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Manju Devi v. The State of Rajasthan & Anr.

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 538Decided 16 Apr 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 688 of 2019
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Background

The appellant's daughter died in unnatural circumstances in Nigeria while living there with her husband, who was facing trial in India for dowry death and cruelty. A doctor in Nigeria had conducted the first post-mortem, but an Indian Medical Board that later examined the body could not reach a definite conclusion on cause of death. The appellant (the deceased's mother) asked the trial court to summon the Nigerian doctor or record his evidence by video-conferencing; the trial court refused, citing the case's eight-year pendency, and the High Court declined to intervene.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the length of time a case has been pending cannot by itself justify refusing to examine a witness whose evidence is essential to a just decision. Since the Indian Medical Board could give no definite opinion on the cause of death, the first post-mortem doctor's testimony was found to be genuinely material. The Court noted that Sections 284 and 285 of the CrPC specifically allow courts to take evidence from witnesses abroad through a commission or video-conferencing, exactly to avoid such delay. It allowed the appeal, set aside the lower courts' orders, and directed the trial court to ensure the doctor's evidence is recorded by commission or video-conferencing and the trial concluded expeditiously.

Lesson Learnt

A court should not refuse to hear a genuinely important witness just because a case has dragged on for years; procedures like video-conferencing exist precisely to let courts gather essential evidence from witnesses living abroad without further delaying justice.

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

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