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State of Gujarat vs. Dilipsinh Kishorsinh Rao

Criminal Appeal · 2023 INSC 894Decided 9 Oct 2023
Criminal Appeal No. 2504 of 2023
S. Ravindra Bhat · Aravind Kumar

Background

The respondent, a Sub-Inspector of Police, was charge-sheeted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 for allegedly acquiring assets worth over Rs. 1.15 crore between 2005 and 2011 that were disproportionate to his known income by more than Rs. 32 lakh (over 40% of his known income). He sought discharge from the trial, arguing the investigating officer ignored his explanations, including loans from family and friends and permissions for foreign travel, and that the sanction to prosecute him was granted without proper application of mind. The trial court rejected his discharge plea, but the Gujarat High Court, in revision, accepted his defence and discharged him.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court had exceeded its limited revisional jurisdiction by essentially conducting a "mini-trial", weighing the respondent's defence evidence (such as claimed loans from relatives and friends) and its probable truthfulness, which is a task for the trial itself, not for a discharge hearing. At the discharge stage, courts must only ask whether the prosecution's charge-sheet material, taken at face value, discloses a prima facie case, not whether the accused's explanations are believable. Finding the charge-sheet did disclose sufficient material to raise a reasonable suspicion (particularly around the unverified loans and property purchases), the Court set aside the High Court's order, restored the trial court's refusal to discharge the accused, and directed the trial to proceed and conclude expeditiously, preferably within a year.

Lesson Learnt

At the stage of deciding whether to discharge an accused before trial, courts must accept the prosecution's evidence at face value and check only for a prima facie case. They cannot weigh the accused's defence or predict the trial's outcome, as that would defeat the very purpose of holding a trial.

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

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