In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court has granted bail to Manjeet Karketta, a man who has been in jail since 2018 on charges of murder, despite the fact that the identity of the supposed victim remains unknown. Justice Girish Kathpalia, presiding over the case, expressed shock at the state of the investigation, highlighting several critical shortcomings.
“The investigation of this case shocks the conscience of this court,” remarked Justice Kathpalia during the hearing on April 21. “Till date, the deceased has not been identified, and pivotal evidence such as the ‘last seen’ hypothesis fell apart when the person he was allegedly last seen with was found to be alive.”
The case began when Karketta was arrested on May 17, 2018, after body parts were discovered and initially believed to belong to one Soni alias Chhoti. It was later confirmed that Soni was alive, leaving the true identity of the deceased a mystery. Despite the filing of five chargesheets, the court criticized both the investigators and senior police officers for their lack of diligence in supervising the investigation.
The prosecution argued against the bail, citing evidence that Karketta was “last seen” with the victim and that his presence at the crime scene was supported by call data records. However, Karketta’s defense contested the reliability of the location data from cell phone towers, arguing that it covered a broad area and did not conclusively place him at the crime scene at the time of the murder.
In his ruling, Justice Kathpalia stated, “It is extremely saddening that a human being lost their life in such a gruesome manner back in 2018, and yet the identity of the deceased has not been established.” He further emphasized that the accused could not be deprived of liberty indefinitely on such uncertain grounds.
