STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. VAJUBHAI PANCHABHAI PATEL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 30.03.1996 passed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Amreli in Criminal Case No. 1422 of 1993 whereby, the respondent was acquitted of the alleged offences punishable u/s. 279, 337, 338 & 304-A of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 177 & 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act.

(2.) The brief facts of the prosecution case are as under;

(3.) Heard learned counsel for the respective parties and perused the entire documents on record. The principles which would govern and regulate the hearing of appeal by this Court against an order of acquittal passed by the trial Court have been very succinctly explained by the Apex Court in a catena of decisions. This Court has the power to re-consider the whole issue involved in the appeal, re-appraise the evidence and come to its own conclusion and findings in place of the findings recorded by the trial Court, if the said findings are against the weight of the evidence on record or, in other words, perverse. Even in a recent decision of the Apex Court in the case of State of Goa v. Sanjay Thakran & anr., 2007 3 SCC 755, the Court has reiterated similar principle. In Para-16 of the said decision, the Court has observed as under ;