State of U.P. v Awdhesh

Criminal Appeal No. 803 of 2001
Date of Judgement: 09.09.2008
Bench: Arijit Pasayat, P. Sathasivam and Aftab Alam, JJ.

FACTS
This appeal challenged a High Court the judgment setting aside the conviction of the respondent for offence punishable under Section 396 .

ISSUE
What is the ambit and scope of the power of an appellate court in an appeal against an order of acquittal,

HELD
An appellate court must bear in mind that in case of acquittal, there is double presumption in favour of the accused. Firstly, the presumption of innocence is available to him under the fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence that every person shall be presumed to be innocent unless he is proved guilty by a competent court of law. Secondly, the accused having secured his acquittal, the presumption of his innocence is further reinforced, reaffirmed and strengthened by the trial court.

If two reasonable conclusions are possible on the basis of the evidence on record, the appellate court should not disturb the finding of acquittal recorded by the trial court.

A person has, no doubt, a profound right not to be convicted of an offence which is not established by the evidential standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt. Though this standard is a higher standard, there is, however, no absolute standard.

In the present case, though the judgment is not happily worded and some of the reasonings are not legally supportable, the ultimate conclusion is a possible view. That being so, the appeal was dismissed