Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh was hearing a case against Manajar Alam, who was charged under IPC Section 302 for the alleged murder of Shahjad on May 7, 2022.
In an order dated June 9, the court said, “No weapon of offence was recovered from or at the instance of the accused. His mere presence at the spot of incident could not be construed as proof of his culpability especially when there is no eye-witness account or medical/ forensic evidence against him”.
According to the prosecution, Alam repeatedly stabbed Shahjad with a knife inside a room in Govind Puri following a quarrel involving the accused's sister Sofia. Shahjad later succumbed to his injuries.
The court, however, found serious infirmities in the prosecution's case.
It noted that complainant Mohammad Anis, projected as the principal eyewitness, claimed to have witnessed the scuffle but failed to see the actual stabbing despite being present in the same room.
"The testimony of PW1 (prosecution witness 1) is patently lacking in coherence... he missed to see the most vital incident of multiple stabbing... This leads to reasonable doubt about his presence at the spot at the time of incident," the judge said.
The court further said CCTV footage contradicted Anis's version and instead supported the testimony of another prosecution witness Krishan Kumar Patel that Anis reached the spot only after Shahjad had collapsed on the road.
The judge also pointed to "glaring contradiction and mismatch" between the testimonies of the two key witnesses regarding the sequence of events and each other's presence.
The court also said that the forensic evidence failed to implicate the accused. The DNA report did not connect Alam with the offence; no blood was found on his clothes, no witness saw him carrying a weapon, and the alleged murder weapon was never recovered.
“As a result of foregoing observation and analysis, the charged offence of murder of deceased Shahjad remained unproved against accused Manajar Alam, hence he is acquitted of the charged offence under Section 302 IPC,” the court said.
