Sheep thief acquitted of charge of shepherd’s murder
February 2nd, 2011 - 11:28 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS) A man was convicted by the Supreme Court for stealing 40 sheep in 2002 to repay his debts but acquitted him of the charge of murdering the shepherd on grounds of lack of evidence.The accused was given the benefit of the doubt on the charge of murdering the shepherd in the Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh.
The apex court bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra in their order Monday acquitted Suddapaly Srinu alias Bujji of the murder charge, saying the chain of the circumstantial evidence leading to the killing was not complete, and let him off with six years’ imprisonment already undergone by him.
Counsel Rajiv Kumar Bansal, who appeared for the petitioner, told the court that the circumstances highlighted by the prosecution did not present a complete chain of events to show that the murder was committed by Srinu.
Setting aside an Andhra Pradesh High Court order, the court said that “on the facts of the case we are of the opinion that the appellant (Srinu) is entitled to the benefit of the doubt. Hence, we set aside his conviction (for murder) under section 302 IPC (Indian Penal Code)”.
“As regards conviction under section 379 (for theft and imprisonment) for three years, the appellant has already undergone six years in the jail. Hence, the appellant shall be released if he is in jail. We allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the high court and trial court.”
Srinu, according to prosecution, hacked Suddala Chinna Komuraiah to death with an axe June 6, 2002. Thereafter, he walked away with his 40 sheep.
- Pushkin Chandra killing: Life term for two upheld - Oct 31, 2011
- Highlights of judgment on Shivani Bhatnagar murder - Oct 12, 2011
- Shivani Bhatnagar murder: Ex-cop R.K. Sharma walks free - Oct 12, 2011
- Acquittal of five in Shivani Bhatnagar murder case contested (Lead) - Feb 13, 2012
- Apex court acquits 19 rioters due to high court's legal error - Nov 08, 2009
- Circumstantial evidence should be conclusive: Supreme Court - Jan 15, 2012
- Apex court reverses lower courts' verdict, acquits murder convict - Nov 29, 2009
- Haren Pandya murder: Gujarat High Court acquits all 12 accused - Aug 29, 2011
- Godhra case: Death sentence for 11, life terms for 20 - Mar 01, 2011
- Court awards five-year jail to Kashmiri militant - May 17, 2012
- Court acquits man convicted for raping lover - Aug 19, 2010
- 95-year-old woman gets life term for killing daughter-in-law - Oct 18, 2011
- Actress Monica Bedi's conviction upheld, sentence cut (Lead) - Nov 09, 2010
- Death sought for Godhra train burning convicts (Lead) - Feb 25, 2011
- Gujarat court frees man sentenced for killing wife - Apr 06, 2010
Tags: andhra pradesh high court, apex, apex court, bansal, benefit of the doubt, circumstantial evidence, court bench, feb 2, gyan, imprisonment, indian penal code, lack of evidence, misra, murder charge, petitioner, prosecution, rajiv kumar, sudha, trial court, warangal district