HC decides five-yr-old case in three hours

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta took up for hearing an appeal filed by a 29-year-old man, facing life term for killing his minor step-son, and acquitted him of the charges of murder.

The bench was able to fast-track the matter as it was a relatively uncomplicated case not requiring a lengthy hearing or mountain of evidence.

Mosin was given life term by the trial court in September 2017 for smashing his three- -year-old step son's head on a stone after allegedly getting irritated by the child's continuous weeping at night. As per the police, the accused had killed the minor on the intervening night of May 26-27, 2012. He is in custody since May 2012.

Advocate Sumeet Verma, filed an appeal before the high court on November 24, 2017, challenging the man's conviction and order on sentence.

While admitting the man's appeal, who was working as a gardener at a nursery here, the bench had on first date of hearing called for the trial court's record.

At the next hearing, the bench heard arguments from the accused and the state and managed to wind up the hearing in three hours, including dictating the order.