14-years on, court acquits all accused of Chembur jewellers’ murder

The sessions judge SS Adkar held that although Soni’s death was proved to be homicidal, the prosecution could not link the accused to the crime beyond reasonable doubt

MUMBAI: The sessions court on Friday acquitted the three surviving accused in the 2011 Chembur jewellery robbery and murder case, concluding a 14-year trial after ruling that the prosecution failed to establish a complete and reliable chain of circumstantial evidence.

14-years on, court acquits all accused of Chembur jewellers’ murder

The case stems from an attack at the Dharmaraj Jewellers on PL Lokhande Road, Chembur on May 20, 2011. The owner of the shop, jeweller Pankaj Soni was found with fatal neck injuries and declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital. The court relied on medical evidence to conclude the death was homicidal, noting that the injuries could not have occurred “unless they were inflicted by someone”.

However, sessions judge SS Adkar held that although Soni’s death was proved to be homicidal, the prosecution could not link the accused to the crime beyond reasonable doubt. Regarding the core charges of dacoity and murder, the court found no conclusive evidence.

In its analysis, the court underlined that the prosecution’s case was “purely based on circumstantial evidence” and cited the Supreme Court’s requirement of a complete and unbroken chain pointing only towards guilt. That standard, the judge held, had not been met. The court added that the prosecution failed to furnish the exact details of the ornaments or cash allegedly stolen, weakening its claim that items seized from the accused were the stolen items. Although police witnesses spoke of recovering cash, jewellery and mobile phones, the court noted there was “nothing on the record to show that these articles were the same which were robbed” or that the cash was the result of selling stolen ornaments.

The accused, Sandip Gauraji Mali, Mangesh Anant Sonar, and Sachin Damu Bansode were acquitted of charges under Sections 302 (murder) and 397 (robbery or dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as relevant sections of the Maharashtra Police Act. Legal actions against the fourth accused, Anand Yashwant Sarvade, had been stopped after his death in 2013. The fifth accused, Sudhakar Gopal Pawar was discharged after a court order in 2019.

The court found a major lapse in the case involving the identification of the seized ornaments. While the victim’s father had been granted interim custody of some of the gold ornaments during the trial, the ornaments were never produced before the court for identification. As a result, the judge held that “it cannot be presumed that they were the same articles which were stolen from the shop.” This failure, the court said, substantially weakened the prosecution’s narrative.

The court was also sceptical of the alleged recoveries based on statements from the police, particularly a knife recovered from one of the accused. After examining the witness testimony, the judge found contradictions and circumstances suggesting the police already knew about the knife before they found it on the accused. Even if the recovery had been genuine, the court noted, there was no evidence linking the knife to the fatal injuries.

Other circumstantial links also failed. Testimony that one of the accused had asked a jeweller about bullion rates on the day of the incident did not amount to incriminating conduct, especially since such visits were routine. Similarly, a block of gold allegedly entrusted by one of the accused to his relative could not, without proof, be connected to melted stolen jewellery. The prosecution’s claims that the accused had been in touch with one another over phone also fell flat since call data records were never proved in accordance with law.

In conclusion, the court held that the prosecution had “failed to prove that all the accused have committed the offences with which they are charged,” and extended the benefit of the doubt to the remaining accused.