The Supreme Court has acquitted Vishwajeet Kerba Masalkar, a death-row convict in the 2012 Pune triple-murder case. Citing insufficient evidence, the Court ruled that the “prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt” in the case, which was based on circumstantial evidence. The ruling sets aside both the conviction and death sentence.
New Delhi: In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court today, on October 17th, acquitted Vishwajeet Kerba Masalkar, a death-row convict, in connection with the brutal triple-murder that occurred in Pune in 2012. The case, which had stirred public interest for over a decade, was based entirely on circumstantial evidence.
A Bench of Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra, and KV Viswanathan delivered the verdict, noting the prosecution’s inability to conclusively prove guilt. “Since it is a case of circumstantial evidence where the prosecution has failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, we have allowed the appeal,” the Bench stated.
The crime in question involved the murder of Masalkar’s mother, wife, and two-year-old daughter in 2012. The convict was accused of killing his family after they reportedly objected to an extra-marital affair he was having with a colleague. Following the murders, Masalkar had initially told the police that his family had been killed during a theft at his home. However, this explanation quickly unraveled during the investigation.
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Police found several inconsistencies in Masalkar’s account. For instance, there was no evidence of any items having been stolen from the house, nor were there signs of forced entry. Moreover, investigators grew suspicious when it was revealed that an elderly neighbor had sustained injuries during the time of the murders. It was later discovered that the convict had attacked the neighbor, likely to prevent him from reporting the crime.
In 2016, a Pune trial court convicted Masalkar and sentenced him to death, labeling the crime as a cold-blooded murder. The Bombay High Court upheld this death sentence in July 2019, categorizing the crime as belonging to the “rarest of the rare” category, warranting capital punishment. However, the High Court stayed its ruling pending the appeal’s outcome in the Supreme Court.
Masalkar’s appeal was admitted by the Supreme Court in January 2020, and the final verdict was reserved on September 25, 2023. Upon review of the evidence, the top court found that the prosecution had not established guilt “beyond reasonable doubt” — a fundamental requirement in cases based on circumstantial evidence. As a result, the Bench set aside both the conviction and the death sentence.
The convict was represented by a team of distinguished lawyers, including Advocates Payoshi Roy, K Paari Vendhan, Siddhartha, S Prabu Ramasubramanian, Bharathimohan M, Santhosh K, P Ashok, and Manoj Kumar A. Meanwhile, the State of Maharashtra was represented by Advocates Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, Bharat Bagla, Sourav Singh, Aditya Krishna, Preet S Phanse, Adarsh Dubey, and Yamini Singh.
This verdict marks a critical juncture in the Indian legal system’s handling of cases based on circumstantial evidence. The Supreme Court’s decision to acquit a death-row convict highlights the necessity of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, especially in cases involving capital punishment.
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