Delhi court acquits man accused of violating Excise Act

New Delhi, April 11 (IANS) A Delhi court on Tuesday acquitted a man who had been accused of violating the Delhi Excise Act for possessing liquor bottles beyond the permissible limit during a party at a farmhouse, stating that the prosecution's story was "false and concocted" in light of the facts presented.

The court was hearing a case against Ritv Kapoor, who was charged under Section 33 of the Delhi Excise Act, 2009 for allegedly possessing 24 liquor bottles, including 14 empty bottles, nine full bottles and one partly consumed bottle of liquor during a party at a farmhouse in Gadaipur in Mehrauli at around 2 a.m. on January 9.

The prosecution claimed that Kapoor, the owner of the farmhouse, organised the party where alcohol was distributed although he lacked the necessary permits.

"I hold that the prosecution has failed to prove its case against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. Benefit of doubt is given to the accused. Accordingly, the accused is acquitted of the offence punishable Under Section 33 of the Delhi Excise Act, 2009," Metropolitan Magistrate Ashwani Panwar said in a recent order.

The magistrate said there was "no plausible explanation" for the non-joining of independent witnesses despite the fact that the place of recovery was a thickly populated public place.

"Further, the seal remained with a junior police officer only and it has not been proved that the seal was handed over to any other independent public person and therefore, the possibility of the sample being tampered with cannot be ruled out," the magistrate said.

The prosecution failed to submit the daily diary (DD) entries made by the head constable and sub-inspector about their departure from the police station for patrolling duties, the magistrate said. There was also no explanation for why the probe was not handed over to a superior officer.

"No document has been filed pertaining to the ownership of the farm from where illicit liquor, as alleged by the prosecution, was recovered and no notice was issued by the investigating officer (IO) to the owner of the farmhouse for producing the ownership documents," the magistrate said, adding that the same renders the entire prosecution story as false and concocted.

The magistrate said it is the cardinal principle of criminal jurisprudence that if there is a reasonable doubt with regard to the guilt of the accused, the accused is entitled to benefit of doubt, resulting in acquittal.