'Presumption Of Innocence A Human Right ; Life & Liberty Are Not Matters To Be Trifled With' : Supreme Court Acquits 1995 Murder Case Accused

The presumption of innocence is a human right, the Supreme Court observed while setting aside concurrent conviction in a 1995 murder case.

The court observed that the presumption of innocence in favour of the accused and insistence on the Prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt are not empty formalities.

"When this Court is confronted with a situation where it has to ponder whether to lean with the Prosecution or the Defence, in the face of reasonable doubt as to the version put forth by the Prosecution, this Court will, as a matter of course and of choice, in line with judicial discretion, lean in favour of the Defence", the bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah.

Suresh Thipmppa Shetty and Sadashiv Seena Salian were convicted by the Trial Court in a murder case. Their appeals were dismissed by the Bombay High Court. The charge against them was that they entered into a criminal conspiracy between the period from 23.09.1994 to 12.05.1995 to abduct and murder one Mahendra Pratap Singh.

In appeal, the Apex Court bench noted that the prosecution story’s main conspirators stand acquitted. The conspiracy angle dehors the said main conspirators, who are the masterminds as per the prosecution, cannot be said to have been proved beyond reasonable doubt, the bench said.

The court also noted that these appellants were admittedly not present at the spot where the crime was committed i.e., in the car nor any direct/specific role in commission of the offence being attributed to them, their convictions cannot be upheld. While setting aside their conviction, the bench observed thus:

"On a deeper and fundamental level, when this Court is confronted with a situation where it has to ponder whether to lean with the Prosecution or the Defence, in the face of reasonable doubt as to the version put forth by the Prosecution, this Court will, as a matter of course and of choice, in line with judicial discretion, lean in favour of the Defence. We have borne in mind the cardinal principle that life and liberty are not matters to be trifled with, and a conviction can only be sustained in the absence of reasonable doubt. The presumption of innocence in favour of the accused and insistence on the Prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt are not empty formalities. Rather, their origin is traceable to Articles 21 and 14 of the Constitution of India. Of course, for certain offences, the law seeks to place a reverse onus on the accused to prove his/her innocence,but that does not impact adversely the innocent-tillproven-guilty rule for other criminal offences."

Suresh Thipmppa Shetty vs State of Maharashtra | 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 682 | 2023 INSC 749

Criminal Trial - The presumption of innocence is a human right - When confronted with a situation where it has to ponder whether to lean with the Prosecution or the Defence, in the face of reasonable doubt as to the version put forth by the Prosecution, this Court will, as a matter of course and of choice, in line with judicial discretion, lean in favour of the Defence. We have borne in mind the cardinal principle that life and liberty are not matters to be trifled with, and a conviction can only be sustained in the absence of reasonable doubt. The presumption of innocence in favour of the accused and insistence on the Prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt are not empty formalities. Rather, their origin is traceable to Articles 21 and 14 of the Constitution of India. Of course, for certain offences, the law seeks to place a reverse onus on the accused to prove his/her innocence,but that does not impact adversely the innocent-tillproven-guilty rule for other criminal offences. (Para 18-20)

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