Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 31: Division Bench of State High Court comprising Justice Bansi Lal Bhat and Justice Janak Raj Kotwal has acquitted the then SSP Karnail Singh, his wife Ratno Devi and six others, who were involved in murder of Nitin Sharma.
According to the police case, motive behind the elimination of the deceased Nitin Sharma, a driver by profession, was his illicit relations with daughter of accused Ratno Devi and Karnail Singh
After hearing Advocates Sakal Bhushan, Rajneesh Oswal and Anil Khajuria appearing for the accused whereas AAG LK Moza appearing for the State, DB observed, “the facts emerging from the circumstantial evidence adduced do not form a complete chain of evidence to justify the inference that the murder of deceased was committed by accused in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy hatched inter se the accused to eliminate the deceased”.
“Legal proof in regard to alleged kidnapping of deceased at the hands of accused Naresh Kumar, Sohan Lal, Jeet Kumar, Jamail Kumar, Daleep Singh and Suresh Kumar is woefully lacking. Finding of guilty recorded against accused by trial court is perverse and cannot be supported”, the DB said, adding “it is unfortunate that the Investigating Officers have overlooked the most material aspect of the case in so far as communication between alleged perpetrators of crime and the victim was concerned”.
Had the Investigating Officers been alive to the fact that Mobile Phone No.9906212436 was registered in the name of accused Naresh Kumar and in absence of evidence in regard to its purchase by deceased from accused Naresh Kumar or its acquisition through some other mode at the relevant time, it would not have come with the improbable version of deceased having been communicated on this mobile phone number, the DB said, adding “it is a case of shoddy investigation and the accused have been able to escape penal consequences on account of flaws in investigation”.
The DB further observed, “the investigating agency has faltered and justice has become a casualty due to faulty investigation. They must be made accountable for it. We say so because the evidence brought on record at trial raises strong suspicion about complicity of accused in murder of deceased. However, suspicion, howsoever strong, cannot be a substitute for legal proof”.
With these observations, Division Bench rejected the reference made by the trial court for confirmation of sentence of life imprisonment. Accordingly, the accused namely Karnail Singh, his wife Ratno Devi, Naresh Kumar, son of Hans Raj, Sohan Lal alias Sonu alias Khand, son of Amar Nath, Jeet Kumar alias Jeeta, son of Thoru Ram, Jaimal Kumar alias Jeebu, son of Sat Pal, Daleep Singh alias Lucky, son of Puran Chand and Suresh Kumar, son of Babu Ram were acquitted.
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