Delhi High Court acquits two men sentenced to life imprisonment in murder case 23 years ago

Nearly 23 years after two men were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, the Delhi High Court recently acquitted them of all charges [Videshi Kumar v State]..In an order passed on April 16, a Division Bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain said that the accused Videshi Kumar and Ram Nath cannot be held guilty merely based on the “last seen together” circumstance which was also not proved beyond shadow of doubt.The Court ruled the accused and deceased, one Tuntun, were working together and in such a peculiar situation, their being together cannot be said to be unusual.It noted that one last seen witness in the case had turned hostile while the testimony of others did not evoke confidence since they did not contact the police themselves..Tuntun was found dead on July 31, 1997. The person who contacted the police said that the body of a person, run over by a train, had been lying on the track. It was alleged that the deceased was last seen with the accused persons and they were all in an inebriated state.Videshi Kumar and Ram Nath were convicted by the trial court on October 19, 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment on October 22, 2001.After considering the case, the High Court found several inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case..The Court observed that it was baffling how the police contacted the witnesses and it was also not clear how the accused were arrested.“Learned trial court was also kept in dark about the other cases fastened upon accused, which murders had also been, allegedly, committed by them with the same objective. The motive, herein, is unclear and cannot be assumed from disclosure statements of accused, being inadmissible in evidence. There is no other connecting link or circumstance suggesting their complicity. There is no recovery at the instance of accused suggesting their involvement,” the Bench observed.It added that since the case was resting upon circumstantial evidence and since according to the prosecution, the accused were last seen together with the deceased and thereafter his dead body was recovered next morning from the railway track, the investigating agency should have prepared a site plan clearly highlighting the places where they were seen together and the place from where the dead body was eventually recovered..Needless to emphasize, the proximity between these two places is also of vital importance in such matters, the Court stressed.It, therefore, extended the benefit of doubt to the accused and acquitted them.“Ergo, we extend benefit of doubt to both the accused. Consequently, both the appeals are allowed and both the accused Videshi Kumar and Ram Nath stand acquitted of all charges leveled against them,” the Court concluded..It, therefore, extended the benefit of doubt to the accused and acquitted them.Advocate Abhimanyu Sharma appeared for Videshi Kumar.Advocate Sudesh Kumar Jethwa acted as amicus curiae.State was represented through Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Tarang Srivastava. .[Read Judgement]