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Anwar @ Bhugra vs. State of Haryana

Criminal Appeal · 2023 INSC 315Decided 29 Mar 2023
Criminal Appeal Nos. 973-974 of 2011

Background

In April 1994, three men waylaid a villager (the complainant) near Gharaunda, Haryana, robbed him and two others of small sums of money and a wristwatch, and assaulted them with weapons including a sickle ("drant"), knife, and pistol. The appellant, Anwar @ Bhugra, was named as one of the three armed men and was separately charged under the Arms Act after a country-made pistol was allegedly recovered from him during arrest. The trial court convicted him under Sections 394/397 IPC (robbery/dacoity with attempt to cause grievous hurt) and under Section 25 of the Arms Act, and the Punjab & Haryana High Court upheld both convictions.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found serious inconsistencies undermining the prosecution's case. The memo recorded at the time of the appellant's personal search stated nothing was found on him, yet a separate recovery memo claimed a country-made pistol was found in his pyjama pocket: two irreconcilable accounts of the same arrest. Two key witnesses who were supposedly present at the crime scene turned hostile and did not support the prosecution's version, with one attributing the theft to a different accused entirely. The complainant's own testimony in court also materially contradicted his original FIR regarding who was present and who took what. A material witness named in the FIR, whose arrival allegedly caused the accused to flee, was never produced by the prosecution. Given these doubts about both the appellant's presence at the crime scene and the recovery of the pistol, the Court held guilt had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt and set aside the conviction.

Lesson Learnt

A criminal conviction cannot stand on witness testimony and recovery evidence riddled with internal contradictions. Courts must acquit where core prosecution facts (like how and where evidence was recovered) are inconsistent, even after two lower courts had already convicted.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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