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Rajesh @ Sarkari & Anr. v. The State of Haryana

Criminal Appeal · 2020 INSC 628Decided 3 Nov 2020
Criminal Appeal No. 1648 of 2019
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice Indu Malhotra · Justice Indira Banerjee

Background

The appellants, Rajesh alias Sarkari and Ajay Hooda, were convicted under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC for the 2006 murder of a law student, Sandeep, who was shot by several men near his university's parking area in Rohtak, and were sentenced to life imprisonment: a conviction upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The prosecution's case rested mainly on identification of the assailants by the victim's father and brother (who arrived at the scene), ballistics evidence linking recovered cartridges and bullets to an alleged weapon, and the appellants' refusal to undergo a test identification parade (TIP).

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found serious doubts about whether the eyewitnesses were actually present at the scene as claimed, and found the ballistics evidence connecting the recovered cartridges and bullets to the alleged weapon to be contradictory and riddled with infirmities. It held that a refusal to undergo a TIP is, at best, a piece of corroborative evidence and cannot by itself sustain a conviction, especially where the witnesses already knew the accused beforehand. Concluding that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, the Court gave the appellants the benefit of the doubt, acquitted them of the murder charge, and ordered their release, noting they had already undergone over 12 years of imprisonment.

Lesson Learnt

A criminal conviction must be based on credible, consistent evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt: contradictory forensic evidence and doubtful eyewitness testimony can lead to acquittal even after a conviction has been upheld through multiple courts, and refusal to join an identification parade alone is not proof of guilt.

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

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