* Author
[2024] 4 S.C.R. 322 : 2024 INSC 295
Bhupatbhai Bachubhai Chavda & Anr.
v.
State of Gujarat
(Criminal Appeal No. 334 of 2019)
10 April 2024
[Abhay S. Oka* and Ujjal Bhuyan, JJ.]
Issue for Consideration
High Court, if justified in overturning the order of acquittal.
Headnotes
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s. 378 – Appeal against
acquittal – Interference by the appellate court, when:
Held: Appellate Court can interfere with the order of acquittal only
if it is satisfied after re-appreciating the evidence that the only
possible conclusion was that the guilt of the accused had been
established beyond a reasonable doubt – Appellate Court cannot
overturn order of acquittal only on the ground that another view is
possible – Judgment of acquittal must be found to be perverse –
Unless the Appellate Court records such a finding, no interference
can be made with the order of acquittal – On facts, the High Court
converted the acquittal of the appellants into conviction for offence
punishable u/ss. 302/34 and s. 323 – High Court did not avert, if
the view taken by the trial court was a plausible view that could
have been taken based on evidence on record – High Court ignored
that an order of acquittal further strengthens the presumption of
innocence of the accused – High Court’s finding on the burden of
proof is completely erroneous – Finding of the trial court that the
evidence of the prosecution witness did not inspire confidence is
a possible finding which could have been recorded on the basis
of the evidence on record – No reason for the High Court to
overturn the order of acquittal when the findings of the trial court
were possible findings that could be arrived at after re-appreciating
evidence – Thus, the order of acquittal of the appellants upheld –
Judgment and order of the High Court set aside, and that of the
trial court restored – Penal Code, 1860 – ss. 302 rw 34 and s.
323. [Paras 6, 7, 10, 11]
Evidence – Burden of proof – Discharge of, by the accused,
when:
[2024] 4 S.C.R. 323
Bhupatbhai Bachubhai Chavda & Anr. v. State of Gujarat
Held: Unless, under the relevant penal statute, there is a negative
burden put on the accused or there is a reverse onus clause,
the accused is not required to discharge any burden – In a case
where there is a statutory presumption, after the prosecution
discharges initial burden, the burden of rebuttal may shift on the
accused – In the absence of the statutory provisions the burden
was on the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused beyond
a reasonable doubt [Para 7]
List of Acts
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Penal Code, 1860.
List of Keywords
Appeal against acquittal; Re-appreciate the evidence; Plausible
view; Appellate Court; Burden of proof; Negative burden; Reverse
onus clause; Statutory presumption; Discharge initial burden.
Case Arising From
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 334
of 2019
From the Judgment and Order dated 14.12.2018 of the High Court
of Gujarat at Ahmedabad in CRLA No. 838 of 1997
Appearances for Parties
D.N. Ray, Sr. Adv., Dillip Kumar Nayak, Ms. Disha Ray, Mrs. Sumita
Ray, Advs. for the Appellants.
Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, Ms. Devyani Bhatt, Advs. for the Respondent.
Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court
Judgment
Abhay S. Oka, J.
FACTUAL ASPECTS
1. The appellants, who are father and son, were prosecuted for the
offence punishable under Section 302, read with Section 34 of the
Indian Penal Code (IPC). The incident occurred on 17th September
1996. The allegation is that the appellants assaulted one Punjabhai
(the deceased) with pipes and sticks. The deceased suffered a
324 [2024] 4 S.C.R.
Digital Supreme Court Reports
large number of injuries and ultimately succumbed to the injuries.
By judgment dated 5th July 1997, the Sessions Court acquitted
the appellants. Being aggrieved by the judgment of the Sessions
Court, the respondent - State of Gujarat preferred an appeal against
acquittal before the High Court. By the impugned judgment dated
14th December 2018, the High Court interfered and converted the
acquittal of the appellants into a conviction for the offence punishable
under Section 302, read with Section 34 and Section 323 of the IPC.
