Bettiah: Four men who faced trial for nearly 23 years in a 2003 assault case were acquitted by a Bagaha court after being given the benefit of doubt. All four are now around 65, having spent much of their later years dealing with the prolonged legal proceedings.District and Additional Sessions Judge-IV Manvendra Mishra of the Bagaha civil court acquitted Dhurai Chaudhary, Ramashish Chaudhary, Rampreet Chaudhary and Budhram Chaudhary of West Champaran for lack of sufficient evidence.The case relates to Khajuria village under Ramnagar police station. On Aug 8, 2003, Bhagwan Chaudhary lodged an FIR alleging that the accused came to his doorstep, abused him and assaulted him, causing injuries. Police subsequently named six people as accused.APP Jitendra Bharti said FIR no. 143/03 was registered at Ramnagar police station on Aug 9, 2003, under Sections 341, 323, 324, 307, 504 and 34 of the IPC. The accused were remanded to judicial custody and subsequently released on bail. He said during the trial, four prosecution witnesses — Dr S D Jha, medical officer, Ramnagar; Rameshwar Dubey, ASI; Rajesh Barnwal, SI and Salam Khan, ASI, all from Ramnagar police station failed to appear before the court to depose. The non-examination of these material witnesses weakened the prosecution case, he said. The accused consequently benefited from the evidence gaps and were acquitted.The trial remained pending for nearly 23 years. During the proceedings, Ajay Chaudhary and Gobind Chaudhary died before the case could be concluded.After examining the evidence on record and submissions during the trial, the court extended the benefit of doubt to the remaining four accused and ordered their acquittal.Bharti said the case verdict brought an emotional end to the prolonged case. The four men and their family members were visibly moved, with the accused breaking down in tears after hearing the judgement.
