The Jharkhand High Court has set aside the life sentence of a villager convicted of murder, observing that his statement during trial was recorded in English. Noting that there was no indication that the statement had been explained to him in his mother tongue, the HC said the lapse had violated his right to a fair trial.

Further finding that the prosecution had failed to prove the murder charge beyond reasonable doubt, the court acquitted him.

On October 1, a division bench of justices Ananda Sen and Pradeep Kumar Srivastava allowed an appeal filed by Chamra Oraon who was convicted under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).…