Content Provider | Supreme Court of India |
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e-ISSN | 30484839 |
Language | English |
Access Restriction | NDLI |
Subject Keyword | Abkari Act – s. 8 |
Content Type | Text |
Resource Type | Law Judgement |
Jurisdiction | India |
Act(s) Referred | Kerala Abkari Act, 1 of 1077 (1 of 1077) Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 (20 of 1958) |
Case(s) Referred | Referred Case 0 Referred Case 1 Referred Case 2 Referred Case 3 Referred Case 4 Referred Case 5 Referred Case 6 Referred Case 7 Referred Case 8 Referred Case 9 |
Case Type | Appeal |
Court | Supreme Court of India |
Disposal Nature | Appeal Allowed |
Headnote | Issues for consideration :(i) Whether the conviction, solely on the basis of offi cial witnessesis sustainable in the instant facts?(ii) Whether the delay of nearly 3 years in fi ling the challan can besaid to be materially aff ecting the correctness of the judgement of the lowercourt as also the impugned judgement?Abkari Act – s. 8 – Conviction under:Held : No reason is forthcoming on behalf of the appellant to challengethe veracity of the testimonies of PW-1 and PW-2 (offi cial witnesses) – Inthe instant case, conviction on the basis of testimony of the police witnessescannot be faulted with – Delay was in two aspects according to appellant;one, the contraband being produced before the Magistrate and two, in thecompletion of investigation – Appellant was arrested on 01.10.2003 and02.10.2003 was a holiday, therefore contraband seized was produced on03.10.2003 – This being the uncontroverted position, the production of theseized Arrack cannot be said to be delayed – As far as submission of fi nalreport after 3 years is concerned, mere urging delay and casting suspicionon investigation without any evidence being led in furtherance cannot besustained – Thus, appellant’s grounds to challenge the correctness of theimpugned judgment fail. [Paras 26, 27, 29 and 30]Sentence/sentencing – Modifi cation of:Held : Appellant arrested for carrying fi ve litres of Arrack in hisautorickshaw – Trial Court sentenced appellant to one year of imprisonment – High Court endorsed the fi nding of the trial Court – More than 20 yearshave passed since the commission of the off ence, thus sentence of appellantmodifi ed to period of three months, simple imprisonment. [Para 33]Evidence – Conviction solely on basis of offi cial witnesses:Held : If the evidence of a police offi cer/offi cial witness is found tobe reliable, trustworthy then basing the conviction thereupon, cannot bequestioned, and the same shall stand on fi rm ground. [Para 22]Evidence – Testimony of offi cial witnesses – Correctness of:Held : The testimonies of offi cial witnesses can nay be discardedsimply because independent witnesses were not examined – The correctnessor authenticity is only to be doubted on “any good reason” which, quiteapparently is missing from the instant case. [Para 26]Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – Investigation – Plea ofinvestigation not being fair:Held : Questioning investigation on the basis of bias or such likefactor, would depend on facts and circumstances of each case – In instantcase, nothing was put forward to show that there may be a reasonable groundfor the presence of bias or that there may be “a real danger of bias”. [Paras16 and 20]Delay/Laches:Held : A “fair trial”, is a right fl owing from Article 21 of theConstitution of India and it encompasses all stages of trial including thatof “investigation, inquiry, trial, appeal, revision and the trial”. [Para 28] |
Judge | Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sanjay Karol |
Neutral Citation | 2023 INSC 703 |
Petitioner | Sathyan |
Respondent | State Of Kerala |
SCR | [2023] 11 S.C.R. 95 |
Judgement Date | 2023-08-11 |
Case Number | 2363 |
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