Allahabad High Court Overturns 42-Year-Old Conviction Due to Missing Trial Records

The Allahabad High Court has overturned a 42-year-old conviction due to the unavailability of important trial records. Ram Singh, who was sentenced to four years in prison in 1982, has been acquitted by Justice Nalin Kumar Srivastava. The court ruled that a retrial was not possible without the records.

The Allahabad High Court has set aside a decades-old conviction, citing the unavailability of crucial trial records. Ram Singh, sentenced to four years of imprisonment by a Ballia district court in 1982, was acquitted by Justice Nalin Kumar Srivastava.

In his ruling, Justice Srivastava noted that the prosecution had admitted the impossibility of reconstructing the lost records, making a retrial unfeasible. As a result, the original conviction and sentence were overturned.

Singh had been convicted under section 201 of the IPC for destroying evidence. The sessions judge in Ballia had handed down the four-year sentence following a case lodged at Garwar police station. The High Court's decision, dated September 9, underscores the critical importance of maintaining trial records.

(With inputs from agencies.)