Gujarat High Court
State Of Gujarat vs Jashvantbhai Ranchhodbhai Solanki on 10 April, 2026
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.A/861/2000 JUDGMENT DATED: 10/04/2026
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 861 of 2000
FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DIVYESH A. JOSHI : Sd/-
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MAULIK J.SHELAT : Sd/-
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Approved for Reporting Yes No
- √
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STATE OF GUJARAT
Versus
JASHVANTBHAI RANCHHODBHAI SOLANKI
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Appearance:
MR TIRTHRAJ PANDYA APP for the Appellant(s) No. 1
MR MR BUKHARI(6919) for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DIVYESH A. JOSHI
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MAULIK J.SHELAT
Date : 10/04/2026
ORAL JUDGMENT
(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DIVYESH A. JOSHI)
1. By way of present appeals under Section 378 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter
referred to as “CrPC” for short), the appellant –
State of Gujarat has challenged the judgment and
order of acquittal passed by the learned
Additional Sessions Judge, Bharuch in Sessions
Case No.211/1997, whereby the respondent – accused
has been acquitted for the offences under Sections
302, 354 and 506(2) of the Indian Penal Code
(hereinafter referred to as “IPC” for short).
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2. The brief facts leading to filing of the present
appeal are as under,
2.1 On the fateful day i.e. on 24.07.1997, the
respondent – accused had entered into the
house of the victim and made illegal demand,
which was refused by the victim, therefore,
the respondent – accused had tried to outrage
the modesty of the victim girl but she tried
to escape from him, at that time, the
respondent – accused had poured kerosene over
her body and set her ablaze and also
threatened not to disclose said fact to
anyone, however on raising screams, the
persons from the surrounding area assembled
there and took her to hospital, where she
gave complaint, however during the course of
treatment, she succumbed to the burn
injuries.
2.2 Initially, FIR being C.R. NO.I-87/1997 came
to be registered for the offences under
Sections 354 and 506(2) of the IPC, however
after the death of the victim, Section 302 of
the IPC came to be added.
3.2 On the basis of the registration of the FIR,
the investigation was carried out and on
conclusion of investigation, the chargesheet
came to be filed before the court of the
learned Magistrate, Bharuch.
3.3. Since the case registered against the
appellants – accused was exclusively triable
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by the Court of Sessions, the learned
Magistrate after making inquiry about the
suppliance of copies of papers, free of cost
to the accused as provided under Section 208
of the Code of Criminal Procedure and upon
satisfaction that the accused have engaged
own Advocate for defence committed the case
to the Court of Session Judge, Bharuch under
Section 209 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, which came to be registered as
Session Case No.211 of 1997.
3.4 On committal, the case was transferred and
placed for trial before the Learned Sessions
Judge, Bharuch, who had initially framed
charge against the accused vide Exh.2 for the
alleged offences. The charge was read over
and explained to the accused. Plea of the
accused came to be recorded, wherein he
pleaded not guilty to the charge and claimed
to be tried.
3.5 Thereafter in order to bring home the charges
leveled against the respondent – accused, the
prosecution has examined 20 prosecution
witnesses and also produced 11 documentary
evidence, details of which are mentioned in
Paragraph Nos.3 & 4 of the impugned order.
3.6 After recording of the evidence of the
prosecution witnesses was over, the learned
Sessions Court explained to the accused the
circumstances appearing against him in the
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evidence of the prosecution witnesses and
recorded his further statement under Section
313 of the Criminal Procedure Code. In his
further statement, he denied the case of the
prosecution in entirety. According to him, he
has been roped in a false case.
3.7 At the end of trial, the learned Sessions
Judge passed an order of acquittal, whereby
the respondent – accused has been acquitted
for the alleged offences.
3. Heard learned APP Mr. Tirthraj Pandya for the
appellant – State of Gujarat and learned advocate,
Mr. M.R. Bukhari for the respondent – accused.
