Kolkata: Observing that there was “no reliable evidence” linking an alleged assault to the medical condition that killed a man, the Calcutta High Court has acquitted two men convicted of voluntarily causing hurt in 2008.
The court said autopsy and hospital records pointed to death from septicaemia following surgery for a duodenal perforation, with no external injuries except the surgical wound. The bench of Justice Chaitali Chatterjee Das noted that even if there had been an altercation, the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the assault caused the fatal medical condition.
According to the prosecution, the incident took place on November 12, 2006, when the victim was allegedly tied to a tree and beaten with a rope and feet by his cousins. He was later admitted to hospital with severe stomach pain, underwent surgery, and died the next day. An FIR was lodged by his wife after his death. The trial court had acquitted the accused of culpable homicide but convicted them under Section 323 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, sentencing them to six months’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine. On appeal, the High Court found significant inconsistencies in the evidence. It pointed to a mismatch in the recorded dates of hospital admission and death, the absence of any assault history in the hospital admission papers, and the failure to examine key witnesses, including the doctor who first treated the victim locally and the scribe of the complaint. The court said that many prosecution witnesses were either hostile or provided only hearsay accounts. The surgeon who treated the victim testified that no complaint of assault was made at the time of admission.
The autopsy report, prepared by a doctor who was not examined in court, confirmed the cause of death as post-operative septicaemia and duodenal perforation. Finding that the prosecution had not established the ingredients of voluntarily causing hurt, the High Court acquitted the appellants and ordered their release from bail bonds under Section 437-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.