NEW DELHI, DEC 4: Almost four years after the sensational Priyadarshini Mattoo murder, the accused, Santosh Kumar Singh, the son of a senior IPS officer, was acquitted by a session court on Friday. Blaming the investigating agencies, the Delhi Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), for deliberately botching up the case, Additional Sessions Judge G P Thareja said: ``Though I know he is the man who committed the crime, I acquit him, giving him the benefit of doubt.''He said: ``The influence of father of the accused has been there and there was a deliberate inaction by the police.'' He said the rule of the law doesn't seem to be applicable to the children of those who enforce it.Mattoo, 23, a final-year law student of the Delhi University, was allegedly raped and then strangulated on January 23, 1996, in her Vasant Kunj residence. The accused, son of Pondicherry IG J P Singh, was a fellow student. Mattoo had complained to the police that Singh had been harassing and stalking her and she had been given police protection. In a 450-page judgment, ASJ Thareja observed that the CBI fabricated the DNA test in the rape case. Santosh was given ``benefit of doubt'' because of lack of material evidence. He was in custody for three and a half years.The CBI, according to the judge, kept away important witnesses, which weakened the case. ``It has led to the thinking whether the CBI has acted in this manner, negatively, with an intention to help the accused.'' The CBI's failure to produce Virender Prasad, Mattoo's household help, the judge added, has resulted in the obstruction of justice. The CBI's unfairness created a hole in the proof of this case beyond reasonable doubt, the judge said. ``Letting guilty escape is not doing justice according to law,'' he said. ``It is the CBI which is responsible for such an end.'' The judge made it clear that he thought the accused was guilty of murder, considering the circumstantial evidence. ``On the pretext that there should be a compromise regarding the withdrawal of the complaints (lodged by the victim against the accused person), the accused entered the house,'' he said.The judge was also critical of the Delhi Police's role. He said the junior staff of Delhi Police attempted to assist the accused during the investigations and trial. ``Lalit Mohan, the inspector was instrumental in creating false evidence and false defence of the accused. The witnesses of police including a sub-inspector deposed falsely.''
