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Bharath Booshan Aggarwal v. The State of Kerala

Criminal Appeal · 2021 INSC 621Decided 6 Oct 2021
Criminal Appeal No. 834 of 2009
Justice Indira Banerjee · Justice S. Ravindra Bhat

Background

In 1994, Kerala Forest Department officials seized over 460 kg of sandalwood oil belonging to the appellant, a trader and manufacturer of the oil, at Karipur airport, and later seized more from his premises, alleging illegal possession and movement of forest produce without a transit licence. The trial court convicted him under the Kerala Forest Act, but the Sessions Court on appeal acquitted him, accepting that his Central Excise licence showed his possession was lawful. The State then appealed, and the Kerala High Court reversed the acquittal and restored the conviction, leading the appellant to approach the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that while the law allows a presumption that seized forest produce belongs to the government, that presumption does not extend to automatically assuming the accused had guilty knowledge that the goods were illicitly obtained: the prosecution still had to prove that fact beyond reasonable doubt. The Court found that the appellant had produced documents (invoices and receipts for over 100 purchase transactions) explaining the lawful origin of the sandalwood oil, and that the State had made no real effort to disprove this evidence or prove the goods were illicit. Concluding that the High Court wrongly reversed a reasoned acquittal without the compelling justification required for appellate interference, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court's judgment and restored the acquittal.

Lesson Learnt

Even when seized goods are presumed to belong to the government under forest law, the prosecution must still separately prove that the accused knowingly possessed them illegally: merely finding the goods without a licence is not automatically enough for a conviction if the accused offers a credible explanation of lawful origin.

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

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