dock identification - The Legal Chamber

The Supreme Court of India acquitted the appellant, primarily on the ground that the dock identification of the accused by the sole injured eyewitness, recorded via video conferencing after an inordinate delay of over eight years, was deemed unsafe and unreliable. The Court found the testimony suffered from material improvements and inconsistencies, and the recoveries were not conclusively linked to the crime. Consequently, the prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Facts Of The Case: In the intervening night of 2nd/3rd November 2008, five assailants broke into the Delhi residence of Madan Mohan Gulati and his wife, Indra Prabha Gulati (PW-18). The intruders assaulted the elderly couple, resulting in Madan Mohan's death and serious injuries to Indra Prabha. The poli...

The Supreme Court acquitted the accused, ruling the prosecution failed to establish a complete chain of circumstantial evidence. The Court found the testimonies of key witnesses unreliable, the "last seen" theory inapplicable due to a long time gap, and the absence of a Test Identification Parade for strangers fatal to the case, creating reasonable doubt. Facts Of The Case: The case concerns the tragic death of ten-year-old Muntiyaz Ali, who went missing on the morning of June 5, 2007, after going to his family's mango orchard. His father, Nanhe Khan, discovered the boy's lifeless body the next morning near a pit on their land. The body was found with a rope around its neck, hands tied behind the back, and a blood-stained axe lying nearby. Khan filed a police report suspecting six ...

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