Orissa HC acquits man sentenced to life for murder of wife

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Thursday acquitted a person of the charge of murder of his wife after he spent 19 years in jail since his arrest in 2003.“It can hardly be said that the circumstances projected by prosecution are adequate to establish the guilt of the accused. The court below has not considered the vital aspects surfacing in the evidence for which the impugned order of conviction is rendered vulnerable, thereby warranting interference”, a division bench of Justice Debabrata Dash and Justice Sashikanta Mishra observed while ordering the release of Santosh Kumar Naik from jail.

While there was no eyewitness to the occurrence, the trial court based its finding of guilt of the accused purely on circumstantial evidence. “Law is well settled that in a case based on circumstantial evidence, each of the circumstances being proved beyond reasonable doubt in pointing the finger of guilt at the accused; those when cumulatively viewed must make the chain so complete that all the hypothesis other than the guilt of the accused stand ruled out”, the bench further observed.

“Therefore, we are of the considered view that the impugned judgment cannot be sustained in the eye of law. Resultantly, the appeal is allowed. The impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence are hereby set aside”, the bench ruled.

Santosh, a resident of Namkani village within Telkoi police station limits in Keonjhar district was arrested basing on an FIR alleging that he had killed his wife Phula with an axe on September 9, 2003. After trial, the Court of Additional Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court), Keonjhar sentenced Santosh to imprisonment for life on February 19, 2005. Santosh had filed a criminal appeal from jail in 2012.