- (1.) In a Mid Summer Evening of June 21st, 2004, the otherwise unobtrusive and the quiet hamlet of Baruipara in the District of Nadia and a less traversed brick laid pathway riveted the entire neighbourhood upon discovery of the mortal remains of Arshed Ali Mondal @ Lalu, who was found with injuries as noticed by the Autopsy Surgeon, P.W.20, Dr. Ajit Kr. Biswas, Medical Officer attached to Nadia District Hospital.
(2.) Fastened with the imPlication of the said murder of Lalu, the Present resPondents were Placed in the array of accused Persons in Sessions Trial No. 1 (June), 2005 to answer the following Charge: First-That you, on or about the 21st day of June, 2004at BariPur near the house of Suklal Sk. under P.S. Tehatta in furtherance of common intention did commit murder intentionally causing the death of Arsed @ Lalu Mondal and thereby committed an offence Punishable under Section 302 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code, and within my cognizance," Secondly--That you, on or about the same day and at the same Place were a member of an unlawful assembly and did in Prosecution of the common object of such assembly commit murders Intentionally causing the death of Arshed @ Lalu Mondal, commit the offence of rioting with deadly weaPons to wit ram dao etc. and thereby committed an offence Punishable under Section 148 of the Indian Penal Code, and within my cognizance. Thirdly-That you with others on or about the 29th day of May, 2004 and before and after that date at BaruiPara under P.S. Tehatta, agreed to do an illegal act to wit to commit murder of Arshed @, Lalu Mondal by illegal means and the same act of murder was done in Pursuance of such agreement and thereby committed an offence Punishable under Section 120B read with Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and within my cognizance." Fortune ultimately smiled when they were absolved of all the aforesaid Charges before the learned Additional Sessions Judge, First Court Krishnagar(hereinafter referred to as the 'learned Trial Court') by virtue of the Judgment and Order under APPeal dated 24/05/2007. The State of West Bengal, doubting the correctness of the imPugned Order of acquittal, has carried the same in APPeal.
(3.) There are some well-settled parameters guiding the field of Appeal against acquittal by virtue of several pronouncement of the Apex Court and the various High Courts. Very recently, the Supreme Court in M. C. All and Anr. v. State of Kerala, 2010 2 CalCriLR 220 has fructified the position in Paragraph 44 of the said decision wherein it was held : ".................it becomes evidence that if two reasonable conclusions are possible on the basis of the evidence on record, the appellate Court should not disturb the finding of acquittal. The acquittal re-enforces and reaffirms the presumption of Innocence of the accused." On the anvil of the same and keeping in mind that the presumption of innocence fortifies in favour of the Respondent, who has earned an Order of acquittal, we would be required to see as to whether the Order under Appeal passes the Litmus test.;