Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has acquitted a man who spent 23 years in jail for allegedly murdering his wife and three children, remarking that “the case was a sad commentary on our criminal justice delivery system and it required introspection”.The court said remedial measures like increasing the number of judges, their supporting staff, and infrastructure are the need of the hour, as merely holding conferences and meetings cannot ameliorate the situation.A division bench comprising Justices Siddharth and Jai Krishna Upadhyay rejected the prosecution’s reliance on “weak extra-judicial confessions” allegedly made by the accused to two witnesses.In its order dated Feb 16, the court remarked that while it was a gruesome murder of a mother and her three children, the prosecution’s evidence could not conclusively implicate and prove that the offence was committed by none other than the accused, who has filed the present appeal.While acquitting the accused, the court said that his real punishment has not come to an end and the real ordeal will begin after his release.“His parents and siblings may not be alive. His wife and three children have already died. Whether his surviving son, who must be now aged about 25-26 years now, will welcome his father to his house is also not certain,” the HC said. The prosecution claimed that the accused, Raees, killed his wife and three kids in a knife attack on Aug 29-30, 2003, following a domestic dispute. Later, an FIR was lodged by his wife’s uncle. The trial court subsequently found him guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Dealing with his appeal against conviction, the HC examined the prosecution’s evidence, particularly the testimony of the sole alleged eyewitness, Raees’s surviving 5-year-old son, Azim.The high court noted that during his cross-examination, the child admitted to giving tutored statements at the behest of the informant and a govt advocate.The boy confessed that he was threatened with eviction from the house if he did not testify as directed.The court also took note of an existing enmity between the informant and the accused over a land dispute, which further cast doubt on the informant’s motives.
