Suspicion shouldn't replace proof: Uttarakhand HC acquits two sentenced to death in murder case

The HC said that suspicion, however strong it might be, can never take the place of proof, and that it is the duty of the court to ensure that mere conjecture or suspicion does not take the place of legal proof before convicting an accused.

Nainital: The Uttarakhand High Court has acquitted two people who were sentenced to death by a lower court in connection with the murder of a woman during a robbery at her house, saying that "vague estimates" and "definite conclusions" must be distinguished during a trial.

Admonishing the lower court in the order passed on Tuesday, a division bench of the high court headed by Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and comprising Justice Alok Kumar Verma said that suspicion, no matter how strong, should not take the place of proof during trial.

The bench acquitted Satyesh Kumar alias Sonu and Mukesh Thapliyal of charges of robbery and murder and ordered their release.

The court said the statements of the witnesses raise serious doubts.

Suspicion, however strong it might be, can never take the place of proof. It is the duty of the court to ensure that mere conjecture or suspicion does not take the place of legal proof before convicting an accused, it said.

The distance between could be and should be kept in mind, it added.

The bench also said that "vague estimates" and "definite conclusions" in a criminal case must be distinguished during a trial.

According to the FIR registered in the case on a complaint by the victim's son in June 2017, Kumar and Thapliyal robbed the house of Sarojini Devi, a resident of Liswalata Patti Kot Bangar village in Rudraprayag district, killed her and hid her body behind the house.

While there were no eyewitnesses, some of the looted jewellery and money were recovered from the two.