Supreme Court acquits four in alleged kidnapping and ransom case, calls prosecution story a ‘fabrication’
Justices B R Gavai & Sandeep Mehta [09-07-2024]

Read Order: GAURAV MAINI v. THE STATE OF HARYANA [SC- CRIMINAL APPEAL NO(S). 696 OF 2010]

LE Correspondent

New Delhi, July 15, 2024: In a scathing judgment, the Supreme Court has acquitted four persons who were convicted by the lower courts for allegedly kidnapping a boy and demanding a ransom of Rs. 1 crore in Panchkula, Haryana in 2003, holding that the entire prosecution story was “concocted and does not inspire confidence”.

A bench comprising Justice B R Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta noted several “grave doubts”, “lacunae” and “shortcomings” in the evidence which completely destroyed the prosecution case.

The four appellants - Gaurav Maini, Gaurav Bhalla, Munish Bhalla and Sanjay @ Sanju - were convicted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Panchkula in 2005 under sections 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 392 (robbery) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment. Their convictions were upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2009.

However, the Supreme Court found that the FIR was registered on dubious grounds without proper verification. The Top Court also pointed out the unexplained delay by the complainant family in approaching the police even after the kidnapped boy had returned home after alleged payment of ransom. Other holes in the prosecution story included failure to identify the accused promptly, discrepancies in the recovery of alleged ransom amount, non-examination of a crucial witness, and the kidnapped boy identifying some accused for the first time in Court.

Holding that the accused appear to have been framed for ulterior motives, the Supreme Court set aside their conviction, allowed their appeals, and ordered their acquittal and release. The accused had already spent 7-10 years in jail.