Whether the appellate court can extend the benefit of acquittal to non appealing convict?

If 4 accused are convicted, but only one accused prefer appeal.  If appeal is allowed, can the 3 accused get benefit and whether they can be also acquitted

 Under Indian criminal law, whether the three accused who did not file appeals can benefit from the successful appeal of the fourth accused depends on several key factors and legal principles established by the Supreme Court and High Courts.

General Principle: Benefit of Acquittal to Co-Accused

The Supreme Court has established that when the evidence against all accused persons is identical and the allegations are inseparable in nature, the benefit of acquittal can be extended to co-accused who did not file appeals. In a landmark ruling Javed Shaukat Ali Qureshi V. State of Gujarat, 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 782 the Court held that "Can't Convict One Accused & Acquit Another When Evidence Is Same" and accordingly acquitted persons who didn't file appeals.

Key Factors for Extending Benefit

Same Evidence and Inseparable Allegations

The Karnataka High Court has clarified that the benefit of acquittal is extendable to co-accused when "the allegations against the other accused persons who were acquitted and the petitioner were one and the same" and were "inter-twined with each other". If there are no distinct and separate allegations against the non-appealing accused, the court may extend the benefit to avoid a futile exercise.

Surrender Requirement

The law regarding benefit of acquittal may be different for accused who fail to surrender after conviction. The Supreme Court has noted that "The law of giving benefit of acquittal of similarly placed co-accused on the same set of facts and on similar accusations, may be departed in cases where the accused had not surrendered after the conviction in addition to not filing an appeal against the conviction". However, if the accused subsequently surrender, the benefit can still be extended.

 The Supreme Court has held in Jagtar Singh v State of Haryana that  "Co-accused acquittal is not a ground to acquit the principal accused"

Section 380 CrPC

The Criminal Procedure Code provides a specific provision under Section 380 for "Special right of appeal in certain cases," which states that "If a co-defendant has received an appealable sentence, then the other defendant has the right to appeal his own non-appealable punishment".

Practical Application

In practice, courts examine whether:

• The evidence against all accused is substantially the same

• The allegations are inseparable and intertwined

• There would not be any purpose served by continuing prosecution against the non-appealing accused

• The accused have surrendered and complied with legal requirements

If these conditions are met, courts have the discretion to extend the benefit of acquittal to co-accused who did not file appeals, treating it as a matter of judicial fairness and avoiding inconsistent verdicts on identical evidence.

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