The Supreme Court has set aside the conviction of a man in a 27-year-old murder case saying no incriminating circumstances appeared against him in the evidence.
A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Rajesh Bindal noted that the only allegation against the appellant was that he was standing with a “katta” (country-made pistol) in his hand outside the house where the murder took place, .
“Only based on the version of PW5 (prosecution witness) regarding the appellant's presence with a weapon outside the premises where the offence took place, the involvement of the appellant has been held as proved.
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“There is absolutely no other evidence against him. This is not a case where there are several incriminating circumstances appearing against the appellant in the evidence adduced by the prosecution,” the bench said.
Advocate Sumeet Verma, appearing for accused Raj Kumar, submitted that the only circumstance appearing in the evidence against the appellant that he was standing outside near the gate of the gallery with a katta was not put to him in his statement under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The top court examined the appellant's statement under Section 313 of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.
“If all the circumstances put to the appellant in his statement under Section 313 CrPC are carefully perused, any person of ordinary intelligence will get the impression that none of the prosecution witnesses has stated anything against him,” the bench said.
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The allegation against this accused, along with Vimal (since deceased) and five others, was that on October 1, 1995, around 03:30 pm, they conspired to criminally intimidate and commit the murder of a man and his relatives.
-With PTI Input
