Ambika Bhardwaj
Published On: February 02, 2022 at 17:12 IST
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court while hearing a Petition against a Murder Conviction and Life Imprisonment, described Court Craft and the art of Argumentation to a young Lawyer, by giving directions on which parts of the Court record to depend on and submissions to formulate, before finally passing an Order of Acquittal.
The Court even arranged for a Senior Advocate to teach the Petitioner’s Lawyer on how to argue a Criminal Appeal.
The Bench that comprised of Justices D. Y. Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath was hearing two 2020 Special Leave Petitions against a January 2019 Decision of the Allahabad High Court’s Division Bench on a Criminal Appeal.
The Allahabad High Court in its Decision upheld a July, 2008 Judgement passed by the Sessions Judge, Badaun, in which the Petitioners of the Special Leave Petition and others were Convicted under Sections 148, 302 and 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and were further Sentenced to Rigorous Imprisonment.
The Lawyer who was representing the Petitioners appeared to be fumbling with the submissions in the beginning following which Justice Surya Kant told him:
“Always remember the facts like a fiction writer. It should feel like you’re telling a story to us, the narrative should also be like that.”
The Bench also instructed him on how to advance Arguments based on the Case Record, pointing out Contradictions in the Prosecution Witnesses Depositions, how they appeared to disintegrate in Cross-Examination and how the Evidence of some key Witnesses had been overlooked.
Following this, the Bench heard from the Respondent’s Lawyer. After hearing Assertions, the Bench continued to dictate its Order Aquitting the Petitioners.
In addition, Justice Chandrachud suggested that Senior Advocate Manoj Swarup, who was appearing before the Bench on another matter, to meet with the Lawyer to explain how to argue a Criminal Appeal.
Also read: Ethics for an Advocate