Case is full of holes’: SC acquits death row inmate, slams UP police for shoddy probe

“Having considered the material available on record in its entirety, we find that the present one is a case involving utter lackadaisical approach on the part of the Investigating Agency as well as the prosecution. The investigation of a case involving gruesome murders of six innocent persons was carried out in a most casual and negligent manner,” the bench said.

Criticising the investigation, the bench said, “The Investigating Officer… did not examine even a single of the villagers living adjacent to the crime scene for establishing the presence of the appellant-accused at or around the crime scene, corresponding to the time of the incident. No effort whatsoever was made to collect proper evidence of motive. The Investigating Officer…failed to collect any evidence whatsoever regarding the safekeeping of the recovered articles/material objects, till the same reached the Forensic Science Laboratory. This utter negligence in conducting the investigation has contributed significantly to the failure of the prosecution’s case as against the appellant-accused.”

“We further feel that the Public Prosecutor conducting the trial, and so also the Presiding Officer of the trial Court were totally remiss while conducting the trial. The evidence of the material prosecution witness in a case involving gruesome murders of six persons, including four innocent children, was recorded in a most casual and lackadaisical manner, without adhering to the mandatory procedural requirements of the Evidence Act.”

The judgement said that “even if, for the sake of arguments the evidence of recovery of weapons were to be accepted, the fact remains that the FSL report does not give any indication regarding the grouping of the blood found on the weapons and hence, the recoveries are of no avail to the prosecution.”

The police arrested Singh and a woman Gayatri, and apprehended a minor in connection with the murder of Satyabhan, his wife Pushpa, and their children on the night intervening May 8-9, 2012. One of the accused was tried as a minor. In March 2017, while the trial court let off Gayatri, giving her the benefit of the doubt, it convicted Singh and sentenced him to death. The Allahabad High Court later upheld Gayatri’s acquittal and the conviction and death sentence of Singh.

Deciding his appeal challenging the High Court order, the Supreme Court said, “On a careful perusal of the impugned (HC) judgment, we find that the High Court has failed to advert to these inherent improbabilities and infirmities in the prosecution case. The fabric of the prosecution case is full of holes and holes which are impossible to mend. Thus, the impugned judgments do not stand to scrutiny and deserve to be set aside. As a consequence, the conviction of the appellant-accused and death sentence handed down to him can also not be sustained.”