Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday announced that the state government will approach the Supreme Court with a review petition challenging the acquittal of an accused in the 2014 rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl in Kathgodam, Nainital.
Dhami emphasised the government’s commitment to ensuring justice in the case, saying, “The justice department has been directed to file a review petition in the case and ensure a conviction. The government will deploy its best legal team. Those who commit such heinous acts in Devbhoomi will not be spared. The government stands firmly with the victim’s family.”
He further said that verification drives are being conducted across the state to identify and monitor anti-social elements.
The victim went missing in November 2014, and her body was recovered five days later, sparking widespread outrage. In March 2016, a special court awarded the death penalty to Akhtar Ali and sentenced co-accused Prem Pal to five years’ rigorous imprisonment. The Uttarakhand High Court confirmed Ali’s death sentence in 2019.
However, on September 10, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol, and Sandeep Mehta set aside the conviction and acquitted Ali. The court held that the DNA analysis used as evidence was unreliable since it had been conducted by a botany expert with no expertise in human DNA profiling.
While acquitting Ali, the top court issued a stern caution to trial courts, warning against the “mechanical application” of capital punishment without ensuring the highest standards of proof and procedural fairness. It stressed that such lapses risk the gravest miscarriage of justice by irreversibly extinguishing a human life.
The acquittal triggered protests across Nainital district, with hundreds taking to the streets and submitting a memorandum urging the state government to challenge the verdict. The girl’s uncle threatened to self-immolate if a review petition was not filed, adding urgency to the government’s decision.
