The Orissa High Court on Tuesday sent back a triple murder case to the trial court that had awarded capital punishment to nine persons last year for a fresh hearing, after procedural anomalies were detected in the conviction judgment.
The case relates to the death penalty awarded to nine persons by the Gunupur additional district judge's court in Rayagada district for murdering three members of a family on the suspicion of practising sorcery.
A division bench comprising justices S K Mishra and A K Mishra found that the accused persons were convicted, among others, under two sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), though charges were not framed against them under those sections.
One of the two IPC sections deals with kidnapping in order to murder.
In April last year, the lower court had awarded death penalty to the nine persons for killing a man, his wife and daughter on September 6, 2016.
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