ALIBI- Defense/Escape?
- Essentials of plea of alibi ?
- How can one raise the said plea?
- What is the correct time to raise the plea ?
- Onus of proving the plea lies to whom ?
- What if a person succeeded in proving the plea ?
- Taking false Plea of alibi is a good defense to escape from criminal trial or lead to serious consequences?
You
all might have come across with all these questions, So, let's get into some basics of it.
I. Introduction
The
word Alibi’ is a Latin term which means ‘elsewhere’. Plea of alibi is not an
exception provided under IPC or any other law rather it is a rule of evidence
recognized under section 11 of Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (hereinafter referred
as IEA),However, said rule is in conflict with Relevancy of facts/ facts in
issue.
The
purpose of introducing plea of alibi was to make sure that an innocent person
should not be convicted, and he should be given the right to raise his defense ; where he could explain that at the time of commission of offence he was not at
all present at crime scene, but, nowadays, in almost every criminal trial, the
person accused of major offences takes this plea as a general defense, to get himself out of the trial.
By
using this doctrine, some notorious elements of society think that this rule of
evidence allows them to escape their liability from being charged. But raising
false plea has its repercussions too.
Essentials of Alibi :
1.
There must be an act done ;
2. Said act must constitute an offence,
punishable under the law
3.
That facts of such alleged act/offence are not certain to establish the guilt
of accused (inconsistent with any facts in issue and relevant facts) e.g A was charged for the offence of murder but from the facts in hand it was found that case was of suicide.
4.
The said chain of facts make the anticipation of alleged accused in commission
or non commission of alleged offence, at the relevant point of time, probable
or improbable.
In brief - ‘The plea must prove beyond any reasonable doubt, so as to say- it was
impossible for the accused to be physically present at the crime scene’.
-
Ref. Sec 11 IEA, Bare Act illustration:
“The
question is, whether A committed a crime at Calcutta on a certain day. The fact
that, on that day, A was at Lahore is relevant. The fact that, near the time
when the crime was committed, A was at a distance from the place where it was
committed, which would render it highly improbable, though not impossible, that
he committed it, is relevant”.
As
per aforesaid illustration- the presence of A at the place of the incident is
highly improbable and also the time when it was committed made it impossible for
the accused to travel at the place far distant from the his place;
BUT
If,
on the other hand, A was nearby the place of the incident i.e., at Calcutta
itself. Then his presence at the place of commission of offence in that circumstance
may become probable.
Thus,
it is therefore essential for the person establishing the ground of plea of
Alibi that he was too far from the place of the incident and also he could in
no Manner commit the alleged offence.
Correct Time to Raise The Plea?
There
is no particular time as such prescribed in the Act for taking such plea but in
order to make it more effective one should take this plea at the earliest
possible time (in the initial stage of proceedings) i.e., at the stage of charge
framing or during inquiry proceeding which means before the trial begins.
Taking
such plea at later stage may create suspicion in the mind of a judge. However,
there is no such rule provided as such.
Further,
plea of alibi is not maintainable in tort and matrimonial proceedings
i.e.,defamation suit, suit for maintenance, divorce cases.
Onus of Proving- Plea of Alibi?
Section
103 of IEA clearly provides the onus of proving the alibi i.e., the onus lies on the person
who wishes the court to believe in its existence i.e.,accused.
What if Accused is able to prove the Alibi?
If
accused is able to prove the Alibi, he will either be acquitted or discharged but
he has to prove the said alleged fact beyond reasonable doubt and court has to
be very cautious in taking the evidences on record as one wrong step would end up the case in guilty judgement.
For
instance : B has been murdered in Delhi. And, for the offence of murder of B, police arrested A. At the stage of framing of charge A takes a plea that he was not in Delhi at the time of commission of offence rather he was in hotel at Mumbai and showed the hotel and flight tickets.
In
present case,by mere showing the hotel and flight tickets are not sufficient to
discharge the burden satisfactorily rather there must be some other cogent
evidences, which has to be taken into consideration by court while deciding the matter i.e.,
- Examination of Witnesses, If any
- Examine the Conduct of Accused (Previous/Subsequent),
- Motive, if Established, in association with other circumstantial evidences,
- Discovery Statement etc...
Consequences of Taking False Plea?
Taking false flea has serious repercussions as whoever uses the said plea just to escape from the liability, will be charged for the offence of giving false evidence and also for misleading the court. Moreover, his credibility in the case will get diminished, further, the judge may draw a negative inference against him as taking
false plea may turn out the whole case and divert the process, due to which
the investigation may get affected which ultimately leads to
a wrong judgement.
Relevant Case Laws;
- Dudh Nath Pandey V/s State of UP,1981,SC
- Lakhan Singh@Pappu V/s The state of NCT of Delhi
- Binay Kumar Singh V/s The State of Bihar,1997, SC
- Sahabuddin & ors V/s The State of Assam
I hope, this blog will help you to understand the concept of 'ALIBI' and if you like this blog, please let me know in the comment section below.
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