SC judgment in Soumya murder 'wrong': Markandey Katju explains why
Katju, who has also served as a Supreme Court judge, wrote on his Facebook page, “I have found it (Soumya case verdict) incorrect so far as it finds Govindachamy not guilty of murder but only guilty of rape.”
New Delhi: Former chairman of Press Council of India Markandey Katju has termed the Supreme court judgment in Soumya murder case as 'wrong'.
Katju, who has also served as a Supreme Court judge, wrote on his Facebook page, “I have found it (Soumya case verdict) incorrect so far as it finds Govindachamy not guilty of murder but only guilty of rape.”
He pointed out that the Supreme Court has relied on 'hearsay', which is not admissible as an evidence to conclude that the accused did not kill the victim.
Katju also said that there is a 'serious error' in the judgment which has ignored parts of section 300. According to section 300 of Indian Penal Code, a person can be charged with murder even if there was no intention to kill, but the accused inflict wounds sufficient to cause death.
Govindachamy, convicted in the sensational Soumya case in Kerala, escaped death penalty Thursday as the Supreme Court dropped murder charge against him and upheld life imprisonment for raping the 23-year-old woman.
The verdict came as shock for the victim's family which dubbed it as 'heartbreaking' and expressed anguish over the 'failure' of the state prosecutor to 'properly' present the case in apex court.
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