Supreme Court: Alibi Defense Valid Only When 'Elsewhere' Is Distant From Crime Scene
The Supreme Court reaffirmed that the plea of alibi can only be invoked if the "elsewhere place" is significantly distant from the location of the incident, making it highly improbable or impossible for the accused to be present at the crime scene. This observation was made in a Criminal Appeal challenging the judgment of the Chhattisgarh High Court, which upheld the conviction of the appellant under Sections 300 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), punishable under Sections 302, 201, and 498A IPC. The two-Judge Bench comprising Justice C.T. Ravikumar and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra stated, "The plea of alibi, in the light of the decision in Binay Kumar Singh’s case (supra), can be applied only if the ‘elsewhere place’ is far away from the place of occurrence so that it was extremely improbable or impossible for the person concerned to reach the place of occurrence and to participate in the crime on the relevant date and time of occurrence. In such circumstances, we are of the considered view that the said contention was rightly rejected by the Courts below."
Date: December-19-2024
