PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has acquitted five persons, who were convicted and sentenced to life for charges of murder, on the benefit of doubt.
The Division Bench of Justice M S Sonak and Justice B P Deshpande acquitted Abhinandan Patel, Anil Bhoe, Ravi Patil, Arun Patil and Aniket Yallurkar for killing businessman Hasan Khan in 2013 while dismissing the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal of two others Robert Gonsalves and Shivaji Patil.
The matter pertains to the brutal killing of Taleigao-resident Hasan Khan, whose body was found in his car near Holy Cross Shrine at Bambolim on March 21, 2013. As per the police charge sheet, the victim -- in the real estate business -- was killed by hired ‘contract’ killers allegedly at the behest of then-suspended Mines official Gonsalves over some financial dispute.
The Sessions Court, in August 2022, convicted and sentenced the five accused to life imprisonment and acquitted the other two. The State thereafter appealed against the acquittal whereas the convicted challenged the order against them.
The High Court, in its order on Wednesday, observed that the prosecution failed to prove a conspiracy by Robert and Abhinandan while also raising “serious doubt” and “serious flaws” about the test identification parade of Anil, Ravi, Arun and Shivaji during the investigation and that too before a magistrate.
Based on the evidence and deposition produced by the prosecution, the Bench also gave detailed reasons to disbelieve the ‘so-called confession of Accused No 7 (Aniket)’ and reiterated doubt over the identification parade and other confiscations by the Agassaim police.
“…that so-called confessional statement of Accused No. 7 was not at all voluntarily given. Secondly, it was exculpatory in nature. Thirdly, the learned Magistrate while accepting and recording the statement of Accused No. 7 failed to record that the contents of such statement were read over to him in Marathi language,” the Bench observed.
“Once the confession of Accused No. 7 is considered inadmissible, the theory put forth by the Prosecution about the conspiracy hatched by Accused Nos. 1 (Robert) and 2 (Abhinandan) falls flat. Though there is suspicion, however, it is well settled that such suspicion, however strong it may be, cannot be considered for the purpose of conviction. The benefit must go to the Accused person.”
In its 15-page order, the Bench thereafter acquitted the five accused on the ground of benefit of doubt and dismissed the appeal against Robert and Shivaji’s acquittal.
