HC acquits two accused undergoing life sentence

A bench headed by Justice S K Kaul set aside their conviction and directed the police to release the duo who had already spent more than 11 years behind bars in a 19-year-old case.

Sukh Chain and Hargovind were convicted by the trial court for killing a government employee allegedly out of personal animosity in 1991.

The court had relied on the statement of the deceased's wife and other witnesses and convicted them despite the fact that that blood on their clothes was not proved to be that of the murdered as the body was found decomposed.

The accused then approached the High Court against the order on the ground that the blood found on their clothes could not be a sufficient ground for their conviction and it had to be proved beyond doubt that the blood was that of the deceased.

Advocate Tarique Siddiqui, appearing for the accused, argued that the police had wrongly framed them in the case and they were not involved in the murder."Trial court had wrongly connected the accused with the crime by stating that blood of B group was found on the clothes of the accused, but nowhere stated that to whom such blood group belongs," Siddiqui had submitted while challenging the lower court order.

The court after considering all facts accepted the plea.

"There is no evidence on record to suggest that they were either seen with the deceased on the fateful night or they were seen near the spot of occurrence from where the dead body of the deceased was recovered," the High Court said while acquitting them.