Long ordeal ends: Indian Supreme Court acquits Dr Khalil Chishti

Pakistani microbiologist cleared of murder charge due to ‘unreliable evidence’.

NEW DEHLI: India’s top court quashed the conviction of 82-year-old Pakistani Dr Khalil Chishti in a 20-year-old murder case on Wednesday, allowing him to return home in a move likely to help improve diplomatic ties between the two neighbours.

Khalil Chishti, a microbiologist was arrested and charged with murder in 1992 after a brawl in the western Indian city of Ajmer which he was visiting for a family wedding. He was convicted in 2010 by a local court and handed a life-term.

After releasing him on bail last year, the Supreme Court quashed the murder charge but upheld a conviction for voluntarily causing hurt, the Press Trust of India reported.

“Truth has prevailed in the end,” Dr Chishti told AFP after the verdict, which ordered authorities to return his passport. “I will be going to my country after an endless wait,” he said.

The Supreme Court bench, comprising justices P Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi, noted that the jail term Chishti had undergone – about one year – was sufficient. The bench observed that “ends of justice will be met by serving him with the period of imprisonment already undergone”.

He was, however, cleared of the charge of murder because the court said it was left with “no reliable evidence” as the prosecution had come out with two sets of versions of the crime and two sets of evidence which were contradictory.

The bench directed authorities to return all documents to Dr Chishti, including his passport, and said he was free to return to Pakistan without any restriction.

Considering the age and qualification of Dr Chishti, the court directed authorities to take all possible steps for his “smooth return” to his country.
(With additional input by AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2012.