Bail – Murder case – Conviction of accused-private respondents a/w life sentence – Appeals – Grant of bail by High Court during pendency of the appeals – Challenged by widow of the deceased – Held: Impugned judgment/order passed by the High Court releasing the accused on bail pending appeal lacks total clarity on which part of the judgment/order can be said to be submissions and which part can be said to be the findings/reasonings – It does not even reflect the submissions on behalf of the Public Prosecutor – Detailed counter affidavit filed on behalf of the State opposing the bail pending appeal was not even referred to by the High Court – The manner in which High Court disposed of the application u/s.389 CrPC and the application for bail pending appeal cannot be approved – Even on merits also, the order passed by the High Court is unsustainable – High Court failed to note the circumstances under which right from the very beginning efforts were made to delay/derail the investigation – High Court also did not consider the seriousness of the offence and the gravity of the accusation against the accused and their antecedents and conduct by giving threats to the witnesses during trial and even thereafter – Accused-private respondents to surrender forthwith to serve out the sentence imposed by trial Court – High Court to decide the pending appeals on merits – Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.389 – Penal Code, 1860 – ss. 302/149, 201 r/w s.120B.
Judgments/Orders – Importance and purpose of a judgment – It is not adequate that a decision is accurate, it must also be reasonable, logical and easily comprehensible – What the court says, and how it says it, is equally important as what the court decides – It is desirable that the judgment should have a clarity, both on facts and law and on submissions, findings, reasoning and the ultimate relief granted.
Allowing the appeals, the Court
HELD: 1. The impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court releasing the accused on bail pending appeal lacks total clarity on which part of the judgment and order can be said to be submissions and which part can be said to be the findings/reasonings. It does not even reflect the submissions on behalf of the Public Prosecutor opposing the bail pending appeal. A detailed counter affidavit was filed on behalf of the State opposing the bail pending appeal which has not been even referred to by the High Court. The manner in which the High Court has disposed of the application under Section 389 Cr.P.C. and has disposed of the application for bail pending appeal cannot be approved. [Para 9.1][97-E-F]
2. Importance of judgment; purpose of judgment and what should be contained in the judgment.
2.1. “Judgment” means a judicial opinion which tells the story of the case; what the case is about; how the court is resolving the case and why. “Judgment” is defined as any decision given by a court on a question or questions or issue between the parties to a proceeding properly before court. It is also defined as the decision or the sentence of a court in a legal proceeding along with the reasoning of a judge which leads him to his decision. The term “judgment” is loosely used as judicial opinion or decision. There are four purposes for any judgment that is written: i) to spell out judges own thoughts; ii) to explain the decision to the parties; iii) to communicate the reasons for the decision to the public; and iv) to provide reasons for an appeal court to consider. [Para 9.2][97-G-H; 98-A-C]
2.2. It is not adequate that a decision is accurate, it must also be reasonable, logical and easily comprehensible. The judicial opinion is to be written in such a way that it elucidates in a convincing manner and proves the fact that the verdict is righteous and judicious. What the court says, and how it says it, is equally important as what the court decides. Every judgment contains four basic elements and they are (i) statement of material (relevant) facts, (ii) legal issues or questions, (iii) deliberation to reach at decision and (iv) the ratio or conclusive decision. A judgment should be coherent, systematic and logically organised. It should enable the reader to trace the fact to a logical conclusion on the basis of legal principles. A judgment has to formulate findings of fact, it has to decide what the relevant principles of law are, and it has to apply those legal principles to the facts. The important elements of a judgment are: i) Caption ii) Case number and citation iii) Facts iv) Issues v) Summary of arguments by both the parties vi) Application of law vii) Final conclusive verdict. [Para 9.3][98-D-H; 99-A]
2.3. The judgment replicates the individuality of the judge and therefore it is indispensable that it should be written with care and caution. The reasoning in the judgment should be intelligible and logical. Clarity and precision should be the goal. All conclusions should be supported by reasons duly recorded. The findings and directions should be precise and specific. Writing judgments is an art, though it involves skilful application of law and logic. The judges may be overburdened with the pending cases and the arrears, but at the same time, quality can never be sacrificed for quantity. Unless judgment is not in a precise manner, it would not have a sweeping impact. There are some judgments that eventually get overruled because of lack of clarity. Therefore, whenever a judgment is written, it should have clarity on facts; on submissions made on behalf of the rival parties; discussion on law points and thereafter reasoning and thereafter the ultimate conclusion and the findings and thereafter the operative portion of the order. There must be a clarity on the final relief granted. A party to the litigation must know what actually he has got by way of final relief. The aforesaid aspects are to be borne in mind while writing the judgment, which would reduce the burden of the appellate court too. Many judgments which lack clarity on facts, reasoning and the findings and many a times it is very difficult to appreciate what the learned judge wants to convey through the judgment and because of that, matters are required to be remanded for fresh consideration. Therefore, it is desirable that the judgment should have a clarity, both on facts and law and on submissions, findings, reasonings and the ultimate relief granted. [Para 9.4][99-B-F]
3.1. Even on merits also, the impugned order passed by the High Court releasing the accused on bail pending appeal is unsustainable. The High Court has not at all appreciated and considered the fact that the trial Court on appreciation of evidence has convicted the accused for the offences under Sections 302/149, 201 r/w 120B IPC. Once the accused have been convicted by the trial Court, there shall not be any presumption of innocence thereafter. Therefore, the High Court shall be very slow in granting bail to the accused pending appeal who are convicted for the serious offences punishable under Sections 302/149, 201 r/w 120B IPC. [Para 11][100-A-B]
3.2. The High Court has also failed to note the circumstances under which right from the very beginning the efforts were made to delay/derail the investigation. The High Court has not appreciated the conduct on the part of the accused pending investigation and even during trial. The trial Court has specifically observed while appreciating the evidence of the prosecution witnesses that the accused gave threats repeatedly to the prosecution witnesses and villagers and threatened them that if they give evidence against the accused, they would suffer the dire consequences. The High Court has also not very seriously considered the two FIRs filed during trial for the offences under Sections 504 & 506 IPC against the accused for giving threats to the complainant side and others. The High Court has not considered the seriousness of the offence and the gravity of the accusation against the accused and their antecedents and conduct by giving threats to the witnesses during trial and even thereafter. [Paras 11.1, 11.2 and 11.3][100C, D-E, G]
3.3. The private respondents are directed to surrender forthwith to serve out the sentence imposed by the trial Court. The High Court shall decide the pending appeals on their own merits, in accordance with law. [Paras 13, 14][101-E-F]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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