Gujarat High Court
State Of Gujarat vs Bharatbhai Rupaji Dabhi on 16 July, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.A/687/2011 JUDGMENT DATED: 16/07/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 687 of 2011
FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:
HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE S.V. PINTO
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Approved for Reporting No
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STATE OF GUJARAT
Versus
BHARATBHAI RUPAJI DABHI & ORS.
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Appearance:
MS. C.M. SHAH, APP for the Appellant(s) No. 1
MR GAURANG K PATEL(2613) for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No.
1,2,3,4
MR VASHISTHA M JOSHI(8972) for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 5
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE S.V. PINTO
Date : 16/07/2025
ORAL JUDGMENT
1. The appeal is filed by the appellant State under
Section 378(1)(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
against the judgement and order of acquittal passed by the
learned Special Judge, City Sessions Court, Ahmedabad
(hereinafter referred to as “the learned Trial Court”) in
Special Case Atro No. 19/2009 on 25.11.2010, whereby, the
learned Trial Court has acquitted the respondents for the
offence punishable under Sections 323, 324, 294-B, 506(1)
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and 114 of Indian Penal Code, 1860, Section 135(1) of the
B.P. Act and Section 3(1)(10) of Schedule Caste and
Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
(hereinafter referred to as “the Atrocity Act” for short).
1.1 The respondents are hereinafter referred to as “the
accused” in the rank and file as they stood in the original
case for the sake of convenience, clarity and brevity.
2. The brief facts that emerge from the record of the case
are as under:
2.1 On 29.04.2008, at around 21.25 hours, the
complainant – Kiranbhai Praveenbhai Srimali was passing
by the Darga opposite Gheekanta Doodhwadi Poll and all
the accused got together and as they had a score to settle
regarding the dispute on 27.04.2008, hurled caste slurs
against the complainant and assaulted the complainant and
the accused no. 1 hit the complainant on his face with his
fist, the accused no. 2 brought an iron pipe from his house
and hit it on the right side head of the complainant and the
accused nos. 3 and 4 beat the complainant with fists. All
the accused abused the complainant and threatened to kill
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him and the complainant filed the complaint at the Shahpur
Police Station under Sections 324, 294(B), 506(1) and 114 of
the Indian Penal Code Section 135(1) of the B.P. Act and
Section 3(1)(10) of the Atrocity Act which was registered at
Shahpur Police Station I – C.R. No. 68 of 2008.
2.2 The Investigating Officer recorded the statements of
the connected witnesses and seized the necessary
documents and after completion of investigation, a charge-
sheet came to be filed before the Court of the learned Chief
Metropolitan Magistrate, Ahmedabad and as the said
offences against the accused were exclusively triable by the
Court of Sessions, the case was committed to the Sessions
Court, Ahmedabad as per the provisions of Section 209 of
Code of Criminal Procedure and the case was registered as
Special Atrocity Case No. 19/2009.
2.3 The accused were duly served with the summons and
the accused appeared before the learned Trial Court and it
was verified whether the copies of all the police papers were
provided to the accused as per the provisions of Section 207
of the Code. A charge at Exh. 4 was framed against the
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accused and the statements of the accused was recorded at
Exhs. 5 to 8 wherein, the accused denied the contents of the
charge and the entire evidence of the prosecution was taken
on record.
2.4 The prosecution examined 12 witnesses and produced
6 documentary evidences on record in support of their case
and after the learned Additional Public Prosecutor filed the
closing pursis, the further statement of the accused under
Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was
recorded and after the arguments of the learned Additional
Public Prosecutor and the learned advocate for the accused
were heard, the learned Trial Court by the impugned
judgement and order was pleased to acquit all the accused
from the charges levelled against them.
3. Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the said
judgment and order of acquittal, the appellant – State has
filed the present appeal mainly stating that the impugned
judgment and order of acquittal passed by the learned Trial
Court is contrary to law and evidence on record and the
learned Trial Court has not appreciated the fact that all the
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witnesses have supported the case of the prosecution and
during the cross-examination, nothing adverse has been
elicited in favor of the respondents. The case has been
proved beyond reasonable doubt and the prosecution has
successfully established the case against the respondents
and the judgment and order of acquittal is unwarranted,
illegal, and without any basis in the eyes of the law and the
reasons stated while acquitting the respondent are
improper, perverse and bad in law. Hence the impugned
judgment and order passed by the learned Trial Court
deserves to be quashed and set aside.
