Back
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
S.MURALIDHAR, I.S. MEHTA, JJ,
Manoj @ Lekhraj – Appellant
Versus
State – Respondent
CRL.A. 835 of 2014
Decided On : 06-02-2018
Fair Trial - Criminal Law - [S. 120B, S. 302, S. 307, S. 27 of IPC and Arms Act] - The judgment discusses the absence of a fair trial, unreliable eye witness accounts, and recovery evidence. The court found the prosecution unable to prove the guilt of the appellant beyond reasonable doubt and acquitted the appellant for the charged offenses.
Fact of the Case:
The case involved the appellant, Manoj @ Lekhraj, convicted for offenses under Section 120B, 302, 307 of IPC and Section 27 of the Arms Act. The prosecution's case began with an injured individual being brought to the hospital, leading to an investigation and subsequent arrest of the appellant and another individual.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the appellant beyond reasonable doubt, citing unreliable eye witness accounts and recovery evidence. The court concluded that the appellant should be granted the benefit of doubt and acquitted for the charged offenses.
Issues: The issues revolved around the reliability of the prosecution's evidence, including the witness accounts and recovery evidence, and the absence of a fair trial for the accused.
Ratio Decidendi: The court's decision was based on the lack of credible evidence provided by the prosecution, including unreliable witness accounts and discrepancies in the recovery process, leading to the granting of the benefit of doubt to the appellant.
Final Decision: The appellant was acquitted for the charged offenses and ordered to be released unless wanted in another case. The trial court record was to be returned along with a certified copy of the judgment, and another certified copy was to be sent to the Jail Superintendent.
S. Muralidhar, J.
1. This appeal is directed against the impugned judgment dated 19th April 2014 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge-II (North-West), Rohini Courts, Delhi in Session Case No. 38 of 2013 arising out of FIR No. 262 of 2012 registered at Police Station (PS) Mangol Puri convicting the Appellant, Manoj @ Lekhraj, for the offence under Section 120B read with Sections 302, 307 IPC and Section 27 of the Arms Act. This appeal is also directed against the order on sentence dated 28th April 2014 whereby for the offence under Section 302 IPC, the Appellant was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment (RI) for life and a fine of Rs. 2 lakhs and in default to undergo simple imprisonment (SI) for a period of six months; for the offence under Section 120B IPC read with 302 IPC, RI for life and a fine of Rs. 5,000, and in default, to undergo SI for a period of 15 days; he was sentenced to undergo RI for a period of five years and fine of Rs. 2,000 and in default of fine, to undergo SI for a period of one week for the offence under Section 307 IPC; RI for a period of five years and fine of Rs. 2,000 and in default to undergo SI for a period of one week for the offence under Section 27 of the Arms Act.
Case of the prosecution
2. The case of the prosecution began with DD No. 34A dated 17th July 2012 was received at PS Mangol Puri which notes that at around 4.35 pm Duty Constable posted at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial (SGM) Hospital had communicated through telephone that one Tinku a resident of J-1169 of Mangol Puri had been brought by his friend, Pradeep (PW-15) in an injured condition having been shot by a firearm to the SGM Hospital. The MLC No. 11751 of 2012 (Ex.PW-29/A) noted that Tinku was brought dead. The DD noted that this information was then passed on to Inspector Raj Kumar (PW-30) the Investigating Officer (IO).
3. PW-30 who proceeded to SGM Hospital along with Sub Inspector (SI) Robin Tyagi (PW-27) and Head Constable (HC) Chander Bhan (PW-5) obtained the said MLC and met PW-15 who was found under treatment in the same hospital.
4. Interestingly, the MLC of deceased, Tinku (Ex.PW-29/A) showed that he was brought dead there by PW-15 at 4.30 pm whereas MLC of Pradeep (Ex.PW-12/B) showed that he was brought to the same hospital at 5 pm by Constable (Ct.) Jitender (PW-26). It must be mentioned that PW-15 was himself injured in the attack having received simple injuries on his right fore arm.
Investigation
5. PW-30 went along with PW-15 from the SGM hospital to the place of the incident, i.e., main road SGM Hospital, Opposite K Block School, near Andh Kalyan Sanstha, Drain Mangol Puri, Delhi. The crime team also reached at the spot.
6. PW-30 observed blood spots on the road near K Block School, on divider and on the road going towards Andh Kalyan Sanstha. The photographs were taken by the crime team of the scene of crime. SI Anil Kumar (PW-1) who was in-charge of the crime team as well as Ct. Sandeep (PW-2), Photographer were present there gave their statement to PW-30. According to PW-2, he took a total of 19 photographs.
7. Thereafter, PW-30 recorded the statement of PW-15 under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 (Cr PC) on 17th July 2012 itself. The said statement (Ex.PW-15/A), which constituted the rukka, was to the effect that PW-15 was working as a Sweeper but for the past one and half months, he was unemployed. PW-15 was a resident of J-1193-1994, Mangol Puri, Delhi and the deceased, Tinku, was residing in the opposite house at J-1169 along with sister Guddi. Tinku was a close friend for over two and half years. On that date, i.e., 17th July 2012 Pradeep (PW-15) called Tinku to accompany him to purchase a remote for a Videocon television set. They then went to the Mangol Puri Chowk but the TV shop did not have the remote and therefore, they decided to return home. They were passing through the main road on which SGM hospital was located when around 3.45 pm in front of Aastha Mandir, a boy on the moto
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
