Brief Facts
- As per the case of the prosecution, accused A-1 to A-6 came to the house of the Complainant and assaulted the deceased, forcefully kicking her in the stomach and the deceased later succumbed to injuries. As per the statement of PW-5, accused A-1 was alleged for beating the deceased and remaining accused were alleged to have beaten the family members.
- The Trial Court convicted all the accused for the offence under Section 323 read with Section 34 IPC and acquitted them from offence under Section 302 IPC. The Appellants (A-3 & A-4) assailed the conviction and approached the Supreme Court.
Issue
- Whether the conviction of the Appellant was correct in the case when there was no incriminating evidence against the Appellants and specifically when there is no evidence of injury being caused to the relatives of deceased?
Held
- The Supreme Court acquitted the Appellants due to the absence of any incriminating material.
- From the above finding it would clearly emerge that there was no cogent and positive evidence available to prove or establish the fact that appellants herein (A-3 and A-4) having assaulted the deceased. On the other hand, the prosecution has attempted to project the case that relatives of the deceased were beaten or assaulted by the appellants herein. If it were to be so, nothing prevented the relatives of the deceased, namely, PW 2 to PW 5 who had accompanied the deceased to the hospital to get themselves treated for any purported or alleged injuries sustained by them, if at all, they had received any medical treatment for the said injuries. However, no evidence is forthcoming in this regard. In the absence of the same, on hypothesis conviction of the appellants cannot be sustained.
- It is the consistent stand of these witnesses (PW-2 to PW-5) that accused No.1 had kicked the deceased on her stomach. Nowhere they have whispered about any overt acts of appellants herein.
- The prosecution has thus failed to drive home the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt and we say so for the simple reason that the courts below itself had found that evidence tendered by the prosecution did not clearly establish two facts, namely:
(1) The appellants herein having assaulted the deceased;
(2) The alleged injuries sustained by PWs 2 to 5 had remained as a bald statement without proof. - In the absence of any incriminating material or other corroborative evidence pointing the participation of appellants-accused in the incident, the conviction of appellants under Section 323 read with Section 34 of IPC cannot be sustained.
Relevant Para No.
- 9, 10, 11, 12