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Ashoksinh Jayendrasinh v. The State of Gujarat

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 634Decided 7 May 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 1123 of 2010
Justice R. Banumathi · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer

Background

A long-running dispute over a village road led to an altercation on the night of 23.11.1997, in which gunshots were fired, killing one woman and injuring two others. The trial court convicted the appellant of murder and related offences, and the Gujarat High Court affirmed the conviction in 2009, leading to this appeal before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found the prosecution's identification evidence unreliable because the incident occurred after dark at 9 PM with no proof of any light source (electric or moonlight) by which witnesses could have identified the assailants. The Court also noted contradictions between the complaint and courtroom testimony about who actually fired the shots, the post-mortem report's failure to specify whether the fatal wounds were from a rifle or a gun, and the fact that panch witnesses to the weapon-recovery panchnama had turned hostile. Holding that the concurrent findings of the lower courts were perverse and not properly supported by the evidence, the Court gave the appellant the benefit of the doubt, set aside his conviction, and ordered his immediate release.

Lesson Learnt

Even after two courts have convicted an accused, the Supreme Court can overturn a conviction if the identification evidence is weak (e.g., no proof of adequate light at night) or if there are unresolved contradictions in witness testimony: the benefit of a genuine doubt must go to the accused.

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

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