"IO Literally Slept Over Forensic Reports": MP High Court Reverses Rape & Murder Conviction After 10 Yrs, Orders Enquiry Against Errant Officers

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, Indore Bench recently chided the investigating agency for not utilizing the scientific evidence available to them so as to make a watertight case against an accused in a murder and rape case, thereby leaving the Court with no choice but to acquit him. Singh further held that the negligent approach taken by the IO was not acceptable to the Court- It is inconceivable that after recovering hairs of an accused from the hands of the deceased, and despite a specific observation by the Scientific officer that DNA is necessary for the confirmation of the matching the hairs seized and that of the appellant, no efforts were made by the investigating officer to get the DNA profiling done which has led to sheer injustice, not only to the appellant but also to the deceased whose culprit has never been caught or has walked free today by the order of this court. To add insult to the injury, the investigating officer has also failed to get the DNA profiling of the slides of the deceased which had human spermatozoa as per the FSL report which would have made a water tight prosecution case but it was also not done, may be purposefully or negligently. v. State of Uttar Pradesh, the Court opined that in a case where the Prosecution has the best evidence available with them, but deliberately withholds the same, its benefit has to be given to the accused- So far as the facts of the present case are concerned, we have already discussed that the prosecution has relied upon the last seen together evidence, despite having one of the best evidences which could be made available in these modern times to a prosecution agency i.e.