New Delhi: Asking the High Courts to be careful in examining the evidence so as not to acquit those involved in ghastly crimes, the Supreme Court has ruled that merely because the investigation was faulty should not be ground for acquittal of persons convicted by trial courts.

This ruling was given by a Bench comprising Justice S Rajendra Babu and Justice Arun Kumar while setting aside the order of Allahabad High Court, which had acquitted 10 persons convicted by the trial court for murdering two persons in village Amghat in 1978 due to family feud.

All the ten were sentenced to life imprisonment and the Supreme Court setting aside the 1994 Judgement of the High Court, directed police to take the accused to custody for serving the remaining part of the sentence.

Allowing the appeal of the State Government against the High Court order, the Bench said, "The High Court in a highly cursory and cavalier fashion, totally ignoring the evidence of eye witnesses, set aside all the conviction merely on the ground that investigation was faulty pointing out some minor discrepancies in the evidence."

Writing for the Bench, Justice Kumar said, "Assuming the investigation was faulty, for that reason alone the accused persons cannot be let off or acquitted.

"For the fault of the prosecution, the perpetrators of such a ghastly crime cannot be allowed to go scot free," he said adding, "The High Court remained on the periphery and never attempted to grapple with the substance of the evidence on record."

PTI