Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court has acquitted 11 people, including a death-row convict, in the 2019 double murder of a man and a woman in Sikar who were in a relationship, holding that the prosecution failed to prove an unbroken chain of circumstantial evidence against them.Setting aside the trial court’s conviction and sentences, the court also directed the director general of police (DGP) to frame a standard operating procedure within two months for the collection, seizure, preservation and proof of electronic evidence, particularly CCTV footage and call detail records (CDRs). It ordered mandatory training for investigating officers, supervisory officers and public prosecutors, and sought a compliance report within three months.A division bench of Justice Mahendar Kumar Goyal and Justice Bhuwan Goyal pronounced the judgment on Oct 30 while deciding a death reference and connected appeals arising from the Nov 30, 2024, judgment of Additional Sessions Judge No. 1, Sikar. The trial court had awarded capital punishment to one convict, imprisonment to nine others, and convicted one person for destruction of evidence.The acquitted accused are Ramgopal alias Gopal, Mahadev, Mahendra Kumar Choudhary, Sandeep Gurjar, Beerbal Dhaka, Nandlal alias Nandkar, Madanlal Chandiwal, Sohanlal Jat, Babulal alias Harnek Faldoliya, Parsaram Chopra and Rajesh Kumar.The defence had challenged the reliability of CCTV footage, citing delayed seizure of DVRs, absence of proper sealing, gaps in the chain of custody, lack of forensic examination and deficiencies in certificates supporting electronic records. The court held that the prosecution had failed to establish circumstances that conclusively pointed only to the guilt of the accused.Expressing concern over what it called casual and perfunctory investigation, the bench observed that “investigating and supervising officers were often unaware of procedures governing electronic evidence”.The court directed the DGP to frame an SOP within two months covering prompt identification and preservation of CCTV footage, seizure of original storage devices or preparation of forensic copies with recorded hash values, documentation of discrepancies in device timestamps, and proper procurement of CDRs and subscriber details.According to the case, on Oct 21, 2019, victim Ganpat Lal was summoned to a petrol pump on Palsana bypass around 11.16pm, where he was allegedly assaulted by a group of men and taken away in a passenger vehicle. His brother Baldev Godara lodged a complaint at Ranoli police station on Oct 23, following which an FIR was registered.
