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Rajendra Singh v. The State of Uttar Pradesh

Criminal Appeal · 2018 INSC 976Decided 23 Oct 2018
Criminal Appeal No. 863 of 2012
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Indu Malhotra

Background

The appellant had been acquitted of murder by the Sessions Court for shooting a man dead with a revolver, but the Allahabad High Court, on the State's appeal, reversed the acquittal and convicted him under Section 302 IPC read with the Arms Act. The appellant challenged this conviction in the Supreme Court, by which time he had already spent over 14 years in jail.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court re-examined the evidence and agreed with the High Court's reasoning that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt, finding the High Court's reversal of the acquittal to be a legitimate exercise of its appellate jurisdiction on the facts. The Court therefore dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction. However, noting the long period already spent in jail, it granted the appellant liberty to apply to the State Government for consideration of premature release under the applicable Cr.P.C. rules, with specific timelines for the jail authorities and State to process such an application.

Lesson Learnt

An appellate court's reversal of an acquittal will be sustained by the Supreme Court if it is properly grounded in the evidence; separately, long periods of actual custody can still be addressed through the State's remission/premature-release process rather than by altering the conviction itself.

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

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