Allowed¶24

Sunna Lal and Others v. State of U.P.

Allahabad HC27 Jan 2026CRLA/773/1983

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Loss/destruction of trial court record; reconstruction certified impossible; retrial refused as futile after four decades; acquittal of accused in 1983 Sessions trial under Sections 307/149 and 147 IPC (P.S. Kotwali, District Jhansi); 1983 criminal appeal allowed in 2026; reliance on State of U.P. v. Abhay Raj Singh (2004) 4 SCC 6 and Brahmanand Shukla v. State of U.P. (LAWS (ALL)-2010-4-10); Allahabad High Court, Vani Ranjan Agrawal, J.; CRLA No. 773 of 1983.

What did the court decide?

Conviction and sentence under Sections 307/149 and 147 IPC set aside; accused-appellants acquitted of the charges; bail bonds and sureties cancelled and sureties discharged; Sunna Lal, Nand Kishore and Ghanshyam need not surrender if not wanted in any other case. ¶24

Sunna Lal and Others Vs State of U.P. — Allahabad HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

¶24

Issue for consideration

Whether retrial would be appropriate, the Lower Court Record being not traceable and its reconstruction not possible, after a gap of almost 45 years from the incident. +1 more

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Court's answer

After a gap of almost 45 years from the incident, in absence of the Lower Court Record no fruitful purpose would be served by directing retrial: the relevant papers which need to be proved and exhibited are not available, and after four decades the memory of the witnesses would be doubtful; retrial would be an exercise in futility.

¶19

Ratio / Principle

Where the Lower Court Record is not traceable, reconstruction is not possible and retrial is not possible, the Court is left with no option but to decide the appeal in accordance with the settled law laid down by the Apex Court in State of U.P. v. Abhay Raj Singh, (2004) 4 SCC 6 and by the Division Bench in Brahmanand Shukla v. State of U.P., LAWS (ALL)-2010-4-10.

¶20

Key takeaways

Criminal Appeal No.773 of 1983 allowed; judgment and order of the Trial Court dated 31.3.1983 set aside and the above named accused acquitted of the charges levelled against them; their bail bonds and sureties cancelled, sureties discharged from liabilities, and Sunna Lal, Nand Kishore and Ghanshyam need not surrender if not wanted in any other case.ratio¶21

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Allahabad High Court (Vani Ranjan Agrawal, J.), Criminal Appeal No.773 of 1983, decided January 28, 2026: Appeal against judgment dated 31.3.1983 of the Special & Additional Sessions Judge, Jhansi in S.T. No.217 of 1981 convicting the appellants under Section 307 read with Section 149 IPC (five years rigorous imprisonment) and Section 147 IPC (six months), arising from an incident dated 28.6.1980. The Lower Court Record was destroyed (Nathi 'ka') and not traceable, and the District Judge, Jhansi certified that reconstruction of the trial Court record was not possible. Held: after almost 45 years, in absence of the record, retrial would serve no fruitful purpose — the papers to be proved and exhibited are unavailable and the memory of witnesses after four decades would be doubtful — and would be an exercise in futility; following State of U.P. v. Abhay Raj Singh, (2004) 4 SCC 6 and the Division Bench decision in Brahmanand Shukla v. State of U.P., LAWS (ALL)-2010-4-10, the appeal was allowed, the trial court's judgment dated 31.3.1983 was set aside and the accused (appeal already abated qua Ram Charan and Sita Ram) were acquitted; bail bonds and sureties were cancelled, sureties discharged, and the appellants need not surrender if not wanted in any other case.

¶1

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

¶2

CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 773 of 1983

Sunna Lal And Others

.....Appellant(s)

Versus

State of U.P.

.....Respondent(s)

Counsel for Appellant(s)	: A.C. C Mishra, Prakash Kushwa	haturvedi, R.K. Srivast ha	I.M Kau ava,	.Kushwah shik, Sa Vijay	a, N.K. tyendra Kumar
Counsel for Respondent(s)	: A.G.A, Shukla, Chaturv	Ankita Sin Brijesh edi(Senior	gh, Saha Adv	Awadhesh i, Indra .)	Kumar Kumar

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Court No. - 93

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HON'BLE MRS. VANI RANJAN AGRAWAL, J.