4. Heard learned APP Ms. C.M. Shah for the appellant
State, learned advocate Mr. Gaurang Patel for the
respondent nos. 1 to 4 and learned advocate Mr. Vashishtha
Joshi for the respondent no. 5. Perused the impugned
judgement and order of acquittal and have reappreciated
the entire evidence of the prosecution on record of the case.
5. Learned APP Ms. C.M. Shah and learned advocate Mr.
Vashishtha Joshi for the respondent no. 5 have taken this
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Court through the entire evidence of the prosecution on
record of the case and have jointly submitted that the
complainant has fully supported the facts of his complaint.
The impugned judgement and order is perverse and learned
APP has urged this Court to quash and set aside the same
and find the respondent guilty for the offences.
6. At the outset, before discussing the facts of the
present case, it would be appropriate to refer to the
observations of the Apex Court regarding the scope of
interference in acquittal appeals in the case of Chandrappa
& Ors. Vs. State of Karnataka reported in 2007 (4) SCC
415, wherein, the Apex Court has observed as under:
Recently, in Kallu Vs. State of M.P. (2006) 10 SCC 313, this
Court stated:
“While deciding an appeal against acquittal, the power of the
Appellate Court is no less than the power exercised while
hearing appeals against conviction. In both types of appeals,
the power exists to review the entire evidence. However, one
significant difference is that an order of acquittal will not be
interfered with, by an appellate court, where the judgment of
the trial court is based on evidence and the view taken is
reasonable and plausible. It will not reverse the decision of
the trial court merely because a different view is possible.
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The appellate court will also bear in mind that there is a
presumption of innocence in favour of the accused and the
accused is entitled to get the benefit of any doubt. Further if
it decides to interfere, it should assign reasons for differing
with the decision of the trial court”.
From the above decisions, in our considered view, the
following general principles regarding powers of appellate
Court while dealing with an appeal against an order of
acquittal emerge;
(1) An appellate Court has full power to review,
reappreciate and reconsider the evidence upon which
the order of acquittal is founded;
(2) The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 puts no
limitation, restriction or condition on exercise of such
power and an appellate Court on the evidence before it
may reach its own conclusion, both on questions of
fact and of law;
(3) Various expressions, such as, ‘substantial and
compelling reasons’, ‘good and sufficient grounds’,
‘very strong circumstances’, ‘distorted conclusions’,
‘glaring mistakes’, etc. are not intended to curtail
extensive powers of an appellate Court in an appeal
against acquittal. Such phraseologies are more in the
nature of ‘flourishes of language’ to emphasize the
reluctance of an appellate Court to interfere with
acquittal than to curtail the power of the Court to
review the evidence and to come to its own conclusion.
(4) An appellate Court, however, must bear in mind
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that in case of acquittal, there is double presumption in
favour of the accused. Firstly, the presumption of
innocence available to him under the fundamental
principle of criminal jurisprudence that every person
shall be presumed to be innocent unless he is proved
guilty by a competent court of law. Secondly, the
accused having secured his acquittal, the presumption
of his innocence is further reinforced, reaffirmed and
strengthened by the trial court.
(5) If two reasonable conclusions are possible on the
basis of the evidence on record, the appellate court
should not disturb the finding of acquittal recorded by
the trial court.
7. The law with regard to acquittal appeals is well
crystallized and in acquittal appeals, there is presumption
of innocence in favour of the accused and it has finally
culminated when a case ends in an acquittal. The learned
Trial Court has appreciated all the evidence and when the
learned Trial Court has come to a conclusion that the
prosecution has not proved the case beyond reasonable
doubts, the presumption of innocence in favour of the
accused gets strengthened. There is no inhibition to re
appreciate the evidence by the Appellate Court but if after
re appreciation, the view taken by the learned Trial Court
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was a possible view, there is no reason for the Appellate
Court to interfere in the same.
