of the prosecution case. The trial Court indicated that the root cause of the quarrel was refusal to exchange copper vessel (Kolaga) to Nagraj, winner of the draw, but he was not examined. Likewise, Krishnaiah, son of Oblaiah, who accompanied injured (deceased) Anjaniappa to the hospital, was not brought before the Court. Though it is in evidence that Accused No. 1 Chandrappa was injured and was also taken to the hospital alongwith Anjaniappa , some witnesses had denied the fact as to injuries sustained by the Accused No. 1. The High Court did not give much weight to the said circumstance observing that Accused No. 1 was neither examined by a doctor nor a cross-complaint was filed by him against the prosecuting party. In our view, the submission of the learned Counsel for the appellants is well founded that it is not material whether Accused No. 1 had or had not filed a complaint or he was or was not examined by a doctor, but the fact that even though it was the case of prosecution that Accused No. 1 was injured during the course of incident, prosecution witnesses tried to suppress that fac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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