The Allahabad High Court has acquitted Shahnawaj, who was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment in February 2024 by the Muzaffarnagar sessions court for offences under Sections 148 and 364-A of the IPC. The Bench of Justice Avnish Saxena and Justice Siddharth set aside the conviction, finding major gaps and contradictions in the prosecution’s case.
The case began with an FIR lodged by Satish Kumar on 10 October 2002 at Chhapar police station. He alleged that while he was ploughing his field in the morning, eight men armed with country-made pistols emerged from a sugarcane crop. Among them were six persons from his own village, including Shahnawaj, and two others unknown to him. According to the complaint, Shahnawaj and his brother Shaukin caught hold of his father, Vishnudutt Tyagi, and dragged him away. Later that morning, his father’s body was found in another field with several gunshot wounds.
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The post-mortem report noted bullet injuries on the head, arm and chest, with death caused by shock and heavy bleeding. The police filed a charge sheet against eight accused. However, in an earlier related trial, four were acquitted when key witnesses, including the informant, turned hostile, saying they could not identify the accused as most had covered their faces.
The High Court pointed out that with the number of accused falling below five, the "unlawful assembly" charge under Section 148 IPC was doubtful. Relying on the Supreme Court"s 2012 ruling in Dahari vs State of U.P., the court said conviction in such a case can only be under Section 34 IPC if there is clear proof of shared intention - which was missing here.
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The Bench also flagged differences between the FIR and the court testimony, especially regarding ransom. While witnesses said the abduction was for ransom, there was no evidence of any ransom amount or demand. No firearm was recovered, no forensic report was placed on record, and some key documents were exhibited only as photocopies without certification.
Quoting Jaikam Khan vs State of U.P. (2021), the judges said that while related witnesses are not automatically unreliable, their statements must be examined with care - and in this case, the evidence lacked credibility.
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Finding the prosecution case weak and the trial court’s findings unsustainable, the High Court allowed the appeal, cancelled the conviction, and ordered Shahnawaj's immediate release, subject to conditions under Section 437-A CrPC, if he is not wanted in any other matter.
"Considering the overall facts, evidence and circumstances, the accused deserves to be acquitted," the Bench observed.
Case Title:- Shahnawaj vs. State of Uttar Pradesh
Case No.:- Criminal Appeal No. 1180 of 2014
Shared by:
Adv. - Mohammad Samiuzzaman Khan - Allahabad HC.
Gmail ID: samiuzzama0786@gmail.com
