Death Row Convicts Acquitted For Lapses In Trial
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-11-09 03:25:47
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
It is dangerous and sad that three men convicted of raping and murdering a teen in Delhi
in 2012 had to be acquitted by the Supreme Court due to lapses in investigation
and trial even though, as the apex court said, they might have committed the
heinous crime. The acquittal speaks volumes for the inefficiency of the police
force in some states and also the process of prosecution in the trial courts.
What was more surprising was that the Delhi HC also failed to spot the lapses,
reducing faith in the systemic changes that were supposed to have been put in
place after the Nirbhaya incident to prevent criminals from using procedural
lapses to get away.
In a
scathing condemnation of the procedure followed in the trail court - and not questioned by the high court - the Supreme Court has said that the judges acted as "passive
umpires" and accepted what was presented before them without asking for corroborative
evidence to prove the crime beyond reasonable doubt. The Supreme Court was especially
concerned that the police did not carry out an identification parade despite
there being several witnesses to the kidnapping of the victim and several key
witnesses were not either not properly cross-examined or not cross-examined at
all. The apex court pointed out more lapses which clearly pointed to the fact
that the trial was not conducted in the prescribed manner.
The instant case is not unique. There were 33 more such cases across India in 2021 where
higher courts acquitted death row convicts for such lapses. The seriousness and
danger of such acquittals lies in the fact that the courts did not believe that
the men were innocent - they had to be released as per law as they did not get a fair
trial. Hence, due to procedural lapses at the trial stage, higher courts and
the Supreme Court have to release potentially dangerous criminals who might
pose further danger to society. This needs to be set right.
