Issues
- Approach of the courts in a case based on circumstantial evidence where there is no direct evidence of guilt of accused.
Held
- The accused were acquitted by the Apex Court from the offence. under section 302/34 IPC as the prosecution failed to prove the guilt and complete the chain of events which may lead to the conclusion of the guilt of accused.
- At the outset, it is required to be noted that the case rests on circumstantial evidence. There is no direct evidence by which it can be said that the appellants killed or committed the murder of the deceased. There is no direct evidence recorded indicating the involvement of the appellants in the crime and as observed hereinabove, the case of the prosecution is based on circumstantial evidence. As held by this Court in a catena of decisions, in case of circumstantial evidence, the circumstances, taken cumulatively, should form a chain so complete that there is no escape from the conclusion that within all human probability the crime was committed by the accused and no one else and the circumstantial evidence to sustain conviction must be complete and incapable of explanation of any other hypothesis than that of the guilt of the accused and such evidence should not only be consistent with the guilt of the accused but should be inconsistent with his innocence.
- Even from the testimony of the star witness, there was no evidence that the accused were last seen with the deceased.
Relevant Para No.
- 7.1 & 7.6