Supreme Court: High Court Must Examine Accused's Statement U/s. 313 CrPC At Earliest Stage In Conviction Appeal And Cure Any Defects

The Court upheld the High Court's decision to acquit the husband in a case involving the death of his wife and three daughters due to burn injuries. The Court noted that the evidence of prosecution regarding the dying declaration was not put to the husband in his statement under Section 313 of the CrPC.

A Bench of Justice Abhay S Oka, Justice Pankaj Mithal, and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah held, “When an appeal against conviction is preferred before the High Court, at the earliest stage, the High Court must examine whether there is a proper statement of the accused recorded under Section 313 of CrPC (Section 351 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023). If any defect is found, at that stage, the same can be cured either by High Court recording further statement or by directing the Trial Court to record.”

AOR Shubhranshu Padhi appeared for the Appellant, while AOR Anuvrat Sharma represented the Respondents.

Brief Facts

The case involved the death of the wife of the husband and their three daughters, who died from burn injuries. The cousin of the husband also died due to burn injuries sustained in the same incident. The complainant was the real brother of the deceased wife.

The Prosecution's case was that the husband used to allegedly abuse and beat his wife and daughters. When the complainant visited the husband’s house to resolve the issue, he was unsuccessful. Later that day, he received information that the husband and his cousin had poured kerosene on the wife and the three daughters and set them on fire.

While one of the daughters died on the spot, and the others were admitted to the Hospital. Dying declarations of the two were recorded. One daughter stated that her father and the village people poured kerosene oil and set them on fire, while the other daughter stated that the father locked them in a room, poured kerosene on them, and set them on fire.

The Trial Court convicted the husband, relying on the testimony of the minor son of the husband and the dying declarations. The High Court, however, acquitted the accused, which led to the current Appeal.

The husband pointed out that the evidence of dying declarations was not put in his statement recorded under Section 313 of the CrPC.

Court’s Reasoning

The Supreme Court noted that the Tahsildar who recorded the declarations admitted that they were not read over to the victims. The evidence concerning the dying declarations was not presented to the husband during his examination under Section 313 of the CrPC, denying him the opportunity to explain them.

The Bench stated, “The prosecution has heavily relied upon the dying declarations of the two victims. As this evidence was not put to the accused in his statement under Section 313 of the CrPC, he was denied an opportunity to explain the same. Hence, this omission causes prejudice to him. Therefore, the evidence of dying declaration will have to be kept out of consideration.”

The Court stated that the High Court's decision to acquit the husband was a possible view based on the evidence, and therefore, it did not warrant interference.

The Bench referred to its decision in Raj Kumar v. State (NCT of Delhi), wherein it was held, “It is the duty of the trial court to put each material circumstance appearing in the evidence against the accused specifically, distinctively and separately. The material circumstance means the circumstance or the material on the basis of which the prosecution is seeking his conviction…The object of examination of the accused under Section 313 is to enable the accused to explain any circumstance appearing against him in the evidence.”

The Court further reiterated its findings in Raj Kumar (supra), that “In many criminal trials, a large number of witnesses are examined, and evidence is voluminous. It is true that the Judicial Officers have to understand the importance of Section 313. But now the court is empowered to take the help of the prosecutor and the defence counsel in preparing relevant questions. Therefore, when the trial Judge prepares questions to be put to the accused under Section 313, before putting the questions to the accused, the Judge can always provide copies of the said questions to the learned Public Prosecutor as well as the learned defence counsel and seek their assistance for ensuring that every relevant material circumstance appearing against the accused is put to him.”

Consequently, the Court ordered, “It is true that the incident is very shocking in which a woman and her three daughters were burnt, and one of them died on the spot, the other three died after a few days. However, in the absence of legal evidence on record to prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot interfere with the impugned judgment of the High Court.”

Accordingly, the Supreme Court dismissed the Appeal.

Cause Title: Aejaz Ahmad Sheikh v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr. (Neutral Citation: 2025 INSC 529)

Appearance:

Appellant: AOR Shubhranshu Padhi; Advocates Jay Nirupam, D. Girish Kumar, Pranav Giri, Ekansh Sisodia and A.M. Harsavardhini

Respondents: AOR Anuvrat Sharma and Anjani Kumar Mishra; Advocates Alka Sinha, Hardeep Kaur Mishra, Praveen Mishra, Ravi Abhilash and Javed Lateef

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