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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder and Kidnapping |
Sentence: |
"Life imprisonment plus 8 years and Rs.9,000 fine" |
Years Imprisoned: |
18 |
Year Crime: |
1996 |
Year Convicted: |
2000 |
Year Cleared: |
2018 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
India |
County or Region of Crime: |
Delhi |
City of Crime: |
Delhi |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Subash Gupta was wrongly convicted on March 28, 2000 of murder (IPC §302), kidnapping (IPC §364), and causing disappearance of evidence (IPC §201), related to a triple murder commited at the Personal Point Health Clinic in Delhi, India in June 1996.Gupta was prosecuted based on the narrative that he alone commited the murder of the owner of the weight loss center and two of his female employees. The case against Gupta was based on circumstantial evidence, and sensational media reporting that portrayed Gupta as guilty. The prosecution alleged the three were kidnapped on June 6, 1996 by Gupta and his co-conspirators, that they were murdered on June 6 or 7, 1996. The owner was dumped near Hodal in Haryana about 72 miles from Delhi, and the two women were found on June 9, 1996 alongside a road in Chambal near Gwalior about 226 miles from Delhi. The women's bodies were in a highly decomposed state and partially eaten by animals. Gupta had eight co-defendants charged with conspiracy for allegedly having a role in the crime, but not in the actual killings, were acquitted. After his convictions Gupta was sentenced to life in prison and fined Rs.5,000 for murder, 5 years in prison and fine of Rs.3,000 for kidnapping in order to murder, and three years in prison and a fine of Rs,1,000 for causing disappearance of evidence. Gupta appealed. On January 19, 2018 the Delhi High Court set aside Gupta's conviction on the basis the prosecution failed to introduce sufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The panel of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice I. S. Mehta observed the media shaped the public perception regarding Gupta's guilt, and the trial court should not have been influenced by it. The Court's ruling stated: "71. Where there are multiple murders involved and a complex set of facts where abduction happened at one place and the murders in different locations and the bodies being thrown in different locations, it is impossible for one person to single-handedly do all of those acts. Therefore, even for this reason, the judgment of the trial Court insofar as it convicts A-1 for the aforementioned offences does not stand to reason at all. ... 91. The murder of three persons in the „Personal Point? case attracted considerable media attention when it happened in 1996. The details of the investigation, to which the media was privy, shaped public perception about the guilt of those put on trial. Two decades later, when that perception is not borne out, it invites a reflection on the criminal justice process. Courts must test the evidence gathered during investigation in the calm interiors of court halls, uninfluenced by the discussions in the media. ... 93. Unless the evidence presented before the Court passes legal muster, it will not be possible for the Court to agree with the conclusions reached in the charge sheets presented by the prosecution before it. The process of trial tests whether the distance from „may have committed the crime? to „has beyond reasonable doubt committed the crime? has been covered. In this case, the prosecution has failed to complete that journey. Suspicion, however strong, cannot and should not substitute proof. A dispassionate adjudication should be impervious to public perceptions of who might or might not be guilty. The present case points to a failure of investigation which has the inevitable result of acquittal of those put on trial." The High Court also dismissed the State's appeal against the acquittal of Gupta's eight co-defendants in the case, stating it found no reason to disagree with the trial court's reasoning and conclusion holding them not guilty of the offences, including that of conspiring with Gupta to kill the three persons." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Trial court was inordinately influenced by media reporting about the case demonizing Gupta. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On January 19, 2018 the Delhi High Court set aside Gupta's conviction on the basis the prosecution failed to introduce sufficient evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The panel of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice I. S. Mehta observed the media shaped the public perception regarding Gupta's guilt, and the trial court should not have been influenced by it." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Indian |
Information Source 1: |
"Subash Gupta vs State, No. CRL.A. 247/2000 (Delhi High Court, Jan. 19, 2018) (Setting aside convictions based on insufficient evidence of his guilt.)" |
Information Location 1: |
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/151308448/ |
Information Source 2: |
"Delhi High Court acquits main accused in 1996 personal point triple murder, By PTI, The New Indian Express (Delhi), January 22, 2018" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2018/jan/22/delhi-high-court-acquits-main-accused-in-1996-personal-point-triple-murder-1761514.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org