Mumbai: A sessions court has acquitted a 33-year-old man in the 2018 murder case of his wife, citing several lapses ranging from delay in lodging an FIR to procedural incongruities.

According to the FIR lodged by the mother of the deceased, Lipi, the incident took place on the midnight of April 21, 2018. She claimed that the accused, Bilal Shaikh, is an alcoholic and used to frequently assault her daughter.

On the fateful night, Lipi told Shaikh not to switch on the light as her mother was unwell, which enraged him, said the FIR. It added that the accused started abusing and assaulting her and dragged her outside, while continuously hitting her. At around 2.30am, Lipi was found motionless, said her mother, adding that she along with her neighbour took her to JJ hospital. There, Lipi was declared dead on arrival.

Representing the accused, lawyer Mooman Shaikh pointed out several procedural lapses like the FIR was lodged 18 hours later. The court accepted his arguments and observed, “In the inquest panchanama, neither the name of the accused nor the details of assault are mentioned.”

It further pointed out that as per the procedure, accidental death report (ADR) is registered first followed by inquest panchnama and postmortem. However, the findings of the ADR and postmortem are strikingly similar, which creates doubt about the genuineness of the entries, said the court.

“The prosecution has also not brought on record any motive on part of the accused to kill his wife. It has not explained why there was a delay of 18 hours in lodging the FIR,” the court said, while acquitting Shaikh.