CUTTACK: The Special Bench of Orissa High Court to deal with jail criminal appeal has on ‘benefit of doubt’ acquitted a person convicted for murder more than 12 years ago.
The incident had occurred at Dangbahal under Patnagarh police limits in Balangir district in September 2004.
According to the prosecution, accused Raisingh Dip allegedly hit Kuber Pasayat with stones resulting in his death.
Relying on the postmortem report and evidence of two eyewitnesses the Court of Sessions Judge, Balangir convicted and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Dip then filed an appeal against the trial court order from jail on April 25, 2008.
Taking into consideration the enmity between Dip and Pasayat and the contradiction between the ocular testimony and medical evidence the bench comprising Justice Pramath Patnaik and Justice AK Mishra ruled, “The totality of the evidence in such a backdrop is that the eye-witnesses are not reliable and conviction based upon their evidence cannot be sustained, as such the accused is to be given the benefit of doubt of the charge. He is to be acquitted and set at liberty forthwith from jail unless he is required in another case.”
“When the evidence is tainted with enmity and does not get corroboration from medical source, it is unsafe to attach credibility to so-called eyewitnesses,” the bench observed.
The evidence on record showed that the informant - son of the deceased - had admitted that the accused had initiated a case against them on the allegation of setting fire to his house. “This proves a strong enmity between the parties.
"Enmity is a double-edged weapon. It casts a duty upon a Court to scan the evidence with great care and caution”, the bench further observed.