Overview
- Justice Milind Sathaye acquitted Ramprakash @ Popat Govind Manohar, setting aside his 1998 Pune Sessions Court conviction under Sections 306 and 498-A.
- The judgment held that parental statements that the daughter was unhappy or often wept could not, by themselves, establish cruelty or abetment beyond reasonable doubt.
- Key prosecution gaps included the absence of neighbour testimony, a hostile panch witness, and an unproven recovery of a sewing machine with a receipt in another person’s name.
- Records showed the husband filed a missing-person report the day Rekha disappeared and her parents did not allege harassment during that initial police inquiry.
- Granting benefit of doubt, the court ordered a Rs 15,000 personal bond to secure his appearance if the State appeals to the Supreme Court, noting the locality’s conditions that could support an accidental-fall possibility.