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Sanjaysinh Ramrao Chavan v. Dattatray Gulabrao Phalke & Ors.

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 97 of 2015)Decided 16 Jan 2015
Criminal Appeal No. 97 of 2015
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre

Background

The appellant, a Sub-Divisional Officer in Maharashtra, was accused in a bribery trap case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act after a complainant alleged a demand of Rs. 75,000 for issuing a land-use certificate. The key evidence was a secretly recorded conversation, but the state forensic laboratory found the recording inaudible and unfit for spectrographic analysis. The trial Magistrate declined to proceed against the appellant for want of material, but the High Court set that aside and directed proceedings to continue.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that since the voice recording was never forensically verified as audible or authentic, no reliance could be placed on a "translated" version of it, as source and authenticity are essential prerequisites for electronic evidence (applying its earlier ruling in Anvar P.V. v. P.K. Basheer). With the recording, the sole basis for implicating the appellant, excluded, there was no material connecting him to the offence. The Court held that prosecuting someone without any supporting material violates Article 21, and that courts cannot direct sanctioning authorities to grant sanction for prosecution as a matter of course. It held the High Court had exceeded its jurisdiction by substituting its own view without legal basis, set aside the impugned High Court order, and allowed the appeal.

Lesson Learnt

Electronic evidence such as recordings can only be relied upon if its source and authenticity are properly established (ideally through a certificate/forensic verification); an inaudible or unverified recording cannot form the sole basis for criminal prosecution, and courts will protect individuals from being compelled to face trial on no real evidence.

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

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