State of Up v. Monti @ Govind and 2 Others
Criminal – Government Appeal for leave to appeal against acquittal
Case brief
What is this about?
Allahabad High Court (DB) - Government Appeal No. 105 of 2025, State of U.P. v. Monti @ Govind and 2 Others (Vikki @ Vikrant, Ramesh) - application for leave to appeal against acquittal dated 27.09.2024 in S.T. No. 291/2019 and S.T. No. 113/2020 (Crime No. 1187/2018, P.S. Sardhana, District Meerut) under ss. 363, 366, 328, 344, 354-K, 376, 120-B IPC - alleged kidnapping of 17-year-old girl from village Deewali mela on 23.10.2018, 12-day confinement at Ghaziabad and rape - leave to appeal rejected, appeal dismissed, acquittal upheld - reasons: contradictions in victim's s.161/s.164 CrPC statements, delayed s.164 statement, photographs showing different dresses, recovery not from accused (SI Vimla Saini produced her), investigating-officer lapses (CDR/mobile location, CCTV footage, sweet-shop inquiry), negative medical evidence, FSL report showing no spermatozoa, burden of proof on prosecution - relied on and applied Babu Sahebgouda Rudragoudar v. State of Karnataka, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 561 (scope of appellate interference with acquittals) - Coram: Saumitra Dayal Singh, J. and Dr. Gautam Chowdhary, J.; judgment authored by Dr. Gautam Chowdhary, J.; decided 06.02.2025; counsel: Ashutosh Kumar Sand and AGA Nagendra Kumar Srivastava for the State.