Appellant was found guilty of murder. He appealed the conviction but it was upheld by the upper court. He then appealed the conviction to the Supreme Court. He questioned the basis of his conviction in the absence of direct evidence proving his guilt.The lower court conviction relied on three circumstantial evidence.
Court ruling
The Court reversed the conviction of the Appellant on the ground that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt his guilt.
The Court explains the principles followed:
Before parting with the case, it is necessary to state that from the facts and circumstances of this case it would appear that the investigating officer has taken the appellant, a peon, the driver and the cleaner for ride and trampled upon their fundamental personal liberty and lugged them in the capital offence punishable under section 302. I.P.C. by freely fabricating evidence against the innocent. Undoubtedly. heinous crimes are committed under great secrecy and that investigation of a crime is a difficult and tedious task. At the same time the liberty of a citizen is a pre- cious one guaranteed by Art. 3 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also Art. 21 of the Constitution of India and its deprivation shall be only in accordance with law. The accused has the fundamental right to defend himself under Art. 10 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The right to defence includes right to effective and meaningful defence at the trial. The poor accused cannot defend effectively and adequately. Assigning an experienced defence counsel to an indigent accused is a facet of fair procedure and an inbuilt right to liberty and life envisaged under Arts. 19 and 21 of the Constitution. Weaker the person accused of an offence, greater the caution and higher the responsibility of the law enforcement agencies. Before accusing an innocent person of the commission of a grave crime like the one punishable under section 302, I.P.C., an honest, sincere and dispassionate investigation has to be made and to feel sure that the person suspected of the crime alone was responsible to commit the offence. Indulging in free fabrication of the record is a deplorable conduct on the part of an investigating officer which undermines the public confidence reposed in the investigating agency. Therefore, greater care and circumspection are needed by the investigating agency in this regard. It is time that the investigating agencies, evolve new and scientific investigating methods, taking aid of rapid scientific development in the field of investigation. It is also the duty of the State, i.e. Central or State Government to organise periodical refresher courses for the investigating officers to keep them abreast of the latest scientific development in the art of investigation and the march of law so that the real offender would be brought to book and the innocent would not be exposed to prosecution.
Though Art. 39A of the Constitution provides fundamental rights to equal justice and free legal aid and though the State provides amicus curiae to defend the indigent accused, he would be meted out with unequal defence if, as is common knowledge the youngster from the Bar who has either a little experience or no experience is assigned to defend him. It is high time that senior counsel practicing in the court con- cerned, volunteer to defend such indigent accused as a part of their professional duty. If these remedial steps are taken and an honest and objective investigation is done, it will enhance a sense of confidence of the public in the investigating agency.
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/955616/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=d6bcbaa2b5b543e9d949143d981df4405568f81d-1618989433-0-AQT-DGxovuGAEfvsQmKNWBoSG4_XjqWqAnhkdUhezdbU_qmjk9pIDoO-GnTERKXRg8ZPoEvwkPJ7-StceYz9xR2T_9sNUByitXzyPn51LPnZaY2FpK7ELrrkzYeeDBGgZq3gUpfJe2yUa-ANj4Lu_nwYA5rDU0clqyJ8gAKZFEiNo9VK7xRYHVCEDbJWHsr42NvtNkI-RNl0jBSzsVY7zWX5hTx5Y9KxCGQV6sKBADSu0FkIy8Vn057Kn0M6bb7uC3Oe45_m3lSYfdd6SL5nvYUz9lZTa-O2XWI953rjMzD8PxxSqzrJ_AAW3C8pPCslZxXjMIuVs83pa86HZADTlkdXBpPK14rqKoo29W5gEG3gSTP4WXz872FXe8Nr3hOqECX0ngxkSbvBaF4v30PL-OP52mxeyAICdVzHpMihziSU1KcsULv2uOG8y1m5uT1te-Xp6l1_X57ANBwA9OyFpHE
