The Khargone trials: Acquittals, dead ends, failing evidence, and a prosecution that admits it is lumbering on

On July 27, a Madhya Pradesh court acquitted 11 men who had been accused of involvement in the violent clashes that erupted during Ram Navami celebrations in Khargone on May 13, 2022. The clashes left over two dozen people injured, including the Khargone Superintendent of Police, Siddharth Choudhary, and one person was killed. Initially, the government vowed strict action against the rioters, promising that there was "no place for rioters on the soil of Madhya Pradesh."

However, four years later, the prosecution has been unable to secure convictions in the majority of the cases. An investigation into the court records by The Indian Express reveals that the prosecution has failed to prove its case in most of the trials. In each of the acquittals, the judges raised concerns about the prosecution's inability to establish the guilt of the accused, questioning the formation of criminal conspiracy and the admissibility of the forensic evidence.