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Dev Wati and Ors. v. The State of Haryana and Anr.

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 89Decided 24 Jan 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 134 of 2019
Justice L. Nageswara Rao · Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar

Background

A man died in suspicious circumstances amid an ongoing matrimonial dispute with his wife. During the trial of the originally named accused for murder, a prosecution witness testified that the deceased's wife and several of her relatives (the appellants) had actually orchestrated calling him away before his death. Based on this testimony, the trial court summoned the appellants to face trial as additional accused under Section 319 Cr.P.C., and the High Court upheld that order.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the witness's deposition and found it directly implicated the appellants in luring the deceased away shortly before his death, which was ruled a homicide by the post-mortem report. Applying the Constitution Bench standard from Hardeep Singh v. State of Punjab, that the evidence must show more than a bare prima facie case but need not reach the level required for conviction, the Court held the deposition met that threshold and that the High Court had correctly applied this principle even without citing the precedent by name. It therefore declined to interfere with the summoning order and dismissed the appeal, while clarifying that the factual disputes raised by the appellants could still be argued before the Sessions Court during the actual trial.

Lesson Learnt

Being named as an accused mid-trial (under Section 319 Cr.P.C.) requires stronger evidence than merely opening an investigation, but it does not require proof to the level needed for conviction: courts apply an intermediate standard, and being summoned is not itself a final verdict of guilt.

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

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