DEATH OF SOURA MAN IN 2018 | Court holds man guilty of culpable homicide

Srinagar, Dec 9: A trial court here on Thursday held a man guilty of 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder’ in a case related to the death of a person during a scuffle at Soura in 2018.

Court of Ist Additional Sessions Judge Srinagar Khursheed Ul Islam in its decision however acquitted two sisters of the person it convicted.

According to prosecution, Soura Police Station had registered the case following a complaint by a woman that on June 6, 2018 her husband Ghulam Ahmed Mir was beaten to death by accused including Mukhtar Ahmed Shah, his father Ghulam Mohammed Shah and sisters of Mukhtar during irrigation of land.

The case indicated that the victim was attacked with a hard lathi and sharp weapon on the back of head.

In its judgment, the court observed that “on the basis of the legal propositions settled by the law, it can be safely concluded that prosecution has failed to establish that there was a prearranged plan between the accused persons as such accused are not vicariously liable under section 34 of RPC”.

The Court underscored that another important point for consideration was the disappearance of spade used by accused No. 2 as a weapon of offence. “None of the witnesses catalogued by prosecution have stated regarding disappearance of the shovel neither through direct evidence nor through circumstantial evidence,” the court said. “As such does not attract punishment to accused persons under section 201 RPC”.

“I am of the view that prosecution has miserably failed to prove that the accused has caused the disappearance of the spade,” the Judge said.

Moreover, the court said, one of the accused, Ghulam Muhammad Shah, as per the prosecution story had used the spade in the quarrel died during the trial and the proceedings against him stood abated.

The Court held that it had no hesitation in observing at the cost of repetition that the prosecution had succeeded in proving its case beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt against the accused No. 1 (Mukhtar) for committing culpable homicide not amounting to murder of the deceased. While the court convicted Mukhtar for offence under section 304 part II, it acquitted his sisters of the charges levelled against them.

Public Prosecutor Mumtaz Saleem Mir represented the prosecution.