After 41 years, HC lifts life sentence for ex-soldier in murder case – The Week

Prayagraj (UP), Sept 3 (PTI) – Forty-one years after a former soldier was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder trial, the Allahabad High Court has set aside the verdict, citing contradictions in the testimony of witnesses.
A bench comprising Justices Siddhartha Varma and Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra has allowed the plea of ​​Murari Lal, who is out on bail in the case.
According to the FIR filed on July 6, 1982, Seodan Singh had alleged that Murari Lal opened fire with his licensed weapon on his brother Pool Singh when he was walking from his village to Wazeerganj.
A court in Badaun had convicted Murari under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on May 3, 1983 and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
“The contradictions in the statements of the prosecution witnesses were also very glaring. Prosecution witness 1 had stated that the body was brought from the crime scene to the police station, but prosecution witness 4 had stated that the body was never at the police station,” the Supreme Court said in its order last month.
“In addition, the Court considers that if witness 2 was the only eyewitness and his statements were not corroborated by the other witnesses present, the testimony of the only eyewitness had to be examined carefully and with caution, which was not done in the present case,” it said.
In its August 14 verdict, the Supreme Court found that the contradictions in the statements of the prosecution witnesses were extremely blatant.