Uttarakhand to file review plea in SC against acquittal in 2014 rape, murder case

The SC warned against the mechanical application of capital punishment without ensuring the highest standards of proof and procedural fairness as it ordered the acquittal

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday said the state government will file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of an accused in the 2014 rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl. He said the government remains committed to ensuring justice.

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the government remains committed to ensuring justice. (X)

“The justice department has been directed to file a review petition in the case and ensure a conviction,” he said. Dhami added the government would deploy its best legal team. “Those who commit such heinous acts in Devbhoomi [Uttarakhand] will not be spared. The government stands firmly with the victim’s family.”

Dhami said the administration is conducting verification drives across the state to identify and keep a check on anti-social elements.

The nine-year-old girl’s body was recovered five days after she went missing in November from Nainital’s Kathgodam, triggering outrage. In March 2016, a special court sentenced Akhtar Ali to death and co-accused Prem Pal to five years’ rigorous imprisonment. The Uttarakhand high court upheld Ali’s death sentence in 2019.

The Supreme Court warned trial courts against the mechanical application of capital punishment without ensuring the highest standards of proof and procedural fairness. It said this undermines the rule of law and risks the gravest miscarriage of justice by extinguishing a human life irretrievably.

Hundreds of people took to the streets on Sunday and submitted a memorandum asking the state government to challenge the verdict. The girl’s uncle threatened self-immolation if a review plea was not filed.