HYDERABAD: Ruling that contradictions between ocular and medical evidence left room for benefit of doubt, the Telangana High Court on Thursday overturned the conviction of Shamsheer Khan alias Shammu, who was serving a life sentence for murder under IPC Section 302.
A bench of Justice K Surender and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti set aside the judgment dated January 5, 2019 and directed the immediate release of Shammu unless he was required in any other case.
Shamsheer Khan was convicted in 2018 for the alleged murder of Karthik at Lorry Chowrasta, Sirpur Kagaznagar, on February 20, 2014. According to the prosecution, Karthik’s father, identified as the prime witness, lodged a complaint the same day after being informed by a certain Mekala Kishan about the attack.
The police investigation led to the arrest of Shammu on February 22, 2014. Despite claims of a knife attack, the postmortem report indicated that death resulted from a head injury leading to hemorrhagic shock. Furthermore, key witness testimonies were inconsistent, and an identification parade was not conducted, counsel pointed out.
The court observed that the delayed filing of the complaint, questionable credibility of witnesses, and contradictions between ocular and medical evidence warranted giving the benefit of doubt to the appellant.