A Delhi court has sentenced a 27-year-old man to seven years in jail for trying to rob an auto-rickshaw driver at gun point.
The court gave the verdict relying on testimony of the victim even though no one from public joined the investigation as witness. "Mere non-joining of independent witnesses cannot be said to be fatal," it observed.
Additional Sessions Judge Manoj Jain handed down the jail term to Sonu, a resident of north Delhi, after holding him guilty of attempting to commit robbery when armed with deadly weapon under IPC, saying the defence could not impeach the version of the complainant in any manner.
"It is quite evident that the incident had taken place at dead hour of night and the complainant did not lose his nerve and shouted for help. This made the accused little bit bamboozled and he started running away when he sensed that shouts of the complainant had invited the attention of public," the judge said.
The court noted that despite best efforts of police, no one from public joined the investigation.
"Mere non-joining of independent witnesses cannot be said to be fatal... Undoubtedly, public persons had gathered at the spot and they did not come forward to join the investigation. However, investigating officer did his best to join them in the present case but they had their own apprehensions...
"In such a situation, testimony of the complainant cannot be discarded. The accused has not bothered to explain as to why the complainant would implicate him, with whom he had no animosity," the court said.
According to prosecution, auto driver Nageshwar Bhagat had lodged a complaint alleging that on the intervening night of February 11 and 12, 2015 he parked his auto on Main Road, near Wazirpur here when the accused suddenly appeared in front of him and tried to rob him while pointing a pistol at him.
Nageshwar shouted for help and some passersby came to his rescue after which the accused, who tried to flee from the spot, was apprehended by two patrolling policemen, it said.
During the trial, the accused had denied the allegations and claimed he was falsely implicated.
The court rejected the contention of the accused and also refused to believe the statement of his aunt who appeared as a defence witness, saying she was an "interested witness".
"I cannot attach much importance to the testimony of aunt of the accused. She is an interested witness and it seems that she has deposed merely in order to save her nephew from the clutches of law," the judge said.
