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Dead man alive: SC orders judicial probe
There have been murders which are mysterious, but not as strange as this. Eleven years after an investigation by Uttar Pradesh police and a trial by Jhansi court found three persons guilty of a murder, the Supreme Court set up a judicial enquiry on Friday to determine whether the man supposed to be dead is still alive.
Out on bail, the three accused provided strong proof to indicate that the man said to be dead is still alive. A convinced apex court had earlier this month demanded an explanation from the UP police, whose explanation made the case more fascinating. Unfortunately, the accused had undergone 11 years in jail as part of life sentence awarded to them.
The three accused — Rameshwar, his father Mohan and uncle Dal Chand, were accused of murdering one Bhagwan Dass in village Mau Ranipur in Jhansi (UP) on August 2, 2000. Blaming the entire case to be a ploy at the behest of an influential man in the village who eyed on their property, the Supreme Court was only convinced when the deceased Bhagwan Dass returned to his village. He left in search of a job to Himachal Pradesh.
With chinks exposed in the criminal justice system, the UP police covered its fault and came out with an interesting twist to the tale. Notwithstanding the fact that the trial court on February 10, 2003 found no fault in its story, the State police added a new twist to the tale. According to them, Bhagwan Dass, the deceased and Bhagwan Dass, the person alive, are sons born to the same father from different wives.
The bench of Justices RM Lodha and HL Gokhale was not amused. "Will a father name two children with the same name," the Court wondered, as it directed a judicial enquiry by Sessions Judge, Jhansi to determine whether the "dead" man was alive indeed. A finding in this regard is expected in three months.
With the state weaving a new story altogether on the identity of the victim, doubts arose in the mind of the judges who said, "It's a shocking case to deal with…A person who is said to be dead is present in flesh and blood." The Court realized a judicial enquiry alone will establish whether the person claimed to be alive is the same alleged to be dead.
In the meantime, the Court released the accused on bail as the proof supplied by them was strong enough to raise doubts over the prosecution story. Now the burden of proving every doubt wrong also will rest on the prosecution.
There have been murders which are mysterious, but not as strange as this. Eleven years after an investigation by Uttar Pradesh police and a trial by Jhansi court found three persons guilty of a murder, the Supreme Court set up a judicial enquiry on Friday to determine whether the man supposed to be dead is still alive.
Out on bail, the three accused provided strong proof to indicate that the man said to be dead is still alive. A convinced apex court had earlier this month demanded an explanation from the UP police, whose explanation made the case more fascinating. Unfortunately, the accused had undergone 11 years in jail as part of life sentence awarded to them.
The three accused — Rameshwar, his father Mohan and uncle Dal Chand, were accused of murdering one Bhagwan Dass in village Mau Ranipur in Jhansi (UP) on August 2, 2000. Blaming the entire case to be a ploy at the behest of an influential man in the village who eyed on their property, the Supreme Court was only convinced when the deceased Bhagwan Dass returned to his village. He left in search of a job to Himachal Pradesh.
With chinks exposed in the criminal justice system, the UP police covered its fault and came out with an interesting twist to the tale. Notwithstanding the fact that the trial court on February 10, 2003 found no fault in its story, the State police added a new twist to the tale. According to them, Bhagwan Dass, the deceased and Bhagwan Dass, the person alive, are sons born to the same father from different wives.
The bench of Justices RM Lodha and HL Gokhale was not amused. "Will a father name two children with the same name," the Court wondered, as it directed a judicial enquiry by Sessions Judge, Jhansi to determine whether the "dead" man was alive indeed. A finding in this regard is expected in three months.
With the state weaving a new story altogether on the identity of the victim, doubts arose in the mind of the judges who said, "It's a shocking case to deal with…A person who is said to be dead is present in flesh and blood." The Court realized a judicial enquiry alone will establish whether the person claimed to be alive is the same alleged to be dead.
In the meantime, the Court released the accused on bail as the proof supplied by them was strong enough to raise doubts over the prosecution story. Now the burden of proving every doubt wrong also will rest on the prosecution.
