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State of Uttarakhand v. Deepu Verma @ Devendra Lal

Criminal Appeal · 2025 INSC 244Decided 6 Feb 2025
Criminal Appeal No. 1700 of 2014
Justice B.R. Gavai · Justice K. Vinod Chandran

Background

The respondent was convicted of murder by the Sessions Court, Almora, for fatally assaulting a neighbour with a sickle, based on the eyewitness testimony of the victim's neighbour (PW-1) and his wife and daughter (PW-4 and PW-2). The Uttarakhand High Court set aside the conviction and acquitted him, finding inconsistencies among the eyewitnesses. The State appealed to the Supreme Court against this acquittal.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the eyewitness testimonies and found significant contradictions, conflicting accounts of who reached the scene first, a large discrepancy in the stated distance between the two houses, and PW-4's admitted weak eyesight. It also noted that PW-1, who claimed to be the sole witness to the actual assault, was contradicted by the other two witnesses who said the accused had already fled by the time they arrived. Applying the settled principle that appellate courts should not disturb an acquittal unless the High Court's view is perverse or impossible, the Court found no such perversity and dismissed the State's appeal, upholding the acquittal.

Lesson Learnt

When eyewitness accounts in a criminal case contain material, unresolved inconsistencies, the benefit of the doubt must go to the accused, and an appellate court will not overturn an acquittal merely because another view of the evidence was also possible.

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

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