ABSENCE OF LIGHT:
10. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties, we are of the view that the trial court’s judgment is more than just a possible view for arriving at the conclusion of acquittal, and that it would not be safe to convict seventeen persons accused of the crime of murder i.e. under Section 302 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code. The most important reason of the trial court, as has been stated above, was’ that, given the time of06:30 p.m. to 07:00 p.m. of a winter evening, it would be dark, and, therefore, identification of seventeen persons would be extremely difficult. This reason, coupled with the fact that the only independent witness turned hostile, and two other eye-witnesses who were independent were not examined, would certainly create a large hole in the prosecution story. Apart from this, the very fact that there were injuries on three of the accused party, two of them being deep injuries in the skull, would lead to the conclusion that nothing was premeditated and there was, in all probability, a scuffle that led to injuries on both sides. While learned counsel for the respondent may be right in stating that the trial court went overboard in stating that the complainant party was the aggressor, but the trial court’s ultimate conclusion leading to an acquittal is certainly a possible view on the facts of this case. This is coupled with the fact that the presence of the kingpin Sarpanch is itself doubtful in view of the fact that he attended the Court at some distance and arrived by bus after the incident took place.
SOLE EYE-WITNESS TURNED HOSTILE
11. The High Court has interfered with the trial court’s Judgment on several counts. First it states that according to the complainant Chhote Khan, there was “some dark”, it was not stated that it was completely dark, and this being so, even in poor light all seventeen persons could have been identified as they were known to the other side. The High Court seems to have reversed acquittal by substituting its view for that of the trial court. The High Court goes on to state that the presence of minor injuries on the persons of the members of the accused parties proves their presence at the incident. This is hardly the way to deal with a finding of the trial court that these unquestioned injuries could only lead to the conclusion that there was a scuffle without pre-meditation. Also, the High Court stated that merely because independent witnesses did not cooperate with the prosecution case, evidence of other eyewitnesses cannot be discarded. This does not deal with the trial court’s reasoning that the only independent eye-witness turned hostile and two other independent witnesses were not examined, leading to the conclusion that the prosecution story, would, therefore, become doubtful.
PARTY: Hakeem Khan & Ors. v. State of M.P – (Criminal Appeal No. 612 of 2007) – MARCH 22, 2017 – [2017] 2 S.C.R. 735.
