Delhi court acquits 3 key accused in 2009 Panipat acid attack case

A Delhi court on Wednesday acquitted three people 16 years after they were charged with criminal conspiracy in a 2009 acid attack. Additional Sessions Judge Jagmohan Singh acquitted Yashvinder, Mandeep Mann, and Bala, citing a lack of evidence. The three were accused of conspiring with a juvenile to carry out an acid attack on Panipat MBA student Shaheen Malik.

The juvenile, who attacked the victim with acid, was convicted on December 17, 2015, under IPC Section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide).

The subsequent penal provision dealing with the offence, Section 326 A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by the use of acid), was introduced by the 2013 Criminal Law (Amendment) Act. The court announced the verdict on Wednesday in camera.

“The court acquitted all the accused, citing insufficient evidence, a faulty and incomplete investigation, and the absence of the victim’s evidence on record, though an inquiry has been ordered against the investigating officer,” the victim’s advocate, Madiah Shahjar, told reporters.

“While the court expressed sympathy, it stated that justice, not sympathy, was sought after a 16-year legal battle. The decision will be challenged in the Delhi High Court and, if required, in the Supreme Court,” the lawyer said.

Court sources said that a detailed order in the matter would be issued on December 26. According to Priyadarshani, the counsel of the accused, Bala, was charged under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 326 and 308, while Yashvinder was charged under sections 364 A (kidnapping for ransom), 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 511 (punishment for attempting an offence). Mandeep was tried for the offences under IPC sections 120B,326 and 308, the advocate said.

She said that the juvenile had not been convicted for the offence of criminal conspiracy — a fact that was brought to the notice of the present court. According to the prosecution, Malik was attacked with acid in Haryana’s Panipat in 2009 after he moved there for a job as a student counsellor at a college owned by Yashvinder.

At the same time, Malik enrolled in an MBA programme at Punjab Technical University.

The prosecution claimed that the victim faced sexual harassment at her workplace from Yashvinder.

Yashvinder’s wife, Bala, conspired with two university students, Mandeep Mann and the juvenile, to attack Malik.

In 2013, the case was transferred to Delhi’s Rohini court.

On December 4, the Supreme Court, while hearing a PIL filed by the victim, termed tardy trials in acid attack cases as a “mockery of the system” and directed all high courts to submit details of such pending cases across the country within four weeks.

The apex court termed the prolonged delay in Malik’s case a “national shame” and directed the trial to be held on a day-to-day basis.