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State of Rajasthan v. Prakash @ Gajendra

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 1246 of 2015)Decided 23 Sept 2015
Criminal Appeal No. 1246 of 2015
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Arun Mishra

Background

This order sends the case back; it does not decide the dispute. The High Court converted the respondent's conviction for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code into one for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 Part II. The State of Rajasthan appealed.

Decision Breakdown

This is not a final decision on the dispute. The Court held that the High Court had failed to properly discuss the evidence supporting the conversion. It set aside the High Court's order and sent the matter back to the High Court to decide the appeal afresh after hearing the parties. It stated that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet on which offence the respondent committed. A High Court that changes a murder conviction to a lesser offence must discuss the evidence that supports the change.

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

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