Principle of Issue Estoppel in Criminal prosecution
The legal position on this aspect is also very clear in Masud Khan v. State of U.P. , the Supreme Court held as follows (para 4) :
the principle of issue estoppel is simply this : that where an issue of fact has been tried by a competent Court on a former occasion and a finding has been reached in favour of an accused, such a finding would constitute an estoppel or res judicata against the prosecution not as a bar to the trial and conviction of the accused for a different and distinct offence but as precluding the reception of evidence to disturb that finding of fact when the accused is tried subsequently even for a different offence which might be permitted by law.
Andhra High Court
Gorantla Venkateswara Rao vs Kolla Veera Raghava Rao And Anr. on 7 October, 2005
Equivalent citations: 2005 (2) ALD Cri 840, I (2007) BC 446, 2006 CriLJ 1
