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Bharamappa Gogi v. Praveen Murthy & Ors. Etc.

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal Nos. 2216-2217 of 2010)Decided 9 Feb 2016
Criminal Appeal Nos. 2216-2217 of 2010
Justice S.A. Bobde · Justice Amitava Roy

Background

This order sends the case back; it does not decide the dispute. Criminal appeals against conviction and acquittal on murder and robbery charges were pending in the High Court. Instead of deciding them, the High Court used its suo motu revisional power and sent the case to the trial court to frame a fresh charge under Section 397 IPC and take additional evidence. The complainant challenged that step.

Decision Breakdown

This is not a final decision on the dispute. The Court held that the High Court should not have ordered a remand to the trial court and should decide the appeals on the existing charges and record. It set aside the remand order and restored Criminal Appeal Nos. 1126 of 2006 and 1167 of 2006 to the High Court for disposal afresh in accordance with law. The Court said twice that it had offered no observation on the merits of the case.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet on whether the convictions and acquittals were correct. A High Court hearing a criminal appeal should decide it on the existing record rather than send the case back to the trial court.

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

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