What justice?: Acquittals by higher courts of several death-row convicts speak very poorly of the legal, police system

The Supreme Court’s acquittal of three death-row prisoners in the 2012 Chhawla gangrape-murder case – the court’s reason being several procedural failings during the investigation and trial – speaks of a terrible state of affairs. This crime happened in Delhi just months before the Nirbhaya case that jolted India and led to reform of sexual assault laws. But the shoddy prosecution, carried out over 2013 and 2014, as well as the Delhi high court’s failure to spot these lapses show that the Nirbhaya-inspired change of laws didn’t engender enough systemic changes.

SC noted that 10 material witnesses of the 49 witnesses prosecution examined weren’t even cross-examined by defence counsel, and many witnesses weren’t adequately cross-examined. The court also said trial judges weren’t expected to be “passive umpires” but are required to question witnesses to reach a correct conclusion. The accused are often unable to secure competent legal assistance. A fair trial therefore requires a judge to adequately interrogate the prosecution version.

There were big lapses in the investigation too. A test identification parade of the accused wasn’t conducted despite there being some eyewitnesses to the victim’s kidnapping. The trial court and Delhi HC accepted the police version on the accused’s arrest, confessions and recoveries – without corroborative evidence. Even the manner of discovering evidence, collecting samples and dispatching them for forensic analysis violated procedures, creating room for false implication. The trial court and HC awarded death penalties despite such infirmities.

Last December, Bombay HC acquitted a death-row prisoner, convicted of raping two and murdering one victim. In May, Bombay HC acquitted a man on death row for a double-murder case, noting fabrication of evidence. NLU Delhi’s Project 39A reveals 33 prisoners on death row were acquitted nationwide in 2021. This is a huge number. Such cases often take at least a decade for final disposal. This is injustice to both the accused and victims and their families. The former lose years of their lives and for families of victims there’s no closure. Re-investigation is difficult after evidence and witnesses were mishandled in the first place. Reliance on circumstantial evidence to secure convictions places huge responsibility on police and courts to ensure the whole chain of investigation withstands scrutiny and meets the “beyond reasonable doubt” principle. This was a case where police, lawyers and judges failed in their discharge of duties. For citizens, this raises very troubling questions.