# ff SATYENDRA NATH DUTTA & ANR v. RAM NARAIN

- **Citation:** [1975] 2 S.C.R. 743
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1974-11-18
- **Bench:** Y. V. Chandrachud, P. N. Bhagwati
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/ff-satyendra-nath-dutta-anr-v-ram-narain-6233
- **Pages:** 6

## Headnote

743
Section 439 ('4 )-App;eal again~/ acquittal by private complainant...:.State not
prefering appeal under sec, 417-interference with the order of acquitta/-
Sessions Court judgment not su!Jering from any manifest i//egality-Acquillal
not resulting in any misca1·riage of justice-High Court, if could order retrial.
The appellants Satyendra Natlt Dutta and Subha>h Mauzumdar were tried
by the learned Civil and Sessions Judge, Lucknow, for offences in conn·action
with the .death of one Nanhey Lal and injuries to his son, Raj
Kishore,
Satyendra Nath Dutta was· charged under secuon 302 and section 307 read with
section 34 while the other appellant was charged under section 307 and section
302 read with section 34 of the Penal Code. The learned Sessions
Judge
acquitted the appellants upon whir.b Ram Narain, a brother o'f the deceased
Nanhey Lal, filed a revision appJjcation in the High Court of Allahabad under
section 439, Code of Criminal Procedure. challenging the order of acquittal.
The High Court allowed the revision application, set aside the order of acquittal
nnd dire=ted that the appellants be retried by the Sessions Court. This appeal
by special leave has been preferred against the judgment of the High Court
ordering re·trial.
·
Allowing the appeal,
HELD : The revisional jurisdiction of the High Court cannot be mvoked
m-.rely because the lower court has taken a wrong view of the law or mis·
appreciated the evidence on record. [74SAJ
D. Stephens v. Nosibolla, [1951] S.C.R. 284, Logendranath Jha and Ors. v.
Polai/al Biswas, [1951] S.C.R, 6761 K. Chinnasw01!1y Reddy .v. ~tat~ of Andhra.
Pradesh (1963] 3 S.C.R. 412, Manendra Pratap Smgh v . . Sar1u Smgh & Anr.
(1968] 2 S.C.R. 287 and Khetrabari Sama/ etc. v, State of Orissa. etc. (1970] 1
S.C.R. 880 1e(erred to
While applying the principles laid down by this Court in this mp~ct, the
High Court has fallen precisely into the error which was corrected by this
Court in these decisions The error which the High Court committed is that in
the first place it blamed the accused for not demanding an identifk&lion parade,
secondly it held by examining a few aspects of the ·evidence that the accused were
previouily known to the eye-witne'sses amd thirdly it assumed wrongly that
the conclusion of the Sessions Court that Nanhey Lal had made a dying declaration was ba!ed on inadmisiible evidence .. The Sessions Court considered . the':
various cir.cumstances and came to the conClusion that Nanhey Lal had made a
dying decl&ration. That conclusion may be wrong but that cannot justify setting aside the order of acquittal and directing a re-trial of the appellants. The
dominant justification of the order of acquittal recorded by the Sessions Court
is the view it took of the evidence of the eye-witnesses. If that evidence was
unacceptable. there were no -circumstances in the case on which the appellants
could be convicted. [748B-CJ
·
The High Court has . thus transsressed the narrow limits of its revisional
jurisdiction under section 439( 4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The
judgment of the Sessions Court did not suifer from any· manifest illegality and
. the interests of justice did not require the High Court to interfere with the
order of acquittal passed by the Sessions Court Any fair assessment of the
evidence of the e;ve-witnesse> would Show that the acquittal of the appellants
Jed to no miscarna~e of justice. [7480]
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JuJUSDICTION : ·Criminal Appeal No. SS of
1971.
744
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975]2 s.c.a.
Appeal by special le•ave from the Jildgment and order dated the
29th September 1970, of the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench)
in Criminal Revision No. 364 of 1966.
Debabrata Mukherjee Manoj Swaroop and U. S. Prasad, for the
awellants.
.
Shivpujan Singh, for respondent.

## Text

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SATYENDRA NATH DUTTA & ANR.
v.
RAM NARAIN
November 18, 1974
(Y. V. CHANDRACHUD AND P. N. BHAGWATI, JJ.]
