Separate criminal appeals must be decided on their own trial record, not by borrowing findings from a connected case.

An appellate court must decide each criminal appeal on the record of the particular trial before it, and findings drawn from one prosecution cannot automatically be applied to a separate prosecution arising from the same if the accused and factual matrix differ. Where the High Court disposed of connected appeals by relying on evidence from only one case without examining the record of the other sessions case, the convictions in the separate matter could not be properly assessed. The common judgment was set aside and the matters remanded for fresh disposal in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the High Court could set aside convictions in one batch of appeals by relying only on evidence from a connected case without considering the record of the separate trial in the other case.

Analysis: The appellate court is required to examine the record of the particular case before it and decide the appeal on the evidence adduced in that case. A conclusion on consent or willingness of the prosecutrix in one prosecution cannot automatically govern a different prosecution arising out of the same occurrence, because the factual matrix and the accused involved may differ. Since the High Court appears not to have considered the evidence in the first sessions case and instead disposed of all the appeals on the basis of the second case alone, the merits of each conviction could not properly be assessed at the Supreme Court stage.

Conclusion: The common judgment of the High Court was set aside and the matters were remanded to the High Court for fresh disposal in accordance with law.

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