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Mar 23, 2011

Sheo Shankar Singh Vs State Of Jharkhand & Anr on 15 February 2011


Hon’ble Supreme Court of India observed as under "where prosecution relies upon circumstantial evidence on the one hand and those where it relies upon the testimony of eye witnesses on the other. In the former category of cases proof of motive is given the importance it deserves, for proof of a motive itself constitutes a link in the chain of circumstances upon which the prosecution may rely. Proof of motive, however, recedes into the background in cases where the prosecution relies upon an eye-witness account of the occurrence. That is because if the court upon a proper appraisal of the deposition of the eye-witnesses comes to the conclusion that the version given by them is credible, absence of evidence to prove the motive is rendered inconsequential. Conversely even if prosecution succeeds in establishing a strong motive for the commission of the offence, but the evidence of the eye-witnesses is found unreliable or unworthy of credit, existence of a motive does not by itself provide a safe basis for convicting the accused. That does not, however, mean that proof of motive even in a case which rests on an eye-witness account does not lend strength to the prosecution case or fortify the court in its ultimate conclusion. Proof of motive in such a situation certainly helps the prosecution and supports the eye- witnesses....

14. The case at hand rests upon the deposition of the eyewitnesses to the occurrence. Absence of motive would not, therefore, by itself make any material difference. But if a motive is indeed proved it would lend support to the prosecution version..."

Mar 22, 2011

Md Kalam @ Abdul Kalam Vs State Of Rajasthan on 14 March 2008



Hon’ble Supreme Court of India observed as under "it was contended that there was possibility of the appellant having been shown to the complainant and his wife. It was stated that the Test Identification Parade  was done after a period of over 7 days...
 As was observed by this Court in Matru v. State of U.P. (1971 (2) SCC 75) identification tests do not constitute substantive evidence. They are primarily meant for the purpose of helping the investigating agency with an assurance that their progress with the investigation into the offence is proceeding on the right lines. The identification can only be used as corroborative of the statement in court. The necessity for holding an identification parade can arise only when the accused are not previously known to the witnesses. The whole idea of a test identification parade is that witnesses who claim to have seen the culprits at the time of occurrence are to identify them from the midst of other persons without any aid or any other source. The test is done to check upon their veracity. In other words, the main object of holding an identification parade, during the investigation stage, is to test the memory of the witnesses based upon first impression and also to enable the prosecution to decide whether all or any of them could be cited as eyewitnesses of the crime. The identification proceedings are in the nature of tests and significantly, therefore, there is no provision for it in the Code and the Evidence Act. It is desirable that a test identification parade should be conducted as soon as after the arrest of the accused. This becomes necessary to eliminate the possibility of the accused being shown to the witnesses prior to the test identification parade. This is a very common plea of the accused and, therefore, the prosecution has to be cautious to ensure that there is no scope for making such allegation. If, however, circumstances are beyond control and there is some delay, it cannot be said to be fatal to the prosecution.

As a general rule, the substantive evidence of a witness is the statement made in Court. The evidence of mere identification of the accused person at the trial for the first time is from its very nature inherently of a weak character. The purpose of a prior test identification, therefore, is to test and strengthen the trustworthiness of that evidence. It is accordingly considered a safe rule of prudence to generally look for corroboration of the sworn testimony of witnesses in Court as to the identity of the accused who are strangers to them, in the form of earlier identification proceedings. This rule of prudence, however, is subject to exceptions, when, for example, the Court is impressed by a particular witness on whose testimony it can safely rely, without such or other corroboration. The identification parades belong to the stage of investigation, and there is no provision in the Code which obliges the investigating agency to hold or confers a right upon the accused to claim, a test identification parade. They do not constitute substantive evidence and these parades are essentially governed by Section 162 of the Code. Failure to hold a test identification parade would not make inadmissible the evidence of identification in Court. The weight to be attached to such identification should be a matter for the Courts of fact. In appropriate cases it may accept the evidence of identification even without insisting on corroboration.

It is no doubt true that much evidentiary value cannot be attached to the identification of the accused in Court where identifying witness is a total stranger who had just a fleeting glimpse of the person identified or who had no particular reason to remember the person concerned, if the identification is made for the first time in Court....

conviction is accordingly maintained.



Mar 21, 2011

Nagjee Purushotham and Co Ltd. Vs Vimalabai Prabhulal and Ors (2005) 8 SCC 252


Hon’ble Supreme Court of India observed as under "It is always the prerogative of the landlord that if he requires the premises in question for his bona fide use for expansion of business this is no ground to say that the landlords are already having their business at Chennai and Hyderabad therefore, it is not genuine need. It is not the tenant who can dictate the terms to the landlord and advise him what he should do and what he should not. It is always the privilege of the landlord to choose the nature of the business and the place of business."

Narayan Dutt & others Vs State of Punjab & another

it was held that governor can not decide the question of innocence of accused and it is the power of court.
Hon'ble Supreme Court also observed that in Satpal & Anr. v. State of Haryana & Ors. [AIR 2000 SC 1702], this Court held that the power of granting pardon under Article 161 was very wide and did not contain any limitation as to the time and occasion on which and the circumstances under which it was to be exercised. Since the power is a constitutional power, it is amenable to judicial review on the following grounds:
a.If the Governor had been found to have exercised the power himself without being advised by the government,
b.If the Governor transgressed his jurisdiction in exercising the said power,
c.If the Governor had passed the order without applying his mind,
d.The order of the Governor was mala fide, or
e.The order of the Governor was passed on some extraneous considerations.

