‘Material Circumstances Not Put To Accused Under S.313 CrPC’: Supreme Court Overturns Conviction In NDPS Act Case After 22 Years
Case: Nababuddin @ Mallu @ Abhimanyu v. State of Haryana
Coram: Justices Abhay S. Oka and Justice Pankaj Mithal
Case No.: CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 2333 OF 2010
Court Observation: As the only material circumstances pleaded by the prosecution against the appellant were not put to him, a serious prejudice has been caused to the appellant’s defense. Indeed, the appellant may not have earlier raised the issue regarding the inadequacy of examination under Section 313 of CrPC. However, in this case, the omission goes to the root of the matter regarding the appellant. According to us, it is a serious and material illegality committed by the Court as the examination of the appellant was not made under Section 313 of CrPC on the aforesaid circumstances
The appellant has undergone incarceration of five and a half years. If, after the lapse of more than twenty-two years, he is again subjected to examination under Section 313 of CrPC, it will cause prejudice to him. Therefore, the failure to put two relevant circumstances to the appellant in his examination under Section 313 CrPC will be fatal to the prosecution case. Hence, on this ground, we hold that the appellant’s conviction cannot be sustained.
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