Penal Code, 1860 – ss.376 and 452 – Rape – Non-allowance of medical examination by prosecutrix – Delay in lodging FIR – Trial court convicted the accused-respondent for forcibly committing sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix, however, acquitted by the High Court due to glaring lacunae in the prosecution case – Interference:
Held: Interference not called for – Mother of the prosecutrix declared hostile – Father of the prosecutrix made evasive statements and failed to explain the delay in reporting the matter – Unexplained delay in lodging FIRs commonly considered fatal to the prosecution’s case – On facts, delay was never acknowledged and necessary benefit of such omission must accrue to the accused – Non-allowance of medical examination by an alleged rape-victim raises negative inferences against them – Prosecutrix and her parents themselves never fully cooperated with the medical staff during the medical examination, adversely impacting the credibility of their version of events – Furthermore, no good reasons can be ascribed to the complete lack of assistance that the complainants tendered to the authorities, apart from their contradictory stances before the court – Also, High Court’s invariable conclusion that the prosecutrix was not mentally unsound – Except where this Court finds that the conclusion drawn by the High Court is based upon a complete misreading of the evidence on record, or where its conclusions are so perverse that the same cannot be sustained, then only might a judgment of acquittal warrant interference – On facts, the High Court microscopically examined the entire evidence before firmly opining that the accused deserves the benefit of the doubt. [Paras 7-10, 12, 13]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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