The Supreme Court has acquitted the appellant, setting aside his conviction for murder and attempt to murder in a 2004 firing incident in Uttar Pradesh, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and the conviction could not be sustained on the basis of an unreliable, solitary eyewitness.
A Bench comprising Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi allowed the criminal appeal against the Allahabad High Court’s 2019 judgment affirming his conviction under Sections 302, 307 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code.
The case arose from an incident on October 20, 2004, when indiscriminate firing allegedly took place during a Durga Puja programme, resulting in the death of two persons and injuries to several others. The prosecution alleged that appellant and his brother opened fire following an altercation involving the informant’s minor son. While the Trial Court convicted all the accused, the High Court later acquitted the father of the appellants but upheld the conviction of the appellant and his brother. During the pendency of the appeal before the Supreme Court, the brother passed away, leaving the case to survive only against the appellant.
Allowing the appeal, the Supreme Court noted that the conviction was based almost entirely on the testimony of the informant, which it held was inconsistent, wavering, and not of such stellar quality as to sustain a conviction on its own, particularly when all other injured eyewitnesses did not support the prosecution’s version.
The Court further held that serious infirmities in the forensic evidence, including the mismatch between the recovered rifle magazine and the seized weapon, the non-recovery of the alleged country-made pistol, and unexplained circumstances surrounding the deaths of two persons against whom no motive was established, rendered the prosecution’s case unreliable.
In view of these cumulative deficiencies, the Court extended the benefit of doubt to the appellant and set aside his conviction.
Appearances
Appellant- Mr. Rakesh Kumar-I, AOR
Respondent- Ms. Srishti Singh, AOR