By order dated 6th January 2020, this Court directed that the present
appeal be listed for hearing. By order dated 18th May 2021, the
application for suspension of sentence and grant of bail by the first
appellant was rejected by this Court. However, this Court continued
the order dated 21st January 2019 by which exemption was granted
to the second appellant from surrendering.
2. The prosecution case in brief is that PW-1 Danabhai is the brother
of the deceased. He had two brothers. The deceased was engaged
in the business of diamond polishing. At about 9.45 pm on 17th
September 1996, when PW-1 was sitting in his pan-bidi shop,
one Vajsurbhai came to him by motorcycle and told him that the
appellants had assaulted the deceased. On hearing this news, PW-1
went towards village Jhanjhmer. He met his uncle Ramabhai on the
outskirts of the village, who was taking the deceased to the hospital
by a tempo. According to the prosecution case, Karshanbhai (PW-4),
Dayabhai, Jivabhai and other villagers were sitting in the tempo. The
deceased was taken to the clinic of Dr. Goti at Dhola village. As per
his advice, the deceased was immediately shifted to Bhavnagar in
a private hospital. The deceased succumbed to the injuries in the
early morning of 18th September 1996.
3. The Trial Court disbelieved the testimony of PW-4 Karshanbhai for
various reasons. In the impugned judgment, the High Court noted
that though, according to the case of PW-4, he received injuries on
17th September 1996 at the hands of the accused, Dr Jagdishbhai
(PW-5) deposed that PW-4 informed him that he suffered injuries on
18th September 1996. The High Court, in the impugned judgment,
held that in his police statement, PW-4, had correctly stated that he
was injured on 18th September 1996. Therefore, the statement he
gave before the Court and the statement given by the doctor were
meaningless. The High Court held that although the number of
persons who witnessed the incident have not been examined, the
[2024] 4 S.C.R. 325
Bhupatbhai Bachubhai Chavda & Anr. v. State of Gujarat
appellants failed to adduce any evidence to falsify the prosecution’s
version. By the impugned judgment, after overturning the acquittal
of the appellants, the High Court sentenced them to undergo life
imprisonment.
SUBMISSIONS
4. The learned senior counsel appearing for the appellants pointed
out that the High Court, while overturning the order of acquittal,
had relied upon the police statement of PW-4 and had erroneously
put the burden on the appellants to adduce evidence to show
their innocence. He submitted that the entire approach of the High
Court while dealing with an appeal against acquittal, is completely
erroneous. He submitted that there is no finding recorded by the High
Court that the only possible view which could be taken based on the
evidence was that the guilt of the appellants had been proved. The
learned senior counsel submitted that the High Court had erred in
overturning the order of acquittal.
5. The learned counsel appearing for the State vehemently submitted
that in an appeal against acquittal, the High Court was duty-bound
to reappreciate the evidence, and after finding that evidence of PW4, an eye-witness, completely inspires confidence, the High Court
rightly interfered with the order of acquittal.
OUR VIEW
6. It is true that while deciding an appeal against acquittal, the Appellate
Court has to reappreciate the evidence. After re-appreciating the
evidence, the first question that needs to be answered by the Appellate
Court is whether the view taken by the Trial Court was a plausible view
that could have been taken based on evidence on record. Perusal of
the impugned judgment of the High Court shows that this question
has not been adverted to. Appellate Court can interfere with the order
of acquittal only if it is satisfied after reappreciating the evidence that
the only possible conclusion was that the guilt of the accused had
been established beyond a reasonable doubt. The Appellate Court
cannot overturn order of acquittal only on the ground that another
view is possible. In other words, the judgment of acquittal must be
found to be perverse. Unless the Appellate Court records such a
finding, no interference can be made with the order of acquittal.
The High Court has ignored the well-settled principle that an order
of acquittal further strengthens the presumption of innocence of the
326 [2024] 4 S.C.R.
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accused. After having perused the judgment, we find that the High
Court has not addressed itself on the main question.
