Plea Of Alibi By Accused Can't Be Taken Into Consideration At Pre-Trial Stage As It Is A Disputed Question Of Fact: Andhra Pradesh High Court
The Andhra Pradesh High Court in a case dismissed the petition for discharge of accused on his plea that he was not present at the scene of offence during the commission of the offence. The court ruled that plea of alibi by accused cannot be taken into consideration at the time of framing of charges, since it is a disputed question of fact."When the accused has taken a plea of...
The Andhra Pradesh High Court in a case dismissed the petition for discharge of accused on his plea that he was not present at the scene of offence during the commission of the offence. The court ruled that plea of alibi by accused cannot be taken into consideration at the time of framing of charges, since it is a disputed question of fact.
"When the accused has taken a plea of alibi, undoubtedly it is a matter relating to question of fact as to whether the accused was present at the scene of offence at the time of the offence or not. In a way, it amounts to taking a plea of alibi by the accused. It is settled law that the burden of proving the said plea of alibi is on the accused. Therefore, they are all disputed questions of fact which requires evidence and appreciation of the same in the final adjudication of the case."
The criminal revision case was filed by petitioners/ accused to discharge them from the criminal case. The petitioners were accused in the offences punishable under Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 498A (punishment for cruelty by husband and his relatives of the woman) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) read with Section 34 of Indian Penal Code.
The petitioners had filed the petition to discharge them from the said case on the ground that accused No. 4 was an employee and he was in his duty on the date of offence and had been falsely implicated in the above case and in proof of the said fact, the extract of attendance certificate was produced.
The trial Court dismissed the said petition on the ground that at the stage of framing charges, the Court was only required to see whether the uncontroverted allegations made by the prosecution and the evidence produced prima facie disclosed the commission of the offences by the accused or not. The disputed question of fact and the plea of defense by accused could not be taken into consideration at pre-trial stage.
Justice Cheekati Manavendranath confirmed the decision of the trial Court as a plea of alibi is a matter relating to a question of fact as to whether the accused was present at the scene of the offence at the time of offence or not. The disputed questions of fact required evidence and appreciation of the same in final adjudication of case. The said ground that the accused was somewhere else could not be a ground to discharge him from the said case.
Thus the criminal revision case was dismissed.
Case Title: Sanikommmu Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Versus The State of Andhra Pradesh
Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (AP) 71
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