Supreme Court acquitted a man who had been charged with the murder of his female colleague, a superior, at a telecom company. The accusation stemmed from the horrifying act of setting her on fire after pouring petrol. The Court's decision was based on the dismissal of four dying declarations due to significant gaps in the evidence, as no other conclusive materials were available to substantiate the allegations.

A division bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Sanjay Karol allowed an appeal filed by one Abhishek Sharma, then a customer care executive, challenging the Delhi High Court as well as the trial court's judgments which convicted him of murder of operation manager 22-year-old Mandeep Kaur around midnight on September 20-21, 2007.

According to the prosecution, a friendship had developed between the two individuals, with the accused frequently giving the deceased colleague rides home. However, on the day of the incident, a heated argument erupted during their journey. This altercation ensued because the victim displayed a preference for their boss over the accused, which angered the latter. The accused then took her to an open area and, in the midst of their argument, set her on fire.

Nonetheless, the court emphasized that besides the contested dying declarations, there existed no other evidence on record that could convincingly establish the guilt of the convicted appellant.

"It is an established principle that a dying declaration, if it is free of tutoring, prompting, etc can form the sole basis of conviction," the bench said. 

The court highlighted that, for instance, there was no evidence on record indicating the ownership of a vehicle by the convicted appellant. Further, there were no indications of any significant disagreement between the convicted appellant and the deceased that would have reached such an extreme level as to lead to setting her on fire. Furthermore, there was no established connection between the convicted appellant and the inflammable substance used to cause the victim's death, such as records of purchase or statements from individuals attesting to the substance being in the possession of the convicted appellant.

Case Title: Abhishek Sharma Vs State 

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