In a striking reversal, the Supreme Court of India has acquitted three men - Nazim, Aftab, and Arman Ali - who were serving life sentences for the brutal murder of a ten-year-old boy in Uttarakhand back in 2007. The bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma delivered its verdict on October 6, 2025, finding “serious gaps and inconsistencies” in the prosecution’s case.
“The prosecution has failed to establish a complete chain of circumstances pointing only to the guilt of the accused,” the Court observed while allowing the appeal.
Background
The case began with the shocking discovery of little Muntiyaz Ali’s body in his family’s mango orchard near Kishanpur on June 6, 2007. His father, Nanhe Khan, found him strangled with a rope, his hands tied, and an axe lying nearby.
The initial FIR named six villagers with whom the family had long-standing disputes, but Nazim and Aftab were not among them. Later, during investigation, the police added their names, along with Arman Ali, and charged all three with murder, criminal conspiracy, and destruction of evidence.
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A Kashipur trial court convicted the trio in 2014, sentencing them to life imprisonment, a ruling upheld by the Uttarakhand High Court in 2017. The men, however, maintained their innocence and took the fight to the Supreme Court.
Court’s Observations
The apex court noted that the entire case rested on circumstantial evidence, and each link in that chain was either weak or missing.
Justice Sharma, writing for the bench, pointed out that Nazim and Aftab were not even named in the first complaint - a major omission that “casts a serious shadow” over their later implication.
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The bench also questioned the credibility of key witnesses. One of them, Tauhid Ali, claimed he had overheard a murder conspiracy during a village feast but admitted he never told anyone about it, not even the victim’s father. Another witness said he had “seen the child with the accused,” but no test identification parade was conducted - a basic safeguard in criminal trials.
“The claim that the accused would openly plot murder during a feast, within earshot of others, seems improbable,” the Court remarked dryly.
The judges further noted that the “last seen” theory - that the victim was last seen alive with the accused - could not stand because the time gap between the sighting and the discovery of the body was too wide.
Equally damaging to the prosecution was the inconclusive DNA report on the axe and rope, which found no genetic match with the accused. “Suspicion, however strong, cannot take the place of proof,” the bench reiterated.
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Decision
Setting aside both the High Court and trial court judgments, the Supreme Court acquitted all three appellants of charges under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence), and 120-B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
“The circumstances on record fail to exclude every other reasonable hypothesis, including their innocence,” the bench concluded.
Since the men were already on bail, the Court ordered that their bail bonds and sureties be discharged immediately.
With this verdict, a case that haunted a small Uttarakhand village for nearly two decades has finally come to rest - though the real story behind the child’s tragic death may never be fully known.
Case: Nazim & Others v. State of Uttarakhand
Citation: 2025 INSC 1184 | Criminal Appeal No. 715 of 2018
Appellants: Nazim, Aftab, and Arman Ali
Respondent: State of Uttarakhand
Date of Judgment: October 6, 2025
