Overview
- Additional Sessions Judge Jagmohan Singh cleared Yashvinder Malik, Mandeep Mann and Bala after a 16-year prosecution tied to the attack in Haryana.
- The court pointed to a faulty, incomplete investigation and the absence of the survivor’s testimony on record as reasons for the failure of proof.
- An inquiry was ordered against the investigating officer following the evidentiary and procedural shortcomings identified by the court.
- The verdict was delivered in camera, with a detailed written judgment expected on December 26.
- Shaheen Malik said she will appeal, as the case returns to focus following a Supreme Court rebuke of delays in acid-attack trials; a juvenile assailant in this case was convicted in 2015.