Shillong: The Meghalaya High Court acquitted Ashim Sinha on Monday. The driver spent eleven years fighting a murder charge. He is finally free.
Soma Chettri died in November 2015. Her body turned up in a room at the Raigorh Annex Chamber in Shillong. That room belonged to Sinha’s employers, and he used it for work. Police arrested him when his phone went dead. An Additional Sessions Judge handed him a life sentence last August.
Sinha appealed that ruling. His legal team tore holes in the state's case. They argued the prosecution lacked a motive. They also pointed out that another man, Ranjit Deb, shared the room and left his own belongings behind. Sinha was not hiding from the law either. He was sick with chicken pox at his family home.
Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh reviewed the evidence. They found the prosecution failed to build a solid case. The bench ruled that suspicion cannot replace facts. "Suspicion, however strong, cannot substitute for legal proof," the judges stated in their decision.
The court quashed the conviction and sentence. Sinha walked out a free man.
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