No Inconsistency In Chargesheeting Accused Not Named In FIR: SC [Read Judgment]

The Court observed that FIR clearly mentions that the number of accused persons as 12, though only five were named.

The Supreme Court, in Fazar Ali vs State of Assam, has held that there is no inconsistency in chargesheeting and convicting persons who have not been named along with the other accused in the First Information Report.

In a criminal appeal before the apex court, one of the contentions put forth on behalf of convicts was that since the names of seven other accused were not disclosed in the FIR, they could not have been chargesheeted.

A bench comprising Justice AK Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan observed that the FIR clearly mentioned that 12 persons were accused and the FIR, from the very beginning, claimed that apart from five names mentioned, seven others were also accused.

The court also took note of the deposition made by the informant during his cross examination that he had told the names of other seven accused persons also to the writer who had written the FIR but, the informant, being illiterate, had put only thumb impression on the FIR.

“Not naming other seven accused although, number of seven other accused were mentioned in the FIR is inconsequential and on this ground, there is no substance in the submission of the learned counsel for the appellants that since names of other accused were not mentioned in the FIR except five names, others could not have been convicted,” the bench said.

Nine out of the 12 accused in the case were convicted by the trial court in a murder case and the Gauhati High Court had upheld their conviction. The Supreme Court finally dismissed the appeal preferred by eight of them.

Read the Judgment here.