SC upholds acquittal of 3 UP policemen accused in 1987 alleged fake encounter

The Supreme Court bench said once the ocular account of a public witness stood discarded, to clinch a conviction on the basis of circumstances, the circumstances ought to have formed a chain so far complete as to indicate that in all human probability, it was the persons facing trial and none else who committed the crime. -- Reports ETV Bharat's Sumit Saxena.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court has upheld the acquittal of three Uttar Pradesh police constables in an alleged fake encounter case, where a man was killed 36 years ago.

A bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and Manoj Misra said once the ocular account of a public witness stood discarded, to clinch a conviction on the basis of circumstances, the circumstances ought to have formed a chain so far complete as to indicate that in all human probability, it was the persons facing trial and none else who committed the crime.

The bench said: “Here the circumstances found proved do not constitute a chain so far complete as to indicate that in all human probability, it was the accused persons and no one else who committed the crime. In such a situation, there was no option for the trial court but to extend the benefit of the doubt to the accused”.

The top court found gaps in the CBI's case, saying two prime witnesses who accompanied the deceased on the fateful date could not identify the accused and also, the deceased died of injuries from a .12 bore gun, which was not issued to the accused policemen.

The bench noted that the circumstance that the accused persons were required to patrol that area and had left the police station for that end on that fateful night is a circumstance which is not conclusive as to turn the tables on the accused, inasmuch as the patrolling area covered two villages. “It may be possible that the accused arrived at the spot late when the incident had already taken place, and to chase away the miscreants, fired shots from their service rifles”, noted the bench.

The top court noted that another circumstance which goes in favour of the accused is that, according to the prosecution’s own case, the accused persons had a rifle each with 50 rounds. “Admittedly, some of the empty cartridges found at the spot, as per the ballistic expert report, were not fired from the rifle issued to the accused. This is indicative of the presence of some other rifle also. Whose rifle it was, the prosecution evidence is silent”, said the bench.

It said moreover, if the accused were to use their rifle to fire shots why would they use a country-made pistol to inflict injury to the deceased? The top court upheld the acquittal of Anil Kumar, Shyam Bihari, and Arshad Ali, by the Uttarakhand High Court in a judgment delivered in July 2021, which confirmed the 2011 trial court judgment allowing them to walk free of the charges of committing an offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 32 of the IPC.

The CBI moved the apex court challenging the high court judgment. According to the case registered by Pramod Kumar Tyagi, he along with Sudeep, on one scooter and Raj Kumar Balyan on another were going from Muzaffarnagar to Meerapur to attend a marriage function on June 24, 1987.

They saw three policemen standing on the road at 9.30 pm, and one of them flashed a torch light on them and as a result, their scooters skidded. The FIR said one of the policemen exhorted to shoot to kill and then shots were fired, and a shot hit Balyan, who collapsed on the spot and later succumbed to his injuries.

The policemen lodged another FIR claiming that they were patrolling the village, as there was a robbery on May 26, 1987, and at night, they saw two scooters being ridden at a very fast speed. The policemen signalled them to stop, but one of the riders fired a shot and they fired retaliatory shots at the policemen and the villagers.