The Supreme Court has set aside the conviction of the Appellant, a medical practitioner from Gujarat, who had been sentenced to ten years’ rigorous imprisonment for rape, holding that the Trial Court and the Gujarat High Court erred in sustaining the conviction despite key prosecution witnesses turning hostile and the absence of reliable corroborative evidence.
The appeal arose from a 2001 incident in which the complainant alleged that the appellant had sexually assaulted her during a medical examination at his clinic in Himmatnagar. The trial court convicted the appellant under Section 376(2)(d) of the IPC and sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment. On appeal, the Gujarat High Court dismissed the accused’s appeal and enhanced the sentence to ten years, accepting the State’s plea for enhancement.
Allowing the criminal appeals, a Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi noted that the victim and her husband, who were the primary prosecution witnesses, had not supported the prosecution’s case during the trial and were declared hostile. The Court held that in such circumstances, the conviction could not be sustained by relying primarily on the FIR or the testimony of the investigating officer.
The Bench found that the High Court had erred in presuming that the witnesses had been “won over” by the accused without any material on record. It further observed that the medical evidence did not corroborate the allegation of rape, and the key independent witnesses present at the clinic were not examined by the prosecution. The Court also found serious infirmities in the recovery and seizure panchnamas, noting that the panch witnesses had not supported the prosecution’s version.
Holding that the approach adopted by the courts below was legally unsustainable, the Court set aside the conviction and sentence and acquitted the appellant. The bail bonds were directed to stand discharged.
Appearances
Appellant- Mr. Siddharth Agrawal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Nikhil Goel, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ashutosh Ghade, AOR Ms. Saloni Meshram, Adv.
Respondent- Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR
