'... a hundred suspicion don't make proof', Court quotes Dostoevsky to drop murder charges

New Delhi: Quoting Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment", a Delhi court on Monday, while dropping attempt to murder charges against two accused in Delhi riots, said that "from a hundred rabbits you can't make a horse, a hundred suspicion don't make a proof".

On the prosecution's contention that the accused were part of the rioting mob and thus it must be presumed that they committed the offence of shooting at the victim, one Rahul, and that "suspicion points towards the accused persons", Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat in his order noted: "The criminal jurisprudence says that there must be some material against the accused persons to frame a charge," adding that "presumption can't be stretched to take the shape of proof/evidence".

The court said that the chargesheet filed in the case depicted nothing for charging the accused persons under section 307 of IPC or Arms Act.

The case pertains to accused Babu and Imran alias Teli, represented by advocate Salim Malik, who police allege were part of an unlawful assembly armed with weapons and participating in the rioting on February 25 near Maujpur red light. Police have further claimed that despite warning by the police to leave the area in the wake of section 144 CrPC imposed in the area, they refused to leave.

Regarding the charges levelled against the duo, the court questioned as to why the statement of Rahul, who allegedly received the gunshot injury, has not been brought on

record.

ASJ Rawat further noted that the alleged victim has never been seen by the police nor has given any statement about any gunshot injury or about the mob or rioters. "So how is Section 307 of IPC made out against the accused persons when the victim is absent from even the police investigation. How is the gunshot injury established. There is no murmur of that," the order read.

ASJ Rawat further observed that there is only one police witness, however, even he does not make "any direct or even tangential reference" to the firing by rioters or gunshot injury caused to the alleged victim Rahul or even to the accused persons causing injury to the victim.

Noting that in the case of the prosecution as it is, section 307 of IPC is out of bounds, ASJ Rawat stated that, "With nothing in the chargesheet to dig in, no case under Section 307 of IPC is made out and there is no ground for presuming that these two accused persons have committed the offence of attempt to murder…".

Note: The print version of this story (Published in March 3 edition) mistakenly has the incorrect headline "'... a hundred suspicion don't make proof,' Court quotes Dostoevsky to grant bail". It should have been "'... a hundred suspicion don't make proof,' Court quotes Dostoevsky to drop murder charges". The error has been corrected in the online version and is regretted.