TMI Blog2020 (10) TMI 1104X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s could not have been planted against the appellants by the police on its own. Whether alternate version has been established and what is the effect of lack of independent witnesses? - HELD THAT:- As correctly appreciated by the High Court in detail, non-examination of independent witnesses would not ipso facto entitle one to seek acquittal. Though a heighted standard of care is imposed on the court in such instances but there is nothing to suggest that the High Court was not cognizant of this duty. Rather, the consequence of upholding the trial Court s reasoning would amount to compulsory examination of each and every witness attached to the formation of a document. Not only is the imposition of such a standard of proof unsupported by statute but it is also unreasonably onerous in our opinion. The High Court has rightly relied upon the testimonies of the government officials having found them to be impeccable after detailed reappreciation of the entire evidence - there are no reason to disagree with such finding(s). Whether High Court erred in reversing acquittal in appeal? - HELD THAT:- There is no gainsaid that High Courts are well within their power to reverse an acqu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... none agreed. Subsequently, the appellants were given option to be searched in the presence of a Magistrate or Gazetted Officer but they consented to be searched by the police on the spot itself. The police then discovered polythene bags containing charas from the backpack carried by Rajesh Dhiman. The polythene bags were weighed and found to be 3kg 100gms. After separating some samples, the charas was duly sealed and handed over to Karam Chand (PW3) who later deposited it at the police station. After completion of personal search of the appellants, they were formally arrested. 4. The prosecution examined nine witnesses to support their case of chance recovery, which included eight police officials and one independent witness, Karam Chand (PW3). Whereas the police witnesses strongly corroborated each other s testimony, PW3 was declared hostile for he claimed not to have witnessed the seizure of the narcotics. The spot map, arrest memo, search memos, consent memo, seizure memo, rukka seals, chemical analysis report and samples of charas were also adduced as evidence. In response, both appellants asserted their innocence. Although the appellants did not lead any defence evidence b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t the chain of events commencing from seizure of contraband to its chemical analysis, was complete in all respects. In the absence of any allegation of bias, it was held to be wrong to discard the otherwise impeccable statements of the official witnesses. The High Court dissected a catena of judgments and opined that the police officers testimonies ought to be subjected to a vigorous standard of scrutiny and corroboration; which, after careful and cautious appraisal, had been met in the instant case. The quantity of charas recovered was held to be commercial and consequently a sentence of 10 years rigorous imprisonment and fine of ₹ 1,00,000 (rupees one lakh) was imposed on each of the appellants. CONTENTIONS OF PARTIES 7. We have heard counsels for the parties at a considerable length and gone through the record. Learned counsel for the appellants vehemently contended that the High Court ought not to have reversed the wellmerited acquittal as two distinct versions of the same incident had emerged from the evidence on record, and thus the one beneficial to the appellants ought to be adopted, given the presumption of innocence under our legal system. It was highlig ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... round of the complainant also being the investigating officer, to become a spring board for an accused to be catapulted to acquittal, has been reversed. Instead, it is now necessary to demonstrate that there has either been actual bias or there is real likelihood of bias, with no sweeping presumption being permissible. It would be worthwhile to extract the following conclusions drawn in the aforecited judgment: 102. From the above discussion and for the reasons stated above, we conclude and answer the reference as under: I. That the observations of this Court in the cases of Bhagwan Singh v. State of Rajasthan, (1976) 1 SCC 15; Megha Singh v. State of Haryana, (1996) 11 SCC 709; and State by Inspector of Police, NIB, Tamil Nadu v. Rajangam, (2010) 15 SCC 369 and the acquittal of the accused by this Court on the ground that as the informant and the investigator was the same, it has vitiated the trial and the accused is entitled to acquittal are to be treated to be confined to their own facts. It cannot be said that in the aforesaid decisions, this Court laid down any general proposition of law that in each and every case where the informant is the investigator there is a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... defence of the accused is not properly investigated to rule out all other possibilities, it cannot ever be said that the prosecution has established the guilt beyond reasonable doubt . A tainted investigation by a complaint who is a witness himself to a substantial ingredient of an offence, would in fact give rise to a doubt and it is impossible that the case can be established on the parameter of beyond reasonable doubt ; 19. A person accused of criminal offence punishable with a peril to his life or liberty, enjoys certain rights under the Constitution or through long standing development of criminal jurisprudence. Any action which impinges or affects those rights would be said to cause prejudice to an accused . That in the case of Rafiq Ahmad v. State of U.P., (2011) 8 SCC 300, it is observed and held that prejudice to an accused or failure of justice has to be examined with reference to (i) right to fair trial (ii) presumption of innocence until pronouncement of guilt and (iii) the standards of proof. It is observed in the said decision that whenever a plea of prejudice is raised by the accused, it must be examined with reference to the above rights and safeguards, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... der Section 313, CrPC the appellants have claimed that when they were coming after visiting a temple, a person obtained lift from us on vehicle . When they reached Ani Bazar, the police officials demanded the documents of the vehicle and for that purpose they were taken to police station along with the vehicle and in the meanwhile third person fled away from the place of the incident. This claim that the seized contraband was being carried by an unknown stranger, who had mysteriously appeared on the side of the road seeking a lift and had equally incognizably vanished into thin air as soon as the motorcycle was stopped by the police is exfacie fanciful, and is without even a shred of evidence. A critical appreciation of such version merely bolsters the prosecution case. The appellants effectively have ended up admitting that they were present on the spot; some interaction with the police had indeed taken place; that there was sufficient cause to stop the vehicle, and that such search was based not on any prior information but was spontaneous and thus, it was a case of chance recovery. 17. Reliance can also not be placed on Karam Chand s (PW3) testimony by the appellants. Firs ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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