Summary
The High Court had acquitted two accused convicted under the NDPS Act for transporting poppy husk solely because the informant and the investigating officer were the same person, applying Mohan Lal v. State of Punjab, without appreciating the evidence. The Court held that Varinder Kumar confined Mohan Lal to prospective operation and the Constitution Bench in Mukesh Singh overruled it, that an appeal is a continuation of the proceedings so the law as it stands today applies, and remitted the appeals to the High Court for decision on merits.
Issues
- Whether an acquittal resting solely on the rule in Mohan Lal that the informant cannot be the investigator can be sustained after Varinder Kumar and the Constitution Bench decision in Mukesh Singh.
- Whether the respondents could resist application of the later decisions on the ground that a judgment does not operate retrospectively when Mohan Lal was the law on the date of the High Court's decision.
Held
- The High Court's judgment showed that the evidence led before the trial court was neither considered nor appreciated; the acquittal rested only on the principle laid down in Mohan Lal. (¶¶ 3, 12)
- The three-Judge Bench in Varinder Kumar clarified that Mohan Lal is not to become a springboard for acquittal in prosecutions prior to it and that all pending prosecutions, trials and appeals prior to Mohan Lal continue to be governed by their individual facts. The present appeals were admittedly pending before the High Court when Mohan Lal was delivered. (¶¶ 13, 14)
- The Constitution Bench in Mukesh Singh held that the investigation is not vitiated merely because the informant is the investigator, that bias must be decided on the facts of each case, and that Mohan Lal and decisions taking the same view are not good law and stand overruled. (¶ 15)
- Nothing turns on the argument that a judgment has no retrospective effect: courts interpret law and do not enact it. Since the matter remained pending in this Court and an appeal is a continuation of the proceedings, the law as available today applies; the acquittal, granted on a technical ground under Mohan Lal which was diluted in Varinder Kumar and then overruled in Mukesh Singh, cannot stand. (¶ 16)
Result
Appeals allowed; the High Court's common judgment dated 11.12.2018 set aside and the matter remitted to the High Court for consideration of the criminal appeals on merits, with a request to expedite the hearing since the appeals pertain to the year 2010; pending applications disposed of.