Supreme Court has set aside the life term awarded to a man accused of killing his paramour's child, saying the lower courts had convicted him overlooking the doctor's statement negating his initial opinion in the post-mortem report that the victim was strangulated.
"We find that the courts have merely gone by the medical report, overlooking the crucial cross examination of the doctor the aspects of which are not discussed," a vacation bench of Justices A K Sikri and U U Lalit said.
The bench also noted that the woman had told her father that her five-year old son died due to fits as he suffered from epilepsy.
"We are thus of the opinion that charge under section 302 (murder) of the IPC as levelled against the appellant has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt. We thus allow this appeal and set aside the conviction," the bench said.
The apex court's order came on the appeal by Chennai- based autorickshaw driver Selvakumar against Madras High Court verdict upholding life-term awarded to him by a trial court.
While releasing him from judicial custody, the apex court said the doctor, who had prepared the child's post mortem report saying he died by strangulation, had changed his opinion in court.
"One can clearly make out that cause of death is not due to strangulation of the neck and asphyxia. Though this opinion was given by the doctor in the post-mortem report, he himself negated it by giving the explanation in cross examination," the bench said.
In his appeal, Selvakumar had claimed that the prosecution story that he strangulated the boy was "totally incorrect" and there was no evidence to substantiate this.
In his appeal filed through advocate V P Appan, he claimed that the boy suffered from epilepsy disease and died due to that.
Selvakumar and his paramour Rajamani were arrested after the boy died in 2006 and were sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court.
However, the Madras High Court had in 2009 freed Rajamani but upheld the sentence of Selvakumar, who then approached the apex court.
According to the police, Rajamani had left her husband to live with her paramour Selvakumar, who had sent her son to the market to purchase beedi on September 4, 2006.
The child also bought a chocolate for himself which agitated Selvakumar who slapped him for spending all his money, leading the boy to fall down. His mother took him to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