4. Learned APP Mr. Pandya referred to the impugned
judgment and order of acquittal and submitted that
the impugned judgment and order passed by the
learned Judge is unjust, illegal and against the
settled proposition of law, therefore, the same
may be quashed and set aside. He submitted that
after the alleged incident, the dying declaration
of the victim was recorded by the Executive
Magistrate, wherein she has narrated entire
sequence of incidents in detailed, which clearly
goes on to show that the respondent – accused had
committed alleged offence, however, the learned
Judge has not considered the same and recorded
acquittal of the accused. He submitted that in
fact, it is the specific case of the prosecution
that the accused and the victim both are relatives
and having relationship of brother and sister and
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on the faithful day of incident, the accused had
tried the outrage the modesty of the victim,
therefore, she had resisted and ultimately, the
alleged incident had occurred. He submitted that
because of the alleged incident of setting the
victim on ablaze, she raised screams, therefore,
the persons from the surrounding area assembled
there and took her to hospital for treatment and
after a period of one week, she succumbed to the
burn injuries received by her. He submitted that
however during interregnum period, as stated
above, dying declaration of the victim was
recorded, wherein she has narrated entire sequence
of incidents. He further submitted that when the
victim was brought to the hospital, she was in
complete state of mind and, thereafter on getting
information from her, concerned police station
information was informed and pursuant thereto, the
said police officer reached the hospital and,
thereafter, he informed the concerned Executive
Magistrate to reach there for recording her dying
declaration and, thereafter, the dying declaration
of the victim was recorded and on the basis of the
said dying declaration, the prosecution has proved
the guilt of the accused, however despite the said
fact, the learned Judge has not considered the
material and evidence available on recorded and
wrongly acquitted the accused from the alleged
offence.
5. Learned APP Mr. Pandya submitted that to prove the
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guilt against the respondent – accused, the
prosecution has examined total 20 witnesses
including the mother of the victim and most of
them have supported the case of the prosecution.
He further submitted that in fact, in support of
the prosecution case, relevant documentary
evidence were also produced on record. He,
therefore, submitted that cumulative effect of
those oral as well as documentary evidence
available on record irresistibly goes on to show
that the accused has committed alleged offence. He
submitted that in the evidence of the prosecution
witnesses, certain discrepancies have been found
out, however, it is settled proposition of law
that at the time of appreciating the evidence
available on record, minor contradictions and
omission are required to be ignored, however, it
seems from the findings given and conclusion
arrived at by the learned Judge, the learned Judge
has given undue important to those minor
contradictions and omission, which ought to have
been ignored.
6. Learned APP Mr. Pandya submitted that as stated
above, at the time of recording her dying
declaration by the Executive Magistrate, she was
in fit state of mind and endorsement to that
effect was also made on the dying declaration. He,
therefore, submitted that solely on the basis of
the dying declaration of the victim, the learned
Judge ought to have recorded conviction of the
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respondent – accused in such a serious offence of
murder, wherein one innocent person has lost her
life because of the act of the respondent –
accused. It is, therefore, urged that the present
appeal may be allowed by quashing and setting
aside the impugned judgment and order and the
respondent – accused may be convicted for the
alleged offence.
7. Learned advocate, Mr. Bukhari appearing for the
respondent – accused has opposed the present
appeal contending inter alia that the impugned
judgment and order of acquittal is just, legal and
proper and does not require interference at the
hands of this Hon’ble Court. He submitted that in
fact, in the evidence of the prosecution
witnesses, there are number of discrepancies found
out and out of total 20 witnesses, 8-9 witnesses
have not supported the case of the prosecution,
therefore, they have been declared hostile by the
prosecution and thus, the prosecution has failed
to prove guilt against the respondent – accused
beyond reasonable doubt.
8. Learned advocate, Mr. Bukhari submitted that a
well reasoned judgment has been delivered by the
learned Judge considering each and every aspect.
He submitted that against the respondent –
accused, the evidence in the form of dying
declaration is available on record, which was
given by the victim before the Executive
Magistrate and there is an endorsement to the
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effect that the victim was in fit state of mind.