743
Section 439 ('4 )-App;eal again~/ acquittal by private complainant...:.State not
prefering appeal under sec, 417-interference with the order of acquitta/-
Sessions Court judgment not su!Jering from any manifest i//egality-Acquillal
not resulting in any misca1·riage of justice-High Court, if could order retrial.
The appellants Satyendra Natlt Dutta and Subha>h Mauzumdar were tried
by the learned Civil and Sessions Judge, Lucknow, for offences in conn·action
with the .death of one Nanhey Lal and injuries to his son, Raj
Kishore,
Satyendra Nath Dutta was· charged under secuon 302 and section 307 read with
section 34 while the other appellant was charged under section 307 and section
302 read with section 34 of the Penal Code. The learned Sessions
Judge
acquitted the appellants upon whir.b Ram Narain, a brother o'f the deceased
Nanhey Lal, filed a revision appJjcation in the High Court of Allahabad under
section 439, Code of Criminal Procedure. challenging the order of acquittal.
The High Court allowed the revision application, set aside the order of acquittal
nnd dire=ted that the appellants be retried by the Sessions Court. This appeal
by special leave has been preferred against the judgment of the High Court
ordering re·trial.
·
Allowing the appeal,
HELD : The revisional jurisdiction of the High Court cannot be mvoked
m-.rely because the lower court has taken a wrong view of the law or mis·
appreciated the evidence on record. [74SAJ
D. Stephens v. Nosibolla, [1951] S.C.R. 284, Logendranath Jha and Ors. v.
Polai/al Biswas, [1951] S.C.R, 6761 K. Chinnasw01!1y Reddy .v. ~tat~ of Andhra.
Pradesh (1963] 3 S.C.R. 412, Manendra Pratap Smgh v . . Sar1u Smgh & Anr.
(1968] 2 S.C.R. 287 and Khetrabari Sama/ etc. v, State of Orissa. etc. (1970] 1
S.C.R. 880 1e(erred to
While applying the principles laid down by this Court in this mp~ct, the
High Court has fallen precisely into the error which was corrected by this
Court in these decisions The error which the High Court committed is that in
the first place it blamed the accused for not demanding an identifk&lion parade,
secondly it held by examining a few aspects of the ·evidence that the accused were
previouily known to the eye-witne'sses amd thirdly it assumed wrongly that
the conclusion of the Sessions Court that Nanhey Lal had made a dying declaration was ba!ed on inadmisiible evidence .. The Sessions Court considered . the':
various cir.cumstances and came to the conClusion that Nanhey Lal had made a
dying decl&ration. That conclusion may be wrong but that cannot justify setting aside the order of acquittal and directing a re-trial of the appellants. The
dominant justification of the order of acquittal recorded by the Sessions Court
is the view it took of the evidence of the eye-witnesses. If that evidence was
unacceptable. there were no -circumstances in the case on which the appellants
could be convicted. [748B-CJ
·
The High Court has . thus transsressed the narrow limits of its revisional
jurisdiction under section 439( 4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The
judgment of the Sessions Court did not suifer from any· manifest illegality and
. the interests of justice did not require the High Court to interfere with the
order of acquittal passed by the Sessions Court Any fair assessment of the
evidence of the e;ve-witnesse> would Show that the acquittal of the appellants
Jed to no miscarna~e of justice. [7480]
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JuJUSDICTION : ·Criminal Appeal No. SS of
1971.
744
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975]2 s.c.a.
Appeal by special le•ave from the Jildgment and order dated the
29th September 1970, of the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench)
in Criminal Revision No. 364 of 1966.
Debabrata Mukherjee Manoj Swaroop and U. S. Prasad, for the
awellants.
.
Shivpujan Singh, for respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
CHANDRACHUD J. The appellants Satyendra Nath
Dutta
and
Subhash Mauzumdar were tried by the learned Civil and Sess.ions
Judge, Lucknow, for offences in coinnection with thei death of one
Nan.hey Lal and injuries to his son, Raj Kishore. Satyendra Nath
Dutta was charged under section 302 and section 307 read with section
34 while the other appellant was charged under section 307 and section· 302 read with section 34 of the Penal Code. The learned Sessions
Judge acquitted the appellants upon which Ram Narain, a brother of
the deceased N anhey Lal, filed a revision application in the High
Court of Allahabad under section 439, Code of Criminal Procedure,
ch•allenging the order of acquittal. It is said tliat the State qf U.P.
wanted to file an appeal against the order of acquittal but it could not
do so as the record cif the case was missing.
