Court acquits man of murder charge

Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna absolved accused Kalicharan, a rickshaw puller, of the charge of murdering his cousin Suraj observing that the victim's parents did not mention before it any enmity between the brothers.

"Admittedly, no one had seen the accused (Kalicharan) committing murder of Suraj...Parents of Suraj did not speak of any enmity between the accused and the deceased on the issue of inheritance or of any alleged loan.

"Rather they (parents) both deposed that accused had cordial relation with Suraj and there was no property issues between them. Hence, the prosecution could not prove any motive for the accused to commit the murder," the judge said.

According to police, Kalicharan had murdered Suraj in March 2009 as he suspected that his uncle Ram Parkash would leave his property to Suraj leaving him without any share.

Police also claimed that the two brothers had an issue over unsettled loan amount, and said the recovery of Suraj's mobile phone and his clothes from Kalicharan's house points to the involvement of the accused in the crime.

During the trial, the accused claimed he has been falsely implicated in the case.

The judge acquitted the accused saying, "The recoveries of articles belonging to deceased from the house of the accused alone, would not be sufficient to complete the chain of circumstance against the accused."

"The recovery of articles cannot take place of the proof, beyond reasonable doubt, as is required for conviction an accused for an offence under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC," it said.