Kashmir Impulse Desk
Srinagar, Nov 6
A Ganderbal Sessions Court has acquitted two men accused in a nearly three-decade-old abduction and murder case, ruling that the prosecution failed to establish their individual involvement beyond reasonable doubt after a trial that remained pending for about 23 years.
In a 106-page judgment, Additional Sessions Judge Fozia Paul acquitted Irshad Ahmad Sofi and Mohammad Yaseen Sofi of charges under Sections 364, 302, 120-B and 201 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).
The case, registered as FIR No. 173/1997 at Police Station Ganderbal, related to the alleged abduction of Ghulam Nabi Malik, a resident of Badergund, from his home on June 21, 1997. His decomposed body was recovered from the Power Canal in Ganderbal on August 16 that year.
The proceedings were the oldest pending case on the court’s docket. The investigation was initially conducted by local police before being transferred to the Crime Branch in Srinagar in May 1999.
During the investigation, officials found that certain documents and articles, including an identity card and material relating to the alleged recovery or payment of money, had not been formally seized during the initial probe. The relevant seizure memos were subsequently prepared and the material incorporated into the investigation record.
The chargesheet was initially filed before the City Judge Srinagar on October 27, 2003, and was transferred to the Court of Principal Sessions Judge Ganderbal in July 2008.
According to the prosecution, an alleged incident of indecent behaviour involving a girl from the family of one of the accused had led to hostility between the two families, eventually resulting in Malik’s abduction and murder.
Investigators alleged that the accused had conspired to abduct Malik with the assistance of people associated with security forces and counter-insurgency groups. The prosecution also relied on allegations of threats, assurances that Malik would be released and a payment of Rs 10,000 for tracing him.
Muhammad Sultan Mir, alias Sula Buchpori, had turned approver in the case and recorded a statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on September 1, 2003.
In that statement, he allegedly implicated an Army major in the abduction and disposal of the body, claiming that the officer had been promised a Pashmina shawl worth Rs 60,000. Mir later retracted his statement.
The court found that the prosecution evidence contained material contradictions and did not establish the involvement of the two surviving accused.
It said moral sympathy for the victim’s family could not replace the requirement of legal proof and that a conviction could not rest on conjecture, hearsay or the existence of hostility between families.
The court accordingly dismissed the chargesheet and acquitted Sofi and Sofi of all charges.
However, the judgment noted that the failure to establish the criminal responsibility of the accused did not erase the circumstances surrounding Malik’s forcible disappearance and the subsequent recovery of his body in circumstances indicating homicidal death.
The court also recommended that the eligibility of Malik’s widow, Hafeeza, and other dependants for compensation be examined under Section 545-A (3) of the CrPC, Samvat 1989, read with the applicable Jammu and Kashmir Victim Compensation Scheme.
It directed that a copy of the judgment, along with relevant medical records and available details, be sent to the Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Ganderbal, for assessment of the dependants’ eligibility and rehabilitation requirements.
The DLSA was asked to verify their financial circumstances, including the widow’s employment under the SRO and any compensation or financial assistance already received, before passing a reasoned order.
The court clarified that its recommendation did not establish an automatic entitlement to compensation or determine the amount payable.
