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Being last seen with the deceased is an unsafe hypothesis to convict accused

In Ganpat Singh Vs. The State of Madhya Pradesh, appeal arises from a judgment of a Division Bench of High Court. The High Court affirmed the conviction of the Appellant under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC). Additional Sessions Judge by a judgment found the Appellant guilty of an offence under Section 302 of the IPC and sentenced him to imprisonment for life. The case rested entirely on circumstantial evidence. The circumstances which weighed with the trial Court were that, deceased was last seen accompanying the Appellant; deceased had taken with her the jewellery of PW1 and PW2 which was recovered from the Appellant; and the Appellant had no explanation of how the articles were found in his possession.

The Supreme Court while overturning the decision of the High Court said, there are no eye-witnesses to the crime. In a case, which rests on circumstantial evidence, the law postulates a two-fold requirement. First, every link in the chain of circumstances necessary to establish the guilt of the Accused must be established by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt. Second, all the circumstances must be consistent only with the guilt of the Accused.

An important circumstance which weighed with the High Court was that, the body of the deceased was recovered at the behest of the Appellant. There is a manifest error on the part of the High Court in arriving at this conclusion since the record would indicate that, the body of the deceased was recovered several months before the arrest of the Appellant. The mere circumstance that the Appellant was last seen with the deceased is an unsafe hypothesis to found a conviction on a charge of murder in this case. The lapse of time between the point when the Appellant was last seen with the deceased and the time of death is not minimal. The time of death was estimated to be between two to four weeks prior to the recovery of the body.

A strong suspicion in itself is not sufficient to lead to the conclusion that the guilt of the Appellant stands established beyond reasonable doubt. There are material contradictions in the case of the prosecution. The prosecution failed to establish a complete chain of circumstances and to exclude every hypothesis other than the guilt of the Appellant. Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the conviction of the Appellant under Section 302 of IPC.


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