MP HC Sets Aside Order Recognising Saif Ali Khan & Family as Heirs of Nawab of Bhopal's Properties  ||  Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Petitions Challenging Bihar Electoral Roll Revision on July 10  ||  NCLT: Dissolution under IBC Can’t Be Used to Frustrate Ongoing Criminal Prosecution under PMLA  ||  Union Government Notifies Waqf Rules 2025  ||  Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Challenging Results & Answer Key of NEET-UG 2025 Exam  ||  SC Introduces Reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Staff Recruitments  ||  NCLAT: Restoration Application Can't Be Dismissed if Filed Within 30 Days of Dismissal of OA  ||  NCLAT: Single WhatsApp Message Sent Long Ago Can't Become Foundation to Reject Petition U/S 9 of IBC  ||  CJI Launches Live Streaming Of Bombay HC Proceedings  ||  AP HC Directs Magistrates to follow SC Guidelines Before Remanding a Person Booked For Posts    

Maila vs. The State - (23 Jan 2023)

Sentencing or punishment is pre-eminently a matter of discretion of the trial court, A court exercising appellate jurisdiction cannot, interfere in the absence of a material misdirection

Criminal

In present case, the Appellant was convicted of the rape of his 9-year-old niece and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Regional Court. The issues for determination is whether the Appellant was properly convicted on the evidence of a single witness; and whether the trial court correctly admitted the warning statement – which was illegally obtained – and in which he incriminated himself.

The regional Court was correct to accept the evidence of the complainant as satisfactory in all material respects. Thus, the appellant was properly convicted on the evidence of a single witness. With regard to the appellant’s version, the SCA found that there were improbabilities in the appellant’s version in general and, in particular, his alibi. As a result, the evidence, when viewed in its totality and excluding the warning statement of the appellant, proved the appellant’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Consequently, the appeal against the conviction had to fail.

It is trite that sentencing or punishment is pre-eminently a matter of discretion of the trial court. A court exercising appellate jurisdiction cannot, in the absence of a material misdirection by the trial court, approach the question of sentence as if it were the trial court and then substitute the sentence arrived at by it simply because it prefers it. To do so would be to usurp the sentencing discretion of the trial court.

The regional magistrate did not commit any misdirection in imposing the prescribed sentence of life imprisonment. The regional court had regard to the basic triad of sentencing; it noted the following as aggravating circumstances: the Appellant was the complainant’s maternal uncle and in a position of trust – who is ‘supposed to protect and love’ the complainant and not abuse her; and it took into account the seriousness of the offence and the prevalence of rape in the region. There were no compelling and substantial circumstances to justify a lesser sentence. Appeal dismissed.

Tags : CONVICTION   EVIDENCE   CREDIBILITY  

Share :        

Disclaimer | Copyright 2025 - All Rights Reserved