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Gujarat High Court acquitted Ramji Ahir in the 2001 Mukesh Baraiya murder case, citing unreliable testimony from Vallabhai Sathiya, who appeared 16 years later
The division bench observed that the witness’s conduct and his behaviour were contrary to the behaviour of a normal person.
The Gujarat High Court has set aside the life imprisonment awarded to an accused in a 2001 murder case, ruling that the conviction based solely on the testimony of a single questionable witness, who appeared after 16 years to testify in the court, could not be sustained. According to a TOI report, the case dates back to 2001 in Surat’s Kapodara area, where Mukesh Baraiya was stabbed to death following a dispute over an illegal television connection. The trial court had, in September 2024, convicted and sentenced one Ramji Ahir to life imprisonment for the killing.
However, Ahir challenged the verdict in the High Court, arguing that the judgment rested entirely on the testimony of one individual whose credibility was highly doubtful.
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The lone witness in the case was identified as Vallabhai Sathiya alias Gopalbhai, who surfaced in court for the first time in 2017, 16 years after the incident. Notably, the police had never recorded his statement at the time of the crime. Sathiya told the trial court that he had left for his native village in Amreli after police dispersed the crowd at the scene and therefore did not come forward earlier.
The High Court found this reasoning implausible and flagged it as suspicious. Defence lawyers Nauman and Shakeel Qureshi further highlighted Sathiya’s long criminal record, including multiple FIRs, as well as the uncertainty over his real identity. They argued that no person could be convicted solely on the word of such a witness, without any corroborating evidence.
A division bench of Justice IJ Vora and Justice PM Rawal agreed, observing that “the witness’s conduct and his behaviour are contrary to the behaviour of a normal person. Suddenly coming forward after 16 years weakens his claim. His testimony cannot be trusted without any other evidence or confirmation.”
The judges went on to list seven separate reasons for rejecting the testimony, including doubts about the witness’s identity, his unexplained absence for over a decade, and his criminal background. The court concluded that the witness was “not completely trustworthy” and that the trial court’s decision, therefore, could not stand.
On these grounds, the bench acquitted Ramji Ahir and cancelled the life sentence that had been imposed on him nearly a year ago.
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