SC reverses acquittal of murder convicts

The Supreme Court has reversed the acquittal of six persons convicted by a trial court in Uttar Pradesh for a triple murder that occurred 30 years ago. A bench of Justices R V Raveendran and P Sathasivam, however, reduced the life imprisonment imposed by the trial court to 10 years RI on the ground that the offence fell under Section 304 Part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). The convicts Kishanpal Singh, Suresh Singh, Mahendra Singh, Neksey Singh, Jaivir Singh, Sheodan Singh and Bahar Singh have been asked to surrender and serve their remaining part of the sentence. The case of the prosecution was that the accused along with 10 others armed with firearms killed Kaptan Singh, Raj Mahesh and Maya Devi on 21st June, 1978 owing to previous enmity. On the basis of various eyewitnesses who happened to be relatives of the deceased the trial court in 1980 convicted the six accused along with main accused Onkar Singh. But on an appeal by the accused, the Allahabad High Court while upholding the conviction of Onkar Singh acquitted the remaining accused on the ground that the eyewitnesses were all "interested" witnesses, following which the UP government, appealed in the apex court. Upholding the appeal, the apex court said the testimonies of eyewitnesses even if they were related to the deceased can be relied upon as along as they were credible and cogent. "This Court (Supreme Court) has repeatedly held that if the testimony of prosecution witnesses was cogent, reliable and confidence inspiring, it cannot be discarded merely on the ground that the witness happened to be relative of the deceased,” the bench said. A witness, who is a natural one and is the only possible eyewitness in the circumstances of a case cannot be said to be interested," the bench observed. According to the apex court in the present case, the prosecution had been able to establish beyond reasonable doubt the involvement of the accused. "Their acquittal resulted in grave miscarriage of justice. The paramount consideration of the Court is to ensure that miscarriage of justice is avoided. The miscarriage of justice which may arise from the acquittal of the guilty is no less than from the conviction of an innocent," the apex court said while reversing the acquittal. However, it reduced the sentence of life imprisonment to 10 years.

"Loved reading this piece by SANJAY DIXIT?
Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"

Join our Telegram group

Join our Whatsapp group