Gujarat High Court
The State Of Gujarat vs Patel Kalyanbhai Umedbhai & ... on 16 October, 2015
Author: K.S.Jhaveri
Bench: Ks Jhaveri, G.B.Shah
R/CR.A/215/2006 JUDGMENT
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 215 of 2006
FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:
HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE KS JHAVERI
and
HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE G.B.SHAH
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1 Whether Reporters of Local Papers may be allowed
to see the judgment ?
2 To be referred to the Reporter or not ?
3 Whether their Lordships wish to see the fair copy of
the judgment ?
4 Whether this case involves a substantial question of
law as to the interpretation of the Constitution of
India or any order made thereunder ?
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THE STATE OF GUJARAT....Appellant(s)
Versus
PATEL KALYANBHAI UMEDBHAI & 3....Opponent(s)/Respondent(s)
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Appearance:
MS. NISHA THAKORE, APP for the Appellant(s) No. 1
MR DIPAK H SINDHI, ADVOCATE for the Opponents/Respondents No.1- 4
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE KS JHAVERI
and
HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE G.B.SHAH
Date : 16/10/2015
ORAL JUDGMENT
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1. By way of this appeal, the appellantState of Gujarat has challenged the judgment and order dated 29.10.2005 passed by the learned Special Judge, Fast Track Court No.2, Patan, in Sessions Case No.202 of 2002, whereby the Trial Court has acquitted the original accusedrespondents herein for the offence punishable under Sections 394, 504 and 114 of the Indian Penal Code (for short "the I.P. Code"), under Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act and under Section 3(1)(10) & 3(2)(5) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989.
2. The facts of this case are that a complaint was filed by the complainantSadabhai Nathabhai Vankar, inter alia alleging that he was the Sarpanch of the village. On 13.10.1999, while the complainant was standing at bus stand, waiting for the bus, the accused Nos. 1 and 2 came there and complained him regarding the canal and original accused Nos.1 and 2 started abusing the complainant by naming his caste. It is also alleged in the complaint that thereafter, the original accused Nos. 3 and 4 came there and caught hold the complainant and inflicted knife blow and looted an amount of Rs.28,000/ from the complaint.
3. The investigation was taken up and after usual investigation, chargesheet came to be filed against the accused Page 2 of 12 HC-NIC Page 2 of 12 Created On Tue Oct 20 00:39:01 IST 2015 R/CR.A/215/2006 JUDGMENT persons. The offence committed by the accused persons were exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions. Therefore, the learned Magistrate committed the case to the Sessions Court at Patan under Section 209 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, where it was registered as Sessions case No.202 of 2002. Charge vide Exhibit8 came to be framed against the accused persons. They pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.
4. In order to bring home the charge against the accused persons, the prosecution examined the following witnesses: Sl. No. Name of the Witness Ex. No. 1 Sadabhai Nathabhai Parmar 20 2 Somabhai Govabhai Rabari 22 3 Talshibhai Ghelabhai Patel 26 4 Tejaji Kaluji Thakore 27 5 Kantibhai Jivrambhai Suthar 29 6 Ramaji Maghaji Solanki 33 7 Dr. Amrutlal Virabhai Patel 37 8 Virendrasinh Sujaji Dabhi 40 9 Somdatt Hajarilal Sharma 43 4.1. The prosecution also produced and relied upon the following documentary evidence during the course of the trial: Page 3 of 12 HC-NIC Page 3 of 12 Created On Tue Oct 20 00:39:01 IST 2015 R/CR.A/215/2006 JUDGMENT Sl. No. Particulars Exh. No. 1 Original Complaint 21 2 Panchanama of place of offence 28 3 Panchanama of the weapon 30 4 Medical certificate of complainant 38
5. After conclusion of the trial, further statements under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 of the accused came to be recorded. The defence in the further statement is of total denial. The learned trial Judge heard the arguments of learned APP and learned advocate for the accused and after appreciating the evidence, recorded the judgment and order of acquittal against the accused, as aforesaid. Therefore, the present appeal.
6. We have heard Ms. Thakore, learned APP for the appellantState and Mr. Sindhi, learned advocate for the respondents accused. Learned advocates for both the parties have taken us through the documentary and oral evidence on record. We have independently and dispassionately applied our mind to this evidence.
