HC sets aside murder conviction due to lack of evidence

Dehradun: Uttarakhand high court set aside the conviction of murder accused Neeraj Kumar, citing a lack of sufficient evidence on record to uphold life imprisonment sentence against him.A division bench comprising Justice Ravindra Maithani and Justice Siddhartha Sah directed that if no other cases were pending against the accused, he be released within three weeks. The district and sessions judge, Pithoragarh, had on Aug 9, 2023, sentenced Kumar, a resident of Machhikhet village, to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000.Challenging this order, the accused filed an appeal seeking his release from jail. The court appointed advocate DCS Rawat as amicus curiae to represent the accused.As per the details of the incident, Ganga Singh, the uncle of the deceased, Pushkar, lodged a complaint at Thal on Sept 19, 2020. In his complaint, he stated that he was watching the news on TV around 9:30pm when he suddenly heard the sound of a gunshot, and his daughter-in-law, Saraswati Devi, screamed for help. Upon rushing out, he found Pushkar lying on the ground. He had a gunshot wound on his back and was bleeding profusely.The commotion attracted villagers. Upon searching the area, the accused was found holding a gun in his hand. It was alleged that the accused harboured a grudge against Pushkar and had committed the murder to exact revenge.During the hearing, counsel for the accused argued that he had been falsely implicated in the case and that there was no evidence available against him; therefore, he should be released.