What is the consequence of too frequent acquittals & exaggerated devotion to the rule of benefit of doubt? In Shivaji Sahebrao Bobade –Vs- State of Maharashtra, 1974 (1) SCR 489 the Apex Court observed that ... The dangers of exaggerated devotion to the rule of benefit of doubt at the expense of social defense and to the soothing sentiment that all acquittals are always good regardless of justice to the victim and the community, demand especial emphasis in the contemporary context of escalating crime and escape. The judicial instrument has a public accountability. The cherished principles or golden thread of proof beyond reasonable doubt which runs through the web of our law should not be stretched morbidly to embrace every hunch, hesitancy and degree of doubt… The evil of acquitting a guilty person light- heartedly goes much beyond the simple fact that, just one guilty person has gone unpunished. If unmerited acquittals become general, they tend to lead to a cynical disregard of the law, and this in turn leads to a public demand for harsher legal presumptions against indicted persons and more severe punishment of those who are found guilty. Thus too frequent acquittals of the guilty may lead to a ferocious penal law, eventually eroding the judicial protection of the guiltness... a miscarriage of justice may arise from the acquittal of the guilty no less than from the conviction of the innocent.....
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 07:11:58 +0000
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