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Parveen @ Sonu v. The State of Haryana

Criminal Appeal · 2021 INSC 835Decided 7 Dec 2021
Criminal Appeal No. 1571 of 2021
Justice R. Subhash Reddy · Justice Hrishikesh Roy

Background

The appellant was convicted by a trial court (upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court) for conspiring with co-accused in connection with an incident where a police escort party was involved with four other accused. The conviction rested mainly on alleged confessional statements made by co-accused, without independent corroborating evidence directly implicating the appellant.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, set aside the conviction and sentence, and acquitted the appellant. It held that confessions made by an accused to a police officer, or while in police custody, are inadmissible in evidence against that person under the Evidence Act, and relying on a co-accused's confession alone, without other corroborative evidence, is unsafe for sustaining a conviction. The Court also found that the High Court had failed to properly re-examine the evidence and had merely rubber-stamped the trial court's findings without giving adequate reasons, which is itself a ground for interference. On the facts, the prosecution had failed to prove the appellant was part of any conspiracy.

Lesson Learnt

A person cannot be convicted of conspiracy merely on the strength of a co-accused's confession to the police: the law requires independent, corroborating evidence, and appellate courts must give their own reasoned analysis of the evidence rather than simply affirming a lower court's conclusion.

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

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