Supreme Court acquits man in murder case

After being awarded life term in a murder case and spending three years in jail, a 50-year-old man has finally been acquitted by the Supreme Court, which held that he was falsely charged by the deceased's wife and daughter due to a family dispute.

After being awarded life term in a murder case and spending three years in jail, a 50-year-old man has finally been acquitted by the Supreme Court, which held that he was falsely charged by the deceased's wife and daughter due to a family dispute.

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Setting aside the life sentence of Gajula Surya Prakasa Rao by Andhra Pradesh High Court, the apex court said though appellate courts normally would not like to "re-appreciate" the evidence examined by the trial court, in exceptional cases where there appears to be a miscarriage of justice, it was bound to interfere.

"Enmity between the deceased and the appellant may be one possible reason for her (deceased's wife) to implicate the appellant in the case after deliberations.

"We are conscious that normally this Court would not substitute its opinion by re-appreciating the evidence with that of concurrent findings of the two courts below.

"But in the present case, having considered the findings of the courts below, we hold that the courts below found the appellant guilty on the basis of evidence of PWs (prosecution witnesses) -- 3 (wife) and 4 (daughter) upon which no reliance could be placed for the reasons stated herein above," a Bench of Justices B Sudershan Reddy and J M Panchal said.

The apex court passed the judgement setting aside the life sentence of Rao, awarded by a sessions court in Andhra Pradesh and upheld by the High Court for the murder of Cherukuri Gangaraju in April 2002.