The importance of proving the case beyond a shadow of doubt and the legal grounds for acquittal.

JUDGMENT :

Puneet Gupta, J.

1. The appellant-State has preferred the appeal against the judgment dated 09.02.2007, passed by the court of Principal Sessions Judge, Rajouri, whereby the respondent has been acquitted of the charges framed against him under Sections 302/120-B/121/122/123/449 RPC read with Sections 4/27 and 7/25 Arms Act in a case arising out of F.I.R. 220/2003 registered with Police Station, Rajouri on 19.05.2003 on an information received from reliable, source that some unknown militants on the intervening night of 18/19th May, 2003 entered the house of Mehboob Bakerwal, resident of Nagrota Chowkian Mohra Khet, and killed Khatoon Begum, Haniefa Begum, Zakir, Rashid Ahmad, Maroof, and Mumtaz Begum by slitting their throats with knife and the dead bodies are lying on spot. The investigation was conducted and on the completion of the same charge sheet came to be presented before the court of learned District Mobile Magistrate, Rajouri, who committed the case to the Court of Sessions, Rajouri as the offences were exclusively triable by the court of Sessions.

2. The appeal was filed on the grounds: that judgment is passed against law and facts of the case, the trial court has not appreciated the prosecution evidence and though the prosecution witnesses fully corroborated and supported the case of the prosecution and successfully proved the allegations against the respondent yet the respondent was acquitted of the aforesaid offences.

3. The charges framed were denied by the respondent Abdul Qayoom (referred as accused in the appeal), and thereupon the prosecution was directed to produce its evidence to prove the charges in support of its case. Before proceeding further, it may be mentioned herein that the respondent, Abdul Qayoom, was made accused in the case though not named in the F.I.R. on the basis of investigation carried out in the present case. The respondent, Abdul Qayoom, was found to have links with militants and also worked as their guide. Two militants, namely, Saif Ullah and Wazir Khan, from Pakistan are stated to have visited the house of Abdul Qayoom on the intervening night of 4-5th May, 2003 and he took those two persons to the house of Wazir Hussain, who is Army Personnel, and stayed there as the threat was extended by those persons. The next day when Wazir Hussain came to know of Abdul Qayoom having brought those militants in his house he threatened Qayoom that he will inform the police and Army and get him arrested. Those two above named militants got killed on the same day in the encounter near the house of Wazir Hussain which made the accused Abdul Qayoom suspicious about the Wazir Hussain and his family members regarding providing information to the police and army and got them killed and that they will get the accused Abdul Qayoom arrested. As Abdul Qayoom suspected Wazir Hussain and his family in the elimination of the two militants and that he will also be arrested, therefore, on the intervening night of 18/19th May, 2003 the accused Abdul Qayoom along with three unknown militants came to the house of Wazir Hussain but as the house was locked they went to the house of Mehboob Bakerwal, father of Wazir Hussain, and killed four ladies and two children by slitting their throats. The militants belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad could not be identified and the challan came to be filed against the respondent, Abdul Qayoom.

4. The prosecution examined number of witnesses in support of its case. The brief account of the depositions of the witnesses is as under :

PW-Lal Begum has deposed that she was at Kot Dhara with her daughter Zatoon. After she offered Namaz-e-Isha, three persons visited the house and the accused Qayoom was also with them and asked as to why they have not tied the dogs and have kept them loose and upon this the dogs were tethered. Then those persons enquired if she possesses axe, lathi and pathi to which she replied in negative. Thereafter the neck of Khatoon Begum was tied with dupatta and