8. In light of the above settled principle of law, the
evidence of the prosecution is dissected and the
prosecution has examined the complainant – Kiranbhai
Praveenbhai Srimali at Exh. 10 and the witness is the
complainant who has fully supported the complaint which
is produced at Exh. 11. The complainant has stated that
after he was assaulted, he was lying on the ground and
bleeding from his mouth and forehead, and thereafter he
got up and wore his slippers and started going towards
Ahmedabad College where five to seven boys of his street
met him and they called the 108 ambulance and the
Shahpur Police Station and he was taken to V.S. Hospital
for treatment where he was discharged from the hospital at
around 02.00 am after treatment. The complainant has
produced the complaint at Exh. 11 and xerox copy of his
caste certificate. During the cross examination by the
learned advocate for the accused the witness has admitted
that he knew the accused from before as they were residing
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in the same area and hence, could identify them. That he
was conscious when he went to the hospital for treatment
and Ghee Kanta Police Chowki is very near from Kothi
Mohalla. The witness has stated that his clothes were
stained with blood but his mother had washed his clothes,
and his mother and one Rajnibhai had come to V.S.
Hospital but he had not gone to the police table at V.S.
Hospital. The witness has also admitted that he had
received an amount of Rs. 6,250/- as compensation.
8.1 PW2 – Ramanlal Channalal Parmar examined at Exh.
16 and PW3 – Narendra Mafatlal Solanki examined at Exh.
18 are the panch witnesses of the panchnama of the place
of offence which is produced at Exh. 17. Both the witnesses
have not supported the case of the prosecution and have
been declared hostile and cross examined at length by the
learned APP.
8.2 PW4 – Ashokbhai Premjibhai Solanki examined at
Exh. 19 and PW5 – Rajeshbhai Ishwarlal Solanki examined
at Exh. 21 are the panch witnesses of the arrest
panchnama by which the accused were arrested which is
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produced at Exh. 20. Both the witnesses have not
supported the case of the prosecution and have been
declared hostile and during the lengthy cross examination
by the learned APP, nothing to support the case of the
prosecution has come on record.
8.3 PW6 – Narendrabhai Kevaldas Srimali examined at
Exh. 30 has stated that he is known to the complainant as
he is residing above the house of the complainant. On the
date of the incident, he had his dinner and had come
outside at night and he was informed that the complainant
had a dispute and he went and saw a crowd of people there
and all the four accused were assaulting him. They were
very angry and he did not try to intervene but he went
home and called everyone and at that time he saw the
complainant coming from towards Ahmedabad College and
he was bleeding. They took him to V.S. Hospital and he was
discharged early in the morning. He does not know the
reason why the quarrel had taken place and the witness
has identified all the accused before the learned Trial Court.
During the cross-examination the witness has stated that
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he is residing in Kotiwas since birth and on the day prior to
the incident there was a procession and while the
procession was going passing by Kotiwas Street, there was
some dispute but he does not know anything about the
dispute. The witness has stated that for the first time he
has stated before the learned Trial Court that he had seen
the accused assaulting the complainant.
8.4 PW7 – Mahendra Shantilal Makwana examined at Exh.
31 is an eyewitness as per the case of the prosecution but
in his deposition before the learned Trial Court he has not
supported the case of the prosecution and has categorically
stated that he did not see any of the accused assaulting the
complainant. The witness has been declared hostile and
has been cross-examined at length by the learned APP but
nothing to support the case of the prosecution that the
witness was an eyewitness to the incident has come on
record.
8.5 PW8 – Rajinikanth Laljibhai Mewada examined at Exh.
32 has stated that the incident had occurred on 29.09.2004
and he does not know what had taken place as he was at
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home. The complainant Kiranbhai came home in a bleeding
condition and they called the 108 ambulance and took him
to V.S. Hospital. He was bleeding from his mouth and the
police had recorded a statement at V.S. Hospital. The
witness has denied that the accused had assaulted the
complainant and has stated that he does not know the
accused.
8.6 PW9 – Kantaben Praveenbhai Shrimali examined at
Exh. 33 is the mother of the complainant and she too has
stated that she does not know who had assaulted her son
that he was injured and he was taken to V.S. Hospital.
