In a murder case that dates back over three decades, a juvenile who was convicted and sentenced to life in jail by a trial court in Alibaug in 1998 has been acquitted after the Bombay high court ruled that there was ‘no cogent evidence to convict him’.
In May 1990, a man was speared to death while celebrating a family wedding. The accused man and his son were found guilty, while nine others — allegedly members of a mob — were found not guilty by the sessions court. The accused duo subsequently went to the HC, but the father died in 2018 while the case was pending, said a report by the Times of India.
The HC panel of Justices Sadhana Jadhav and Milind Jadhav stated the medical evidence linked the victim’s death to the father’s spear assault, and it was “extremely erroneous” to ascribe common purpose to the accused son without proof.
“We find that the prosecution has utterly and miserably failed to substantiate the charge of Section 302 levelled against the appellant beyond all reasonable doubt. The evidence adduced by the prosecution is neither consistent nor cogent and hence not reliable. So the appellant is entitled to benefit of doubt,” said the HC in its May 6 judgement, the report stated.
Manohar Ovalekar, the accused son, was 28 years old when he filed an appeal with the HC, according to his counsel. Senior attorney Ashok Mundergi argued that the police evidence was weak, but additional PP MM Deshmukh believed it was conclusive. The court overturned the conviction because the declaration was shaky, and it was unlikely that the victim would have stayed aware long enough to make a dying declaration given the medical evidence of extensive blood loss.
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