The Supreme Court on Tuesday has ruled that once an accused is convicted by a trial court, the principle of presumption of innocence will not be applicable during the hearing of appeal.
The Court was hearing an appeal filed by a woman from Uttar Pradesh, who had challenged the granted by the Allahabad High Court to four men who were convicted of murdering her husband during the pendency of their appeals against conviction.
The Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah said, “The High Court has not at all appreciated and considered the fact that the learned trial Court on appreciation of evidence has convicted the 16 accused for the offences under Sections 302/149, 201 r/w 120B IPC. Once the accused have been convicted by the learned trial Court, there shall not be any presumption of innocence thereafter. Therefore, the High Court shall be very slow in granting bail to the accused pending appeal who are convicted for the serious offences punishable under Sections 302/149, 201 r/w 120B IPC.”
Further the bench noted that every judgment contains four basic elements and they are (i) statement of material (relevant) facts, (ii) legal issues or questions, (iii) deliberation to reach at decision and (iv) the ratio or conclusive decision. A judgment should be coherent, systematic and logically organised. It should enable the reader to trace the fact to a logical conclusion on the basis of legal principles. It is pertinent to examine the important elements in a judgment in order to fully understand the art of reading a judgment.
The court set aside the High Court order that granted bail to the accused and asked them to surrender.
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