THE STATE OF GUJARAT vs RAKESHBHAI MANGAJI KHANT Advocate - V I BHARVAD — 1155/2025

JudegementView PDF

Case Summary: CC No. 1155/2025 Court Decision: The court acquitted the accused Rakeshbhai Mangaji Khant of charges under the Gujarat Prohibition Act, Section 65(a)(b), finding the prosecution case fundamentally flawed. The court held that the panchas (independent witnesses) who were present during the seizure of alleged illicit liquor did not support the prosecution's evidence, and critical procedural safeguards—including proper sample collection, forensic analysis reports, and independent witness corroboration—were absent from the record. Key Reasoning: The court emphasized that where panchas' testimony is mandatory during liquor seizures under the 2012 Rules, the prosecution's case cannot rest solely on uncorroborated police testimony. Since the panchas contradicted or failed to support the seizure details, and no FSL report was produced to confirm the contraband's nature, the conviction was unjustifiable. The court found no credible evidence linking the accused to the alleged offense. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.

Disposed

Principal CIVIL Judge & J.M.F.C

Judgement

Principal CIVIL Judge & J.M.F.C

Evidence Of Prosecution

Principal CIVIL Judge & J.M.F.C

First hearing

Initial hearing scheduled

Case filed

Registration No. 1155/2025