Custodial Death – Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.482 – Penal Code, 1860 – ss.302, 201, 149, 120B r/w s.34 – Matters of custodial death – High Court solely relying on the reports of the investigating agencies (CID and CBI) held that the occurrence took place in the exercise of right of self-defence by the accused police officials-respondents and set aside the committal order and discharged the respondents in the respective cases – Challenge to:
Held: High Court erred in quashing and setting aside the criminal proceedings against the accused police officials-respondents – Present matters did not warrant discharge or setting aside of committal order by the High Court – Approach taken by the High Court in allowing the revision petitions, deprecated – While conclusively asserting that the occurrence took place in the exercise of right of self-defence, the High Court glaringly lost sight of the fact that it was deciding petitions u/s.482, CrPC to set aside the committal order and grant discharge in respective matters, and not carrying a full-fledged trial so as to conclusively establish the cause of the incident itself – When dealing with such matters, u/s.482, CrPC, the High Court is to assess whether at a prima facie view of the allegations, a cognizable offence is made out or not – Going by the farthest stretch or even the most flexible interpretation of the principles involved in deciding a quashing petition, one fails to see how it can be implied that an offence warranting trial is not made out in the given set of facts and circumstances – The plea of self-defence could not have been accepted at face-value by the High Court without having to meticulously prove it during the trial – A plea of self-defence cannot be taken lightly, especially in a grave incident of custodial death, that too in such compelling circumstances – Grounds of defence adopted by the accused persons are a matter of trial which ought to be explained and proven in due course of proceedings following the strict rules of evidence and criminal procedure – Impugned order set aside – Matters remanded back to the respective Trial Courts – Right to life – Right to fair trial. [Paras 8-10, 12, 13]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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