Supreme Court Acquits Accused in Murder Case, Cites Weak Circumstantial Evidence and Discredited Witnesses.


04 April 2025 Acquittal >> Criminal Law  

The Supreme Court of India has overturned the conviction and life sentence of an appellant who was found guilty of the murder of a police constable by the Madras High Court. The High Court had partly allowed the appellant's appeal, acquitting him of the offence under Section 148 IPC but upholding the Trial Court's judgment under Section 302 IPC.

The case arose from an incident on May 6, 2018, where a constable was allegedly chasing the appellant and two others for transporting illegal sand. The constable was found dead the next morning with head injuries. The prosecution's case relied on eyewitness testimony, extra-judicial confessions of co-accused, last seen evidence, electronic records, and fingerprint evidence found at the crime scene.


 

 

The High Court had disbelieved the primary eyewitness and found the extra-judicial confessions inadmissible as they were made while the co-accused were in police custody. The Supreme Court noted that these were "star witnesses" whose evidence formed the backbone of the prosecution's case.

Regarding the "last seen" witness, who claimed to have seen the deceased chasing the appellant's tractor-trailer, the Supreme Court found his testimony unreliable due to a significant delay of 17 days in reporting the incident to the police, despite knowing both the accused and the deceased and being present during the postmortem.

The Supreme Court also highlighted the unexplained delay in presenting the First Information Report (FIR) to the Magistrate, casting further doubt on the prosecution's narrative.

The court emphasized the principles governing cases based on circumstantial evidence, as laid down in Karakkattu Muhammed Basheer vs. State of Kerala, stating that the chain of events must be so complete that it leads to only one conclusion – the guilt of the accused – leaving no room for any other hypothesis consistent with innocence.

In this case, with the key eyewitness and confession evidence discredited, the Supreme Court found that the remaining circumstantial evidence, consisting of the appellant's fingerprints on a wheel spanner found at the scene and the presence of three pairs of slippers, was insufficient to conclusively establish the appellant's guilt in causing the constable's death. The court concluded that the prosecution had failed to establish a complete chain of circumstances pointing solely to the appellant's guilt.

Consequently, the Supreme Court set aside the judgments of the Trial Court and the High Court, acquitting the appellant and ordering his immediate release if not required in any other case.


Section 148., Indian Penal Code - 1860  

Section 302., Indian Penal Code - 1860  

Indian Penal Code, 1860