He submitted that the recording of the dying
declaration was started at 18:45 hours and
completed at 19:45 hours and it was recorded on
01.08.1997 and thus admittedly, the said dying
declaration is recorded after a period of seven
days. He, therefore, referred to the evidence of
the mother, father and other relatives of the
victim and submitted that if the Hon’ble Court
would make cursory glance upon the evidence of
those witnesses, in that event, it is evident that
there are major contradictions in those evidences
because mother had stated that the victim was
unconscious for three days, whereas the father had
stated that the victim was unconscious for six
days and thus, there are major contradictions
about the fit state of mind and thus, the evidence
of the prosecution witnesses have been rightly
considered by the learned Judge. He further
submitted that not only that, it is settled
proposition of law that before recording the dying
declaration of the victim, the concerned doctor,
who had treated the victim, has to issue
certificate to the effect that he has verified the
physical condition of the victim and jumped to a
conclusion that she is in fit state of mind to
give her dying declaration and/or he has to seek
opinion of the doctor concerned about the mental
and physical condition of the victim, however in
the present case, all those necessary and
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requisite procedures have not been complied with,
therefore, reliance cannot be placed upon the
dying declaration.
9. Learned advocate, Mr. Bukhari submitted that after
the alleged incident, on hearing screams, the
persons from the surrounding area assembled there
and upon making inquiry from the victim, she had
stated that she sustained burn injuries through
blaze of stove and when those persons have been
examined, they have deposed in a very categorical
terms that the victim caught fire, therefore, the
accused had tried to save her by extinguishing the
fire and, thereafter, she was taken to hospital,
wherein while giving history before the doctor
concerned, she was in fit state of mind and had
stated that while cooking food, she sustained burn
injuries and the said fact had been stated by most
of the witnesses, however after a period of seven
days, different stand has been taken while giving
dying declaration by the victim, which creates
doubt in the mind of all concerned. He further
submitted that at the time of alleged incident,
except victim, no one was there in the house,
therefore, other witnesses, who reached the place
of incident on hearing screams, can be said to
hearsay witnesses and as per the settled law,
evidence of hearsay witnesses can be said to be
weak piece of evidence and cannot be relied upon
unless any corroborative and supporting evidence.
10. Learned advocate, Mr. Bukhari submitted that in
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fact, the injuries sustained by the victim are
because she collapsed and evidence available on
record clearly goes on to show that the death of
the deceased was homicidal one and those
particular facts are required to be proved by way
of leading cogent and convincing evidence. He
submitted that here in the present case on hand,
the prosecution has not examined the doctor, who
had carried out postmortem of the deceased and
copy of postmortem report has not been produced on
record, therefore in absence of such material, the
prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond
reasonable doubt.
11. Learned advocate, Mr. Bukhari submitted that at
the time of appreciating the material and evidence
available on record, the learned Judge has given
very elaborate discussion to the evidence and also
relied upon the number of decisions of the Hon’ble
Supreme Court on the aspect that when there are
two views possible and when the prosecution has
failed to prove the factual aspects, in that
event, solely relying upon the dying declaration,
which does not inspire confidence, acquittal order
cannot be disturbed. He further submitted that the
alleged incident is of the year 1997 and order of
acquittal came to be passed in the year 2000 and,
thereafter, more than 25 years have been passed,
therefore at this stage, without any concrete
material available on record, the order of
acquittal may not be disturbed and the present
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petition may be dismissed.
12. Heard learned advocates appearing for the parties
and having considered the material and evidence
available on record including the impugned
judgment and order of acquittal.
13. Before we examine the merits of the appeal and
challenge against the order on facts, we would
like to highlight the powers of this Court under
Section 378 of the CrPC. Undoubtedly, the
Appellate Court while exercising powers under
Section 378 of the CrPC, cannot interfere with the
impugned judgment and order of the learned Judge
merely on the ground that a different view could
have been reached or was possible. The principles
are very well settled as to when the appellate
Court can interfere with acquittal in such appeal.
14. It is well settled by catena of decisions that the
an Appellate Court has full power to review, re-
appreciate and reconsider the evidence upon which
the order of acquittal is founded. However,
Appellate Court must bear in mind that in case of
acquittal there is double presumption in favour of
the accused. Firstly, the presumption of innocence
is available to him under the fundamental
principle of criminal jurisprudence that every
person shall be presumed to be innocent unless he
is proved guilty by a competent Court of law.
Secondly, the accused having secured his
acquittal, the presumption of his innocence is
further reinforced, reaffirmed and strengthened by
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the trial Court.
