Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has acquitted three persons who were sentenced to death by a trial court in connection with the 2014 murder of a woman whose dismembered body was recovered near Sealdah Railway Station in 2014.
A division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi set aside the July 2019 conviction of Surajit Deb, Lipika Poddar and Sanjoy Biswas, who had been found guilty under Sections 302, 201 and 120B of the IPC. The bench also rejected the death reference sent by the trial court. The case began after police recovered a mutilated female body on May 20, 2014, with the torso wrapped in a quilt and the severed limbs and head stored in a trolley bag and school bag. A cash memo found in the bag identified the deceased as Jayanti Deb, wife of Surajit Deb.
The High Court held that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that any of the accused were present at the victim’s Lake Town flat at the time of the incident. It found no credible witness testimony, nor any forensic or circumstantial evidence placing the accused near the scene of crime around May 19, 2014.
The court also found that while certain bloodstained articles were recovered, the prosecution failed to establish a link between those items and the accused or the victim. Moreover, the fact that the recoveries were allegedly made pursuant to confessional statements was not properly put to the accused during their examination under Section 313 CrPC. The bench rejected reliance on a statement made by Sanjoy Biswas under Section 164 CrPC, holding it was exculpatory, related only to disposal of the body under alleged threat and not supported by corroborative evidence. Sanjoy was not examined as a prosecution witness nor turned approver.
The court concluded that the prosecution had not established any conspiracy or common intention among the accused and held that invocation of Section 120B IPC was unsustainable. Ordering the immediate release of the three appellants, the court directed correctional authorities to update records and cancel warrants.