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Ritu Pandey   03 September 2024

Doctrine of double jeopardy

1.     Mr. Ravi Sharma was acquitted of theft charges in a criminal court due to lack of evidence. A year later, new evidence emerged, clearly implicating him in the crime. The prosecution sought to reopen the case and bring Mr. Sharma to trial again for the same offense. Mr. Sharma's lawyer argued that the Doctrine of Double Jeopardy, enshrined in Article 20 of the Indian Constitution, protects him from being tried for the same offense twice. However, the prosecution contended that the new evidence fundamentally changed the circumstances, justifying a retrial. what  will be  the legal implications of the Doctrine of Double Jeopardy in this scenario. Under what conditions, if any, can a person be retried for the same offense?



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 2 Replies

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate)     03 September 2024

The doctrine of double jeopardy is a legal principle that prevents a person from being tried or punished twice for the same offense. It's a fundamental principle of criminal law that protects people from arbitrary use of state power.

The Constitution of India's Article 20(2) states that no person can be tried or punished more than once for the same offense

Double jeopardy doesn't apply if the defendant was never tried, or if charges were dropped or put on hold but later reinstated. 

The concept of double jeopardy is a protection to an accused who has already been tried and either convicted or acquitted of an offence from being tried again for the same offence
Therefore the petition filed by the prosecution side for retrial of the case may not be maintainable if argued with supporting judgments from supreme court

Isha Shekhar   18 September 2024

The Doctrine of Double Jeopardy, enshrined in Article 20(2) of the Indian constitution, protects an man or woman from being prosecuted or punished twice for the equal offense. the provision really states that “no character shall be prosecuted and punished for the identical offense more than as soon as.” This precept guarantees safety against retrial after acquittal or conviction.

In the case of Mr. Ravi Sharma, given that he turned into acquitted of theft charges due to lack of evidence, double jeopardy might bar any next trial for the equal offense, despite the fact that new proof emerges. The best courtroom of India, in S.A. Venkataraman v. Union of India (1954), clarified that Article 20(2) protects simplest against retrial for the identical offense after a conviction or acquittal and now not for specific fees arising from the equal information.

But the doctrine applies strictly to instances in which the accused has been “prosecuted and punished” or acquitted. As in step with phase 300 of the crook technique Code (CrPC), a person cannot be attempted once more for the identical offense after being acquitted through a equipped court docket unless the acquittal is overturned on attraction or if the initial trial turned into void because of jurisdictional errors.

In nation of Rajasthan v. Hat Singh (2003), the court docket emphasised that new proof does no longer permit a sparkling trial until the acquittal itself turned into tainted via fraud or lack of jurisdiction. therefore, in Mr. Sharma’s case, the emergence of new proof on my own does no longer justify a retrial, because the earlier acquittal remains binding, until the prosecution appeals the acquittal or proves the trial changed into mistaken.

 

 


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