Published on: 11 August 2023 at 22:33 IST
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: Vijay Shankar V. State of Haryana (2015)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that a Criminal Court must carefully consider the witness, evidences and circumstances as relied by the Prosecution. It is held that for a successful prosecution, it is necessary to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. It is held that Charge of Fraud whether made in Civil or Criminal proceedings, must be established beyond reasonable doubt.
21. Considering the totality of the facts and evidence, in our view, the circumstances relied upon by the prosecution are not established by convincing evidence and they do not form a complete chain pointing to the guilt of the appellant. Ordinarily, in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution of India, the Supreme Court does not enter into reappreciation of the evidence. When ordinarily the Supreme Court would refrain from re-examining the evidence, the Supreme Court will certainly interfere when evidence adduced by the prosecution falls short of reliability and unsafe to base conviction. The conviction recorded by the courts below is not supported by credible evidence and the prosecution has failed to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt and benefit of doubt is to be given to the appellant.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
