State of Kerala Excise vs Dileepan — 101181/2019

Case Summary: State of Kerala Excise v. Dileepan and Rajeswaran (S.C No. 1181/2019) The court acquitted both accused of charges under Section 55(g) of the Abkari Act for allegedly engaging in illicit arrack brewing. The prosecution failed to establish its case due to critical evidentiary gaps: the two witnesses examined denied seeing the alleged detection and seizure, the key investigating officers were not produced despite repeated opportunities, and most crucially, neither the seized contraband nor certified inventory photographs—mandatory primary evidence under Section 53A(5) of the Abkari Act—were produced, with the prosecution reporting the contraband lost. The court found no oral evidence could compensate for this absence of primary evidence. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.