New Delhi: A Delhi court has convicted a juvenile for the 2017 murder of an undertrial prisoner in Jhajjar jail.The court rejected the defence’s claim that the accused was wrongly apprehended.Additional sessions judge Amit Sehrawat observed that the gunshot was fired from “a very close range”, leaving “no doubt” about the juvenile’s intention to kill. The act “squarely amounted to murder” under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, the court said.The prosecution, represented by additional public prosecutor Aaditya Kumar, said Rajesh, who was later killed, was produced before the Rohini court on the day of the incident under the custody of Jhajjar jail staff. He was facing trial in a case. Around 11 am, outside the court complex, the juvenile shot him. Rajesh was rushed to Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.The court noted that the evidence on record established that the boy had acted in conspiracy with others, namely Satish and Raj Kumar, to eliminate Rajesh, who was a member of a rival gang. During the investigation, the forensic team found a spherical lead slug on the spot, which was reported to have been fired from an unlicensed country-made pistol, which was also recovered from the juvenile.Relying on the forensic report, CCTV footage and testimonies of witnesses, the court said the weapon used by the juvenile was “in working condition” and that he had “illegally used an unlicensed country-made pistol” to kill Rajesh.The defence argued that three jail officials, who were on the spot, could not be counted as eyewitnesses as they had only “heard the gunshot”, not seen the shooting. The court rejected the argument, saying that it was “not necessary” that all or any of these witnesses was required to “literally see” the minor firing upon Rajesh. It noted that the witnesses were “purposely present at the spot” as they had custody of Rajesh, and therefore, were “the most relevant and reliable witnesses”.The court also rejected the plea of parity raised by the defence on the ground that the other two alleged conspirators had been acquitted, noting that it was a different case and did not apply to the juvenile.
