Mary Pappa Jebamani vs Genesan And Ors

3. In order to examine the correctness of the impugned orders of the High Court, it appears essential to relate the facts of the case giving rise to these two appeals which disclose that a criminal complaint bearing crime No. 152/2005 was registered by the Sub Inspector of Police wherein it was stated that at about 7.30 p.m. on 24.6.2005, the appellant/complainant and her father while walking down the street to their residence were way laid by the respondents who verbally abused them and beaten them with wooden logs. Hence a case was registered for offences under Section 294(b) and 323 IPC. After investigation and submission of chargesheet, a summary trial bearing case No. 1/2007 was conducted by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Virudhunagar District wherein the complainant/PW-1 and her father PW-4 deposed not only against the accused respondents herein but also against three other female members of the accused party. However, PW-2 and PW-3 who were cited as eye- witnesses turned hostile and the deposition of PW-1, PW-4 and PW-9 who is the daughter of PW-1 complainant were not relied upon as the trial court being the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Virudhunagar District held that the complaint did not disclose the nature of abusive language used by the accused as also the fact that the eye-witnesses had turned hostile. The trial court, therefore, vide its order dated 20.4.2007 was pleased to give benefit of doubt to the accused persons and they were held not guilty for offences under Sections 294(b) and 323 IPC.

4. The appellant/complainant felt seriously aggrieved of the acquittal of the accused respondents and hence filed Crl. R.P.No.25/2008 before the Principal Sessions Court, Srivilliputhur, District Virudhunagar against the trial court/Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Order dated 20.4.2007 and also prayed for retrial of the accused respondents. The Principal Sessions Court, Virudhunagar vide order dated 26.6.2008 allowed the revision filed by the complainant/appellant and set aside the order of acquittal dated 20.4.2007 of the accused respondents passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate.

5. Obviously, it was now the turn of the accused respondents to move the High Court against the order setting aside their acquittal and hence they filed criminal revision in the High Court which was allowed by the High Court vide the impugned order. The complainant/appellant, therefore, has moved this Court by way of this special leave petition challenging the order of acquittal and further filed a Crl. Misc. Petition bearing SR No. 15619/2010 praying for retrial of the accused respondents which was dismissed as not maintainable as already referred to hereinbefore. The analogous special leave petition is directed against this order. 6. The complainant/appellant who appeared in person has challenged the judgment and order of the High Court and submitted that the order of the High Court acquitting the accused respondents is fit to be to quashed and set aside as the clinching evidence on record adduced by the complainant and their witnesses were illegally ignored by the trial court as also the High Court specially the medical evidence indicating that the appellant’s father had taken treatment as an in- patient in the Government Hospital Virudhunagar from 24.6.2005 to 1.7.2005 and had taken treatment as in-patient in the Government Hospital, Madurai, from 2.7.2005 to 16.7.2005 which was for 23 days continuously as a consequence of the injury sustained in the incident which has been totally ignored by the trial court while recording an order of acquittal of the accused respondents. The appellant-in-person relying upon Section 323 of the IPC has further urged that any hurt which endangers life or which can put the sufferer in severe bodily pain for 20 days or render him unable to follow his ordinary daily pursuit, could not have been taken lightly by the trial court so as to acquit the accused respondents even for the offence under Section 323 IPC. The appellant has further relied upon other discrepancies in appreciation of the evidence of the prosecution/complainant while acquitting the accused respondents.

13. Since the High Court has failed to record any reason setting aside the order of the First Appellate Court, when it was exercising merely revisional jurisdiction, we deem it just and appropriate to remand the matter arising out of Criminal Revision No. 620/2008 to the High Court to reconsider and assign reasons for setting aside the order of conviction and recording an order of acquittal of the respondents passed by the First Appellate Court convicting the respondents without specifying and ignoring the medical evidence although it was considering the matter only in exercise of its revisional jurisdiction which has limited ambit and scope. In view of the above discussion, the appeal arising out of SLP (Crl.) 4149/2011 shall be treated as allowed in view of the order of remand of the matter to the High Court for fresh consideration. As already stated, appeal arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 4150/2011 stands dismissed.

…………………………J (G.S. Singhvi) …………………………J (Gyan Sudha Misra) New Delhi;

December 09, 2013