NEW DELHI: A local court discharged five people who were accused in a robbery-turned-murder case in the national capital as their disclosure statement was inadmissible as evidence and nothing connected them with the crime.
The case pertains to the murder of a man in Delhi’s Ashok Vihar area during a robbery bid. The court, however, ordered framing charges against the sixth accused, noting that the weapon allegedly used in the murder was recovered from him and that he was seen chasing the deceased in CCTV footage.
Additional Sessions Judge Vikram was hearing a case against Ajay Sharma, Deepak, Saleem, Hari Mohan, Jogender and Jitender alias Smakiya, who were accused of intercepting Nasim, who was carrying Rs 1.75 lakh, and shooting him dead on February 28, 2019 in Ashok Vihar.
Referring to two Supreme Court verdicts of 1996 and 2016, the court said, “Nothing confessed by accused persons before police officials is admissible as evidence…No fact was discovered from the confessions which can connect them with the crime except the fact they were in contact on the telephone with each other.”
The court said that there were no public witnesses to show the accused were present at the spot, nor was there any evidence, except for the disclosure statements linking the seized vehicles allegedly used in the offence with the crime.
“The only material admissible in this case is the discovery of firearm from accused Ajay Sharma, who is otherwise already captured in CCTV footage chasing the deceased,” it said. Underscoring that no prima facie case was made out against the five accused, the court discharged them. It, however, said that Sharma will face trial for the offences under the IPC section 302 (murder) and provisions of the Arms Act.