CAMP OF D L S A

Sent to you by pra via Google Reader:


on date 26th march  DISTRICT LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORTY is helding a camp at village khaikera near GAJRAULA on verious legal points concerning to villagers.

Things you can do from here:

Mar 20, 2011

Pulicherla Nagaraju @ Nagaraja Reddy Vs State of A P AIR 2006 SC 3010

Hon’ble Supreme Court of India observed as under "The intention to cause death can be gathered generally from a combination of a few or several of the following, among other, circumstances:
(i) nature of the weapon used;
(ii) whether the weapon was carried by the accused or was picked up from the spot;
(iii) whether the blow is aimed at a vital part of the body;
(iv) the amount of force employed in caused injury;
(v) whether the act was in the course of sudden quarrel or sudden fight or free for all fight;
(vi) whether the incident occurs by chance or whether there was any premeditation;
(vii) whether there was any prior enmity or whether the deceased was a stranger;
(viii) whether there was any grave and sudden provocation;
(ix) whether it was in the heat of passion;
(x) whether the person inflicting the injury has taken undue advantage or has acted in a cruel and unusual manner;
(xi) whether the accused dealt a single blow or several blows. The above list of circumstances is, of course, not exhaustive and there may be several other special circumstances with reference to individual cases which may throw light on the question of intention."

Mar 19, 2011

V N Shrikhande Vs Anita Sena Fernandes decided on on 20.10.10

Hon’ble Supreme Court of India observed as under "District Forum, the State Commission and the National Commission are not bound to admit each and every complaint. Under Section 12(3), the District Forum is empowered to decide the issue of admissibility of the complaint. The District Forum can either allow the complaint to be proceeded with, which implies that the complaint is admitted or reject the same. Similar power is vested with the State Commission under Section 18 and the National Commission under Section 22...
In cases of medical negligence, no straitjacket formula can be applied for determining as to when the cause of action has accrued to the consumer. Each case is to be decided on its own facts. If the effect of negligence on the doctor's part or any person associated with him is patent, the cause of action will be deemed to have arisen on the date when the act of negligence was done. If, on the other hand, the effect of negligence is latent, then the cause of action will arise on the date when the patient or his representative-complainant discovers the harm/injury caused due to such act or the date when the patient or his representative-complainant could have, by exercise of reasonable diligence discovered the act constituting negligence....

In Pennsylvania, the Discovery Rule was adopted in Ayers v. Morgan 397 Pa.282, 154A.2d 788. In that case a surgeon had left a sponge in the patient's body when he performed an operation. It was held that the statute of limitation did not begin to run until years later when the presence of the sponge in the patient's body was discovered...

Mar 18, 2011

Assistant Collector of Customs, Bombay and another Vs L R Melwani and another AIR 1970 SC 962

Hon’ble Supreme Court of India observed as under
"the question is whether that prosecution is barred under Article 20 (2) of the Constitution which says that no person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once. This Article has no direct bearing on the question at issue. Evidently those accused persons want to spell out from this Article the rule of autre fois acquit embodied in S.403, Criminal Procedure Code. Assuming we can do that, still it is not possible to hold that a proceeding before the Collector of Customs is a prosecution for an offence. In order to get the benefit of Section 403, Criminal Procedure Code or Article 20 (2), it is necessary for an accused person to establish that he had been tried by a "Court of competent jurisdiction" for an offence and he is convicted or acquitted of that offence and the said conviction or acquittal is in force....."

Mar 17, 2011

K G Premshanker Vs Inspector of Police (2002) 8 SCC 87

Hon’ble Supreme Court of India observed as under
"What emerges from the aforesaid discussion is -- (1) the previous judgment which is final can be relied upon as provided under Sections 40 to 43 of the Evidence Act; (2) in civil suits between the same parties, principle of res judicata may apply; (3) in a criminal case, Section 300 CrPC makes provision that once a person is convicted or acquitted, he may not be tried again for the same offence if the conditions mentioned therein are satisfied; (4) if the criminal case and the civil proceedings are for the same cause, judgment of the civil court would be relevant if conditions of any of Sections 40 to 43 are satisfied, but it cannot be said that the same would be conclusive except as provided in Section 41. Section 41 provides which judgment would be conclusive proof of what is stated therein"

Mar 16, 2011

B N Kashyap Vs Emperor AIR (32) 1945 Lahore 23

Hon’ble High Court observed as under
"There is no reason in my judgment as to why the decision of the civil Court particularly in an action in personam should be allowed to have that sanctity. There appears to be no sound reason for that view. To hold that when a party has been able to satisfy a civil court as to the justice of his claim and has in the result succeeded in obtaining a decree which is final and binding upon the parties, it would not be open to criminal Courts to go behind the findings of the civil Court is to place the latter without any valid reason in a much higher position than what it actually occupies in the system of administration in this country and to make it master not only of cases which it is called upon to adjudicate but also of cases which it is not called upon to determine and over which it has really no control.