Jharkhand High Court Delivers Split Verdict On Death Penalty Given To Two Alleged Naxalites For Murder Of 6 Policemen In 2013

Jharkhand High Court's division bench has delivered a split verdict on a referral from the trial court which awarded death sentence to two men alleged to be naxalites, in respect of a 2013 attack on a police team which resulted in the death of Pakur's Superintendent of Police at the time and five other police personnel. While Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay acquitted the accused observing that the prosecution had failed to prove its case, Justice Sanjay Prasad upheld the trial court's death sentence. The bench in its 197 page judgment, delivered the spilt verdict while hearing a death sentence referral as well as appeals moved by the two accused individually challenging the death penalty. The incident occurred in 2013 when the convoy of the then SP of Pakur Amarjit Blihar and his team was allegedly intercepted and attacked by the two convicts as well as 25-30 other persons who are alleged to be naxalites. TIP farcical exercise, has glaring inadequaciesJustice Mukhopadhyay in his order observed that there was only one prosecution witness (PW 31 driver of the SP's vehicle) who has "stated about the extremists taking the name of the appellants", adding that this had not been corroborated by the other prosecution witness (PW 30 bodyguard of the SP).It thereafter said, "Mere calling out someone by name and in absence of any concrete evidence such evidence would not be of any substantial value to the prosecution".The SP's bodyguard had in his statement identified one of the appellants however, he did not identify the other appellant. Justice Mukhopadhyay in his order observed that there were "glaring irregularities" in the Test Identification Parade, it seemed to be a "farcical exercise" which could not be considered for convicting the accused. The judge also noted that the prosecution witnesses had adopted "silence" during TIP. Moreover, there were no independent witnesses while holding the TIP."The Test Identification Parade, therefore, appears to be totally flawed and speaks of blatant ignorance of the procedure to be followed," the judge added. Evidence does not inspire confidenceThe judge further observed that both convicts were named in FIR based on the disclosure made by Constable Bablu Murmu who did not assert having seen them "but had heard their names being taken by the other extremists".The judge further said that the evidence of both the driver and the bodyguard did not inspire confidence as even though both of them were in the same vehicle but had given different versions of the incident. It said,"P.W.30 who claimed that he had become unconscious during the encounter though the duration of his unconsciousness has not been spelt out by him but at the same time he had heard the extremists taking the name of the appellants though P.W.31 who was lying injured besides him did not disclose about hearing any names...The evidence of P.W.30 and P.W.31 does not inspire confidence as even though they were in the same vehicle but both seem to have given different versions of the encounter." Allowing the appeals, the judge overturned the death sentence. Public servant murdered in broad daylightOn the other hand, Justice Prasad in his judgment while upholding the trial court order said, "...I am of the view that the present case warrants affirmation of death punishment in view of the fact that the public servant i.e. the police officer at the rank of Superintendent of Police and five (5) constables (Sepoys) have been murdered in broad day light by indiscriminate firing while they were performing official duties...If the Capital Punishment is commuted to life imprisonment, then it will demoralize the morals of the police personnels in performing their duties...the morals of the prosecution and general public may also demoralized and it will tore the police officers and police personnels for performing their duties by indangering into their lifes and for safeguarding the common people." Brutal assassination, bodies mutilatedThe judge said that the trial court had rightly observed that convoy of the SP was attacked with bullets by using lethal prohibited arms to such a needle point precision and with such an exactitude of time that all the "six police personnel got no time to defend themselves and in a jiffy all the six deceased got their martyr in a totally hapless, helpless and defenceless state, though they had no personal enmity, animosity and any sort of feud with the convicts". The judge observed that the convicts did not stop even after the "brutal assassination" of six police personnel and as per the record, had "mutilated the dead bodies of the deceased Chandan Kumar Thapa and Manoj Hembrom and blew off their skull, scattering their brain materials and at the same time".The judge noted that although PW 12 (constable) had stated during his evidence that the extremists started firing upon them, however he had "declined to identify the accused persons including the appellant on the...

Jharkhand High Court Delivers Split Verdict On Death Penalty Given To Two Alleged Naxalites For Murder Of 6 Policemen In 2013

Malavika Prasad

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Jharkhand High Court Delivers Split Verdict On Death Penalty Given To Two Alleged Naxalites For Murder Of 6 Policemen In 2013

Malavika Prasad

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