Amreli: The Gujarat High Court has directed for the release of two men from Amreli area convicted in a rape and robbery case over a decade ago due to alleged weak evidence which the High Court said does not inspire confidence, sources said. The High Court has also directed the state government to form a committee to look into cases especially rape cases wherein the trial courts have convicted the accused on the basis of weak evidence.
A bench of Justices AS Supaiah and M R Mengdey ordered the release of the two rape and robbery accused identified as Govindbhai and Virabhai Parmar. Govindbhai was convicted in a rape and robbery case and has already spent 13 years in jail. Another convict Virabhai Parmar is behind bars for over 12 years now.
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Hearing a criminal appeal by Govindbhai Parmar, convicted for rape and robbery, the Gujarat High Court division bench of Justices AS Supaiah and M R Mengdey noted that the evidence in the case was weak and did not inspire confidence. "We would like to highlight those cases, such as present one in which the convicts are convicted on the basis of inappropriate appreciation of evidence or the conviction is premised on such evidence which does not inspire any confidence or creates doubt, and the convicts have to undergo incarceration for a long period.
In the present case, the convict has undergone 13 year and 01 month and 16 days of sentence," the Court observed in the judgment while ordering for the release of the two convicts. The case dates back to the year 2009, in Amreli when a case of robbery and rape was registered against the two men. The High Court said that the evidence on the basis of which the trial court sentenced both the people was weak and did not inspire confidence.
The court further directed the Gujarat government to form a committee to find such crime cases wherein the trial courts have convicted the accused on the basis of weak confidence. The HC's move is seen as a confidence building measure among the people especially the persons wrongfully convicted in criminal cases.
