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Nirmala Bai Devidas Chavhan v. The State of Maharashtra and Ors. Etc.

Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 787Decided 3 Aug 2026
Crl.A. No.-000502-000507 - 2023 (with Criminal Appeal Nos. 508-513 of 2023)
Justice Sanjay Karol · Justice Augustine George Masih

Background

During Holi festival celebrations in 2014 in Washim district, Maharashtra, a quarrel over a DJ escalated into a fatal attack a few hours later when the deceased, his father, brother and cousin were allegedly dragged from their car and assaulted with iron pipes and wooden planks by a large group linked to the earlier quarrel and old election rivalries. The Trial Court convicted 20 of 23 accused, sentencing them to life imprisonment, but the Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench) reversed the conviction and acquitted all of them, citing serious discrepancies. The mother of the deceased (informant) and the State of Maharashtra separately appealed to the Supreme Court to restore the conviction.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's acquittal, applying the settled principle that an appellate court will only overturn an acquittal where it is perverse, based on misreading of evidence, or where no reasonable view other than guilt was possible: none of which applied here. The Court found the medical evidence contradicted the eyewitnesses' detailed account of the assault, no independent (non-relative) witness was examined despite 40-50 bystanders being present, there were unexplained delays in recording witness statements and registering the FIR, chain-of-custody lapses affected the forensic evidence, and injuries sustained by several accused were never explained by the prosecution, all factors the Court found the High Court had properly weighed. While noting some imperfections in the High Court's reasoning on peripheral points, the Court held the core findings supporting acquittal remained sound and dismissed both appeals.

Lesson Learnt

An appellate court reviewing a High Court's acquittal will not re-weigh the evidence itself; it will only step in if the acquittal is shown to be perverse or legally unsustainable: a reasonable, well-reasoned acquittal based on genuine doubt (such as unexplained delays, missing independent witnesses, or gaps between medical and ocular evidence) will stand even if another view was also possible.

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

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