At the outset, it is required to be noted that the principles which would govern and regulate the hearing of appeal by this Court, against an order of acquittal passed by the trial Court, have been very succinctly explained by the Apex Court in a catena of decisions.
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7. In the case of M.S. Narayana Menon @ Mani Vs. State of Kerala & Anr, reported in (2006) 6 S.C.C. 39, the Apex Court has narrated about the powers of the High Court in appeal against the order of acquittal. In para 54 of the decision, the Apex Court has observed as under: "54. In any event the High Court entertained an appeal treating to be an appeal against acquittal, it was in fact exercising the revisional jurisdiction. Even while exercising an appellate power against a judgment of acquittal, the High Court should have borne in mind the wellsettled principles of law that where two view are possible, the appellate Court should not interfere with the finding of acquittal recorded by the Court below."
8. Further, in the case of Chandrappa Vs. State of Karnataka reported in (2007) 4 S.C.C. 415, the Apex Court laid down the following principles;
"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, re appreciate and reconsider the evidence upon which the order of acquittal is founded.
[2] The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 puts no
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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 curtain extensive powers of an appellate Court in an appeal against acquittal. Such phraseologies are more in the nature of "flourishes of language" to emphasis 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 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."
9. Thus, it is a settled principle that while exercising appellate power, even if two reasonable conclusions are possible on Page 6 of 12 HC-NIC Page 6 of 12 Created On Tue Oct 20 00:39:01 IST 2015 R/CR.A/215/2006 JUDGMENT the basis of the evidence on record, the appellate Court should not disturb the finding of acquittal recorded by the trial Court.
10. Even in the case of State of Goa V. Sanjay Thakran & Anr. reported in (2007) 3 S.C.C. 75, the Apex Court has reiterated the powers of the High Court in such cases. In para 16 of the said decision, the Court has observed as under;
"16. From the aforesaid decisions, it is apparent that while exercising the powers in appeal against the order of acquittal the Court of appeal would not ordinarily interfere with the order of acquittal unless the approach of the lower Court is vitiated by some manifest illegality and the conclusion arrived at would not be arrived at by any reasonable person and, therefore, the decision is to be characterized as perverse. Merely because two views are possible, the Court of appeal would not take the view which would upset the judgment delivered by the Court below. However, the appellate Court has a power to review the evidence if it is of the view that the conclusion arrived at by the Court below is perverse and the Court has committed a manifest error of law and ignored the material evidence on record. A duty is cast upon the appellate Court, in such circumstances, to reappreciate the evidence to arrive to a just decision on the basis of material placed on record to find out whether any of the accused is connected with the commission of the crime he is charged with."
11. Similar principle has been laid down by the Apex Court in Page 7 of 12 HC-NIC Page 7 of 12 Created On Tue Oct 20 00:39:01 IST 2015 R/CR.A/215/2006 JUDGMENT the cases of State of Uttar Pradesh Vs. Ram Veer Singh & Ors reported in 2007 A.I.R. S.C.W. 5553 and in Girja Prasad (Dead) by LRs Vs. State of MP reported in 2007 A.I.R. S.C.W. 5589. Thus, the powers, which this Court may exercise against an order of acquittal, are well settled.
11.1. In the case of Luna Ram Vs. Bhupat Singh and Ors, reported in (2009) SCC 749, the Apex Court in para 10 and 11 has held as under: "10. The High Court has noted that the prosecution version was not clearly believable. Some of the socalled eye witnesses stated that the deceased died because his anke was twisted by an accused. Others said that he was strangulated. It was the case of the prosecution that the injured witnesses were thrown out of the bus. The doctor who conducted the postmortem and examined the witnesses had categorically stated that it was not possible that somebody would throw a person out of the bus when it was in running condition.
11. Considering the parameters of appeal against the judgment of acquittal, we are not inclined to interfere in this appeal. The view of the High Court cannot be termed to be perverse and is a possible view on the evidence."
