Supreme Court overturns Goundar convictions, orders retrial

The Supreme Court has overturned Amit Krishna Goundar’s rape and criminal intimidation convictions, ruling that the prosecution’s failure to present a key medical report at trial resulted in a miscarriage of justice.

The court ordered a retrial, finding that the report contained information that could have affected the assessment of the complainant’s evidence.

Goundar was convicted by the High Court in 2018 of raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter and threatening her with a cane knife if she disclosed the incident.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 12 years.

Last Thursday, the Supreme Court found that a medical report prepared shortly after the alleged offending should have been presented as part of the prosecution’s case.

The report referred to a different date for the alleged rape and included information suggesting that the complainant had previously been raped by another person.

The court said these details could have affected the assessment of the complainant’s credibility and reliability.

The judges stressed that prosecutors should generally present all relevant and credible evidence, whether it supports or weakens their case.

They found that withholding the report denied Goundar the opportunity to challenge the prosecution’s evidence and may have deprived him of the chance of an acquittal.

The court said it could not be satisfied that a properly directed tribunal would inevitably have convicted Goundar if the report had been presented.

It therefore quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences.

Although the Supreme Court ordered a retrial, it said the State would need to consider whether a new trial remained appropriate, given the time that had passed since the alleged offending in 2015 and the time Goundar had already spent in custody.