India News | Court Acquits 2 Persons Accused in Murder Case; Directs for Action Against Investigation Officer
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted two persons accused in a murder case of 2019, saying the prosecution has failed to prove the charges against them beyond reasonable doubt.
Thane, Feb 6 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted two persons accused in a murder case of 2019, saying the prosecution has failed to prove the charges against them beyond reasonable doubt.
In the order passed on January 31, Additional Sessions Judge V L Bhosale also directed for action to be initiated against the investigation officer responsible for the acquittal of the accused.
A copy of the order was made available on Tuesday.
The prosecution told the court that the victim worked as a DJ and musician with one of the accused, who operated a mandap decoration business.
The victim had asked for his due of Rs 28,000 from the accused, but he did not pay it. The victim picked up four speakers and an amplifier of the accused and gave it away to another person.
On November 18, 2019, the accused and his associate allegedly beat up the victim to death in Mira Road area here and the body was found the next day in a drain in the locality, the prosecution told the court.
Judge Bhosale held that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the 38-year-old man, who ran the decoration business, and the other 28-year-old accused.
"Only on the basis of deposition of the investigation officer (IO), the case of the prosecution cannot be proved as other factual aspects of the prosecution cases are not proved. The circumstantial chain is not completely developed by the prosecution," she said.
"In my considered view, the prosecution has failed to establish the commission of the alleged offence by the accused persons beyond all reasonable doubt. They deserve the benefit of the doubt," the judge further said.
She also referred to a case, and said the Supreme Court has directed and given the finding that every acquittal should be understood as a "failure of the justice delivery system in serving the cause of justice." Likewise, even acquittal should ordinarily lead to the inference that an innocent person was wrongfully prosecuted."
It has been directed by the apex court to examine all orders of acquittal and to record reasons for the failure of each prosecution case. A standing committee of senior officers of the police and prosecution departments should be vested with the aforesaid responsibility, the judge said in the order.
According to the said direction of the SC, "taking into the seriousness of the matter, the committee formed by the state government to initiate action against the investigation officer who is responsible for the acquittal of the accused" under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention), the court said.
Hence, the prosecutor is directed to comply with the directions given in the judgment, it added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)