Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has upheld acquittal of a “militant” whom police had blamed for killing a couple at Mahore area of Udhampur in Jammu region of the state in 2001.
“In arriving at conclusion about guilt of accused charged with heinous crime, the court has to judge the evidence by yardsticks of probabilities. The law does not permit the Court to punish the accused on the basis of moral conviction or suspicion. The burden of proof never shift, it is always on prosecution,” a division bench of Justice Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice Sanjay Kumar Gupta observed while dismissing state’s appeal against the trial court order in 2005, acquitting Mohd Hanif of Village Tharal Mahore in the killing of Abdul Rashid and his wife Ghulam Fatima in 2001.
“The distance to travel must be covered by the prosecution by legal, reliable and unimpeachable evidence before an accused can be convicted,” the court said. As per the prosecution, information was received by police that on intervening night of 29 and 30 March 2001, some unidentified militants entered into the house of Abdul Rashid and opened indiscriminate firing. While Ghulam Fatima died on the spot, her husband Abdul Rashid, who sustained grievous injuries, succumbed to the same later.
Police filed an FIR (No.35/2001) for offences under Sections 302/307/452 RPC & 7/25 Arms Act was registered on 30 March 2001 in the Police Station Mahore and after the investigation, came to the conclusion that Mohd Hanif was having inimical relations with the Abdul Rashid as they were having dispute over land for a long time and it was due to this enmity the accused persons Mohd Hanief and two other accused—Mohd Hussain and Gulam Hussain entered into the house of Abdul Rashid and committed the offence. Police filed chargesheet against Mohd Hanief while two other accused were declared proclaimed offenders and were never arrested. Trial was set in motion and ultimately lower court acquitted Mohd Hanief, holding that “no doubt occurrence of firing took place and two persons namely Abdul Rashid and his wife Ghulam Fatima have died; but looking on statements of eye witnesses, it reveals that case has falsely been made against the accused (him)”
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