Bombay High Court quashes conviction, death sentence of rape-murder accused; orders retrial

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday set aside the conviction of a man sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a girl in 2017, and ordered a fresh trial as he had not been represented by a lawyer during the earlier proceedings.

A division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Sandesh Patil said that while the offence was "horrific and grave" and the 7-year-old victim's family was still waiting for justice, the accused cannot be deprived of his "fundamental right to a fair trial." Right from the time of framing of charges to the examination of important witnesses, the accused was not represented by any lawyer. The man (name not disclosed as he was related to the victim) was also denied the opportunity to defend himself, and this was a violation of his fundamental rights, the HC said.

The special POCSO Act court at Nashik showed unnecessary hurry in concluding the trial in the case, the bench added.

"Undoubtedly, it was a serious case and the trial needed to be expedited, but that could not be done at the expense of principles of fair trial," the court said.

While remanding the case back to the lower court, the judges said it must take all precautions this time to ensure that the trial is conducted in a manner which is fair both to the accused and the prosecution.

The trial should be concluded within ten months, the high court added.

As per the prosecution, in April 2017 the accused asked the girl to go to a nearby shop, and buy tobacco for him and chocolates for herself. When she went to his house to hand over the tobacco, he allegedly raped her and then killed her.

The Nashik court in May 2019 convicted the man, and sentenced him to death for murder under the Indian Penal Code and to life imprisonment under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

In his appeal before the high court, the accused said that he was not allowed to defend himself and no legal aid was offered to him, even though he had told the trial court that he could not afford a lawyer and should get a legal aid counsel.

Upholding the appeal, the high court said not providing legal assistance to a person who is entitled to legal aid had resulted in a miscarriage of justice.

The high court also noted that justice has remained elusive for nine years for the victim's family because of the failure to conduct the trial in a fair manner. "This is a case where till today justice was not given to the victim and her family," the court remarked.