SC reverses acquittals,restores life imprisonment for 12

A bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and Asok Kumar Ganguly said the trial court had analysed the evidence of the injured eye witnesses in great detail and had come to the conclusion about their acceptability.

“Without indicating any basis as to how the conclusion of the trial court,was in any manner,erroneous,the high court should not have interfered with those conclusions,” the bench observed,while setting aside a Orissa High Court order acquitting the accused Promod Kodam Singh and others.

In all,13 accused persons were sentenced to life imprisonment by the sessions court in a murder case in which explosives were used.

However,the high court acquitted all of them in a terse judgement on the ground that the eye witness accounts could not be relied upon as they were related to the deceased and their statements were “parrot-like”.

Aggrieved by the acquittals,the Orissa Government filed the appeal in the apex court. During the pendency of the appeal one of the accused Kalpataru Paikray had died.