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Citation
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Judgment date
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| November 1996 |
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Failure to give statutory written notice under s.289 rendered prosecution witnesses' evidence inadmissible, requiring quash and retrial of the respondent.
* Criminal procedure – Section 289 Criminal Procedure Act 1985 – requirement of reasonable written notice before calling witness whose statement was not produced at committal – non-compliance renders evidence inadmissible.
* Evidence – inadmissibility of prosecution witnesses called without statutory notice; listing names in preliminaries does not cure failure to give notice.
* Trial irregularity – expunging evidence at judgment stage without rehearing counsel is improper.
* Assessors – misdirection by addressing only credibility; duty to direct on effect of excluding evidence and on corroboration of retracted confession and alibi.
* Remedy – substantial procedural errors warrant quashing and ordering retrial.
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4 November 1996 |
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Single-witness identification treated with caution; one conviction quashed, other appeals dismissed.
* Criminal law – Identification evidence – reliability of identification parades, delays and contradictions – single-witness identification and benefit of doubt.
* Criminal procedure – Conduct of identification parades – presence of justices of the peace and calling of escorting police officers.
* Evidence – absence of recovered stolen property – relevance to convictions.
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4 November 1996 |
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Suits concerning unregistered land must commence in the Primary Court; jurisdictional non‑compliance renders proceedings void.
Jurisdiction — Unregistered land — Proviso to s.63(1) Magistrates' Courts Act, 1984 — Suit relating to unregistered land must commence in Primary Court unless High Court directs otherwise — Proceedings in wrong court are nullity — Relief: quashing proceedings, fresh suit in Primary Court, interim injunction to preserve property, return of documents, costs.
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4 November 1996 |
| October 1996 |
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The Court upheld murder convictions and dismissed the appellants' appeal, finding sufficient evidence and valid common intention.
Criminal law – murder – sufficiency of evidence; cautioned statements – repudiation raised late; eyewitnesses related to deceased – admissibility and credibility; identification in darkness – relevance when presence undisputed; common intention (Section 23 Penal Code) – liability; assessors’ direction – adequacy.
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28 October 1996 |
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The appellant's challenges to identification and sentence were dismissed; conviction and ten-year term for attempted murder upheld.
* Criminal law – Attempted murder – Identification evidence – familiarity, proximity, and voice recognition can render identification reliable despite darkness.
* Criminal law – Circumstantial evidence – concealment on police approach supports inference of guilty mind.
* Sentence review – ten-year imprisonment for attempted murder not manifestly excessive in a brutal attack that could have been fatal.
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28 October 1996 |
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A voluntary, detailed retracted confession can sustain a murder conviction even without independent corroboration.
* Criminal law – confession – retracted confession – admissibility and weight – voluntariness and surrounding circumstances * Corroboration – desirable but not essential where confession is credible * Role of medical evidence and complainant statements in assessing allegations of torture * Appellate review of trial judge's credibility findings
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28 October 1996 |
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Court upheld murder conviction, finding dying declaration, eyewitness evidence and confession reliable; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – Murder – Weight of dying declaration – Reliability despite head injuries and survival period; Eyewitness testimony – contradictions attributable to lapse of memory; Intoxication/insanity defence – only mild intoxication proved; Confession and escape from custody – corroborative value; Appeal – assessment of totality of evidence.
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21 October 1996 |
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Appeal dismissed: dying declaration and corroborative evidence upheld, confirming murder conviction and mandatory death sentence for the appellant.
Criminal law – Murder – Dying declaration – Reliability and admissibility – Eyewitness contradictions explained by lapse of memory – Intoxication not amounting to insanity – Confession and corroboration – Mandatory death sentence upheld.
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21 October 1996 |
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Court upheld murder conviction, finding dying declaration and confessions reliable despite minor witness contradictions and mild intoxication.
Criminal law – murder – reliability and admissibility of dying declaration – witness credibility where memory lapses occur – intoxication as defence – value of confession and escape from custody as corroborative evidence.
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21 October 1996 |
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Identification of a familiar assailant and post-offence hiding supported conviction; ten-year sentence upheld.
Criminal law – Identification evidence in low light – recognition of familiar persons and corroborative circumstances; alibi – evaluation and rejection; consciousness of guilt – hiding under bed as corroborative evidence; sentence – appellate restraint and proportionality in attempted murder cases.
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20 October 1996 |
| January 1996 |
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Missing sale and land records left an alleged fraudulent transfer unproven, so title was restored to the applicant.
* Land law – disputed title to house – alleged court auction and subsequent transfers – missing decree, proclamation of sale, certificate of sale, and Land Department entries.
* Evidence – inability to produce crucial documents – effect on proving or disproving alleged fraudulent transfer.
* Appellate procedure – order for additional evidence and consequences of non-production of records.
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31 January 1996 |
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Conviction for murder quashed because circumstantial and identification evidence failed to exclude reasonable alternative hypotheses.
* Criminal law – Circumstantial evidence – standard required to exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence before conviction; identification evidence; possession of weapon as circumstantial link; limits of suspicion as proof.
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1 January 1996 |