Man sentenced to life for murder set free by Bombay High court

The Bombay High Court has acquitted a 26-year-old Pune resident, Ganesh Jagtap, who was held guilty by the lower Pune Session's Court on charges of murder. Jagtap was sentenced to life imprisonment by the lower court, but the high court, while acquitting him, held that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against him.

The only evidence against the 26-year-old was that he had purchased a bottle of rum, which as the high court said, didn't connect him to the case.

"The prosecution has utterly failed to bring it on record sufficient circumstantial evidence against the accused. Rather, the only evidence brought on record is that on the day of the incident, Jagtap purchased a bottle of rum, which isn't incriminating evidence at all. Also, there was no recovery from his house and the circumstantial evidence brought on record by the prosecution is too scanty to base the conviction under murder charges," the court said.

According to the prosecution, Jagtap, along with another accused, Krishna Swamy, killed a 25-year-old man in June 2013. The duo suspected him of having an affair with the wife of their friend. Swamy allegedly killed him with a scythe and dumped his body in a drain. He too was sentenced to life imprisonment, and he also challenged the verdict, but the high court upheld his conviction.

EVIDENCE TRAP

The court held that there was no evidence against the accused, there was no recovery from his house, and the only circumstantial evidence brought on record is too scanty to base a conviction