Constitution of India, 1950
Article 21—Right to fair trial—A “fair trial”, is a right flowing from Article 21 of the Constitution of India and it encompasses all stages of trial including that of “investigation, inquiry, trial, appeal, revision and the trial.
[Para 28]
Abkari Act
Section 8—Possession and recovery of arrack—Conviction and sentence—Simply because the person who detected the commission of the offence, is the one who filed the report or investigated, such an investigation cannot be said to be bad in law—If the evidence of such a police officer is found to be reliable, trustworthy then basing the conviction thereupon, cannot be questioned, and the same shall stand on firm ground—Testimonies of official witnesses can not be discarded simply because independent witnesses were not examined—Basing the conviction on the basis of police witnesses as undertaken by the trial court and confirmed by the High Court cannot be faulted with—Production of seized arrack cannot be said to be delayed—Other grounds urged such as interpolation in the Mahazar, are in the attending facts, not of such significance so as to vitiate the entire case of the prosecution—Appellant’s grounds to challenge the correctness of the judgment impugned, fail—Conviction upheld—More than 20 years has been passed since the commission of offence, it is fit case to modify the sentence of appellant to serve a period of three months simple imprisonment—Appeal allowed in part.
[Paras 21, 22, 26, 27, 30 to 33]