Kerala High Court acquits 7 RSS members booked for murder of CPI(M) member; cites flawed probe by police

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday acquitted seven members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) who had been convicted by the trial court for the murder of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) activist Shihab in 2015 [Naveen & Ors. v State of Kerala]..A division bench of Justices PB Suresh Kumar and CS Sudha acquitted the seven men not because it was convinced of their innocence but because it found that the investigation was faulty."We are constrained to acquit the accused not because we find that they are not the real culprits in the case, but because of the flawed investigation and lack of evidence. We do not find fault with the investigating officer in proceeding with the investigation in the case on the premise that on the facts of this case, the activists of the organisation, RSS must have committed the crime. Our anguish on the other hand, is with regard to the manner in which he jumped into the conclusion without collecting sufficient materials that it is the accused who committed the crime," the judgment stated.Even though acquittal in such cases would affect the credibility of the justice delivery system, the Court said it was constrained to do so in this case."We are conscious of the fact that acquittal of the accused in a case of this nature would seriously affect the credibility of the justice delivery system, but we are constrained to do so, as we have real doubt as to whether it is accused 1 to 7 who have committed the crime, though we do not have any doubt to the fact that the crime has been committed by a group of persons in the manner alleged", the Court explained..As per the prosecution, activists of CPI(M) had murdered one Vinod, an office bearer of RSS. Shihab was the first accused in that case. The accused in this case then hatched a conspiracy to kill Shihab and on March 1, 2015, knocked Shihab off the motorcycle he was riding. The accused then struck Shihab on vital parts of his body with swords and Shihab succumbed to his injuries on the same day.Eleven persons were booked for the murder. The sessions court acquitted four of them while convicting the remaining seven for offences under the Indian Penal Code, including murder and criminal conspiracy.The seven then moved the High Court with the present appeal challenging their conviction and sentence. .They argued that owing to the political climate, the investigating officers jumped to conclusions and arrayed the RSS members as accused in the case. This was done as dictated by the leaders of the CPI(M), they alleged. It was also contended that they were arrested long before any material connecting them with the crime was collected either in the form of statements of witnesses or otherwise. They further contended that the conviction was arrived at based on the testimony of one witness alone..The High Court examined the case diary and the testimonies of the witnesses and found that the witness testimony was unreliable since it was rife with inconsistencies. The witness was also connected to the CPI(M), it was noted. The Court said that while some of the material collected by the investigating officer could have corroborated the case against the accused, it cannot be used in this case due to the absence of other evidence.Opining that the benefits arising from faulty investigation ought to go to the accused and not to the prosecution, the Court acquitted the appellants..The accused were represented by Senior Advocates B Raman Pillai and P Vijaya Bhanu as well as advocate S Rajeev.Public Prosecutor EC Bineesh represented the State..[Read Judgment]