The Supreme Court has upheld the acquittal of a son and daughter-in-law in the fire death case of an elderly couple, sharply criticizing flaws in the investigation. The court stated that cases based on public perception or personal biases endanger the innocent and let perpetrators go free.
The Supreme Court recently observed in a case where an elderly couple died in a fire that gutted their house, with their younger son and daughter-in-law accused of murder.
The case stemmed from disputes over ancestral property, with the prosecution relying on alleged dying declarations and motive for conviction. A trial court convicted the accused, but the high court acquitted them, deeming the evidence unreliable. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran dismissed an appeal by the couple's elder son.
"Overzealous investigation is as fatal to prosecution as are the lethargic and the tardy. Framing a case on public perceptions and personal predilections ends up in a mess, often putting to peril an innocent and always letting free the perpetrator," the court noted.
The court described the investigation as a 'sham,' noting failures such as not probing the fire's cause and not establishing the accused's presence at the scene. It emphasized that dying declarations under Section 32 of the Indian Evidence Act must inspire confidence and be free from prompting or coercion.
The bench cautioned investigators and courts to adhere strictly to procedural rules in cases involving deaths and potential false accusations, highlighting the trauma faced by the acquitted couple and their orphaned children during the trial.