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The Uttarakhand High Court has acquitted former Uttar Pradesh minister Dharmpal Singh Yadav alias DP Yadav on Wednesday in the 1992 murder case of Mahendra Singh Bhati, then Janta Dal MLA from Dadri Constituency, Ghaziabad.

The bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma was hearing Yadav's criminal appeal against the 2015 judgment of Additional Sessions Judge/Special Judge (CBI) wherein Yadav was convicted for offences under Sections 302, 307, 326 read with Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code. 

Yadav was sentenced to life imprisonment, ten years’ rigorous imprisonment, and seven years' rigorous imprisonment respectively for the abovesaid offences which were directed to run concurrently.

Facts

Mahendra Singh Bhati's nephew had lodged one complaint in the year 1992 with the Police Station Dadri, District Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. He had claimed that when Bhati was on his way to record his statement in a murder case, his car was attacked by seven to eight unknown persons and during the attack, Bhati had died.

Initially, the investigation was handed over to the local police, however, finding that investigation not up to the mark, on a court’s direction, it was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in August 1993. 

CBI registered the case for offences under Section 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 109, 120-B IPC, and under Section 3 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (TADA).

After completing the investigation, the CBI submitted its charge-sheet not only against Yadav (the present appellant) but also against the other co-accused persons, namely Karan Yadav, Tejpal Bhati, Praneet Bhati, Maharaj Singh, Pal Singh @Pala @Lakkar @Harpal Singh, Jaipal Gujjar and Aulad Ali.

It was alleged that Yadav had conspired with Karan Yadav and Pal Singh to murder Bhati and was the owner of a car in which murderers of Bhati ran away from the crime scene. 

Following a long chain of litigations, by a common order on March 10, 2015 Trial Court convicted Yadav as abovesaid. 

Presently, the High Court was only dealing with the appeal filed by Yadav, however, a number of appeals have been filed by other co-accused persons which will be decided separately. 

Contentions by Yadav's counsel

Before the High Court Yadav's counsel had contended that the prosecution had miserably failed to establish the motive for Yadav to allegedly hire assailants for killing Mahendra Singh Bhati.

He had averred that the prosecution had failed to bring on record any animosity, or any conflict of interest, or any political rivalry between the two. Therefore, he had alleged that the Trial Court had erred in culling out the motive from the complaint as an FIR cannot be read as a substantive piece of evidence.

Court's observations

Acquitting Yadav of all charges, the division bench observed that the entire prosecution case against Yadav hinged on the peg of the white Maruti car, in which the other accused persons had allegedly fled.  

The court said that according to the prosecution case, the said car was bought by Yadav, and given to Karan Yadav and Pal Singh for committing the alleged murder. However, court noted that as far as the car was concerned, the Prosecution had produced a half-baked dish and miserably failed to produce an iota of evidence to prove the fact that the car was ever bought by Yadav. 

Therefore, court noted,

"Sensational as the case may be, or gruesome as the case may be, the Trial Court is expected to critically and objectively examine the evidence before reaching its conclusion about the guilt or innocence of an accused person. The entire relationship between facts and evidence cannot be imagined by the learned Trial Court merely for the sake of convicting an accused."

Accordingly, highlighting that neither Yadav was named in the FIR initially nor there was any proven motive for him conspiring Bhati's murder, the High Court allowed the appeal and freed Yadav. 

Cause Title: Dharmpal Singh Yadav @D.P. Yadav v. Central Bureau of Investigation