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Harbeer Singh v. Sheeshpal & Ors.

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal Nos. 1624-1625 of 2013)Decided 20 Oct 2016
Criminal Appeal Nos. 1624-1625 of 2013
Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose · Justice Amitava Roy

Background

The deceased, Balbir Singh, was allegedly run over and dragged by a jeep driven by Sheeshpal following old enmity between the families, with several co-accused implicated in a conspiracy. The Trial Court convicted the accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment, but the Rajasthan High Court acquitted them, holding the eyewitnesses to be unreliable "chance witnesses." Both the son of the deceased and the State of Rajasthan separately appealed the acquittal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined whether the two eyewitnesses (PW5 and PW6) were genuinely present at the scene or were "chance witnesses" whose testimony should be discarded, relying on precedents including Puran v. State of Punjab and Mousam Singha Roy v. State of W.B. It found their presence at the scene unnatural, their ability to identify the accused in the dark suspect, and noted the prosecution had failed to convincingly connect the accused's jeep to the crime due to investigative lapses. Concluding the High Court's view was a reasonably plausible one and that guilt had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt, the Court dismissed both appeals and upheld the acquittal.

Lesson Learnt

In criminal appeals against acquittal, courts give weight to the trial court's and High Court's assessment of witness credibility, and a conviction cannot stand on eyewitness testimony that is unnatural or riddled with investigative gaps: the prosecution must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt at every stage, including on appeal.

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

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