Acquittal due to flaws in first probe not ground for reinvestigation: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that person cannot be investigated again for the same crime after being acquitted of all charges, merely because the first investigation was not handled properly [P. Manikandan v. Central Bureau of Investigation and ors.]..A Bench of Supreme Court Justices CT Ravikumar and Sanjay Karol explained that initiating a re-investigation for the same offence after an acquittal would be against the principles of double jeopardy which is reflected in Article 20(2) of the Constitution of India."The mere observation that the investigating authorities may have taken a lackadaisical ethical approach does not warrant the accused being put through the wringer once more for the same offence," the Court said..The top court made the observation while allowing an appeal challenging the Madras High Court's decision to order the reinvestigation and retrial of a kidnapping and murder case, after having acquitted the accused of all charges citing flaws in the first probe. The case involved allegations that a man kidnapped and murdered a four-year-old girl. A trial court sentenced him to death after finding him guilty.On appeal, a Division Bench of the High Court in 2018 cited flaws in the police investigation to acquit the accused. At the same time, it also ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to reinvestigate the case from the beginning.After the CBI reinvestigated the matter, and while the new trial was pending, the accused man filed a plea to quash the case against him. He argued that he could not be reinvestigated and retried after being acquitted for the same case. He contended that such reinvestigation would violate Article 20 (2) of the Constitution as well as Section 300 (person once convicted or acquitted cannot be tried for same offence) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).In 2023, another Bench of the High Court dismissed his plea and upheld the High Court's 2018 decision, prompting the accused to move the Supreme Court for relief. .The top court found the High Court's approach to be bad in law. It observed that while a retrial may have been permissible in certain circumstances, a reinvestigation is not. "The Cr.P.C provides for further investigation with the permission of the magistrate, but not reinvestigation. Such a concept, as it appears, is only invoked in extraneous circumstances ... the direction of the High Court, transferring the investigation to CBI and directing them to reinvestigate the offence allegedly committed, was without the authority of law and, therefore, has to be set aside," the Supreme Court said. .A reinvestigation would also violate Article 20(2) of the Constitution (no person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once), it observed. It noted that the principles against double jeopardy reflected in this provision, which were explained in the case of TP Gopalkrishnan v. State of Kerala, applied.It added that a case can be transferred to the CBI only in special circumstances, which did not exist in this case."Transfer to CBI, as already observed must take place in special circumstances, or else the agency, being with limited resources shall be overburdened and rendered ineffective," it observed. The top court proceeded to set aside the High Court's decision and acquitted the accused..Advocate KK Mani appeared for the accused, P Manikandan.Advocate Mukesh Kumar Maroria represented the respondents, CBI and the State of Tamil Nadu. .[Read Judgment]