In a striking reversal, the Allahabad High Court has acquitted three individuals convicted in a 1989 murder case, casting a long shadow over the trial court’s decision.
Justice Rajiv Gupta and Justice Shiv Shanker Prasad, scrutinizing the evidence, found the dying declaration of the victim unreliable. The declaration’s content, notably, was neither communicated to the deceased nor his father, raising substantial doubts.
Moreover, the Court highlighted an unexplained delay in the filing of the First Information Report (FIR), and inconsistencies in the prosecution’s narrative regarding the location of the victim’s death.
“The lower court failed to correctly interpret the evidence,” noted the bench. The judges concluded that the prosecution did not conclusively establish the guilt of the accused, thereby overturning the trial court’s conviction and sentencing of the accused-appellants.
The case, rooted in a brutal assault in August 1989, saw the deceased succumb to injuries after a grudge-fueled attack. Despite the deceased allegedly recounting the incident to his father before passing, the High Court found this testimony questionable and insufficient for conviction.
The original 2004 conviction under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder, was thus challenged and ultimately dismissed. The High Court emphasized the importance of doubt benefiting the accused, resulting in their acquittal.
Legal representation for the appellants included Advocates Jagdish Singh Sengar, Babu Lal Ram, and Ram Babu Sharma, while Advocates M Sarwar Khan, Rajesh Yadav, Ram Ji Yadav, and Vineet Kumar Yadav represented the state.