8.7 The prosecution has examined PW10 – Maqsood
Ahmedkhan Umarkhan Pathan at Exh. 37 and the witness
was working as the Second Police Inspector at Shahpur
Police Station and he had recorded the complaint of the
complainant which is produced at Exh. 11. During the
cross examination the witness has stated that the caste
certificate of the complainant is necessary while filing a
complaint under the Atrocity Act but the complainant did
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not produce his caste certificate at the time of filing of the
complaint.
8.8 PW11 – Lavjibhai Kanabhai Pranami examined at Exh.
40 is the Investigating Officer who has deposed the
procedure undertaken by him during investigation. During
the cross examination the witness has stated that when he
had received the papers for investigation, there was no
caste certificate in the papers and he had got the caste
certificate of the complainant which is produced at Exh. 34
but the certificate has not been certified by anyone. The
place of offence is a public place and is frequented by a
number of persons and there are a number of residences
and shops at that at the place of incident and he has not
investigated about whether the complainant has filed a
complaint against the residents of Goswami Na Vanda.
8.9 PW12 – Ravjibhai Lagarbhai Chavda examined at Exh.
41 is the Investigating Officer who had recorded the
statement of Mahendra Shantibhai Makwana and during
the cross examination he has admitted that the
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complainant did not produce his caste certificate at the
time of filing the complaint.
9. One minute appreciation of the entire evidence of the
prosecution, the incident has occurred on 30.04.2008 and
there are no eyewitnesses to the incident who have
supported the case of the prosecution. Admittedly, in the
evidence it has emerged that the incident has occurred at a
public place and there are residences and shops at that
place and the place is frequented by a number of persons
but no independent witnesses have been examined by the
prosecution. The PW6 – Narendrabhai Kevaldas Srimali is
an eyewitness as per the case of the prosecution but he has
stated that he went to the place of offence when he saw the
accused assaulting the complainant but as they were angry
he did not intervene and during the cross examination he
has stated the fact that he was an eyewitness for the first
time. As per the case of the prosecution, after the incident
the complainant was taken to V.S. Hospital for treatment
but the Medical Officer who has treated the complainant
has not been examined before the learned Trial Court but
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the medical certificate has been produced at Exh. 35. If the
document produced at Exh. 35 is perused it is the injury
certificate of Sheth Vadilal Sarabhai General Hospital and
Sheth Chinai Maternity Hospital, Ahmedabad dated
06.06.2008 and it states that the patient Kiran Praveenbhai
Srimali was brought to the hospital on 29.04.2008 at 10.10
pm and was treated as an OPD Case. In the history, the
witness has stated that he was beaten by opposite party
and he had a 3 cm x 0.5 cm abrasion on inner aspect of
upper lip, 4 cm x 3 cm swelling on Right TM Joint and
tenderness was present. The Medical Officer has not been
examined and it has also emerged on record that the caste
certificate of the complainant was not produced at the time
of filing of the complaint but it has come on record in the
deposition of the Investigating Officer. All the evidence on
record of the prosecution has been appreciated in detail by
the learned Trial Court.
10. In view of the settled position of law in the decisions of
Chandrappa (supra), the learned Trial Court has
appreciated the entire evidence in proper perspective and
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there does not appear to be any infirmity and illegality in
the impugned judgment and order of acquittal. The learned
Trial Court has appreciated all the evidence and this Court
is of the considered opinion that the learned Trial Court
was completely justified in acquitting the accused of the
charges leveled against them. The findings recorded by the
learned Trial Court are absolutely just and proper and no
illegality or infirmity has been committed by the learned
Trial Court and this Court is in complete agreement with
the findings, ultimate conclusion and the resultant order of
acquittal recorded by the learned Trial Court. This Court
finds no reason to interfere with the impugned judgment
and order and the present appeal is devoid of merits and
resultantly, the same is dismissed.
11. The impugned judgement and order of acquittal
passed by the learned Special Judge, City Sessions Court,
Ahmedabad in Special Case Atro No. 19/2009 on
25.11.2010 is hereby confirmed.
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12. Bail bond stands cancelled. Record and proceedings
be sent back to the concerned Trial Court forthwith.
(S. V. PINTO,J)
VASIM S. SAIYED
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