September 08, 2024

Death Row Convicts Acquitted For Lapses In Trial

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-11-09 03:25:47

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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

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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.