15. Further, if two reasonable conclusions are
possible on the basis of the evidence on record,
the Appellate Court should not disturb the finding
of acquittal recorded by the trial Court. Further,
while exercising the powers in appeal against the
order of acquittal, the Court of appeal would not
ordinarily interfere with the order of acquittal
unless the approach of the lower Court is vitiated
by some manifest illegality and the conclusion
arrived at would not be arrived at by any
reasonable person and, therefore, the decision is
to be characterized as perverse. Merely because
two views are possible, the Court of appeal would
not take the view which would upset the judgment
delivered by the Court below. However, the
Appellate Court has a power to review the evidence
if it is of the view that the conclusion arrived
at by the Court below is perverse and the Court
has committed a manifest error of law and ignored
the material evidence on record. A duty is cast
upon the Appellate Court, in such circumstances,
to re-appreciate the evidence to arrive to a just
decision on the basis of material placed on record
to find out whether the accused are connected with
the commission of the crime with which he is
charged.
16. At the outset it is required to be noted that the
principles which would govern and regulate the
hearing of appeal by this Court against an order
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of acquittal passed by the learned Judge have been
very succinctly explained by the Hon’ble Supreme
Court in a catena of decisions. In the case of
M.S. Narayana Menon @ Mani Vs. State of Kerala &
Anr., reported in (2006) 6 SCC, 39, the Hon’ble
Supreme Court has narrated about the powers of the
High Court in appeal against the order of
acquittal. In Paragraph No.54 of the said
decision, the Hon’ble Supreme Court Court has
observed as under:
“54. In any event the High Court entertained an
appeal treating to be an appeal against
acquittal, it was in fact exercising the
revisional jurisdiction. Even while
exercising an appellate power against a
judgement of acquittal, the High Court should
have borne in mind the well-settled
principles of law that where two view are
possible, the appellate court should not
interfere with the finding of acquittal
recorded by the court below.”
17. Further, in the case of Chandrappa Vs. State of
Karnataka, reported in (2007) 4 SCC 415, the
Hon’ble Supreme Court has laid down the following
principles:
“42. From the above decisions, in our considered
view, the following general principles
regarding powers of the appellate court while
dealing with an appeal against an order of
acquittal emerge:
[1] An appellate court has full power to
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review, reappreciate and reconsider the
evidence upon which the order of
acquittal is founded.
[2] The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 puts
no limitation, restriction or condition
on exercise of such power and an
appellate court on the evidence before
it may reach its own conclusion, both on
questions of fact and of law.
[3] Various expressions, such as,
“substantial and compelling reasons”,
“good and sufficient grounds”, “very
strong circumstances”, “distorted
conclusions”, “glaring mistakes”, etc.
are not intended to curtain extensive
powers of an appellate court in an
appeal against acquittal. Such
phraseologies are more in the nature of
“flourishes of language” to emphasis the
reluctance of an appellate court to
interfere with acquittal than to curtail
the power of the court to review the
evidence and to come to its own
conclusion.
[4] An appellate court, however, must bear in
mind that in case of acquittal there is
double presumption in favour of the
accused. Firstly, the presumption of
innocence is available to him under the
fundamental principle of criminal
jurisprudence that every person shall be
presumed to be innocent unless he isPage 14 of 22
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proved guilty by a competent court of
law. Secondly, the accused having
secured his acquittal, the presumption
of his innocence is further reinforced,
reaffirmed and strengthened by the trial
court.
[5] If two reasonable conclusions are
possible on the basis of the evidence on
record, the appellate court should not
disturb the finding of acquittal
recorded by the trial court.”
18. Thus, it is a settled principle that while
exercising appellate power, even if two reasonable
conclusions are possible on the basis of the
evidence on record, the appellate court should not
disturb the finding of acquittal recorded by the
trial court.
