Man convicted & acquitted for same crime in separate appeals; court fines ₹1 lakh after spotting glitch 10 years later

Kochi: The Kerala High Court has imposed a cost of ₹1 lakh on a convict who pulled off a rare legal anomaly — filing two separate criminal appeals in the same 2010 case, securing an acquittal in one and a confirmed conviction in the other.

Justice PV Kunhikrishnan, while hearing the matter, underlined that protecting the integrity of the criminal justice system is a collective duty. “To avoid multiplicity of appeals, revisions and other proceedings arising from the same matter, it is not only the duty of the court alone, but also the bound duty of lawyers, litigants and the court registry,” the judge remarked.

The case originated from a Kayamkulam police investigation into a robbery and break-in, charging four accused under Sections 392 and 457 IPC. In the trial, Manikandan, Madhavan, and Krishnan alias Masanan were convicted by the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kayamkulam and one was acquitted.

In 2012, Madhavan and Krishnan appealed before the Additional Sessions Judge-I, Mavelikkara — and lost. But three years later in 2015, Krishnan, represented by a different lawyer, filed a fresh appeal before the same court. This time, the verdict flipped — he was acquitted.

The contradiction went unnoticed for nearly a decade until a Sessions Judge spotted the discrepancy and informed the High Court. Neither the appellate court registry nor the public prosecutor had flagged the earlier dismissal during the second appeal.

Taking suo motu cognisance, the High Court roped in the Registrar (Computerisation)-cum-Director (IT) to suggest fixes. The Registrar informed the court that a unified case-tracking system for all district courts is set to launch on January 1, 2026.

Until then, the court has directed Principal District Judges to manually verify case histories before numbering new cases, and instructed the Home Secretary and State Police Chief to ensure prosecutors are alerted to any prior proceedings.

Finding the second appeal’s acquittal untenable, the High Court set it aside and ordered Krishnan to pay ₹1 lakh as costs.
(With LiveLaw inputs.)