Alld HC overturns 37-yr-old order, frees man serving life term

Prayagraj: Pointing out anomalies in the trial court's 37-year-old judgment, the Allahabad high court has acquitted a person, who was awarded a life term in a 1987 murder case in Farrukhabad district.The court ruled that the trial court's May 17, 1989 sentence under IPC Section 302 (murder) "suffers from infirmity and is liable to be set aside".Allowing a criminal appeal filed by one Khunni Lal, a division bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Prashant Mishra-I observed that out of three accused in the case, one has been convicted and two acquitted on the same set of evidence. The trial court had acquitted the co-accused Bhagwan Din and Jagdish and convicted and sentenced Khunni.In its judgment on Feb 18, the high court directed that Khunni, who is in jail, shall be set free, if not wanted in any other case.According to the prosecution, the accused belonged to the family of complainant Ram Singh and shared ownership of half the house and land with him. According to the prosecution, the accused built their house by allegedly encroaching upon Ram's land.A dispute erupted on May 9, 1987, when the three accused destroyed Ram Singh's platform (chabutra). Khunni, Bhagwan, and Jagdish, armed with a knife, pistol, and spear, respectively, arrived at the scene. Mauji, Ram Singh's brother, was smoking nearby.As Ram Singh grabbed Jagdish's spear, Bhagwan and Jagdish restrained Mauji, allowing Khunni to fatally stab him, the prosecution said. The accused then fled, firing shots. The incident was reported the next day.In its order passed after two years, the session court convicted only Khunni.