19. Even in a decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in
the case of State of Goa V. Sanjay Thakran & Anr..
reported in (2007) 3 SCC 75, the Hon’ble Supreme
Court has reiterated the powers of the High Court
in such cases. In Paragraph No.16 of the said
decision, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has observed
as under:
“16. From the aforesaid decisions, it is apparent
that while exercising the powers in appeal
against the order of acquittal the Court of
appeal would not ordinarily interfere with
the order of acquittal unless the approach of
the lower Court is vitiated by some manifest
illegality and the conclusion arrived atPage 15 of 22
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would not be arrived at by any reasonable
person and, therefore, the decision is to be
characterized as perverse. Merely because two
views are possible, the Court of appeal would
not take the view which would upset the
judgement delivered by the Court below.
However, the appellate court has a power to
review the evidence if it is of the view that
the conclusion arrived at by the Court below
is perverse and the Court has committed a
manifest error of law and ignored the
material evidence on record. A duty is cast
upon the appellate court, in such
circumstances, to re- appreciate the evidence
to arrive to a just decision on the basis of
material placed on record to find out whether
any of the accused is connected with the
commission of the crime he is charged with.”
20. Similar principle has been laid down by the
Hon’ble Supreme Court in the cases of State of
Uttar Pradesh Vs. Ram Veer Singh & Ors., reported
in 2007 AIR SCW 5553 as well as in case of Girja
Prasad (Dead) by LRs Vs. state of MP, reported in
2007 AIR SCW 5589. Thus, the powers which this
Court may exercise against an order of acquittal
are well settled.
21. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in a decision in case of
Luna Ram Vs. Bhupat Singh and Ors., reported in
(2009) SCC 749, has observed in Paragraph Nos.10
and 11 as under:
“10. The High Court has noted that the prosecution
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version was not clearly believable. Some of
the so-called eye witnesses stated that the
deceased died because his ankle was twisted
by an accused. Others said that he was
strangulated. It was the case of the
prosecution that the injured witnesses were
thrown out of the bus. The doctor who
conducted the post-mortem and examined the
witnesses had categorically stated that it
was not possible that somebody would throw a
person out of the bus when it was in a
running condition.”
22. Even in a decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in
the case of Mookiah and Anr. Vs. State rep. By the
Inspector of Police, Tamil Nadu, reported in AIR
2013 SC 321, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has
observed in Paragraph No.4 as under:
“4. It is not in dispute that the trial Court, on
appreciation of oral and documentary evidence
led in by the prosecution and defence,
acquitted the accused in respect of the
charges leveled against them. On appeal by
the State, the High Court, by impugned order,
reversed the said decision and convicted the
accused under Section 302 read with Section
34of IPC and awarded RI for life. Since
counsel for the appellants very much
emphasized that the High Court has exceeded
its jurisdiction in upsetting the order of
acquittal into conviction, let us analyze the
scope and power of the High Court in anPage 17 of 22
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appeal file d against the order of acquittal.
This Court in a series of decisions has
repeatedly laid down that as the first
appellate court the High Court even while
dealing with an appeal against acquittal, was
also entitled,and obliged as well, to sc an
through and if need be reappreciate the
entire evidence, though while choosing to
interfere only the court should find an
absolute assurance of the guilt on the basis
of the evidence on record and not merely
because the High Court could take one mo re
possible or a different view only. Except the
above, where the matter of the extent and
depth of consideration of the appeal is
concerned, no distinctions or differences in
approach are envisaged in dealing with an
appeal as such merely because one was against
conviction or the other against an
acquittal.”
23. It is also a settled legal position that in
acquittal appeal, the appellate court is not
required to re-write the judgment or to give fresh
reasonings, when the reasons assigned by the Court
below are found to be just and proper. Such
principle is laid down by the Apex Court in the
case of State of Karnataka Vs. Hemareddy, reported
in AIR 1981 SC 1417, wherein it is held as under:
“… This court has observed in Girija
Nandini Devi V. Bigendra Nandini Chaudhary
(1967)1 SCR 93: (AIR 1967 SC 1124) that it isPage 18 of 22
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not the duty of the appellate court when it
agrees with the view of the trial court on
the evidence to repeat the narration of the
evidence or to reiterate the reasons given by
the trial court expression of general
agreement with the reasons given by the Court
the decision of which is under appeal, will
ordinarily suffice.”
