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Ram Singh vs. The State of Uttar Pradesh

Not available · 2024 INSC 128Decided 21 Feb 2024
Not available
Justice Abhay S. Oka · Justice Ujjal Bhuyan

Background

According to the prosecution, the appellant Ram Singh, allegedly instigated by a co-accused (also named Lala Ram), came to the informant's house and fired a country-made pistol at the informant, but the bullet instead struck and killed the informant's mother, who was sitting nearby. The Sessions Court convicted Ram Singh under Section 301 (transferred intent) read with Section 302 IPC for the death and under Section 307 IPC for the attempt on the informant's life, while the co-accused Lala Ram was acquitted on the same evidence. The Allahabad High Court upheld Ram Singh's conviction, and he appealed to the Supreme Court decades after the 1982 incident.

Decision Breakdown

Reviewing the eyewitness testimony and surrounding circumstances after decades of pendency, the Supreme Court found the evidence created a lingering doubt about the appellant's actual involvement in the shooting, particularly since the co-accused who was alleged to have instigated the same incident was acquitted by the trial court on the very same body of evidence. Applying the principle that any reasonable doubt must benefit the accused, and noting the inconsistency of convicting one alleged participant while acquitting another on identical evidence, the Court set aside the conviction and sentence, quashed the judgments of both the trial court and the High Court, and ordered Ram Singh's release.

Lesson Learnt

A criminal conviction cannot stand where the same evidence that convicts one accused was found insufficient to convict a co-accused allegedly involved in the identical act. Courts must give the accused the benefit of any genuine, lingering doubt rather than inconsistent treatment of identical evidence.

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

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