New Delhi, April 3: The Supreme Court not only let off two persons serving life terms for murder in a Jharkhand jail but also three others who did not appeal their terms ostensibly for lack of money.

In a rare gesture, the apex court not only acquitted Nazir and Anil Kumar but also three others — Niraj Kumar, Dhiraj Kumar and Anil Kumar — even though they had not appealed against their life terms.

The court found that the trial court had convicted all five only on the basis dispositions made by three witnesses in court.

A two-judge bench, comprising justices B.N. Agarwal and G.S. Singhvi, set them free on the ground that the trial court had erred in convicting them when the prosecution had failed to prove the case — dating back to the days of undivided Bihar — against them beyond reasonable doubt.

The accused had attacked the deceased in a market place and killed him after a minor altercation with his brother-in-law earlier in the day. The fight started when the deceased man’s brother-in-law was taking his sister to an exam centre in the morning, advocate B.B. Singh said.

Hearing the appeal filed by two of them, the apex court said it was of the view that “the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and the High Court was not justified in confirming the convictions of the accused persons”.

The apex court said accused Niraj Kumar, Dhiraj Kumar and Anand Kumar had not filed any appeal before it.“But in view of our finding that the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt,” the benefit of doubt should be extended to the three accused also, it added.

Accordingly, the apex court asked that all the five accused be released forthwith from custody.