New Delhi, Sept 3 A Delhi court has acquitted a man accused of helping his nephew conceal evidence in the alleged dowry death of his wife, saying that “mere suspicion, however strong, cannot take the place of legal proof”.
Additional Sessions Judge Hargurvarinder Singh Jaggi was hearing a case against Pradeep Kumar Jha, who was accused of helping to hide the alleged poisoning of his nephew’s wife, Neetu Devi.
In an order dated August 31, the court said, “Upon a meticulous evaluation of the entire oral and documentary evidence on record, this court is of the considered opinion that the prosecution has completely failed to prove the ingredients of Section 201 read with Section 34 IPC against the accused, Pradeep Kumar Jha.”
The case arose from the death of 26-year-old Devi, who allegedly consumed insecticide after being beaten by her husband, Naval Kishore Jha, in July 2013.
She was taken to a private doctor and later to Safdarjung Hospital, where she complained of abdominal pain before returning home and dying the following day.
The prosecution alleged that Pradeep accompanied the deceased to hospital and, along with his nephew, concealed the fact that she had consumed poison to prevent a police case.
Proceedings against Naval Kishore had abated following his death in February 2022.
The court said the prosecution had “completely failed” to prove Pradeep’s involvement, screening the offender from punishment.
"The burden of proving the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt lies squarely on the prosecution. Mere suspicion, however strong, cannot take the place of legal proof," the judge said.
The court also came down heavily on the police investigation, noting that the investigating officer failed to verify CCTV footage from Safdarjung Hospital, despite it being a major and surveilled hospital.
“The chargesheet’s foundation against him is entirely hollow,” the court said, pointing out that the witnesses on whose statements Jha’s implication was based did not support the allegation during the trial.
The medical witnesses also did not testify that Pradeep misled them or suppressed information about the poisoning.
The judge noted that the investigating officer admitted that he neither secured nor checked the hospital’s CCTV footage to ascertain Pradeep’s presence or conduct there.
“Merely because a person was present at a hospital, his presence cannot, by itself, establish participation in concealment,” the court said, stressing that the prosecution was required to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt.
Pradeep was accordingly acquitted of all charges framed against him.
