In a pivotal judgment, the Rajasthan High Court has exonerated Iqbal, a man who endured 12 years of incarceration due to a wrongful conviction in the murder of his wife. The bench, comprising Justices Pankaj Bhandari and Bhuvan Goyal, not only accepted Iqbal’s appeal but also mandated the state government to award him a compensation of Rs 25 lakhs within a span of three months. This decision effectively overturns the prior verdict from May 11, 2016, by Jaipur’s Special Court for Women Harassment Cases, which had condemned him to life imprisonment.
The tragic incident dates back to May 13, 2011, when Iqbal’s wife succumbed to burn injuries. Despite the circumstances of her demise, the police hastily implicated Iqbal in her murder, leading to his subsequent arrest and conviction. Iqbal’s legal representatives, Rajesh Goswami and Nikhil Sharma, ardently contended that the police had erroneously accused him. Nikhil Sharma, in particular, underscored the lower court’s oversight in neglecting the testimony of the victim’s 6-year-old son. Furthermore, the court’s failure to interrogate the medical professional who attended to Iqbal’s wife was also spotlighted as a significant lapse.
The Rajasthan High Court’s judgment, which aligns with a similar case where the court found that the deceased had taken her own life, underscores the profound implications of malicious prosecution. The court’s directive for compensation serves as a poignant reminder of the irreversible damages caused by wrongful convictions and the paramount importance of judicial diligence.
