The Supreme Court came down harsh on a trial court in Andhra Pradesh which pronounced a dead man guilty in a cheating case and continued with attachment of his properties, a fact that was missed even by the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The court quashed criminal proceedings and attachment orders against the deceased terming it as an instance of “miscarriage” of justice.
The deceased Ramachandraiah was charged with misappropriation of funds in a University to the tune of `6.57 lakh during the period July 1987 to June 1988 by allegedly drawing cash after preparing bogus bills in names of 21 lecturers.
The bench of Justices SA Bobde and Amitava Roy said, “We find that the learned District Judge could not have proceeded with the attachment proceedings at all since the attachment proceedings were initiated by the State against Ramachandraiah under clause 3 of the Criminal law Amendment Ordinance, 1944, who was actually dead.”
Declaring the proceedings illegal, the bench added, “A fortiori, a criminal court cannot continue proceedings against a dead person and find him guilty. Such proceedings and the findings are contrary to the very foundation of criminal jurisprudence. In such a case the accused does not exist and cannot be convicted.”