Supreme Court Criminal Digest -April 2022

Arms Act, 1950; Section 27 - Supreme Court Patna High Court judgment which modified the judgment passed by the Trial Court convicting the appellants- accused under Section 307 read with Section 34 Indian Penal Code to Section 324 IPC and confirming their conviction under Section 27 of the Arms Act. Anuj Singh @ Ramanuj Singh @ Seth Singh v. State of Bihar, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 402 Bail - Appeal against Allahabad HC granting bail to an accused - Allowed - Order of High Court granting bail to co-accused was earlier set aside - Reasons which have weighed with this Court in cancelling the bail which was granted to the co-accused would equally apply to the case of the first respondent which also arises out of the same first information report and incident. Rishipal @ Rishipal Singh Solanki v. Raju, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 344 Circumstantial Evidence - Five golden principles regarding appreciation of evidence when the case of the prosecution hinges on the circumstantial evidence discussed. (Para 22) Mohd Firoz v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 390 Code of Criminal Procedure 1973; Section 159 - Mere delay to send FIR to jurisdictional magistrate cannot be sole factor to reject prosecution's case. (Para 26, 27) Jafarudheen v. State of Kerala, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 403 Code of Criminal Procedure 1973; Section 378 - Appeal against acquittal - While dealing with an appeal against acquittal by invoking Section 378 of the Cr.PC, the Appellate Court has to consider whether the Trial Court's view can be termed as a possible one, particularly when evidence on record has been analyzed. The reason is that an order of acquittal adds up to the presumption of innocence in favour of the accused. Thus, the Appellate Court has to be relatively slow in reversing the order of the Trial Court rendering acquittal. Therefore, the presumption in favour of the accused does not get weakened but only strengthened. Such a double presumption that enures in favour of the accused has to be disturbed only by thorough scrutiny on the accepted legal parameters. (Para 25) Jafarudheen v. State of Kerala, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 403 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Section 154 - First Information Report - A F.I.R. cannot be treated as an encyclopedia of events. (Para 36) Jagjeet Singh v. Ashish Mishra @ Monu, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 376 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Section 2 (wa) - 'Victim' and 'complainant / informant' - It is not always necessary that the complainant / informant is also a 'victim', for even a stranger to the act of crime can be an 'informant', and similarly, a 'victim' need not be the complainant or informant of a felony. (Para 24) Jagjeet Singh v. Ashish Mishra @ Monu, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 376 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Section 2 (wa) - Victim's right to be heard - A 'victim' within the meaning of Cr.P.C. cannot be asked to await the commencement of trial for asserting his/her right to participate in the proceedings. He / She has a legally vested right to be heard at every step post the occurrence of an offence. Such a 'victim' has unbridled participatory rights from the stage of investigation till the culmination of the proceedings in an appeal or revision - Where the victims themselves have come forward to participate in a criminal proceeding, they must be accorded with an opportunity of a fair and effective hearing. (Para 24, 25) Jagjeet Singh v. Ashish Mishra @ Monu, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 376 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Section 313 - No conviction could be based on the statement of the accused recorded under section 313 of the Cr.P.C. and the prosecution has to prove the guilt of the accused by leading independent and cogent evidence- When the accused makes inculpatory and exculpatory statements, the inculpatory part of the statement can be taken aid of to lend credence to the case of prosecution. (Para 23) Mohd Firoz v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 390 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Section 432 (2) - Remission - An opinion accompanied by inadequate reasoning would not satisfy the requirements of Section 432 (2) - Relevant factors include assessing (i) whether the offence affects the society at large; (ii) the probability of the crime being repeated; (iii) the potential of the convict to commit crimes in future; (iv) if any fruitful purpose is being served by keeping the convict in prison; and (v) the socio-economic condition of the convict's family - If the opinion of the presiding judge does not comply with the requirements of Section 432 (2) or if the judge does not consider the relevant factors for grant of remission that have been laid down in Laxman Naskar v. Union of India (2000) 2 SCC 595, the government may request the presiding judge to consider the matter afresh. (Para 21-24) Ram Chander v. State of Chhattisgarh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 401 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; Section 432 (2) - Remission - It ...

Supreme Court Criminal Digest -April 2022

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