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Heard Sri Satyendra Prakash Srivastava, learned counsel for the appellant and Sri Rahul Asthana, learned A.G.A. for the State respondent.

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Upon a written report, First Information Report (F.I.R.) was registered against five accused persons namely Sunna Lal, Ram Charan, Nand Kishore, Sita Ram and Ghanshyam and after due investigation charge sheet was submitted under Sections 147, 307/149 and 323/149 I.P.C., Police Station Kotwali, District Jhansi and vide judgement and order dated 31.3.1983 passed by learned Special & Additional Sessions Judge, Jhansi in Sessions Trial No.217 of 1981 (State vs. Sunna Lal and others), under Sections 307 read with Section 149, 147 I.P.C., whereby convicting and sentencing the appellants under Section 307 read with Section 149 I.P.C. to undergo five years rigorous imprisonment; under Sections 147 I.P.C. to undergo six months imprisonment and all the sentences passed against each accused will run concurrently.

¶13

Being aggrieved the accused-appellants preferred this criminal appeal against their conviction and sentence.

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This appeal stands already abated qua the appellant no.2 namely Ram Charan and appellant no.4 Sita Ram vide order dated 16.9.2025 passed by

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CRLA No. 773 of 1983

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coordinate Bench of this Court.

¶18

Lower Court Record in this case was not received by this Court. In compliance of order dated 9.1.2020 passed by this Court a report has been submitted by the Incharge Officer of the record room, District Court, Jhansi wherein it has been stated that Nathi 'ka' of the trial Court record has been destroyed and an inquiry has been instituted in this regard. Further a report has been submitted by the office on 5.10.2021 submitting that a letter dated 15.9.2020 (flag 'B') of the learned District Judge, Jhansi has been received wherein it has been stated that reconstruction of trial Court record of S.T. No.217 of 1981 is not possible. Thus I find that Lower Court Record is not traceable and its reconstruction is not possible.

¶19

Now, I consider as to whether retrial would be appropriate or not. It may be noted here that the incident is dated 28.6.1980. The trial is of the year 1981. The judgment of the Court below is dated 31.3.1983 and this appeal is pending before this Court since 1983. After a gap of almost 45 years from the date of incident, in absence of the record no fruitful purpose would be served for directing retrial. Firstly the relevant papers which need to be proved and exhibited are not available and even if some of the witnesses are available, after four decades, no purposes would be served. Further after a gap of 45 years the memory of the witnesses to depose accurate account of the incident would be doubtful. I am accordingly of the view that the retrial would be an exercise in futility.

¶20

Considering the law on the point that where Lower Court Record is not traceable, reconstruction is not possible and even retrial is not possible as laid down by the Apex Court in the case of State of U.P. vs. Abhay Raj Singh , reported in 2004 (4) SCC 6 and Division Bench in the case of Brahmanand Shukla vs. State of U.P. [LAWS (AlLL)-2010-4-10 , I am left with no option but to decide this appeal as per the settled law.

¶21

The Criminal Appeal No.773 of 1983 is accordingly allowed. The judgment and order of the Trial Court dated 31.3.1983 is set aside and the

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CRLA No. 773 of 1983

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¶24

above named accused are acquitted of the charges levelled against them. The above named accused-appellants are on bail. Their bail bonds and sureties are cancelled. The sureties are discharged from their liabilities. In case the above named accused-appellants Sunna Lal, Nand Kishore and Ghanshyam are not wanted in any other case, they need not to surrender.

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January 28, 2026 Dev

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(Mrs. Vani Ranjan Agrawal,J.)

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Digitally signed by :- DEV PRAKASH High Court of Judicature at Allahabad

Sunna Lal and Others v. State of U.P.

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Sunna Lal and Others v. State of U.P.

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