Madras HC: Courts helpless in protecting innocent if police are negligent

Terming it as a misfortune that the society remained a silent spectator even though such crimes were on the rise, a division bench comprising Justice PN Prakash and Justice R Hemalatha added that it was not only because of their fear but also due to the extraneous factors.

Holding that the responsibility to establish the guilt in such cases fell entirely on the police and that the courts were helpless if the police are negligent, the bench said, “Culprits must be aware that the vision of law is powerful and the blade of a weapon in the hands of the court is sharper than the culprits. It definitely protects the innocent and punishes the culprits.”

Even as it noted that the murder victim himself was facing a number of criminal cases of serious nature, the bench said it was unfortunate that he was gruesomely murdered in a lethal attack with weapons by a group of people.

“However, we cannot be oblivious of the fact that we are dealing with an appeal against the order of an acquittal. Unless we come to a conclusion that the impugned judgment and order is perverse and that the appreciation of evidence is faulty and that there is a patent illegality attached to the impugned judgment and order, we cannot upset the judgment and order of acquittal. None of these is found in this case,” said the bench led by Justice Prakash.

“The prosecution has tried to build a house with a pack of cards and that too in a haste. That the house built with a pack of cards crumbled in the trial court is an understatement. In our opinion, it is a serious lapse on the part of the prosecution. The investigation officer has shown laxity in investigation and it is crystal clear. Starting from the complaint, the infirmities and lapses are conspicuous,” the bench stated.

“To sum it up, the investigation has been shabby and slipshod with no serious efforts to nab the real culprits. We do not find any infirmity in the trial court judgment. The reasoning of the trial court does not smack of any perversity and due to the aforesaid reasons, we find no reason to interfere with the verdict of the trial court,” the bench held while closing the appeal moved by the sister of the deceased challenging the acquittal of all the eight accused in the case by XVII Additional Sessions Judge (I/C), Chennai in 2017.