Incomplete trial record prevents appellate affirmation of conviction; retrial became impracticable after decades, so the conviction was set aside.

An appellate conviction cannot be sustained where the essential prosecution record is unavailable and the record cannot be reconstructed, because Sections 384, 385 and 386 CrPC require the appellate court to examine the material before deciding the appeal on merits. Here, key papers such as the FIR, site plan, inquest report, post-mortem report, charge sheet, case diary and injury reports could not be restored despite repeated efforts. With more than three decades having passed, retrial was also impracticable and would have caused serious prejudice without serving the ends of justice. The conviction and sentence were therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether the conviction and sentence could be sustained in appeal when the essential prosecution record was unavailable and reconstruction of the record had failed, and whether retrial was a viable course after a long lapse of time.

Analysis: The appellate scheme under Sections 384, 385 and 386 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 requires the record to be perused before the appeal is decided on merits. The essential prosecution papers, including the FIR, site plan, inquest report, post-mortem report, charge sheet, case diary and injury reports, were not available despite repeated efforts to reconstruct them from all possible sources. The passage of more than three decades made retrial impracticable, and a fresh trial without the basic documents would have caused serious prejudice and would not have served the ends of justice. In such circumstances, the appellate court could not affirm the conviction on the existing incomplete material.

Conclusion: The conviction and sentence could not be sustained and the appeal was allowed by setting aside the judgment of conviction.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the essential trial record cannot be reconstructed and the appellate court is unable to examine the case on merits as required by law, a conviction cannot be affirmed and, if retrial is also rendered impracticable by the long lapse of time and absence of basic documents, the proper course is to set aside the conviction and acquit.

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