{"id":277186,"date":"2022-11-10T17:00:29","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T11:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=277186"},"modified":"2022-12-02T12:37:43","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T07:07:43","slug":"supreme-court-acquits-all-3-accused-in-chhawla-gang-rape-murder-prosecution-criminal-trial-legal-research-updates-law-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/11\/10\/supreme-court-acquits-all-3-accused-in-chhawla-gang-rape-murder-prosecution-criminal-trial-legal-research-updates-law-news\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Left with no alternative&#8221;, Supreme Court acquits all 3 accused in Chhawla Gang Rape and Murder case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Supreme Court:<\/strong> The 3-judge bench of UU Lalit, CJ and S. Ravindra Bhat and <strong>Bela M. Trivedi*<\/strong>, JJ has acquitted the three accused in the Chhawla kidnapping, rape and murder case by giving them a benefit of doubt as the prosecution was not able to prove the case against them beyond reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Background <\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the case at hand, a girl was allegedly kidnapped in Chhawla, gang raped, killed and dumped in the fields ahead of Jhajjar by the three accused. The girl was allegedly walking with her two friends when she was forcibly pulled inside an Indica car.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Three boys were arrested, who had later, admitted having kidnapped, gang raped and killed the victim.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The entire case of prosecution rested on the circumstantial evidence, and that the victim was raped and brutally murdered. The Trial Court relying upon the certain circumstances as \u201cproved\u201d convicted and sentenced the accused for the charged offences.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Delhi High Court also believing the same set of circumstances as \u201cproved\u201d further noted that the two incriminating circumstances of the DNA of a strand of hair recovered from the girl\u2019s dead body matching DNA of Ravi and DNA generated from semen spots found on seat cover of the Indica car matching DNA profile of Vinod were overlooked by the Trial Court.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Supreme Court\u2019s Ruling <\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the case at hand, the Supreme Court found it difficult to hold that the prosecution had proved the guilt of the accused by adducing cogent and clinching evidence. The evidence with regard to the arrest of the accused, their identification, discoveries and recoveries of the incriminating articles, identity of the Indica Car, the seizures and sealing of the articles and collection of samples, the medical and scientific evidence, the report of DNA profiling, the evidence with regard to the CDRs etc <em><u>were not proved by the prosecution by leading, cogent, clinching and clear evidence much less unerringly pointing the guilt of the accused<\/u><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There were many glaring lapses having occurred during the course of the trial. Out of the 49 witnesses examined by the prosecution, 10 material witnesses were not cross-examined and many other important witnesses were not adequately cross-examined by the defence counsel. Hence, <em><u>material witnesses examined by the prosecution having not been either cross-examined or adequately examined, and the trial court also having acted as a passive umpire, the Court held that the accused were deprived of their rights to have a fair trial, apart from the fact that the truth also could not be elicited by the trial court.<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Stating that no conviction should be based merely on the apprehension of indictment or condemnation over the decision rendered, Court observed, it may be true that if the accused involved in the heinous crime go unpunished or are acquitted, a kind of agony and frustration may be caused to the society in general and to the family of the victim in particular, however the law does permit the Courts to punish the accused on the basis of moral conviction or on suspicion alone.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe prosecution has to bring home the charges levelled against them beyond reasonable doubt, which the prosecution has failed to do in the instant case, resultantly, the Court is left with no alternative but to acquit the accused, though involved in a very heinous crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Court, hence, set aside the judgments and orders of conviction and sentence passed by the trial court and the High Court and acquitted the accused by giving them a benefit of doubt.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Effect of acquittal on compensation to victim\u2019s family<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Court made clear that in view of Section 357(A) Cr.PC, the family members of the deceased- victim would be entitled to the compensation even though the accused have been acquitted and hence, the parents of the victim would be entitled to the compensation, if not awarded so far by the Delhi State Legal Services Authority, as may be permissible in accordance with law.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">[Rahul v. State of Delhi, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/yhsNyV8J\">2022 SCC OnLine SC 1532<\/a>, decided on 07.11.2022]<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\">*Judgment by: Justice Bela M. Trivedi<\/h4>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For Appellants: Ms. Sonia Mathur, Sr. Adv. (AC) Ms. Shivani Misra, Adv. Ms. Shreya Rastogi, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Chandra Jaiswal, Adv. Mr. Simranjeet S. Saluja, Adv. Ms. Pratiksha Mishra, Adv. Ms. Ronika Tater, Adv. Mr. Divik Mathur, Adv. Ms. Rupakshi Soni, Adv. A. Sirajudeen, Sr. Adv. Ms. Nidhi, AOR (SCLSC) Mr. Mohit Girdhar, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Arora, Adv. Mr. Harinder Mohan Singh, AOR Ms. Shabana, Adv.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For Respondent(s) Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv. Ms. Celeste Agarwal, Adv. Ms. BLN Shivani, Adv. Mr. Rustam Singh Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Aman Sharma, Adv. Mr. Manvendra Singh, Adv. Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Ms. Charu Wali Khanna, Adv. Dr. (Mrs.) Vipin Gupta, AOR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe prosecution has to bring home the charges levelled against them beyond reasonable doubt, which the prosecution has failed to do in the instant case, resultantly, the Court is left with no alternative but to acquit the accused, though involved in a very heinous crime.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":277199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[52846,26894,6431,52847,3433,2557,30131,52848,3696,2948,29805,8541],"class_list":["post-277186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-supremecourt","tag-acquittal-of-accused","tag-benefit-of-doubt","tag-beyond-reasonable-doubt","tag-chhawla-rape-and-murder-case","tag-circumstantial_evidence","tag-Criminal_Trial","tag-gang-rape","tag-heinous-offences","tag-kidnapping","tag-murder","tag-prosecution-evidence","tag-victim-compensation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v26.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&quot;Left with no alternative&quot;, Supreme Court 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2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Supreme Court was of the view that the basic principle of criminal jurisprudence is that in circumstantial evidence cases, the prosecution is obliged to prove each circumstance, as well the as the links between all circumstances, beyond reasonable doubt. Such circumstances, taken cumulatively, should form a chain so complete\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"\u2018Conviction on the basis of \u2018last seen\u2019 theory not justified\u2019; Supreme Court acquits accused in a 7-year-old boy\u2019s kidnapping and murder case","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MicrosoftTeams-image-102.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":70041,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2016\/09\/16\/soumya-rape-and-murder-case-offence-of-murder-not-made-out-against-govindaswami\/","url_meta":{"origin":277186,"position":2},"title":"Soumya Rape and murder Case: Offence of murder not made out against Govindaswami","author":"Sucheta","date":"September 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court: In the infamous Soumya rape and murder case, the 3-judge bench of Ranjan Gogoi, P.C. Pant and U.U. Lalit, JJ confirmed the conviction of the accused under Section 376 IPC but set aside the death sentence awarded by the Kerala High Court. In the case at hand, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":319412,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2024\/04\/04\/gang-rape-baffling-and-mysterious-as-to-why-police-did-not-collect-cdr-of-victim-delhi-high-court-acquits-accused-due-to-insufficient-evidence\/","url_meta":{"origin":277186,"position":3},"title":"[Gang Rape] Baffling and mysterious as to why police did not collect CDR of victim; Delhi High Court acquits accused due to insufficient evidence","author":"Arunima","date":"April 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cCall Details Record of the victim would have reflected her location which could have even strengthened the case of prosecution but is not explicable as to why such valuable piece of evidence was not bothered to be collected. Thus, a golden opportunity went begging.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Delhi High Court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Delhi-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Delhi-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Delhi-High-Court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Delhi-High-Court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":260337,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/01\/20\/conviction-and-death-sentence-on-the-same-day-for-kidnapping-rape-and-murder-of-an-11-year-old-sc-commutes-sentence-from-death-to-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":277186,"position":4},"title":"Conviction and Death Sentence on the same Day for kidnapping, rape and murder of an 11 Year Old: SC commutes sentence from death to life","author":"Prachi Bhardwaj","date":"January 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court: In a case where the order of conviction and sentence was passed on the same day, the 3-judge bench of L. Nageswara Rao, BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna, JJ has stressed on the importance of bifurcated hearing for convicting and sentencing and has observed that the same is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Conviction-and-Death-Sentence-on-the-same-Day-for-kidnapping-rape-and-murder-of-an-11-Year-Old-SC-commutes-sentence-from-death-to-life.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Conviction-and-Death-Sentence-on-the-same-Day-for-kidnapping-rape-and-murder-of-an-11-Year-Old-SC-commutes-sentence-from-death-to-life.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Conviction-and-Death-Sentence-on-the-same-Day-for-kidnapping-rape-and-murder-of-an-11-Year-Old-SC-commutes-sentence-from-death-to-life.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Conviction-and-Death-Sentence-on-the-same-Day-for-kidnapping-rape-and-murder-of-an-11-Year-Old-SC-commutes-sentence-from-death-to-life.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Conviction-and-Death-Sentence-on-the-same-Day-for-kidnapping-rape-and-murder-of-an-11-Year-Old-SC-commutes-sentence-from-death-to-life.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":201073,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2018\/09\/01\/rape-of-12-year-minor-and-death-thereafter-not-rarest-of-the-rare-case-mp-hc\/","url_meta":{"origin":277186,"position":5},"title":"Rape of 12-year minor and death thereafter not \u201crarest of the rare case\u201d: MP HC","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"September 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Madhya Pradesh High Court: A Division Bench comprising of J.K.Maheshwari and Akhil Kumar Srivastava, JJ., addressed the issue of rape and murder of a minor girl to see if capital punishment of death penalty could be imposed upon the accused. Accused in this case was alleged under Sections 376A, 302,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MP-HC-JABALPUR.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MP-HC-JABALPUR.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MP-HC-JABALPUR.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MP-HC-JABALPUR.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/MP-HC-JABALPUR.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}