Summary
The Court dismissed the CBI’s challenge to refusal of leave to appeal against acquittal in a fatal shooting case. The trial court’s view was plausible: reliable witnesses did not identify the accused, the fatal injury came from a weapon unconnected to their service rifles, and the circumstantial chain was incomplete. Remand merely for fuller High Court reasons was unwarranted after the prolonged proceedings.
Issues
- Whether refusal of leave to appeal against acquittal caused a miscarriage of justice on the evidence.
- Whether the High Court’s relatively cryptic order required remand despite the available record and long passage of time.
Provisions considered
- Section 378(3), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973Refusal of leave was examined against the trial record; no miscarriage of justice justified interference or remand. (¶¶ 1, 15, 16, 26, 27, 34)
Held
- An appellate court can reassess evidence in an acquittal appeal, but a possible contrary conclusion is insufficient to disturb a plausible trial-court view based on proper appreciation without ignoring or misreading material evidence. (¶ 27)
- The two witnesses accompanying the deceased did not identify these accused as the assailants. The remaining purported eyewitness’s delayed disclosure, coordinated affidavits and conduct gave sufficient reasons to reject his testimony. (¶¶ 28, 29)
- Service-rifle cartridges linked the accused to some firing but not to the fatal .12 bore injury. Other unmatched rifle cartridges and the absence of a recovered fatal weapon left alternative explanations open. Presence on patrol and at the scene did not complete an exclusive chain proving these accused caused the death. (¶¶ 30, 31, 32)
- No ignored or misread relevant evidence was identified. Although the High Court’s order was relatively cryptic, the detailed trial judgment and available record enabled scrutiny; remitting a decades-old incident merely for a rewritten judgment would serve no useful purpose. (¶¶ 26, 33, 34)
Result
Appeal dismissed; refusal of leave to appeal and the resulting acquittal remained undisturbed. No remand ordered.