Court acquits 3 men in 2012 murder case, says confession must be verified independently

New Delhi, Aug 20 (PTI) A court here has acquitted three men in a 2012 murder case, underscoring that a confessional or disclosure statement of an accused is inadmissible as evidence unless its facts are independently confirmed.

Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala was hearing a case against Ashraf, Shahnawz alias Hebert and Nadeem Ahmed alias Sher Khan, who were accused killing of a man, named Raju, on November 6, 2012 in northeast Delhi.

In an order passed on August 17, the court noted that the only incriminating evidence against the accused was a shirt which had the deceased's blood, and which was recovered at the instance of the accused Ashraf.

The prosecution had alleged that Ashraf was wearing the shirt at the time of the murder, and the deceased's blood was confirmed by forensic science laboratory (FSL) examination, it noted.

The court, however, said the alleged disclosure statement of Ashraf that he was wearing the shirt at the time of committing the offence was not admissible as evidence.

"It is a settled legal principle that discovery of fact as arising out of a confessional statement requires to be confirmed by way of an independent piece of evidence in respect of its existence," the court said.

"In the present case, prosecution evidence is completely silent in respect of aforesaid confirmation, so as to establish that accused Ashraf was in fact wearing aforesaid shirt on the fateful night when deceased Raju was murdered. Thus, there is no evidence on the record at all to connect accused Ashraf with the aforesaid shirt...," it added.

The court acquitted the three accused persons, saying the prosecution had failed to prove its case against them.

The Jyoti Nagar police station had filed a chargesheet against the accused for the offences of murder and kidnapping. PTI MNR MNR TIR TIR