The judgment was passed on criminal appeals moved by the seven accused and the death sentence reference moved by the State to confirm the death sentence imposed on two of the accused, Anilkumar and Ajithkumar, by the trial court.
The prosecution case was that the appellants, along with other accused kidnapped, tortured and brutally murdered Santhosh for allegedly having an affair with the wife of one of them.
The fourth accused in the case, Nazarudeen, had turned approver for the prosecution during the trial.
The appellants’ primary argument before the High Court was that Nazarudeen’s evidence, which was the main basis of the prosecution case, was riddled with inconsistencies and contradictions.
They alleged that Nazarudeen, who was initially an accused, had been tortured by the police and coerced to turn approver. They further submitted that all other eye witnesses of the prosecution turned hostile, the forensic reports were unreliable, and that this was a clear case of shoddy investigation.
Source: Barandbench
