Supreme Court Orders U.P. to Pay Rs 6 Lakh to Acquitted Undertrial Jailed Six Years on Slipshod Probe

A man went missing on 18.10.2019 and FIR No. 367 of 2019 was registered at P.S. Achhnera, Agra under Sections 364, 302 and 201 IPC (opening paragraph, para 4). The petitioner, named neither in the FIR nor in the Section 161 statement, was arrayed on CCTV footage and a co-accused's confession; charred bones, never identified as the missing man's, were recovered (para 2). In custody since 14.11.2019, he sought bail in the Supreme Court, which on 23.03.2026 directed the trial to end within three months (opening paragraph). One co-accused died and another absconded; tried alone, he was acquitted, the trial court finding none of the four circumstances proved (paras 2, 10).

The translated trial judgment showed only six prosecution witnesses examined (para 3). The bones were never identified: the FSL result was not disclosed and no DNA sample was taken from the father, though the doctor said such examination was necessary (paras 7, 13). A ransom demand first spoken of in court is not an extra-judicial confession; a confession to the police cannot be relied on; last seen was not proved; and the CCTV footage and call records lacked Section 65B certificates (paras 11-12). The motorcycle was never produced, the petrol purchase and burning site were not investigated, and no Section 27 statement showed that the accused led the police to the recoveries (paras 9, 13). Despite no evidence against him, the petitioner was imprisoned for six years, and the investigating agency took no steps to expedite his trial (paras 14-15). Investigating and prosecuting agencies must ensure justice to the accused too, not a conviction by whatever means, and so blatant a travesty requires reparation to the accused, himself a victim of the system (para 15).