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| High Court upholds acquittal of 3 persons | | RS Pura Murder Case | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 12: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has upheld the acquittal of three accused in a 2005 murder case involving the killing of Ajay Gupta at R S Pura, holding that the prosecution failed to establish their involvement beyond reasonable doubt despite medical evidence confirming that the death was homicidal.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Yash Paul Bourney dismissed the appeal filed by the State challenging the April 26, 2010 judgment of the 1st Additional Sessions Judge, Jammu.
The case originated from an incident on October 6, 2005, when Ajay Gupta was allegedly attacked with sharp-edged weapons near R S Pura. He subsequently succumbed to his injuries.
Police had registered FIR No. 82/2005 at Police Station R S Pura, initially for offences including attempt to murder, rioting and violations of the Arms Act. A murder charge was subsequently added following the victim's death.
The prosecution examined 17 witnesses during the trial but failed to establish the charges, resulting in the acquittal of the accused.
Additional Advocate General Ravinder Gupta, appearing for the State, challenged the acquittal, arguing that the trial court had failed to properly appreciate the ocular, medical and circumstantial evidence.
Advocate Sumit Moza, representing the respondents, defended the acquittal and submitted that material witnesses had not supported the prosecution case.
After examining the record, the Division Bench observed that the prosecution's principal eyewitnesses had made materially inconsistent statements.
The Court also noted that statements of important eyewitnesses were recorded four days after the occurrence without any satisfactory explanation.
Another serious deficiency concerned the alleged recovery of a sharp-edged weapon. The recovery witness did not support the prosecution, the weapon was reportedly recovered from an accessible place, and no blood was detected on it.
The Bench observed that although the post-mortem examination established that Ajay Gupta had sustained 15 injuries and died a homicidal death, medical evidence alone could not establish the identity of the assailants.
The Court reiterated that the burden of proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt always rests upon the prosecution and that deficiencies in its evidence cannot be cured by weaknesses in the defence.
Dismissing the appeal, the Division Bench upheld the acquittal of Rakesh Kumar, Ranjeet Singh and Gurbachan Singh.
The Court further directed that proceedings against absconding accused would continue before the trial court upon their apprehension. (JNF) |
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