The Karnataka High Court upholds acquittal of 26 accused in a 2009 SC/ST Atrocities case, finding no legal or factual error in the Trial Court’s view that material contradictions in the eyewitness accounts entitled them to the benefit of doubt.
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Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has dismissed the State’s appeal and upheld the acquittal of 26 persons booked in a 2009 case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, in which they were alleged to have pulled down a photograph of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and a community hall signboard in Chamarajanagar district [State of Karnataka through Terakanambi Police v. Sri Paramesha and Others].
A Single Judge Bench of Justice G. Basavaraja heard Criminal Appeal No. 1428 of 2015 (A), filed against the judgment of the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Chamarajanagar, in Special Case No. 165 of 2009, delivered on August 20, 2015.
The case
The State alleged that in June 2009, at about 7 PM, 29 accused formed an unlawful assembly in Bommanahalli village, Chamarajanagar, carrying weapons with the common object of rioting. According to the FIR, they allegedly pulled down the signboard of the Samudaya Bhavana and a photograph of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, intending to insult the Scheduled Caste community, and several Scheduled Caste persons were allegedly injured. One accused died during the proceedings.
The charges included Sections 143, 147, 148, 341, 323, 324, 506, 427 and 295A of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3(1)(x) and 3(1)(xi) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The prosecution examined 13 witnesses, including the injured and eyewitnesses, the treating medical officer and the investigating officers. All of these were allegations of the prosecution.
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Why the Trial Court acquitted
The Trial Court acquitted the accused, noting that the eyewitnesses admitted that it was dark at the spot and that power to the village had been cut from 6:45 PM. It found that none of the eyewitnesses explained how they could see the incident in that darkness, and it also pointed to contradictions among the witnesses.
Contentions
The State argued that the injured witnesses were credible, that they said they were assaulted with hands, clubs and a sickle and abused by their caste names, that stones damaged the signboard bearing Dr Ambedkar’s photograph, and that the Trial Court had not applied the SC/ST Act with the social purpose it demands. The respondents argued that the Trial Court had properly appreciated the evidence and that there was no ground to interfere with the acquittal.
What the High Court held
The High Court re-examined the depositions of the 13 prosecution witnesses, the marked documents and the material objects. It held that the material contradictions in the eyewitness statements, along with the other factors noted by the Trial Court, justified giving the accused the benefit of doubt. Justice Basavaraja stated that he did “not find any legal or factual error committed by the trial Court” and dismissed the appeal.
Why the order matters
The order reflects the settled approach in appeals against acquittal, where an appellate court interferes only where the Trial Court’s view is legally or factually unsustainable. Here, the Court found the eyewitness evidence, tested against the admitted darkness at the spot and contradictions among witnesses, left room for reasonable doubt. The allegations of the prosecution remained unproved in the eyes of the law.
Case Title: State of Karnataka through Terakanambi Police v. Sri Paramesha and Others [Criminal Appeal No. 1428 of 2015 (A)]
Bench: Justice G. Basavaraja, Karnataka High Court
Date of Order: October 1, 2026
Appearances: Counsel not recorded in the source material.