ACHYUT ADHICARY Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal against the judgment and order of the High Court of Calcutta in which a preliminary objection has been taken that the certificate under Art. 134(1)(c) is not a proper certificate and should therefore be cancelled. A further question would arise as to whether it is a case in which special leave to appeal should be granted under Art. 136 if we find that the preliminary objection is well founded.

(2.) The appellant was tried for murder under S. 302 of the Indian Penal Code in the court of the Additional Sessions Judge at Alipore sitting with a jury. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty and the appellant was acquitted. Against that order the State took an appeal to the High Court and the Division Bench found that there was misdirection in the charge to the jury and therefore after consideration of the evidence to set aside the verdict of jury, allowed the appeal and sentenced the appellant to imprisonment for life. The appellant then applied to the High Court for a certificate under Art. 134(1)(c) which was granted by another Division Bench of the Court which had not heard the appeal.

(3.) Three points were urged before the Bench hearing the application for certificate; (1) that there was unusual delay in delivering the judgment and the Division Bench hearing the appeal forgot to consider many of the questions of fact which were raised and argued before it; (2} that the High Court had no power to substitute its own estimate of the evidence in an appeal against the order of acquittal in a trial by jury and (3) that as a matter of fact there were no such misdirections as caused a failure of justice or a mistrial and therefore the High Court was not entitled to examine the evidence. The learned Judges were of the opinion that there was no substance in points Nos. 2 and 3 but the first point did raise a question of importance. The learned Chief Justice observed:-