SC quashes criminal case against cop due to 35-year delay in trial | India News
Amit Anand ChowdhuryNew Delhi: For the first time, a criminal case against a police officer, lying dormant for 35 years, has been quashed due to delay in the trial process.“We are informed that a total of five accused, including the present petitioner, have been charge-sheeted. Two of the five co-accused have died and the other two co-accused have been acquitted as the prosecution has failed to produce any witness for the purpose of recording oral evidence,” said a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuiyan.“Considering the facts and circumstances of this case, particularly the lapse of nearly 35 years, we are inclined to quash the proceedings on this ground alone,” it said.The officer faced prosecution under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 323 (causing hurt) and 504 (insult) and section 120 (investigation of accidents) of the Railway Act.Reasons for delay in state division: U.PThe case registered in 1989 was pending before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Railways), Prayagraj.Uttar Pradesh The SC was told that the delay was due to division Uttarakhand was created in 2000. The accused were living in Uttarakhand and did not appear before the court in UP, the state said. The SC stayed the proceedings against the police officer last week.
