A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court comprising Justice C.V.Nagarjuna Reddy and Justice M.S.K.Jaiswal on Friday acquitted Satyam Babu of the charges of murdering a female student in her hostel.
The bench reprimanded the police officers and directed initiation of proceedings against these officers and awarded costs of ₹ 1 lakh to the appellant. The bench was allowing the criminal appeal filed by Satyam Babu.
The case of police was that he had barged into a hostel at Ibrahimpatnam, near Vijaywada, and killed Ayesha Meera on December 26, 2007. The allegation was that he had raped her too.
He was found guilty by the court at Vijayawada and awarded life imprisonment.
Satyam Babu had filed appeal in the High Court.
The bench heard the matter extensively and took note of the issues raised by V. Pattabhi and Vasudha Nagaraj, counsel appearing for the appellant regarding the shoddy investigation.
The bench took into consideration the contention regarding the crime scene DNA samples being produced after the accused was apprehended. The various shortcomings in the investigation were examined in detail by the bench. The bench said that an innocent person has been shown as accused and proceeded against while real culprits had escaped.
The bench ordered initiation of proceedings against the officers who had resorted to this.
The court said Satymababu should ₹ 1 lakh towards costs.
He could initiate separate proceedings for compensation for being framed, it said.
