NOIDA: Five years on, a city court has awarded life imprisonment to a man in a murder case while acquitting three others.On Friday, additional sessions judge Chandra Mohan Srivastava declared Greater Noida resident Subodh guilty of murdering a passerby during an altercation — Parvesh Sharma — under Section 302 of the IPC and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000, along with a sentence of seven years under Section 3/25/27 of the Arms Act for possessing an illegal weapon and using it in the murder, with a fine of Rs 25,000. The court ordered that 80% of the total fine amount be given to the father of the victim under the victim compensation policy.While the prosecution secured punishment for Subodh — who fired from his country-made pistol while trying to escape — it could not prove the charges against co-accused Parvej, Kapil and Kushalpal.Of the 11 witnesses produced by the prosecution, three eyewitnesses, including the plaintiff, turned hostile, and the case was decided on the basis of medical evidence, along with evidence given by one key eyewitness.The case relates to an FIR, which was registered following a complaint lodged with Rabupura police by one Rahul on May 10, 2021, who approached them with one of the accused — Subodh — in an injured condition.He told the police that he was planning to sell his car to one Parvej and had taken Rs 5,000 in advance, but the buyer suddenly changed his mind and asked for the advance amount to be returned.When Rahul expressed difficulty in returning the amount immediately, he was threatened at his home by Parvej and his accomplices — Subodh, Kapil and Kushalpal.The plaintiff said Subodh fired from his pistol, but it did not hurt anyone. He, along with neighbours, tried to get hold of the four, and while escaping, Subodh fired a second bullet, which hit Parvesh, a passerby.Based on the complaint, a case was registered against the four under Sections 307/34 and 504 of the IPC, but when Parvesh died in hospital, the section was converted to 302 of the IPC for murder.After investigation, police filed a chargesheet, and the court framed charges against the four for murder with common intention and separately under the Arms Act against Subodh on Aug 18 the same year.All four denied the charges and said that there was some commotion in a baraat procession and they were picked up by police falsely, as the gunshot came from some unidentified source.The prosecution presented 11 witnesses, of which five were eyewitnesses, including the plaintiff.Appearing as PW1, plaintiff Rahul refused the contents of the FIR and said that he never saw the accused fire, nor did he ever have a car to sell to Parvej.One by one, PW2 Satish Sharma, PW4 Harendra and PW10 Vikrant Bhati also refused to corroborate the incident, and they all were declared hostile.It was PW11 Suresh Chand Sharma, uncle of the victim (Pravesh), who testified to the prosecution story and said that Subodh and Kapil were escaping on a motorcycle while two others were following, and while escaping, he fired, which hit his nephew.After hearing both sides, the court concluded that the prosecution succeeded in proving beyond reasonable doubt that the death of the deceased Pravesh was caused by the firing by Subodh with the intention to cause his death.“However, the prosecution has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that any firing was done by the accused at Rahul with the intention to kill him and that the three other persons who were with the accused Subodh at the time of the incident were Kapil, Parvez and Kushalpal. The death of the deceased Pravesh certainly amounts to culpable homicide punishable under Section 302 of the IPC and accordingly amounts to murder. Thus, the prosecution has succeeded in proving the offence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC and Section 3/25/27 of the Arms Act against the accused Subodh and has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 307/34, 504 of the Indian Penal Code against the accused Kapil, Parvez and Kushalpal,” the court said, acquitting the three co-accused of all charges.
