NEW DELHI, Mar 2: The Supreme Court has acquitted a woman from Haryana who had been sentenced to life imprisonment in a 23-year-old murder case involving a minor.
A bench consisting of Justices MM Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal overturned the woman’s conviction after identifying flaws in the prosecution’s narrative and the trial court’s ruling, which had previously been upheld by the High Court. The court found that the conviction relied heavily on the recovery of a weapon, specifically an axe (‘gandasi’), which was not sufficient evidence against her.
“In our view, both previous courts erred by placing excessive weight on the mere recovery of the weapon. The body of the deceased was discovered earlier and not at the appellant’s direction. Therefore, we must grant the appellant the benefit of the doubt,” the bench stated while allowing her appeal against the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The court concurred with the defense counsel’s argument that motive is relevant in cases based on circumstantial evidence.
“There is no evidence indicating that the deceased was last seen with the appellant. The prosecution has not claimed that the appellant was present with the deceased shortly before his death. The mere recovery of the ‘gandasi’ cannot solely justify a conviction,” the bench emphasized in its ruling issued on February 20.
It was noted that there were no fingerprints of the appellant on the recovered weapon, and the evidence was inadequate to definitively prove that the weapon was used in the commission of the crime.
The bench also remarked that the discovery of the victim’s body was not made based on any information provided by the appellant.
“Suspicion, no matter how strong, cannot serve as a basis for conviction. The circumstances surrounding the appellant’s confession, obtained under Section 27 of the Evidence Act, 1872, remain unclear. Therefore, the prosecution’s evidence is insufficient to clearly establish the appellant’s guilt,” the bench concluded.
The prosecution asserted that the murder took place on December 11, 2002, with a complaint filed on December 12, 2002, reporting the disappearance of the complainant’s four-and-a-half-year-old son.
Upon investigation, the child’s body was discovered in a nearby village well, and it was alleged that the appellant was responsible for the crime based on the recovery of a blood-stained weapon (axe) linked to her.
The Supreme Court noted that although the ‘gandasi’ was claimed to be the weapon used, the Serological Report did not conclusively establish a match between the bloodstains on the weapon and the deceased’s blood.
The complainant mentioned that the woman was experiencing depression at the time and that she had acknowledged this in a statement made during the trial. It was pointed out that while a motive was suggested—that the appellant’s children were being mistreated by the deceased’s mother—it was acknowledged that the appellant was a middle-aged woman with adult children, while the deceased was merely four and a half years old. (PTI)
