Cuttack: The Orissa high court has acquitted three persons in a 1998 murder case, holding that suspicion, however strong, cannot replace proof beyond reasonable doubt.In the March 19 judgment, a division bench of Manash Ranjan Pathak and Sashikanta Mishra said the prosecution failed to bridge the gap between “may” and “must” to establish guilt conclusively. “There are some materials which are capable of arousing a suspicion that the accused may have killed the deceased but, unless the ‘may’ becomes a ‘must’, it would not be safe to hold him guilty conclusively,” the court observed, setting aside the 2001 conviction.The case relates to the murder of 70-year-old Rekhamani Panda of Jeypore , who went missing on Sept 9, 1998, and whose body was later recovered from a canal. The prosecution alleged that Surendranath Sahu lured her to his house, murdered her, robbed her of her gold ornaments and cash and then disposed of the body. Co-accused K Maleswar Achary and K Balaji Achary were accused of helping melt and sell the stolen gold.An additional sessions judge in Jeypore had, on Aug 13, 2001, convicted Sahu under Sections 302, 394 and 201 of the IPC, sentencing him to life imprisonment, while the co-accused were awarded two years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 414 of the IPC.Reassessing the evidence, the high court found that the circumstances cited by the trial court did not establish guilt. “We find that none of the circumstances listed by the trial court can be treated as incriminating in the least considered individually or jointly,” the bench said.The judges also questioned the prosecution’s theory of motive. “As regards the motive (robbery) of the accused for committing the crime, the whole case as projected by the prosecution appears doubtful,” the court noted, pointing to inconsistencies in the sequence of events.On the nature of evidence, the bench held, “The nature of death of the woman being homicidal in nature, has to be supported by other incriminating evidence to show the guilt of the accused but by itself it has no value.”Emphasising settled criminal law principles, the court said, “The fundamental tenet of the criminal jurisprudence enjoins upon the court to accept evidence that is beyond reasonable doubt.”Allowing the appeals, the bench set aside the conviction and sentence and ordered that the accused, who were on bail, be discharged from their bail bonds.
