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Gopal Singh v. State of Uttarakhand

Criminal Appeal · 2025 INSC 263Decided 6 Feb 2025
Crl.A. No.-001408-001408 - 2014
Justice Abhay S. Oka · Justice Ujjal Bhuyan

Background

Gopal Singh and Avtar Singh, along with other accused, were convicted by the Sessions Court under Sections 302 and 323 read with Section 34 IPC for the murder of Gaje Singh following a village altercation involving stones and sticks; the High Court reduced the conviction to Section 304 Part II IPC. The prosecution's case rested on two alleged eyewitnesses, PW-1 (the complainant) and PW-3, along with hearsay evidence from four court witnesses.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found that both PW-1 and PW-3 gave their evidence in court while the appellants were absent, and neither witness was ever asked to identify the appellants in court as the persons they claimed to have seen committing the offence, only naming them without identification. The remaining court witnesses offered only hearsay about what others had told them. The Court held that establishing the accused's identity is fundamental to any conviction, and since this was never done for these appellants, it amounted to "no evidence" against them. The convictions were quashed and the appellants acquitted, with their bail bonds cancelled.

Lesson Learnt

Naming an accused person is not the same as proving their identity: a conviction cannot stand unless prosecution witnesses actually identify the accused in court as the person who committed the offence, not merely allege it in their statements.

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

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