Recently, a Tis Hazari court has acquitted undertrial prisoner Salman Tyagi in a case alleging assault on a Deputy Jail Superintendent inside Tihar Jail, holding that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Judicial Magistrate Bharti Garg observed that the complaint itself appeared mechanical and suffered from glaring infirmities.
The incident traces back, when Tyagi, lodged, was scheduled to be produced before the court through video conferencing. The prosecution alleged that he refused to follow directions, pushed the complainant officer at the gate of the VC room, and assaulted him before other staff members intervened. Subsequently, an FIR was registered, charging him under Section 186 and Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC).
The Court questioned the integrity of the prosecution’s case, noting an unexplained delay of three days in the registration of the FIR and the absence of crucial corroborative evidence. It held that the complaint filed under Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure appeared “mechanical” and seemed intended only to implicate the accused.
Importantly, the Court recorded that CCTV footage of the alleged assault was not produced, nor was the duty roster or any other contemporaneous record establishing that the complainant was on official duty at the VC room on the relevant date. The Court observed that such omissions weakened the substratum of the case.
The Court stated, “In other words, the prosecution has failed to prove that the accused had obstructed the complainant in the discharge of official duties by assaulting him or using criminal force against him.” It concluded that the contradictions and lacunae in the prosecution’s evidence entitled the accused to the benefit of the doubt.
Advocate Deepak Sharma, representing Tyagi, submitted that inconsistencies in witness testimonies, coupled with the investigating officer’s failure to collect available CCTV footage, rendered the prosecution’s version unreliable. The defence also pointed to discrepancies regarding the date of the alleged incident and highlighted that the delay in lodging the FIR cast further doubt on the case.
Consequently, the Court extended the benefit of doubt to Salman Tyagi and acquitted him of the offences punishable under Section 186 and Section 353 of the IPC.
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