24. We have examined the matter carefully and gone
through the material and evidence available on
record. We have appreciated, reappreciated and re-
evaluated the evidence on the touchstone of latest
decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Having
considered the same, we find that the learned
Judge while considering the evidence on record,
has very elaborately discussed the evidence on
record. It is found out from the record that the
alleged incident had occurred on 24.07.1997 in
early morning, wherein as per the case of the
prosecution, the respondent – accused had tried to
outrage the modesty of the victim, at that time,
the victim had resisted and tried to flee away,
however, the accused got excited and gave kick
blow and, thereafter, poured kerosene over her and
set her ablaze and on raising screams, the persons
from the surrounding area assembled there and took
the victim to the hospital for treatment, where
she gave primary treatment and, thereafter, FIR
has been lodged by her for the alleged incident.
Further despite the fact that the victim was
brought to the hospital on 24.07.1997, dying
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declaration was recorded on 01.08.1997. However if
the evidence of those witnesses, who took her to
the hospital, are carefully examined, in that
event, it is evident that those witnesses have
deposed in their depositions that they were
informed by the victim that while cooking food,
she received burn injuries. Thus while giving FIR
as well as while giving her dying declaration, she
had taken different stand than what has been
stated before the aforesaid witnesses. Not only
that, if the evidence of mother and father of the
victim are carefully examined, in that event, it
is evident that there are major contradictions
with regard to fit state of mind of the victim
because the mother had stated in her deposition
that the victim was unconscious for three days,
whereas the father had stated in his deposition
that the victim was unconscious for six days. Thus
there are major contradictions, which have been
considered by the learned Judge while passing
impugned judgment and order of acquittal. Even the
concerned doctor, who had treated the victim, had
not issued certificate as to whether the victim
was in fit state of mind while giving her dying
declaration and there is no endorsement over the
same to that effect. Even the prosecution has not
examined the doctor, who had carried out
postmortem upon the deceased, therefore, the
prosecution has failed to prove the injuries
sustained by the victim. Thus, in case the
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appellate court agrees with the reasons and the
opinion given by the learned Judge then, the
discussion of evidence at length is not necessary.
Therefore having considered the above facts, we
find that the learned Judge has rightly and
elaborately discussed the evidence, which does not
call for interference by this Court.
25. Considering the entire evidence on record, it
clearly appears that there is no credible evidence
to connect the respondent – accused with the
alleged commission of crime and the evidence on
record is not so convincing to prove beyond
reasonable doubt that the respondent – accused has
committed the alleged crime. Therefore, the
accused cannot be convicted on the evidence on
record. Even on perusal of the impugned judgment
and order, it clearly transpires that the learned
Judge has not committed any error of fact and law
in appreciating the evidence on record and in
acquitting the respondent – accused from the
charges levelled against him. Even on
reappreciation of the evidence, it clearly
transpires that the prosecution has miserably
failed to prove the charge levelled against the
respondent – accused beyond reasonable doubt. On
the basis of the aforesaid discussion and relying
upon the case laws cited above, we find that the
learned Judge has not committed any error in
passing an acquittal order in favour of the
respondent – accused. As a matter of fact, no
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person has seen the occurrence and on the basis of
the analysis of oral and documentary evidence on
record, we find that no incriminating
circumstances to connect the respondent – accused
with the alleged offence is proved. Hence, we
concur with the finding given and conclusion
arrived at by the learned Judge in the impugned
judgment and order of acquittal.
26. Further, learned APP is not in a position to show
any evidence to take a contrary view in the matter
or that the approach of the learned Judge is
vitiated by some manifest illegality or that the
decision is perverse or that the Court below has
ignored the material evidence on record. In above
view of the matter, we are of the considered
opinion that the learned Judge was completely
justified in passing impugned judgment and order.
27. Thus, considering the scope under Section 378 of
CrPC., no case is made out by the State for
reversing the acquittal order. Therefore, the
present appeal is devoid of merits and is hereby
dismissed. Bailable warrant issued upon the
respondent – accused stands cancelled. Record &
Proceedings are ordered to be sent back to the
concerned trial court forthwith.
Sd/-
(DIVYESH A. JOSHI, J.)
Sd/-
(MAULIK J. SHELAT, J.)
Gautam
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