Supreme Court Half Yearly Digest 2022 (Jan - Jun) CRIMINAL TRIAL

Criminal Trial - A mere chart giving description of offences, numbers and the sections of the offences and about the nature of offences cannot be taken into account at the stage of conviction - If the Prosecution wanted the Court to take note of the fact that there were other matters in which accused were involved, the concerned Chargesheets should have been produced on record along with sufficient details including the judgments or orders of conviction. A mere chart cannot be taken as proof of the involvement of the accused in other crimes either at the stage of conviction or sentence. (Para 32, 22) Venkatesh @ Chandra v. State of Karnataka, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 387 Criminal Trial - Alibi - The burden on the accused is rather heavy and he is required to establish the plea of alibi with certitude- The plea of alibi in fact is required to be proved with certainty so as to completely exclude the possibility of the presence of the accused at the place of occurrence. (Para 16, 17) Pappu Tiwary v. State of Jharkhand, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 107 : AIR 2022 SC 758 Criminal Trial - Appeal against High Court judgment reversing conviction of accused in a murder case - Allowed - The contradictions, if any, are not material contradictions which can affect the case of the prosecution as a whole - Delay of seven hours in lodging FIR cannot be said to be fatal to the prosecution case - Conviction recorded by Trial Court restored. M. Nageswara Reddy v. State of Andhra Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 251 : (2022) 5 SCC 791 Criminal Trial - Appeal against High Court judgment upholding conviction of accused in a murder case - dismissed - The prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt - The fact that the trial/appeal should have taken years and that other accused should have died during the appeal cannot be a ground for acquittal. Karan Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 234 : (2022) 6 SCC 52 Criminal Trial - Being related to the victim, by itself, is no reason at all to discredit the testimony of a witness. (Para 34) Veerendra v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 480 : AIR 2022 SC 2396 Criminal Trial - Circumstantial Evidence - Circumstances on the basis of which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn, must be fully established - Principles discussed. Venkatesh @ Chandra v. State of Karnataka, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 387 Criminal Trial - Circumstantial Evidence - Motive - Absence of motive in a case of circumstantial evidence weighs in favour of the accused - motive not relevant in a case of direct evidence. Nandu Singh v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 229 : 2022 (5) SCALE 329 Criminal trial - Circumstantial Evidence - Motive - absence of motive in a case of circumstantial evidence weighs in favour of the accused - motive not relevant in a case of direct evidence. Nandu Singh v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 229 : 2022 (5) SCALE 329 Criminal Trial - Circumstantial Evidence - Principles applicable to appreciation of evidence in cases involving circumstantial evidence discussed. [Referred to Sharad Birdi Chand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra (1984) 4 SCC 116 et al.] (149-151) Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 510 : 2022 (9) SCALE 67 Criminal Trial - Circumstantial Evidence - The circumstances concerned "must or should be" established and not "may be" established - The accused "must be" and not merely "may be" guilty before a court can convict him. The conclusions of guilt arrived at must be sure conclusions and must not be based on vague conjectures. The entire chain of circumstances on which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn, should be fully established and should not leave any reasonable ground for the conclusion consistent with the innocence of the accused. Chandrapal v. State of Chhattisgarh, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 529 : AIR 2022 SC 2542 Criminal Trial - Circumstantial Evidence - The conviction can be based solely on circumstantial evidence but it should be tested on the touchstone of law relating to the circumstantial evidence that all circumstances must lead to the conclusion that the accused is the only one who has committed the crime and none else - Circumstances howsoever strong cannot take place of proof and that the guilt of the accused have to be proved by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt. (Para 11, 14) Satye Singh v. State of Uttarakhand, 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 169 : (2022) 5 SCC 438 Criminal Trial - Circumstantial Evidence - Where a case rests squarely on circumstantial evidence, the inference of guilt can be justified only when all the incriminating facts and circumstances are found to be incompatible with the innocence of the accused. The circumstances from which an inference as to the guilt of the accused is drawn have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt and have to be shown to be closely connected with the principal fact sought to be inferred from...

Supreme Court Half Yearly Digest 2022 (Jan - Jun) CRIMINAL TRIAL

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