The High Court allowed
the revision application, s~t aside the~ order .of acquittal and. directed
that the appellants be redirected by the 'Sessions Court: This appeal
by special leave is directed against the judgment of the High Court
ordering the re-trial.
·
Section 417(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 provides
that the State Government may direct the Public Prosecutor to pre11ent
an appeal to the High Court from an order of .acquittal pass~ by any
court other than the High Court. By sub-section (3) the High C<>urt
is empowered to grant special leave to the complainant to appeal from
the order of acquittal if such an order is passed in a case instituted
upori a complaint.
·
Section 439 (l) of the Code, which deals with the revisional powers
of the High Court provides that in the ellercise of revisional jurisdiction
the High Court may exercise any of the powers conferred on a. court
of appeal. As the court of appeal is entitled under section 423(l)(a)
to reverse an order of acquittal or to direct a re:trial. The High Cc1urt
in the exercise of its revisional powers would also be entitled to r~1ord
a conviction by reversing the order of' acquittal. But sub-section ( 4) .
of section 439 provides expressly that nothing contained in the section
"shall be deemed to authorise a High Court to convert a finding of
acquittal. into one of conviction." ;This provision has been judicially
interyreted and it is necessary to refer to the decision onbis C:ci·urt
beanng on the construction thereof.
.
. In J). Stephens v. Noslbolla(~) it :was held by this Court that the
revislonal jurisdiction conferred by section 4~9 of the Code ought .not
to be exercised lightly when it is invoked by a private complainant
against an order of acquittal which could have been appealed. against
by the GovefllJI1ent under section·· 417. "It could be exercised o:rlly
in exceptional cases where the· interests of public j~
require_ Inter·
femlce for the correction of a manifest illegality, or the prevention of
;(1) [l"lJ SCR 284.
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S. N. DUTTA v. RAM NARAIN (Chandrachud, /.)
745
a gross miscarriage of justice." In other words, the revisional jurisdiction of the . High Court cannot be 4ivoked merely because the lower
court has taken a wrong view of the law or misappreciated the evidence on record. In Logendranath Iha & Others v. Polailal Biswas(I)
the High Court, at the instance of private complainant, set aside the
order of acquittal passed by the Sessions Court and directed that the
accused be retried.
This Court held that the provision contained in
section 439 ( 4) of the Code cannot be construed to mean that in deal·
ing with a revision petition by a private party against an .order. of
acquittal the High Court could, in the absence of any error on a point ·
of Jaw. re-appraise the evidence and reverse the findings of facts, provided only it stops short of finding the accused guilty and passing sentence on him.
The order of re-trial based on a re-appraisal of evidence was characterised by this Court as a formal compliance with
the requirements of section 439(4). In K. Chinnaswamy Reddy v.
State of Andhra Pradesh(2 ) the Court while emphasising .that the revisional jurisdiction should be exercised by the High Court in· exceptional
cases only when there is some glaring defect in the procedur.e or a
manifest error on a point of law resulting in a flagrant miscarriage of
justice observed that it was not possible to lay down the criteria for
determining such exceptional cases which would cover all contingencies.
The Court, however, indicated,· in order to illustrate, a few of
the cases in which the revisional jurisdiction could properly be used.
An acquittal by a court lacking jurisdiction or excluding evidence
which was admissible . or relying on inadmissible evidence or where
material evidence has been overlooked are some of the cases mdicated
by this Court as justifying the exercise of revisional powers. In
Mahendra Pratap Singh v. Sarju Singh & Anr.(3 ) where the High Court
in exercise of its revisional powers had, at the instance of a private
party, directed re~trial of 'the accused, this Court on a review of the
previous decisions -re-affirmed that the High Court was wrong in entering into minute details of evidence, while examining the decision of
the Sessions Court under section 439(4) of the Code. The last
decision to which reference may be made is Khetrabasi Samal etc. v.
State of Orissa etc( 4). The High Court while exercising its revisional
jurisdiction had set aside the order of acquittal on the ground that
the Magistrate should not have disbelieved the three eye-witnesses.
