A city court has rapped the police for falsely implicating innocent people in their desperation to crack cases as it acquitted an accused in a decade-old hit-and-run case. Giving the benefit of doubt to the accused, Maha Singh, who was chased and arrested by two policemen, metropolitan magistrate (MM) Prashant Sharma, said, “This is a case
which is an example of how police officials implicate innocent persons in their desperation to crack a case.”
The court acquitted Singh on the ground that prosecution’s evidence was not trustworthy as the sole witness was drunk. The court also pulled up the two policemen for not helping the injured and preferring to chase the alleged offender.
Noting a series of lacunae in the case, the court said, “Identity of the accused, date, time and place of arrest, absence of public witnesses during investigation despite availability, contradictory stands of the prosecution and their non-reliability, together dislodge the prosecution case.”
The only public witness, Ashok, who was injured in the accident, was also found under influence of alcohol during medical examination, the judge noted. The court pointed out that it was not clear whether Ashok saw the number plate and the accused driving the vehicle or not. “All they cared was to apprehend the accused. Any prudent person who would have helped the injured,” the court said.