Supreme Court pulls up Uttar Pradesh over acquittal
Blast-accused cleared in 11 of 10 cases.
New Delhi: It’s a shame on the Uttar Pradesh government that an accused facing 11 criminal cases, including some bomb blast offences, got acquitted in 10 cases as the prosecution has not been able to get conviction even in one case, the apex court noted on Tuesday.
A bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud expressed shock at the lapse on the part of the prosecution that granted bail to the accused Gulzar Ahmed Wani in the remaining case if the trial is not completed by October 31 this year. Counsel said that the accused was branded as a terrorist from Kashmir and was a student of Aligarh University. He said accused was acquitted in 10 out of 11 cases and in the last case he is in jail since 2001.
On behalf of the UP government, it was submitted that the accused was involved in offences, including the Parliament attack.
The CJI told the State counsel, “He is acquitted in all the 10 cases and for 16 years he is now in jail. What a shame on your part that you are not able to get conviction even in one case.”