The High Court sought justification for the course it adopted by observing that the Magistrate had not taken the trouble of sifting the grain
from the chaff.
The order of the High Court was set aside by this
Court.
·
The attention of the High Court was drawn to these decisions and
after referring to the principles laid down therein it observed that tht.l
complainant's revision application before it had to be decided in the
light of those principles. But while applying those principles the
High Court has· fallen precisely into the error which was corrected by
this Court in the decisions referred to above.
The deceoased Nanhey Lal was running a grocery shop at Hewett
Road, Lucknow. .A short dista!lce away from his shop was the Pan
shop of one Hari Sharma Shukla.
On September 4, 1965 the deceas-
(1) [l~Sl] S.C.R. 676.
(2) [1963( 3 S.C.R. 412.
(3) (1968] 2 S.C.R. 287.
(4) [1970] I S.C.R. 88Q.
746
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1975) 2 s.c.R.
ed Nanhey Lal, his brother Ram Narain, his sons Raj Kishote and
Bijay Kishore and relation called Sheetal Prasad were having clrat
at about ll p.m.
Ram Narain sent Raj Kishore to fetch a Pan from
Hari Sharma's shop. When Raj Kishore went t-o bring the Pairi, the
appellant Subhash is alleged to have given •a blow with a cane to him.
On hearing the shouts of Raj Kishore, Nanhey Lal went to th~ Pan
shop. In the meantime, the appellant Satyendra Nath Dutta snatched
the C'ane from Subhash's hand. When Nanhey Lal tried to di5arm
Satyendra Nath Dutta, Subhash is alleged to have caught hold of
N anhey Lal facilitating a knife attack by Satyendra Nath on Nanhey
Lal. Raj Kishore intervened to save his father but Subhash is alleged
to have given him two knife blows. At about 5 a.m. the next morning
Nanhey Lal succumbed to his injuries.
The prosecution examined five eye-witnesses, Ram Narajn, Barati
Lal, Bijay Kishore, Kallu and Raj Kishore. The prosecution also
relied on the circumstance that a cycle taken on hire by Subhash was
found at the scene of occurrence.
The learned Sessions Judge examined with care the evidence of the
eye-witnesses observing that the mere fact that the witnesses
were
related to the deceased would be no ground to reject their evidence.
He •also referred to what clearly was an important, circumstance that
the First Information Report, which was lodged without delay, mentioned the names of Ram Narain and Bijay Kishore as eye-witnesses.
But the learned Judge found the evidence of these and other eye-witnesses unacceptable for a variety of reasons. R>aj Kishore who was also
.injured during the incident had made a "dying declaration" at the
Balrampur Hospital, Lucknow, at about 2-30 p.m. on September 5.
He had mentioned the n•ames of persons who had witnessed the incident but did not refer to Ram Narnin.
The statement made by Raj
Kishore could not be treated as a dying declaration because he survived the attack. But he was cross-examined in reference to that statement and he explained his omission to refer to Ram N arain's presence
by saying that since Ram Narain was a close relation he did not :refer
to his presence. The Sessions Court rejected this expl·anation because
Raj Kishore had mentioned the name of Sheetal Prasad as eye-witness
though he was related to him.
Ram Narain was the elder brother ·of
the deceased and yet he did not remove either the deceased or Raj
Kishore to the hospital. They were removed to the hospital by Bijay
Kishore, hardly 12 or 13 years of age.
In regard to the evidence of Bijay. Kishore, though Ram Narain
had mentioned the names of eye-witnesses in the First Information
Report he did not mention the name of Bijay Kishoie. In fact, Ram
Narain did not refer to Bijoay Kishore's presence even in the committing Court.
His explanation that he forgot to mention Bijay Kishore's
name in the F.l.R. and that he was not questioned in the committing.
Court abollt Bijay Kishore's presence was rejected by the Sessions
Court. Bijay Kishore's presence at the time of occurrence was not·
referred to by Raj Kish ore in the so-<:alled dying dedaration though the
names of others who had seen the incident were mentioned.
The evidence of the other witnesses was also rejected by the Sessions Court. Barati Lal was a chance witness.
His conduct in not
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s. N. DUTTA v. RAM NARAIN (Chandrachud, !.)
