HC discharges man accused of murder during ’93 riots

the court said statements of the accused under police custody were inadmissible as evidence in court as per section 26 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday discharged Kisan Soma Sathe, who was accused of killing three persons in Andheri in January 1993 amid communal riots in the city, saying the prosecution had failed to provide corroborative evidence against him to support the confessional statements of five other accused.

HC discharges man accused of murder during ’93 riots

“Implication by the co-accused only on the basis of a disclosure statement without any corroboration is not legally admissible,” the single judge bench of justice Milind N Jadhav said, striking down the November 2022 trial court order rejecting Sathe’s discharge application.

The first information report (FIR) pertaining to the case was registered at the MIDC police station, based on a complaint by Firoz Mohammad Sultan, an employee of Nobel Electric Company in the Andheri MIDC complex. According to the FIR, on January 12, 1993, 15 people armed with swords, iron rods and sticks entered the premises of Blue Steel company in the MIDC complex and assaulted the on-duty watchmen – Soheb Khan and his son Naushad Khan. Soheb died on the spot whereas Naushad succumbed to his injuries the same evening. One more person, Irfan Sadikali Ansari, who was present in the Blue Steel company premises at the time, was also assaulted and succumbed to his injuries.

Sultan had named eight persons in the FIR, all of whom were arrested. The police also recovered the weapons purportedly used in commission of the crime from them. In their statements before the police, five of the accused, who confessed to the crime, claimed that Sathe too was involved in it.

Advocate SR More, representing Sathe, contended that he was named as an accused merely on the basis of confessional statements of the five co-accused and no evidence or link had been presented in court to corroborate their statements. Sathe’s name was neither included in the charge-sheet, nor was he arrested in the case, the lawyer said.

Justice Jadhav accepted the argument and noted that the prosecution had failed to collect material or evidence to corroborate the statements of other arrested accused in the case. He said statements of the accused under police custody were inadmissible as evidence in court as per section 26 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

“Merely on the basis of alleged confessional statements of the co-accused qua the applicant and more specifically in the absence of any corroborative evidence, it would not be safe to indict and convict the applicant,” said justice Jadhav while discharging Sathe from the case.