New Delhi, Aug 11 A Delhi court has acquitted a man accused of murdering an unidentified vagabond, a "Baba" in south Delhi's Neb Sarai area, saying that the prosecution failed to establish a complete chain of circumstances linking him to the crime.
Additional Sessions Judge Samar Vishal was hearing a case against Ritesh Kumar Paswan, alias Shakas, who was accused of murdering a vagabond, known only as "Baba", who used to beg, collect scrap and sleep around the Neb Sarai Chaupal.
In an order dated August 6, the court said, "In the present case, the prosecution has undoubtedly proved that the deceased Baba died a homicidal death. However, the prosecution has completely failed to establish the second and more crucial requirement, namely that it was the accused who caused those injuries."
According to the prosecution, "Baba" was found unconscious with severe head injuries inside a village chaupal in Neb Sarai on August 18, 2021. He was taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he was declared brought dead. Investigation suggested he was assaulted with stones found at the spot.
The police claimed that a rag-picker named Bobby saw the accused enter the chaupal where Baba was sleeping and leave shortly after.
Paswan, upon arrest, said that he attacked the deceased following frequent quarrels over money and food.
However, during trial, the prosecution's case suffered a major setback as Bobby and another key witness, Shyam, disappeared and could not be traced despite repeated efforts. They were never examined before the court.
The court noted that the case rested entirely on circumstantial evidence with no eyewitness.
It said the statements of the two missing witnesses recorded during investigation could not be treated as proof because they were never subjected to cross-examination.
"The scientific evidence does not connect the accused with the crime. The remaining witnesses are merely formal witnesses proving the investigation and medical evidence. Consequently, the chain of circumstances remains wholly incomplete," the court said.
The judge observed that the DNA report merely established that blood found on stones recovered from the scene belonged to the deceased and did not connect the accused to the crime.
"Every incriminating circumstance must be fully established, all the proved circumstances must be consistent only with the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused, and the chain of circumstances must be so complete that it leaves no reasonable ground for a conclusion consistent with the innocence of the accused. Suspicion, however grave, can never substitute proof," the judge said.
The court noted that no weapon was recovered from the accused, and no fingerprints, bloodstains, CCTV footage or other forensic evidence linked him to the murder.
Holding that the prosecution had proved only that the victim died a homicidal death but failed to prove who caused the injuries, the court acquitted Paswan by extending him the benefit of doubt and ordered his release.