7. The second error the High Court committed is found in paragraph 23
of the impugned judgment. The High Court has gone to the extent of
recording a finding that the appellants have failed to adduce evidence
in their support, failed to examine the defence witness and failed
to establish falsity of the prosecution’s version. This concept of the
burden of proof is entirely wrong. Unless, under the relevant penal
statute, there is a negative burden put on the accused or there is a
reverse onus clause, the accused is not required to discharge any
burden. In a case where there is a statutory presumption, after the
prosecution discharges initial burden, the burden of rebuttal may
shift on the accused. In the absence of the statutory provisions as
above, in this case, the burden was on the prosecution to prove the
guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, the High
Court’s finding on the burden of proof is completely erroneous. It is
contrary to the law of the land.
8. We have carefully examined the evidence of the material prosecution
witnesses. PW-1 Danabhai stated that after he was informed in the
night around 9 O’clock about the assault on the deceased by one
Vajsurbhai, he proceeded by his bicycle. He stated that when he
reached Jhanjhmer, he found that his deceased brother was laid in
a tempo of Ramabhai. He stated about the presence of Arjanbhai
and Jivabhai. He stated that no one informed him about the incident
at that time. He thereafter described how the deceased was taken
to the hospital of Dr Goti and thereafter to a private hospital in
Bhavnagar. PW-1 deposed that PW-4 Karshanbhai went with him
to Bhavnagar, and in the hospital of Dr Rana, PW-4 informed PW-1
that the appellants had assaulted the deceased by using a stick. He
stated that though PW-4 informed him that he was present at the
time of the incident, he did not tell him about the assault on him by
the accused. Thus, PW-1 did not state that PW-4 was present when
he reached the place where he found that the deceased was laid in
a tempo, and according to his version, PW-4 came to Bhavnagar.
Though PW-4 stated that PW-1 came on a bicycle and came to Dhola
with them, the version of PW-1 is that PW-4 joined him at Bhavnagar.
This creates a doubt about the presence of PW-4 at the time of the
incident. Importantly, one Vajsurbhai, who informed PW-1 about the
assault on the deceased, has not been examined as a witness.
[2024] 4 S.C.R. 327
Bhupatbhai Bachubhai Chavda & Anr. v. State of Gujarat
9. PW-4 admitted that there is an ongoing litigation about his family’s land
between the appellants and his family. PW-4 claimed that just before
the fatal blow was inflicted on the deceased, a blow was given to the
witness by pipe around 8 pm on the date of the incident. However,
PW-5 Dr Jagadishbhai stated that when he examined PW-4 on 19th
September 1996, the history given by PW-4 was to the effect that he
was assaulted by a pipe on 18th September 1996 at 8.00 pm. The
incident is of 17th September 1996. The High Court has completely
brushed aside this statement of PW-5 by observing that once the
police recorded statements of the Doctor and PW-4, the statements
of PW-4 and the Doctor before the Court became meaningless. As
is apparent from Section 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973 (CrPC), statements recorded by police under Section 161 of
the CrPC cannot be used for any purpose except to contradict the
witness. The Trial Court gives several reasons for discarding the
testimony of PW-4. His prior enmity with the appellants and his
failure to report the incident to the police, notwithstanding available
opportunities, are also the factors considered by the Trial Court.
10. Therefore, after having perused the evidence of the material
prosecution witnesses, in our view, the finding of the Trial Court
that the evidence of PW-4 did not inspire confidence is a possible
finding which could have been recorded on the basis of the evidence
on record. There was no reason for the High Court to overturn the
order of acquittal when the findings of the Trial Court were possible
findings that could be arrived at after reappreciating evidence.
11. Therefore, the appeal must succeed. We set aside the judgment and
order dated 14th December 2018 of the High Court and set aside
the conviction of the appellants. The judgment and order dated 5th
July 1997 of the Trial Court is restored. The appeal is, accordingly,
allowed. The bail bonds of the appellant no.2 are cancelled. The
appellant no.1 shall be forthwith set at liberty unless he is required
to be detained in connection with any other case.
Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain Result of the case:
Appeal allowed.