11.2. Even in a recent decision of the Apex Court in the case of Mookkiah and Anr. Vs. State, rep. by the Inspector of Police, Page 8 of 12 HC-NIC Page 8 of 12 Created On Tue Oct 20 00:39:01 IST 2015 R/CR.A/215/2006 JUDGMENT Tamil Nadu, reported in AIR 2013 SC 321, the Apex Court in para 4 has held as under: "4. It is not in dispute that the trial Court, on appreciation of oral and documentary evidence led in by the prosecution and defence, acquitted the accused in respect of the charges leveled against them. On appeal by the State, the High Court, by impugned order, reversed the said decision and convicted the accused under Section 302 read with Section 34 of IPC and awarded RI for life. Since counsel for the appellant very much emphasized that the High Court has exceeded its jurisdiction in upsetting the order of acquittal into conviction, let us analyze the scope and power of the High Court in an appeal filed against the order of acquittal. This Court in a series of decisions has repeatedly laid down that as the first appellate court the High Court, even while dealing with an appeal against acquittal, was also entitled, and obliged as well, to scan through and if need be reappreciate the entire evidence, though while choosing to interfere only the court should find an absolute assurance of the guilt on the basis of the evidence on record and not merely because the High Court could take one more possible or a different view only. Except the above, where the matter of the extent and depth of consideration of the appeal is concerned, no distinctions or differences in approach are envisaged in dealing with an appeal as such merely because one was against conviction or the other against an acquittal. [Vide State of Rajasthan vs. Sohan Lal and Others, (2004) 5 SCC 573]."
11.3. It is also a settled legal position that in acquittal appeal, Page 9 of 12 HC-NIC Page 9 of 12 Created On Tue Oct 20 00:39:01 IST 2015 R/CR.A/215/2006 JUDGMENT the appellate Court is not required to rewrite the judgment or to give fresh reasonings, when the reasons assigned by the Court below are found to be just and proper. Such principle is laid down by the Apex Court in the case of State of Karnataka Vs. Hemareddy, reported in AIR 1981, SC 1417, wherein it is held as under: "...This Court has observed in Girija Nandini Devi V. Bigendra Nandini Choudhary (1967) 1 SCR 93:(AIR 1967 SC 1124) that it is not the duty of the Appellate Court on the evidence to repeat the narration of the evidence or to reiterate the reasons given by the trial Court expression of general agreement with the reasons given by the Court the decision of which is under appeal, will ordinarily suffice."
11.4. Similar principle has been laid down by the Apex Court in the case of Shivasharanappa and Ors Vs. State of Karnataka, reported in JT 2013(7) SC 66.
12. Thus, in case the appellate Court agrees with the reasons and the opinion given by the lower Court, then the discussion of evidence is not necessary.
13. We have perused the impugned judgment and order of the learned Trial Court. We have also perused the oral as well as documentary evidence led before the trial Court and also considered Page 10 of 12 HC-NIC Page 10 of 12 Created On Tue Oct 20 00:39:01 IST 2015 R/CR.A/215/2006 JUDGMENT the submissions made by learned advocates for both the parties and found that the prosecution has not been able to prove the case against the present respondentsoriginal accused and therefore, we are of the considered opinion that the Trial Court has rightly acquitted the original accusedrespondents herein for the offence punishable under Sections 394, 504 and 114 of the IP Code, under Section 135 of the Bombay Police Act and under Section 3(1)(10) & 3(2)(5) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989. We find that the Trial Court after considering oral as well as the documentary evidence in true perspective, has passed the impugned judge and order. In paragraph No.24 of the impugned judgment and order, the trial Court has given cogent and convincing reasons for acquitting the original accusedrespondents. We are in complete agreement with the findings recorded by the Trial Court in the impugned judgment and order.
14. Apart from that, the learned APP for the appellantState is not in a position to show any evidence to take a contrary view in the matter or that the approach of the Trial Court is vitiated by some manifest illegality or that the decision is perverse or that the Trial Court has ignored the material evidence on record.
15. In that view of the matter, we are in complete agreement with the reasons recorded by the learned Trial Court in respect of Page 11 of 12 HC-NIC Page 11 of 12 Created On Tue Oct 20 00:39:01 IST 2015 R/CR.A/215/2006 JUDGMENT acquitting the original accusedrespondents herein. Hence, this appeal lacks of merit.
16. For the foregoing reasons, the present appeal is dismissed. The impugned judgment and order under challenge is hereby confirmed. Bail bond, if any, stands cancelled. Record & Proceedings, be sent back to the trial court concerned forthwith.
(K.S.JHAVERI, J.) (G.B.SHAH, J.) pawan Page 12 of 12 HC-NIC Page 12 of 12 Created On Tue Oct 20 00:39:01 IST 2015