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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
"Life imprisonment and Rs 2,000 fine (6 months additional imprisonment if fine not paid)" |
Years Imprisoned: |
21.17 |
Year Crime: |
1996 |
Year Convicted: |
2001 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
India |
County or Region of Crime: |
Uttar Pradesh |
City of Crime: |
Nagla-Ghus |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Ram Lakhan was wrongly convicted on January 24, 2001 of murder in the stabbing death of a man named Chhavinath as he was walking on a road near Nagla-Ghus, Uttar Pradesh, India on the evening of September 13, 1996. Chhavinath was returning from the Mainpuri Bazar. Nagla-Ghus is in the interior of India, about 835 miles northeast of Mumbai. Lakhan was arrested on the morning of September 14, 1996, about 12 hours after the murder. Lakhan's prosecuton was based on the contention that two people who responded to Chhavinath's cries for help had torches, and in the dark with the only light provided by their torches they identified Lakhan as one of three men attacking him, and he inflicted a knife blow. His two alleged accomplices were not identified or ever arrested. Blood and soil samples collected at the crime scene weren't matched to Lakhan. The murder weapon wasn't recovered. Lakhan's defense was that he was misidentified by the prosecution, and that the two "eyewitnesses" had given police statements that when they reached Chhavinath "the dead body of deceased was lying there, they had not seen any person at the spot." During their direct testimony the two witnesses said they saw the incident, but on cross-examination "they denied that they had seen any person to kill the deceased." The prosecution did not declare the eyewitnesses as hostile witnesses. After his conviction following a bench trial, Lakhan was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay a fine of Rs.2000. Defaults on payment of the fine would be punished by Lakhan undergoing an additional six months of imprisonment. Lakhan appealed his conviction and sentence in 2005. On November 15, 2017 the Allahabad High Court set-aside Ram Lakhan's conviction on the basis: "The prosecution case, when judged on the touchstone of totality of the facts and circumstances, does not generate the unqualified and unreserved satisfation indispensably required to enter a finding of guilt against the appellant. ... he is entitled to the benefit of doubt." The Court ruled that the prosecution's witnesses who denied seeing any person attack Chhavinath in their police statements and on cross-examination, "have not [been] declared as hostile witnesses. Therefore, the prosecution is bound by the statement of the witnesses though not declared hostile." The Court also ordered, "The learned Amicus Curiae Sri Arvind Kumar Singh shall be paid Rs.10,000/- for providing active assistance to the Court from the fund of State Legal Services Authority." [Ram Lakhan v. State of Uttar Pradesh, Jail Appeal No. 5192 of 2005 (Allahabad High Court, 11-15-2017)] Lakhan was ordered released after 21 years and two months in custody." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On November 15, 2017 the Allahabad High Court set-aside Ram Lakhan's conviction on the basis: "The prosecution case, when judged on the touchstone of totality of the facts and circumstances, does not generate the unqualified and unreserved satisfation indispensably required to enter a finding of guilt against the appellant. ... he is entitled to the benefit of doubt."" |
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: |
"Ram Lakhan v. State of Uttar Pradesh, Jail Appeal No. 5192 of 2005 (Allahabad High Court, 11-15-2017) (Setting aside conviction and ordering acquittal based on insufficient evidence to prove Lakhan's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.)" |
Information Location 1: |
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qFMbTEm4NNDuo_RlxbjjZqwLf45xQIUD/edit |
Information Source 2: |
"21 Yrs In Jail & Finally Found ‘Not Guilty’: Allahabad HC Expresses Concern On Delay In Disposal Of Criminal Appeals, By Ashok K.M., LiveLaw.in, November 17, 2017" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.livelaw.in/21-yrs-jail-finally-found-not-guilty-allahabad-hc-expresses-concern-delay-disposal-criminal-appeals-read-order/ |
Information Source 3: |
"21 Yrs In Jail & Finally Found ‘Not Guilty’: Allahabad HC Expresses Concern On Delay In Disposal Of Criminal Appeals, By Ashok K.M., LawyersHangout.com, November 17, 2017" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.lawyershangout.com/legal-news/21-yrs-in-jail-finally-found-not-guilty-allahabad-hc-expresses-concern-on-delay-in-disposal-of-criminal-appeals-read-order/ |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org