Soumya Vishwanathan murder: Confession of main accused admissible, no contradictions in material evidence, says court

New Delhi: A Delhi court that on Wednesday convicted four men of the murder of television journalist Soumya Vishwanathan underlined that the confessional statement of the main accused was an “admissible piece of evidence” under the provision of the Maharastra Control of Organised Crime Act.

The court also observed that the prosecution had “duly proved” various aspects of the investigation and that the material evidence was without contradictions.

The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) is a special law for prevention and control of criminal activity by organised crime syndicates or gangs.

According to the prosecution, main accused Ravi Kapoor, who had shot Vishwanathan on September 30, 2008, was the kingpin of an organised crime syndicate involving other four co-accused, Amit Shukla, Ajay Kumar, Baljeet Malik, and Amit Sethi.

Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey said, "The confessional statement of the accused Ravi Kapoor is found to be an admissible piece of evidence in the present trial as per provision of Section 18 (1) of the MCOCA and found to be duly proved to be recorded in accordance with the law and legal principles in various judgments."

According to Section 18(1), "Confession made by a person before a police officer, not below the rank of the Superintendent of Police and recorded by such police officer either in writing or on any mechanical devices like cassettes, tapes or soundtracks from which sounds or images can be reproduced, shall be admissible in the trial of such person or co-accused, abettor or conspirator."

The court rejected the argument of the defence counsel that Kapoor's signature in his statement was obtained forcibly and that he provided the statement after being coerced.

Noting the evidence before it, the court said Kapoor's statement was given voluntarily without any coercion, fear or pressure and after due knowledge of the fact that the same can be read against him.

In the 261-page verdict, the court also said there were no material contradictions in crucial pieces of evidence, including the date and time of the victim's death, the daily diary entry and the crime scene report.

It said the cause of death -- ante mortem cranio -- cerebral damage consequent upon firearm-was duly proved.

"The prosecution has also duly proved the viscera report of the victim which clearly establishes the fact that the cause of the death of the victim was only the injury received from the bullet fired upon her. It further establishes the fact that the victim was not under the influence of any chemical and she was not in a drunken condition at the time of the incident," the court said.

The "scientific finding" of the Assistant Director, Physics, Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) Rohini, corroborated the prosecution case and Kapoor's confessional statement regarding the sequence, manner and mode of the incident, it said.

The court noted that according to his statement, Kapoor narrated and admitted that he fired at the victim with a country-made pistol from his car which he was driving parallel to the victim's car on the right side.

"It also corroborated by the admission of the accused Ravi Kapoor in his confessional statement that when the bullet hit the victim, the vehicle of the victim got imbalanced and the car of the accused persons hit from its left side," the court said.

It said the Deputy Director of the FSL proved that the seized bullet, which was recovered from the victim's body, was not discharged from a standard firearm and that the said “deformed bullet” was covered under the definition of ammunition as defined under the Arms Act.

The prosecution has duly proved that the death of the victim was caused by a bullet fired through a firearm of non-standard specification, a country-made pistol, while she was travelling in her vehicle, the court said.

The bullet was targeted at the victim by the person who was also moving at a similar speed in another vehicle, and after the victim's death, her vehicle collided with the divider, it said.

The court said the prosecution had produced "the circumstantial evidence, scientific evidence and eyewitnesses" to corroborate Kapoor's confessional statement establishing that Kapoor in furtherance of common intention with Shukla, Kumar and Malik had murdered Vishwanathan.