Accused were charged with murder, rioting and booked under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.
A Thane court has acquitted 10 persons accused in a case of murder in 2016, observing that the probe agency committed a grave error or was "misguided or directed" by witnesses.
The accused were charged with murder, rioting and also booked under provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Special MCOCA Court Judge Amit M Shete, in the 56-page judgement passed on December 19 after the trial spanning more than seven years, said the prosecution and witnesses failed to establish the serious offence of murder against the accused beyond all reasonable doubt.
A copy of the order was made available on Monday.
According to the prosecution, a local security business operator, Ranjeet alias Bunty, was attacked with knives near a temple in Napoli area of Thane district on October 24, 2016.
He later succumbed to injuries despite extensive medical treatment.
The prosecution alleged that the accused, led by Akshay Nanda, carried out the attack as part of a conspiracy, robbing the victim of his gold chain and rings.
The defence counsels contested the case.
The court also addressed discrepancies in the confessional statements, which the accused claimed were obtained under duress.
"On perusal of the entire evidence on record, there appears reasonable doubt regarding the prosecution version of eyewitnesses and motive/mens rea. The prosecution and witnesses failed to establish the serious offence of murder beyond all reasonable doubt," the judge said.
"From the entire evidence on record, it depicts that it is the investigation agency who had committed grave error or the agency must have been misguided and/or directed by the witnesses," the court said.
The prosecution and witnesses "failed to stand on their own feet", thereby giving rise to reasonable doubt, and the accused are entitled to its benefit, it added.
Those acquitted are Akshay Nanda alias Nandu Patil (36), Rohit Ravi Patil (35), Anil alias Pappya Nathuram Shelar (33), Ajinkya alias Ajju Vijay Jadhav (33), Abhishek Gangadhar Nimbolkar (36), Anil alias Bablu Shivaji Shelar (34), Sachin Sopan Wadkar (44), Rushikesh Ramdas Patil (34), Bharat Khandu Patil (36) and Rupesh Rajesh Khandagale (46).
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