'Highly objectionable': Supreme Court slams Patna HC observation on widow in murder case

'Highly objectionable': Supreme Court pulls up Patna HC observation on widow in murder case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday branded a remark made by the Patna high court in a 1985 murder case as highly objectionable, saying such a comment was not commensurate with the sensitivity and neutrality expected from a court.

A view of Supreme Court of India (HT Photo/Sanjeev Verma)

The court made the remark while hearing appeals filed against a high court verdict in which a woman was abducted and murdered over a house she had inherited.

The high court had upheld the conviction of five persons in the case and had set aside the acquittal of two other co-accused. It had convicted the two persons, who were earlier acquitted of all charges by a trial court and sentenced them to life term, PTI reported.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma noted the high court had examined the question of whether the victim was residing in the house from where she was alleged to have been abducted.

The apex court also noted that relying on the testimonies of the maternal uncle and brother-in-law of the deceased as well as the investigating officer (IO), the high court had concluded that the victim was residing in the said house.

The bench noted the IO had inspected the house and no direct material, except some make-up articles, could be gathered to indicate that the victim was residing there.

It said admittedly, another woman, who was a widow, was also residing in the same portion of the house.

The Supreme Court said that the high court observed that since the woman was a window, the make-up articles could not have belonged to her.

"...there was no need for her to put on make-up, being a widow," it said.

The court said the remark was legally untenable and highly objectionable.

"In our opinion, the observation of the high court is not only legally untenable but also highly objectionable. A sweeping observation of this nature is not commensurate with the sensitivity and neutrality expected from a court of law, specifically when the same is not made out from any evidence on record," the bench said in its verdict.

It also said that the presence of make-up items can't prove that the victim was the house's resident.

"The make-up articles were linked with the deceased based on a completely unacceptable reasoning and without any corroborative material," the bench noted.

No other personal belongings of the deceased were found in the house.

The bench noted that the victim had died in August 1985 in Munger district and a report was lodged by her brother-in-law that she was abducted by seven persons from their house.

The bench noted that an FIR was lodged and later, a charge sheet was filed against seven accused, reported PTI.

The trial court had convicted five accused for commission of offences, including that of murder while the other two were acquitted of all charges, it added.

In its verdict, the apex court said there was no direct evidence on record to prove the commission of murder by the accused persons.

With inputs from PTI