"Society Losing Faith In System Owing To Delinquency": Delhi HC Upholds Conviction Of Two For Murdering 25 Y/O Young Boy While Committing Robbery

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday upheld the conviction and sentence of two men for murdering a 25 year old young boy while committing robbery of his mobile phone observing that the society is losing faith in the system owing to delinquency.

"Before parting with the case, it would be trite to note that the present is an extremely unfortunate case where a young boy, who worked hard in order to make ends meet, tragically lost his life because of the menace created by the delinquents of society," Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Anup J Bhambhani said.

"Safety and security of the people is axiomatically paramount for them to lead a good, dignified life. Owing to delinquency, the society is losing faith in the system. The offenders, thus, need to be dealt with a stern hand. Even one life lost, is an irreparable loss we bear as a nation forever," it added.

The Court upheld the trial court orders convicting Yogesh and Akash under sec. 302 and 34 of the IPC and sentencing them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life. They were also convicted under sec. 392 and 34 and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years.

It was the case of the prosecution that on the intervening night of 13th and 14th July 2012, an information was received regarding a stabbing incident pursuant to which a person lying in a pool of blood was found at the spot. He was thereafter declared as brought dead by the hospital.

According to the statement recorded by a witness, it was stated that the appellants had attacked and stabbed the victim namely Mohit, and also robbed him off his mobile phone.

It was further stated that they had also caught hold the said witness, however he managed to free himself and ran home.

On the other hand, it was argued on behalf of the appellants that the statement of the witness was completely unreliable as he had completely recanted from his statement made in examination-in-chief and that there were major contradictions in the same.

Furthermore, it was argued that even if one supposes that the offence was committed, only culpable homicide not amounting to murder could have been made out against the two as the injury admittedly had been caused on the thigh, which was a non-vital part of the body, and also because there was no evidence on record to demonstrate the intention of the Appellants to cause death of the victim.

"Therefore, in view of the above, it can reasonably be concluded that the prosecution has successfully proved beyond of a shadow of doubt that the Appellants, in order to commit robbery, attacked the victim and PW-3, robbed the mobile phone of the victim and stabbed him with a knife causing his unfortunate death at the young age of 25 years," the Court said.

The Court also opined that it was established beyond reasonable doubt that the stab injury inflicted on the victim was committed by the Appellants while robbing him of his phone and that at the time of attacking both the victim and the witness, the bodily injury was caused with intention and not accidentally.

"Thus, in our considered opinion, there is no merit in the appeals and the decision of the Ld. Trial Court warrants no interference or modification. The judgment dated 29.02.2020 as well as the order on sentence dated 06.03.2020 passed by the Ld. Trial Court are upheld," the Court added.

Title: YOGESH v. THE STATE (GOVT.OFNCT DELHI)

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