Kochi: The High Court acquitted many convicts after the excise department failed to collect evidence in the cases. Due to the inefficiency of the department, the High Court quashed the sentences issued by the lower courts in three cases on Friday.
The high court acquitted the convicts who were punished by lower courts in Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad and Karunagappally.
Attukal native Thanka was arrested for illegally possessing liquor in the 2000. But the assistant excise inspector who raided the house was not legally empowered to do it. Because of this reason, the High Court quashed the case.
In 2007, excise arrested Karunagappally Krishnan Kutty and Palakkad Gopalan and seized illicit arrack. But the officials failed to prove that they seized arrack from the duo. Violating the rules, the excise officials sent the arrack for the test without a proper label. The court also observed serious lapses from the department while producing the arrack before the court.
The High Court ordered to acquit the convicts in the three cases and refund the penalty.
