MP High Court exonerates tribal medico in murder case 13 years after conviction, asks govt to pay Rs 42 lakh as compensation

Jabalpur: Setting aside the conviction of a tribal man accused of murdering a woman, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has slammed the police saying they investigated the case with the sole purpose of falsely implicating him, and directed the state government to pay him Rs 42 lakh as he had to languish in prison for 13 years.

Stating that the case reveals a sordid saga of manipulative and preconceived investigation followed by a malicious prosecution, the high court also said that the conviction threw the man's entire life into disarray.

Chandresh Marskole, now 34 years old, was arrested in 2008 in connection with the alleged murder when he was in the final year of MBBS course at Bhopal-based Gandhi Medical College. He was accused of killing his girlfriend and dumping her body in Pachmarhi in the state.

A division bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Sunita Yadav, on Wednesday, set aside Marskole's conviction for murder while disposing of his appeal against the trial court's 2009 judgement.

"The appellant (Marskole) shall be set at liberty forthwith," the HC said.

The case reveals "a sordid saga of manipulative and preconceived investigation followed by a malicious prosecution, where the police have investigated the case with the sole purpose of falsely implicating Marskole and perhaps, deliberately protecting a prosecution witness (Dr Hemant Verma) who may have been the actual culprit," the HC order read.

"The fact that the appellant has spent more than 13 years awaiting justice, and in the facts and circumstances unique to this case, we award Marskole a compensation of Rs 42,00,000, which shall be paid by the State within 90 days from the date of this order," it said.

"Thereafter, it shall attract an interest of nine per cent per annum till the date of payment," it added.

He has spent over 4,740 days in prison, first as an undertrial after being taken into custody on September 20, 2008 (formal arrest was made on September 25, 2008) and thereafter as a convict, the HC said.

Even by modest accounts, the appellant would have earned at least Rs three lakh per annum, whether it be in government service or in private practice, the court said.

The counsel for the appellant has argued that the case against Marskole is a trumped up case on account of previous enmity with PW1 (prosecution witness Dr Hemant Verma), arising from campus politics and that PW1, using his influence with the then Bhopal Inspector General of Police Shailendra Shrivastava, was the main culprit who had committed the murder of the deceased and with the tacit complicity of the police, falsely implicated the appellant, it said.

"Moreover, PS (Police Station) Kohefiza that conducted the entire investigation was under the jurisdiction of Mr Shailendra Shrivastava, the then IG Bhopal and therefore his influence in the case, though no more than a lingering presence like du Maurier's (fictional character) Rebecca, was enough for the trial court to find that the entire investigation showed signs of manipulation though the same may not be directly attributable to Mr Shailendra Shrivastava," the order read.

The appellant in this case, a Gond tribal, who with much difficulty, thanks to the provision for affirmative action in the Constitution, made it to a state-run medical college and was in the fourth (final) year of MBBS and was on the verge of becoming a full-fledged doctor, a support for his family and a source of inspiration for his community, it said. Due to this case, his entire life has been thrown into "disarray", the court added.

Therefore, in the unique factual circumstances of this case, we hold that the appellant is eligible for compensation on account of the violation of his fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the bench observed.

The case against Marskole was entirely based on circumstantial evidence and there were no eyewitnesses to the alleged murder, the high court added.

The high court also cited the Supreme Court order in which former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan was awarded a compensation of Rs 50 lakh. Narayanan was indicted in the probe by the Kerala Police for alleged espionage, but exonerated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"During the course of investigation, which the Supreme Court concluded was malicious, Nambi Narayanan had to spend about 50 days as an undertrial," the HC order noted, adding that in comparison, Marskole's fate was almost one of eternal damnation.

As per the prosecution, on August 20, 2008, Dr Hemant Verma told police that Marskole had taken his car and he suspected something was fishy. Three days later, the body of Marskole's girlfriend was found in Pachmarhi. On July 31, 2009, the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment.