20-year-old youth acquitted of robbery charges

The Bombay high court recently set aside the conviction and four-year prison term given to a 20-year-old youth for alleged robbery, observing that there were several discrepancies in evidence brought against him.

Rahul Mishra, a resident of suburban Wadala, was convicted in February 2014 by the Sessions court under section 397 of IPC for robbery or dacoity with an attempt to cause grievous hurt. He was sentenced to four years imprisonment. Mishra challenged the sentence in the High Court.

As per the prosecution, on February 21, 2013, Mishra and another person, a juvenile, had accosted a man outside Wadala railway station and snatched his Blackberry mobile phone. Then they had fled, and when the person chased the duo, Mishra allegedly stabbed him with a knife and escaped. The victim was moved to a nearby hospital. Mishra and his partner were arrested the next day. Police claimed to have recovered the stolen mobile phone from them.

The high court, however, noted that the complainant in his statement had told the police that his mobile phone was black while the phone recovered from Rahul was white. The court said that it would not place high reliance on the evidence given by the complainant. While dismissing it the court said, "It can be seen from evidence that the injured victim had very little chance to memorise the face and personality of the applicant (Mishra)."

The court also doubted the prosecution's case, because it failed to give a proper explanation as to why an identification parade was held a month-and-a-half after the alleged incident. "It is abundantly clear that the evidence against the applicant is highly unreliable and hence he cannot be held guilty. The applicant deserves to be acquitted as there are several discrepancies," the high court said.