The man's death was confirmed and documented long before the case was lodged.
The Allahabad High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against petitioner Purushottam Singh after uncovering a shocking series of events where the police registered an FIR based on a complaint from a person who had already been dead for years.
The court found it even more bizarre that a chargesheet was later filed based on a statement allegedly given by the dead man.
"It is very strange that a dead person has not only lodged an FIR but has also recorded his statement before the Investigating Officer," Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery remarked in his order passed on August 6.
"Thereafter, a vakalatnama has also been filed on behalf of him (the dead man) in the present case. It appears that all the proceedings are undertaken by a ghost," the court further noted.
The court directed the Kushinagar superintendent of police (SP) to investigate the conduct of the investigating officer involved in the case.
The case traces back to an FIR filed in 2014 at Kotwali Hata police station in Kushinagar district. The FIR named Shabd Prakash as the informant, a man who had died on December 19, 2011.
According to official records, including a death certificate and the testimony of his wife, Prakash's death was confirmed and documented long before the FIR was lodged.
Despite this, during the investigation, the investigating officer allegedly recorded a statement as if Prakash were alive and capable of participating in legal proceedings.
A chargesheet was subsequently filed on November 23, 2014, with the dead man named as a prosecution witness.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)