Jaipur: A single judge bench of Rajasthan high court‘s principal seat in Jodhpur has upheld a 1990 trial court order acquitting a man accused of “mischievously” killing goats he did not own, ruling that reopening the case nearly 40 years later would serve no purpose.Disposing of a state appeal against the acquittal, Justice Farjand Ali said the Barmer judicial magistrate had committed a legal error by accepting a compromise with a person who was not the owner of the goats. However, it held that sending the case back for a fresh trial after 37 years would not advance justice and quashed the entire proceedings.The case dates back to 1989. In 1990, the Barmer judicial magistrate acquitted accused Moola Ram under various IPC sections related to the killing of the goats. The state govt challenged that acquittal in 1996, seeking punishment for him.Justice Ali said the trial court had erred in law because Ramaram was not legally “competent to compound the offence”. The court noted that Bhuraram, the owner of the goats, was the person authorised under law to enter into such a settlement.However, the judge said the long passage of time weighed against reopening the matter.“Even this offence carried a punishment not exceeding five years. Remanding the case for a fresh trial after 37 years would neither advance justice nor serve any meaningful purpose. Such a step would only revive a stale dispute and subject the parties to unnecessary hardship,” Justice Ali observed, dismissing the govt’s appeal.
