New Delhi, Feb 5 A Delhi court has acquitted eight men accused in the 2019 murder of businessman Vijender Sharma, saying the investigation in the case revealed a pattern of “serious misconduct and abuse of authority by the investigating officials”.
“The material interpolations in official records, unexplained illegal detention, doubtful recoveries, fabricated arrest memos, and large-scale violation of statutory procedure cannot be ignored or treated lightly," said Additional Sessions Judge Charu Aggarwal who was hearing the case.
"These are not mere lapses or errors of judgment, but prima facie disclose a pattern of serious misconduct and abuse of authority by the investigating officials," the judge said.
He was hearing a case against Ajay Sharma, Chokhe Ram Dixit, Manish Sharma, Raj Kumar Maheshwari, Rohit Gogia, Raj Sharma, Giriraj Maheshwari and Neeraj Bhanot who were accused in the killing of businessman Vijender Sharma.
Sharma was allegedly assaulted with iron rods and wooden sticks on April 21, 2019, while returning home from his shop in West Gorakh Park. He sustained multiple injuries and died three days later during treatment at a private hospital in Ghaziabad.
An FIR was registered in Shahdara police station and the accused were booked under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 147, 148, 341, 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention).
The court noted that the "lapsed probe" had the potential not only to "derail" a criminal trial but also to defeat the administration of justice itself.
“The court, therefore, considers it appropriate that competent authorities examine the role of the investigating officers and take such action as may be warranted in accordance with law,” the judge said.
The judge said that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt and the only legally permissible course is to extend the benefit of doubt to the accused.
“While the court records a clear finding that the deceased was a victim of a homicidal assault, it is not possible to hold, on the basis of the evidence on record, that the present accused persons are responsible for the commission of the said offence. The prosecution has thus failed to bridge the vital gap between the crime and the accused,” the court said.
According to the prosecution, Vijendra Sharma's declaration, which he gave in the hospital before dying, named accused Ajay Sharma, Neeraj Bhanot and Chokhe Ram along with their 2-3 associates who allegedly attacked him.
The court noted that the alleged dying declaration of the deceased could not be relied upon due to material contradictions, suspicious interpolation in timing, and lack of corroboration from independent evidence.
“The testimonies of the alleged eyewitnesses suffer from material contradictions, improvements and improbabilities; the alleged statement of the deceased is deeply suspicious and unsupported by medical and procedural safeguards; and the investigation is riddled with serious illegalities, interpolations and manipulations,” the court said.
The court said that it has been established that the deceased died an unnatural and violent death, but the prosecution failed to prove that the accused were the perpetrators of the said crime.
“Prior enmity cannot be treated as an incriminating circumstance; rather, it reinforces the need for greater judicial caution and makes the possibility of false implication not merely speculative but reasonably probable,” the court said.
