Pooja Pal vs Union of India - Supreme Court

 Pooja Pal vs Union of India - Supreme Court Important Judgment 2016 - 

 

On 22nd January, 2016, in the case of Pooja Pal vs Union of India & Ors. [Criminal Appeal No.77 of 2016], where the appellant’s husband had been mercilessly killed by a group of gun wielding assailants in a public place, in the open view of all concerned, the CBI was entrusted with the task of undertaking a de novo investigation in the incident.

It was held that that “notwithstanding the pendency of the trial, and the availability of the power of the courts below under Sections 311 and 391 of the Code read with Section 165 of the Evidence Act, it is of overwhelming and imperative necessity that to rule out any possibility of denial of justice to the parties and more importantly to instill and sustain the confidence of the community at large, the CBI ought to be directed to undertake a de novo investigation in the incident.” The Bench was of the view that “in the unique facts and circumstances of the case any contrary view would leave the completed process of crime detection in the case wholly inconsequential and the judicial process impotent.”