New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) A Delhi court has acquitted four people accused of murdering a man in the Kamla Market area in 2015, citing material contradictions in witness testimonies and serious lapses in the police investigation.
Additional Sessions Judge Virender Kumar Kharta said the prosecution had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused had committed the offence punishable under Section 302 (murder) read with Section 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
“Due to material contradictions in testimonies, non-joining of independent witness at the time of recovery of case property, non-collection of CCTV footage of the area and non-availability of any blood on the clothes of accused Vishal and weapon of offence i.e. knife, serious doubts have been created upon the prosecution’s story,” the court said in its judgment dated January 9.
The court held that “two views are possible in this case and hence, the benefit of the same must go to the accused persons”.
The accused — Kapil Dev, Mohan Singh, Vishal and Manish — were facing trial for the alleged murder of Ishtiyak Ahmad near Anglo Arabic School, Ajmeri Gate, on June 7, 2015.
According to the prosecution, Ishtiyak had gone to GB Road around 10 pm along with five of his friends, when four men started a scuffle with them. Those four men ran away from the spot and were followed by Ishtiyak.
One of those four men running away was allegedly seen with a knife. After some time of chasing, Ishtiyak’s friend allegedly saw him being beaten by the four accused men.
He allegedly saw Ishtiyak being held by three accused while the fourth one, Vishal, stabbed him with a knife. The four men allegedly ran away from the site soon after, while Ishtiyak’s other friends found him lying injured and rushed him to the hospital.
The judge observed that key prosecution witnesses were “not witnesses of sterling quality” and that their testimonies were “not clear, cogent, credible, trustworthy and consistent”, noting that they also failed to withstand cross-examination.
The evidentiary value of the testimony of two witnesses was also called into question as they were found to be “interested witnesses”, that is, they were relatives of the deceased.
Questioning the investigation, the court pointed out that although several CCTV cameras were installed in the area, the investigating officer claimed they were not functional without placing any supporting material on record. “This raises serious doubts on the manner in which the investigation has been conducted,” it said.
The court also found the identification of the accused to be doubtful, observing that the complainant had admitted during cross-examination that the accused men were shown to him at the police station before the test identification parade.
Furthermore, the “blood-stained clothes” of accused Vishal and the weapon of offence were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for examination. The result showed no blood was found on either of the articles.
“Thus, the prosecution has failed to connect the accused persons with the commission of the offence through scientific evidence,” the court said.
Reiterating settled legal principles, the court said, “If two views are possible, the view favourable to the accused should be adopted,” adding that the prosecution must establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Accordingly, accused persons, namely Kapil Dev, Mohan Singh, Vishal and Manish, are hereby acquitted for the offence punishable under Section 302/34 IPC,” the judge ordered. PTI MDB KSS KSS
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.