Supreme Court acquits death-row prisoner accused of murdering his son, two brothers

The Supreme Court on Friday acquitted a death-row prisoner who had earlier been convicted by the trial court and the Allahabad High Court for the murder of his son and two brothers [Irfan @ Naka vs State of Uttar Pradesh].A bench of Justices BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Prashant Kumar Mishra ordered the immediate release of Irfan from the Bareilly Central Prison.Irfan was accused of burning the deceased persons to death in August 2014, after they allegedly opposed his second marriage.The top court in its judgment expressed doubts on the reliability of the dying declarations of the deceased, noting its apprehensions against the 'mode and manner' in which they were recorded. Further,"It appears to us that whoever did the act, the inflammable substance was not directly poured or sprinkled on the three deceased persons. Had it been so, they would have immediately woken up and by the time, the room is sat on fire, they would make good their escape or catch hold of the culprit. It appears that the inflammable substance might have been poured on the floor of the room and thereafter, the fire must have been ignited. Once, the room is on fire, the person responsible for setting the room on fire would immediately leave that place."The bench added that it was 'very difficult' that the appellant-convict was still inside the room or even outside it after the incident, so as to be witnessed by the deceased as well as other witnesses while locking the room from outside. "The conduct of the accused may be unnatural because he was residing in the very same house, however, the conduct which may be a relevant fact under Section 8 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, by itself may not be sufficient to hold a person guilty of the offence of murder.".A trial court had sentenced Irfan to death in July 2017.Before the High Court, Irfan's counsel had pointed out that the room in which the deceased persons were was closed from the inside, so there was no way Irfan could have poured any inflammable substance on them. In April 2018, the Allahabad High Court upheld the death sentence and conviction of Irfan.The High Court noted that minor inconsistencies which do not affect witness testimonies adversely, are natural. It also dismissed arguments that the dying declarations of two of the deceased were tutored, as they had initially said that the fire resulted from a short circuit.This led to the appeal before the apex court..In June 2018, the top court issued notice in the appeal challenging the High Court verdict. The top court reserved its judgment on July 19 this year.A bench led by Justice Uday Umesh Lalit (now retired) had earlier stayed the execution in May 2022 and allowed the convict's psychological evaluation to determine if there were mitigating circumstances to commute his death penalty..The appeal before the top court was filed through advocate Adeeba Mujahid. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, briefed by anti-death penalty advocacy organisation Project 39A, appeared for the accused Irfan.Additional Advocate General Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad represented the UP government..[Read judgment]