Reversal of acquittal upheld where eyewitness evidence was found trustworthy and no basis existed to disturb conviction.

The SC found no sufficient ground to interfere with the High Court's reversal of acquittal and restored conviction, since the principal eyewitness testimony had been accepted as trustworthy after detailed scrutiny and the trial court's reasons for rejecting it were found unacceptable. On independent examination of the record, the Court held that the evidence did not justify disturbance of the High Court's view, and the appeal was summarily dismissed. The Court also noted that any observation on the ultra vires question concerning Section 384 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 would not be binding because the issue had neither been raised nor argued.

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Issues: Whether there were sufficient grounds to interfere with the High Court's reversal of acquittal and conviction of the appellants, and whether the appeal could be summarily dismissed.

Analysis: The evidence of the principal eyewitnesses was accepted as trustworthy by the High Court after a detailed scrutiny of the record. The reasons given by the trial court for rejecting that testimony were found unacceptable. On an independent examination of the material, no sufficient ground for interference with the High Court's decision was found. The discussion also noted that the question whether Section 384 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was ultra vires had neither been raised nor argued, so any observation on that subject would not operate as a binding precedent.

Conclusion: The conviction sustained by the High Court was not disturbed and the appeal was summarily dismissed.

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