On February 27, 2003, a girl of six was kidnapped in Ahmedabad. An investigation by the Navrangpura Police Station revealed that the child was enticed with a gola (ice lolly), taken to a field and then raped. Later, she was murdered. Grave injury marks were found on her head and other parts of the body. The police deduced that in order to steal her anklets, the accused chopped off her feet.
The family sought justice for the minor but got none because while the trial court convicted the accused and gave a death sentence, the higher courts acquitted him. The reason was that there were "10 glaring lapses" in the investigation. The Supreme Court "crestfallen, heartbroken and sorrowful" while upholding the acquittal, said that prosecution had failed to establish its case.
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To ensure that such cases do not recur, the Supreme Court gave a series of directives to improve probe and prosecution in a January 7, 2014 order. It observed that "every acquittal is a failure of the justice delivery system" and leads to the inference that an innocent has been wrongly prosecuted.
The Supreme Court directed home departments of all states to form a mechanism to study all acquittal cases and record reasons for such failures. These considerations should then be used to spot the mistakes committed during the investigation and prosecution. A course can be chalked out from these findings which will have to be incorporated for refresher training programmes for senior investigating and prosecuting officials.
The Supreme Court added that the home departments also formulate a procedure for taking action against all erring investigators and prosecutors to infuse seriousness in the job. The order categorically asked the home secretaries to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court's directions.
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