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Ritu Rai vs. The State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr.

Criminal Appeal · 2022 INSC 1040Decided 29 Sept 2022
Criminal Appeal No. 1706 of 2022
Uday Umesh Lalit · J.B. Pardiwala

Background

The appellant was the complainant in a criminal case registered against respondent no. 2 for offences under Sections 328, 376, 504 and 506 IPC. During the trial, she applied to have a school official summoned to verify her Class-X mark sheet, in order to prove her age at the time of the offence, which had a bearing on which offence would apply. The trial court allowed this application and the mark sheet was placed on record after the witness was examined. The accused challenged this order before the Allahabad High Court, which set it aside.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the trial court had rightly allowed the complainant's application to summon the school witness and place her mark sheet on record, since her age was relevant to determining the correct offence. It found no proper basis for the High Court to have set aside that order, especially since the document was already on record and the witness had already been duly examined. The Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court's order, and restored the trial court's original order permitting the evidence.

Lesson Learnt

Evidence relevant to a material fact in a criminal trial, such as proof of the victim's age through official school records, should ordinarily be allowed on record if procedurally proper, and higher courts should be cautious about undoing such evidentiary rulings once a witness has already been examined and the document placed on record.

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

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