Patna, Sep 11 The Patna High Court has acquitted a man who spent 16 years in jail in connection with a 2000 murder case, holding that the prosecution failed to establish the charges and that there was "no evidence" against him.
Citing alleged connivance of police, the court directed the Bihar DGP to submit an action-taken report regarding the officials involved within two months..
A division bench of Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Kumar Manish, in its September 10 judgment, set aside Ranjit Kumar Jha's conviction under Section 302 of the IPC by a trial court in Samastipur in connection with the murder of Pawan Kumar Jha of the same district.
According to the court order, the prosecution had alleged that Jha shot Pawan following a dispute over Rs 3,300 and that the informant, the deceased's brother, had seen him fleeing the spot.
The high court, however, found inconsistencies and contradictions in the testimonies of "inimical witnesses" and questioned the prosecution's failure to examine "independent witnesses."
The court described the witnesses' claim of seeing Jha after firing as "unreliable and unbelievable," and said that the prosecution failed to prove the motive behind the murder as "no investigation with regard to the panchayati" over the money dispute was carried out.
The court also noted that the torch allegedly used by the informant was "neither produced nor seized", while the investigating officer found no other source of light at the place of occurrence.
The court further questioned the handling of the alleged murder weapon, noting that the pistol was not sent for forensic examination to establish whether it had fired the bullet recovered from the deceased.
"The pistol was found active, but it was not sent to the FSL to get a report as to whether the firing was done on the deceased by the said pistol on the date/time mentioned by the prosecution," the court order noted.
As per the order, though the FIR was shown to have been registered on October 5, 2000, it was received by the magistrate only on October 9.
The court held that this circumstance "led to the conclusion that the FIR was antedated."
"In result, this court finds that it is a case of no evidence against the appellant," the bench said.
The court further said that police officials, "right from the SHO to the IO, had allegedly acted in connivance with inimical witnesses" and "indulged in preparing a false case against the appellant".
The court also dealt with the appellant's prolonged incarceration, which reportedly led to his mental illness and depression, and delay in considering his premature release.
The bench directed the state to ensure Jha's rehabilitation and medical treatment and asked the authorities concerned to prepare a rehabilitation plan.
