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State of Uttar Pradesh v. Wasif Haider & Ors.

Criminal Appeal · 2018 INSC 1181Decided 10 Dec 2018
Criminal Appeal Nos. 1702-1706 of 2014
Justice N.V. Ramana · Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar

Background

During communal rioting in Kanpur in 2001, an Additional District Magistrate escorting police to the scene was shot dead. Four men were tried and convicted by the trial court for murder and rioting, but the Allahabad High Court later acquitted all of them, finding serious flaws in the investigation and identification evidence. The State of Uttar Pradesh appealed to the Supreme Court against the acquittal.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's acquittal, agreeing that the prosecution's case was riddled with investigative lapses. It found the Test Identification Parade unreliable (conducted after an unexplained 55-day delay, with allegations that witnesses had been shown the accused beforehand), contradictions between the post-mortem report and forensic ballistics report, inconsistent accounts of which pistol and bore size was recovered, conflicting locations for the crime scene, and failure to examine a key injured eyewitness. The Court reiterated that in an appeal against acquittal it will only interfere where there is perversity of fact or law, and that suspicion, however strong, cannot substitute for proof beyond reasonable doubt. Finding the benefit of the doubt rightly given to the accused, the Court dismissed the State's appeals.

Lesson Learnt

An acquittal carries a strong presumption of innocence that an appellate court will not disturb merely because the crime was serious; the prosecution must prove its case with internally consistent evidence, and unexplained gaps or contradictions in identification and forensic evidence will be read in the accused's favour.

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

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