Acquitals, inquest dams cop

Acquitals, inquest dams cop

Preetu Nair, TNN

PANAJI: Police delay in registering cases, discrepancy in witness statements and hurt certificates, investigating officer's failure in visiting
the crime scene, stereo type recording of statements, panchnamas drawn at police station due to which panchas are unable to stand the test of cross examination, are prime reasons for majority of cases ending in acquittal in the courts.

Amidst allegations of a poor conviction rate, senior police officials after going through cases and interacting with public prosecutors and the director of prosecution arrived at some of the major reasons for acquittals in cases. They found that it is not just stock panchas and witnesses turning hostile, that are responsible for the cases falling in the court. The reasons were discussed at a workshop for police sub-inspectors of North Goa on Saturday.

Explaining the reasons for acquittals, especially in hurt cases, SP (traffic) Arvind Gawas said, "Delay in registering of FIR or medical examination of victim, discrepancy in hurt certificate, failure to get the accused medically examined and ascertaining the blood group of both victim and accused, failure to record statement of witnesses mentioned in complaint and delay in recovery of assault weapon and failure to ensure that it is sealed are some of the reasons for acquittals in hurt cases."

He said that few common errors such as failure to mention the kind of light used if the panchnama was drawn at night, failure to record the photographer's statement and attach photo negatives and converting a non cognizable case to a first information report without the court's permission leads to acquittal in court.

Further, SP (coastal security) O R Kudtarkar said that contradiction in the deposition of the witnesses and recording the witnesses' statement in a stereo type manner, besides failure to draw panchnama with due care are reasons for acquittal.

"If the investigating officer suspects that the witness may turn hostile, then he should ensure that the witnesses' statement is recorded u/s 164 (5) CrPC by a special magistrate. Also in a large number of cases, panch witnesses are not taken to the spot and the panchanama is actually prepared at the police station (by calling some stock panch witnesses) and as soon as circumstantial evidence is collected it has to be immediately deposited in the malkhana. But the same is invariably not done," added SP Kudtarkar.
The purpose of the workshop was to help newly recruited PSIs to understand the reasons for acquittals and ensure that they provide a consistent police response. SP (north) Bosco George said, "During my visits to police stations and on interacting with the new PSIs and going through their investigation and case papers, it was felt that they needed to be brushed up on the latest amendments and trained in proper documentation."

In the just concluded assembly session, the police had faced flak for a poor conviction rate. In 2005, out of the 2,119 cases registered under the Indian Penal Code, 1,316 cases were solved while 350 cases ended in acquittals or a discharge of the accused by the court.

It was a similar story in the following years, when in 2006, out of the 2,204 cases, 1,355 cases were detected while 247 saw acquittals or discharge of the accused. In 2007, of 2,479 cases, 1,616 cases were solved, while 137 cases were discharged by the court. In 2008 out of the 2,742 cases, 1,803 cases were solved and 33 cases ended in acquittals. Also in matka cases, two accused were convicted.

14 August, 2009, The Times of India, Goa edition