A man and four other persons, accused of killing his father, have been acquitted by a Delhi court which said suspicion however strong cannot take the place of proof.
Additional Sessions Judge Manoj Jain let off all the five accused, including the son of the deceased, a north-west Delhi resident, of the charge of committing the murder in 2008, saying the police should not have sent the accused for trial on the basis of speculation alone.
“Suspicion, howsoever strong it may be, cannot take the place of proof and, therefore, investigating agency was not right in sending up the accused for trial on the basis of speculation alone,” the judge observed.
The court said that the prosecution has not been able to prove its case as it failed to produce a witness who might have seen accused committing the murder in question.
“There is no other fact or circumstance which may show their involvement and complicity,” the court said, while adding, “The police has no business to take away the valuable fundamental right of personal liberty.”
It also said, “It is only on the basis of ‘inadmissible’ disclosure statements that the investigating agency had tried to weave the sequence of events.”
According to the prosecution, on January 11, 2008, a man was found shot dead during his routine morning walk.
It had said that the police had closed the report as it remained a blind case for almost two years and it was the Crime Branch which, acting on a tip-off, nabbed all the accused.
The Crime Branch had filed the charge sheet based on the disclosure statements by the accused, alleging that due to the ill-treatment by the father, his son conspired to kill him.
