New Delhi [India], January 11 : The Delhi High Court on Friday acquitted a man who had been convicted and sentenced for the murder of a rag picker.
The High Court observed that the eyewitness in the case was planted, the recovery of the weapon was doubtful, and the DNA report of the blood sample did not perfectly match.
This incident dates back to March 24, 2012, when a man was allegedly stabbed to death by the appellant in the Safdarjung Enclave area.
A division bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma set aside the trial court's judgement and order of sentence, acquitting the appellant, Pitambar Biswa Karma.
While acquitting the convict, the High Court raised concerns about the investigation and the recovery of the weapon.
The High Court said that the prosecution has not been able to prove the case qua the Appellant beyond the reasonable doubt.
In the circumstances, the impugned order of judgment dated November 19, 2022, and sentence dated March 1, 2023, respectively, are set aside and the appellant stands acquitted, the division bench held.
The High Court specifically pointed out that the prosecution's case was primarily based on the testimony of an alleged eyewitness. However, the bench opined that the eye witness was planted, stating, "The manner in which eye witness was sought to be shown as an eye witness to the incident clearly indicates the attempt made by the prosecution to create evidence in order to implicate the present Appellant, " the division bench said in the judgement passed on January 10, 2025.
The court further said that in the backdrop of the circumstances and the testimony of SHO and employer of the appellant, as discussed hereinabove, this Court is of the considered opinion that the recovery in the present case cannot be relied upon and the same has to be discarded.
The prosecution's case had relied on the testimony of an alleged eyewitness, Ram Pyari, and the alleged recovery of the murder weapon, the knife, and a subsequent DNA report that matched the blood samples from the knife to the deceased.
In the context of the DNA report of blood samples collected from the Knife and clothes deceased, the High Court noted the testimony of the forensic expert who stated that the DNA samples were similar.
In the report, it was stated, " DNA profile generated from the blood of the deceased Dharampal was found to be "similar" as that of the DNA profile generated on the blood-stained knife, which was the alleged murder weapon in the present case recovered at the instance of the Appellant."
The High Court held, " In view of the fact that the recovery could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, the DNA Report regarding matching of the blood samples from the knife with the samples of the deceased is of no consequence and need not be delved into."
The appellant, Pitambar Biswa Karma, had been employed at Chawla Chicken Corner near Safdarjung Enclave. He was arrested for the murder of Dharampal, a rag picker.
The appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Saket District Court in 2023. He had challenged the conviction and sentence, which was overturned by the Delhi High Court.