Criminal trial - Golden principles to hold accused responsible for crime

•  Criminal trial
• Golden principles to hold accused responsible for crime
• Pakistan penal code, PPC, Evidence law, Law of evidence, Wanun-e-Shahadat

The golden principles to hold the accused responsible for a crime can be formulated as under: -

i.        Conviction cannot be based merely on the high probabilities that may be inferred from evidence in a given case.

ii.       Finding of the guilt should rest surely and firmly on the evidence produced by the prosecution.

iii.      Mere conjectures and probabilities cannot take the place of legal proof otherwise the golden rule of benefit of doubt will be reduced to naught.

iv.      Accused is only to create doubt in prosecution’s case.

v.       It is the duty of prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

vi.      Benefit of every reasonable doubt must go to the accused.

vii.     Benefit of doubt however slight must go to the accused.

viii.    Single infirmity in prosecution’s case will entitle the accused to benefit of doubt.

ix.      Court is not supposed to thumb mark blindly what the prosecution has desired.

x.       Rule of law is the supreme consideration and nothing is top to it. A Judge is only to be impressed when “burden of persuasion” is successfully discharged which means to convince the Court that qualitative evidence is there.