Gujarat High Court has quashed an accused’s conviction and life sentence in a murder case by the session’s court on the basis of lack of solid evidence. The bench headed by Justice V M Pancholi and Justice R M Sareen said that just because the accused was last seen with the victim, doesn’t make him the killer. This stands especially true when there is a large gap between when the two were seen together and the time of the murder.
In December 2011, a case was formed in the Panchmahal district when Chhatra Bariya was found dead. upon investigation, the police discovered that Chhatra Bariya might have been killed on December 26. They also found that on the evening of December 24, he was seen together with Pintoo Bariya. It is believed that Pintoo was trying to bridge the gap between Chhatra and his wife, who is Pintoo’s cousin.
In 2013, a sessions court in Godhra convicted Pintoo of the murder, stating that he was the one who was last seen with the victim. The court also slapped a life sentence on him.
The HC bench said this was not enough evidence to convict the accused and sentence him to life imprisonment. When the time between when the person goes missing and finding the body is large, this basis doesn’t make sense.
The bench said, “Mere invocation of ‘last seen together’ theory, sans facts and evidence in a case will not suffice to shift the burden or onus, as provided under Section 106 of the Evidence Act, on the accused, unless, the prosecution establishes a prima facie case, first. When the links in the chain of circumstances itself are not complete and the prosecution is unable to establish a prima facie case, leaving open the possibility that the occurrence may have taken place in some other manner, the onus will not shift on the accused and the benefit of the doubt will have to be given to the accused.”
