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Ratheesh v. State of Kerala & Anr.

Special Leave Petition (Criminal) · Neutral citation not assigned (Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 1759 of 2015)Decided 15 Oct 2015
Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 1759 of 2015
Justice Madan B. Lokur · Justice S.A. Bobde

Background

The petitioner was accused of having sexual relations with his cousin on the promise of marriage, and of refusing to marry her after she became pregnant. The trial court convicted him and sentenced him to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine. The first appellate court upheld this, and the High Court, in revision, affirmed the conviction but reduced the sentence to two years' rigorous imprisonment.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the special leave petition. It declined to re-examine the evidence, because three courts had already considered it in detail and reached a conclusion that the Supreme Court did not find to be perverse. The Court said that a mere difference of opinion on the facts is not enough to interfere with concurrent findings of three courts. The High Court's conviction and sentence, including the reduced sentence and the fine arrangements, were left undisturbed.

Lesson Learnt

The Supreme Court generally does not re-weigh the facts once several courts have examined the evidence and reached consistent findings, unless those findings are perverse or unreasonable. A person facing a criminal conviction must therefore put the strongest case forward in the earlier courts.

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

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