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20. Part III of the Constitution of India deals with Fundamental Rights. Articles 20 to 22 deal with personal liberty of citizens and others. Article 20(2) expressly provides that no person shall be prosecuted or punished for the same offence, more than once. The protection against double jeopardy is also supplemented by statutory provisions contained in Section 300 of the CrPC, Section 40 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, Section 71 of the IPC and Section 26 of the General Clauses Act, 1897. Article 20(2) of the Constitution of India reads as under:

“20. Protection in respect of conviction for offences.— (1) xxx xxx xxx (2) No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.

(3) xxx xxx xxx ”

21. It would also be useful to discuss on the import of Section 300 of the CrPC. The said provision has been extracted hereinunder for ready reference:

“Section 300 CrPC- Person once convicted or acquitted not to be tried for same offence. (1) A person who has once been tried by a Court of competent jurisdiction for an offence and convicted or acquitted of such offence shall, while such conviction or acquittal remains in force, not be liable to be tried again for the same offence, nor on the same facts for any other offence for which a different charge from the one made against him might have been made under sub-section (1) of section 221, or for which he might have been convicted under sub-section (2) thereof.

(6) Nothing in this section shall affect the provisions of section 26 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (10 of 1897) or of section 188 of this Code.

Explanation.—The dismissal of a complaint, or the discharge of the accused, is not an acquittal for the purposes of this section.”

22. Section 300 of the CrPC embodies the general rule which affirms the validity of the pleas of autrefois acquit (previously acquitted) and autrefois convict (previously convicted). Sub-section (1) of Section 300 lays down the rule of double jeopardy and sub-sections (2) to (5) deal with the exceptions. Accordingly, so long as an order of acquittal or conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction remains in force, the person cannot be tried for the same offence for which he was tried earlier or for any other offence arising from the same fact situation, except the cases dealt in with under sub-sections (2) to (5) of the section.

39. The learned counsel for the appellant has also brought to the attention of this Court, sub-section (2) of Section 300 of the CrPC which states that a person acquitted or convicted of any offence may be tried thereafter, but with the consent of the State Government, for any distinct offence for which a separate charge might have been framed against him under sub-section (1) of Section 220 of the CrPC. It has already been observed hereinabove that the allegations/offences in the instant cases are the same as the allegations/offences in the previous three cases, therefore as per the mandate under Section 300(2) of the CrPC, the consent of the State Government is necessary. Even if it is assumed for the sake of argument that the allegations are different in present cases from those in the previous cases, the prosecution has failed to obtain the prior consent of the State Government necessary to prosecute the accused-appellant and therefore the trial in the instant case is unlawful.