New Delhi, Feb 13 (PTI) Seven years after a man was accused of murder, a court here has acquitted him, saying a testimony which was the only circumstantial evidence against him was not reliable.
Additional Sessions Judge Vikram was hearing a case against Shambhu, who was accused of killing Malkhan on December 31, 2016.
In a recent order, the judge noted that prosecution witness Raju had last seen Malkhan with Shambhu and one more person going towards the crime spot.
He also saw the accused and the other person returning without the deceased, the court said.
"The only circumstance against the accused is the testimony of prosecution witness (PW) 3 (Raju). However, PW3 is a completely unreliable witness because he did not say anything to police officials immediately after the discovery of the body... His statement was recorded three days after the incident," the court said.
It said there was no evidence recovered from the accused to show that he had inflicted a knife injury on the deceased’s neck.
As Raju's testimony was not corroborated it was "dangerous" to solely rely upon it, the court said.
"The prosecution has failed to prove the chain of circumstance pointing out the guilt towards the accused. Hence the prosecution has, in my opinion, failed in discharging its burden, to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt," it said.
"Accordingly, the accused is acquitted of charges levelled against him," the court added.
During the proceedings, defence counsel Sanjay Sharma submitted that the circumstances brought against the accused were doubtful and the last seen evidence was not sufficient circumstance against the accused. PTI MNR MNR KVK KVK
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