Court acquits man 18 years after being accsued of tresspass and theft

MUMBAI: Eighteen years after first being accused of committing theft in a jewellery store, a 40-year-old man was acquitted by the Andheri magistrate court last week.
It is alleged that on December 2, 1996 at Parsi Panchyat Road, Andheri the accused Santosh Nair committed trespass by entering into the shop of complainant Santoshkumar Soni and committed theft of gold ornaments and cash worth Rs 3 lakh.
The court said that except two witnesses the prosecution failed to secure the presence of remaining witnesses including panch witness and police witnesses. "The reports filed by police on September 7 shows that the witnesses are not traced out at given addresses. It is important to note here that till today prosecution did not file original case papers in this matter though specific directions were given in writing on August 16 and accused is under trial prisoner," the court said.
The court also observed that the prosecution failed to take effective steps to secure the presence of witnesses. "There is no evidence against the accused to show that accused committed lurking house trespass and had stolen golden ornaments from the shop of complainant," the court added.