New Delhi: A Delhi court today acquitted a
dismissed army man of the charge of murder and came down
heavily on the police for conducting a "very slipshod" probe
which failed to establish the motive behind the killing.
The court, however, awarded the army man two years and
nine months prison term for forging an identity card of a
colleague to secure a job in a private security agency.
Additional Sessions Judge Shalinder Kaur absolved Jai
Pal, a dismissed Lance Naik, of the charge of killing a man to
show himself as dead in order to avoid court martial
proceedings against him in a criminal case.
The court, however, held him guilty of forgery and other
criminal charges relating to use of fake documents as
genuine and also imposed a fine of Rs 2,500 on Jai Pal.
"The applicant has forged application form to obtain job
in the name of some other army person and also used identity
of that person to stay at different places. The documents
stolen from that person were also found in his possession,"
the court said.
It came down heavily on the police for the poor
investigation in the case saying it was conducted in a very
slipshod manner and failed to prove the motive of the murder
as well as identity of the deceased.
"Investigation in the case was conducted in a very
slipshod and casual manner, the benefit of which is to be
given to the accused," the court said.
Jai Pal was arrested on January 30, 2005, for allegedly
killing Ravi Bengali, a beggar at New Delhi Washing Lines here
under Nabi Karim police station and putting his I-card and
other documents to show himself as dead to avoid court martial
proceedings.
Bureau Report
