Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Section 106 Evidence Act attracted when prosecution establishes chain of events: Supreme Court

Read Judgment



A bench of the Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli observed that the prosecution is not absolved of the burden to establish the guilt of the accused but, once it has established a chain of events showing their guilt, it is on the accused to prove otherwise.

Section 106 lays down that when any fact is especially within the knowledge of any person, the burden of proving that fact is upon him.

"Thus, although Section 106 is in no way aimed at relieving the prosecution from its burden to establish the guilt of an accused, it applies to cases where chain of events has been successfully established by the prosecution, from which a reasonable inference is made out against the accused. Moreover, in a case based on circumstantial evidence, whenever an incriminating question is posed to the accused and he or she either evades response, or offers a response which is not true, then such a response in itself becomes an additional link in the chain of events," the judgment stated.


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