The Supreme Court on Thursday acquitted an accused in connection with a double-murder case from over 20 years ago [Krishan vs State of Haryana].A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan found that the proof of recovery of the weapon at the accused's behest was not reliable in the instant case.The findings we have recorded above create a serious doubt about the truthfulness of the prosecution case. Therefore, in any case, the benefit of the doubt must be extended to the appellant. It can also be said that once the evidence of recovery is disbelieved, it was a case of no evidence as the eyewitnesses did not support the prosecution," the bench observed while setting aside the conviction and life sentence of the accused.The murders in January 2004 allegedly took place with a country-made pistol that was allegedly recovered from the petitioner, one Krishan.He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Gurgaon court in 2007. The same was upheld by the Punjab & Haryana High Court in 2011 leading to the appeal before the Supreme Court.The top court noted that the prosecution's theory regarding recovery of the weapon was very suspicious and doubtful.This was because the said recovery was allegedly made a month and four days after the occurrence and was made from an open space in a garden that was easily accessible to many.
Further, the weapon and cartridges were buried underground and were recovered only after digging, while the eye-witnesses did not support the prosecution story of the accused having shown them where he had buried the corpses."It cannot be said that there was a discovery by the appellant of the place where dead bodies were kept. Therefore, that part of the statement of the accused, which records that he would show the place where he had thrown the dead bodies, is not admissible in evidence under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act," the bench noted.Therefore, the appeal was allowed and the accused was directed to be released forthwith.Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal served as the Amicus Curiae in the matter. Advocate Satyendra Kumar appeared for the appellant Krishan.Additional Advocate General S Udaya Kumar Sagar with advocates Bina Madhavan and Dr. Monika Gusain appeared for the State of Haryana.
TAGS: January 2004 Murders Country-made Pistol Petitioner Krishan Life Imprisonment Gurgaon Court
