Yomeshbhai Pranshankar Bhatt vs State Of Gujarat

Learned counsel for the appellant urged that though at the time of issuing notice, this Court limited its rights to raise points only within the confines of Section 304 of Indian Penal Code, the Court is not bound at the time of final hearing with that direction given while issuing notice and the appellant is entitled to urge all questions including his right to urge that he should have been acquitted in the facts and circumstances of the case. Before examining the correctness of the aforesaid submission, we are inclined to look into the rules of this Court. The Supreme Court Rules, 1966 (hereinafter referred to as "the rules") which have been framed under Article 145 of the Constitution are relevant in connection with this inquiry. It has been held by this Court that the power of Supreme Court to make Rules to regulate its own procedure is only subject to two limitations:

The appellant went to the house of the deceased being accompanied by one Alpesh. In the house of the deceased, an altercation ensued between the appellant and the deceased as the deceased was refusing to come and join her work as a maid presumably on the ground that the amount of Rs. 375/- per month which was paid by the appellant to the deceased by way of remuneration was very low. The appellant had stated by way of defence that the deceased had taken a loan of Rs. 10,000 from the appellant and the appellant wanted the deceased to return the same. However, this defence has not been accepted either by the trial court or the High Court. Admittedly, an altercation followed and it is alleged that the appellant on the spur of the moment, went to the deceased and gagged her mouth. The further prosecution case is that the deceased was cooking at the time when the appellant went to her house. A can of kerosene was lying nearby and the appellant almost emptied the can of kerosene on the deceased and lit the match stick. Surprisingly, Alpesh who accompanied the appellant to the house of the deceased ran away before the incident of burning had taken place and he was not examined by the prosecution at all. The only two other witnesses in this case are PW 1 husband of the deceased and PW 2 the elder sister-in-law of the deceased. PW 2 came to the place of occurrence after hearing the shouts of the deceased and made arrangements for taking the deceased to the doctor for treatment. Both PW 1 husband of the deceased and PW 2 Kanta Ben, who made arrangements for taking the deceased for medical treatment were declared hostile. PW 1, the husband of the deceased, in his evidence submitted that the deceased had suicidal tendencies in the past.

(3)In an appeal under this Section, the memorandum of appeal shall precisely state the substantial question of law involved in the appeal.

(5)The appeal shall be heard on the question so formulated and the respondent shall, at the hearing of the appeal, be allowed to argue that the case does not involve such question:

We, however, make it clear that this cannot be a universal practice in all cases. The question whether the Court will enlarge the scope of its inquiry at the time of final hearing depends on the facts and circumstances of the case. Since in the facts of this case, we find that the appellant should be heard on all points, we have come to the aforesaid conclusion.

We have considered the relevant submission. We are of the view that in a case relating to circumstantial evidence, the Court should see the circumstances very carefully before arriving at a finding of guilt of the person concerned and yet if there is any doubt which is inconsistent with the innocence of the accused, the benefit should go to the accused.

But whether the case falls under Section 300, thirdly of IPC, is very doubtful. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and in the light of defence of the deceased, this Court holds that the case falls under Section 304 Part II and the appellant has already suffered imprisonment for 11 years 2 months. In that view of the matter, this Court holds that the sentence which has already been undergone by the appellant is more than sufficient under Section 304 Part II. 12 However, the sentence of fine is set aside.

Having regard to our finding, that the case falls under Section 304 Part II, the appeal is allowed to the extent indicated above. The appellant should be released forthwith, if not required in any other case.