747
talking to anyone at the spot was unnatural •and his claim that his
statement was recorded by the Investigating Officer the same night
was belied by the evidence of the officer himself.
Kallu is a rickshawpuller and he appeared to be •at the beck and call of the polir.e.
He
had given evidence in three or four police cases.
In regard to Raj Kishore the Sessions Court referred to the contradiction between the statement he made in the hospit!\I and the case of
the prosecution bearing on the sequence of events.
Raj Kishore's evidence that he was given a cane blow was not corroborated by medical evidence though he was examined by the doctor witjlin half an hour
after the incident.
The recovery of the bicycle which was relied upon by the prosecution as connecting the appellant Subhash with the crime was discarded by the Sessions Court as an incriminating circumstance as it was
recovered not from near Hari Sharma's Pan shop but from another
place called ,Bengali Sweet House which was some distance away.
Finally, the Sessions Court concluded that none of the eye-witnesses
knew the •appellants and therefore the Investigating Officer ought to
have held an identification parade.
In the absence of the ,I?arade the
claim of the witnesses that they could indentify th~ appellants was
difficult to test.
The High Court dismissed the last ground that 'no identificatiOn
pamde was held by saying that the appellants did not ask for. an identification parade and therefore the benefit of that omission could not go
to them.
By an elaborate process of reasoning the High Court found
th:;it the eye-witnesses knew the appellants and therefore in any case
it was unnecessary to hold an identification parade.
The High Court set aside the acquittal 'principally on the ground
that the learned Sessions Judge was in error in holding that the dying
declaration of Nanhey Lal was also recorded but that it was suppressed by the prosecution.
According to the High Court the finding th•at
Nanhey· Lal's dying declaration was recorded "is not based on any
legally admissible evidence but wholly on inadmissible evidence". The
High Court was perhaps right in taking the view that the Sessions
Court was wrong in holding that Nanhey Lal had made a ·~ying declaration.
There is documentary evidence to shOw that though at one
stage the Investigating Officer had stated in a remand application that
the dying declamtion was recorded, it was in fact not recorded.
But
the judgment of the Sessions Court is not based on the suppression of
Nanhey Lal's dying declaration'
The Sessions Judge examined the
evidence of the eye-witnesses critically a~d came to the conclusion
that it was unsafe to act on that evidence. · The High Court adverted
merely to a part of the reasoning of -the Sessions Court leaving wholly
untouched the conclusion recorded by it in regard to the evidence of
the eye-witnesses.
Being aware of the limitations or the powers of a
revisional court the High Court perhaps did not consider the reasons
which influenced the Sessions Court in discarding the evidence of the
748
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[°1975] 2 s.c.R.
.eye-witnesses. In doing so the High Court was right because it 1:ould
not merely; re-appreciate evidence . in. the exercise of its
revisional
powers. But the error which the High Court committed is that in the
first place it blamed the accused for not demanding an identification
parade, secondly it held by examining a few oaspects of the evklence
.that the accused were previously known to the eye-witness~s and
thirdly it assumed wrongly that the conclusion of the Sessions Court
that Nanhey Lal had made a dying declaration was based on inadmissible evidenc:e. .The Sessions Court considered the various circumstances and came to the conclusion that Nanhey Lal had made:a dyinl!l .
. declaration. That, conclusion may J:>e womg but that cannot justify
setting aside the order of acquittal and directing a re-tri'lll of the appellants. The dominant justification of t}\e order of acquittal recorded
.by the Sessions Cowt is the view it took of the evidence of the eyewitnesses: If that evidence was unacceptable, there were' no circums-
.tances in the case on which the appellants. could be convicted.
The High Court has thi.is transgressed the narrow limits of its revi11ional juris4iction under section 4 3 9 ( 4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The judgment of the Sessions Court did not suffer from any
manifest illegality and the interests of justice did notrequire the High
·Court to interfere with the order of acquittal passed by the Sessions,
·Court. Any fair assessment of the evidence of the
eye-witm:sses
· would show that the acquittal of the appellants led to no miscarriage of
justice.
We therefore oallow the appeal, set aside the judgment of the High
Court and confirm the order of acquittal passed by the Sessions Court
1n favour of the appellants
·
V.M.K..
Appeal allowed.
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