DB overturns life sentences in 1995 Batote killing, acquits 3

JAMMU, Sept 1: Nearly three decades after a gruesome killing at Batote, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has overturned the conviction and life sentences of three men, ruling that their guilt could not be sustained once the principal accused had been acquitted.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Sanjay Parihar allowed the appeal filed by Mohd Akhter, Shafiq Ahmed and Mohd Sadiq, all residents of Batote, Ramban district.

The case dates back to July 2, 1995, when Narsingh Dev was shot dead while sleeping inside his Maruti car near a tea stall at Batote. According to the prosecution, the attackers arrived in a Maruti van, armed with an AK-56 rifle and pistols. While the main assailant, Tanveer Ahmed, allegedly fired the fatal shots, the three appellants were accused of facilitating the attack by surrounding the vehicle and preventing escape.
In 2004, the trial court convicted the appellants under Sections 302, 149, and 120-B RPC, sentencing them to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 each. Meanwhile, three co-accused who had absconded initially were later acquitted in 2017, a verdict upheld by the High Court in 2024.

The Bench noted the inconsistency of convicting alleged facilitators when the main assailants had already been acquitted on the same evidence. “When on the same set of evidence, the main assailants stood acquitted… the conviction of the co-accused on the same evidence would not sustain,” the judges observed.

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The court also rejected the State’s reliance on conspiracy charges, pointing out that no such charge was framed in the charge-sheet, and the acquittal of co-accused effectively ruled out that theory.

Allowing the appeal, the High Court set aside the convictions and sentences of the three appellants and discharged them of their bail bonds. The court also declined the criminal reference for confirmation of their life terms, bringing closure to one of the region’s longest-running criminal trials.

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