The Madhya Pradesh High Court has acquitted two convicts, setting aside their life sentences in connection with the 2016 murder of a young Scheduled Tribe woman in Mandla district, after holding that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
A Division Bench of Justice Vivek Agarwal and Justice Vinay Saraf allowed Criminal Appeal No. 1893 of 2020 and overturned the judgment of the Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Mandla, dated 4 February 2020, which had convicted the appellants under Sections 302 read with 34 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code.
The case stemmed from the recovery of a highly decomposed and mutilated body of an unidentified young woman from a forest area in Village Keriwah on 21 November 2016. Post-mortem examination indicated homicidal death caused by head injuries inflicted by a hard and blunt object.
The prosecution relied entirely on circumstantial evidence, including an alleged extra-judicial confession, recovery and subsequent use of the deceased’s mobile phone after her death, and seizure of certain articles such as clothes and personal belongings. While the Trial Court had acquitted the accused of charges under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Section 376 IPC, and had also acquitted a co-accused, it convicted the present appellants for murder and destruction of evidence.
Allowing the appeal, the High Court observed that there was no direct evidence linking the appellants to the crime. The Bench found the alleged extra-judicial confession unreliable, noting unexplained delay in its disclosure, lack of corroboration, and absence of circumstances inspiring confidence. The Court also held that the “last seen” theory was not proved and that recoveries made during investigation were either insignificant or not conclusively connected to the offence.
The Court further ruled that mere possession or use of the deceased’s mobile phone after the incident, in the absence of other clinching evidence, could not by itself establish guilt. No weapon of offence was recovered, nor was there forensic evidence linking the appellants to the injuries found on the deceased.
Reiterating the settled principles governing cases based on circumstantial evidence, the High Court held that the prosecution failed to establish a complete and unbroken chain of circumstances pointing only to the guilt of the accused and excluding every other hypothesis.
Accordingly, the convictions and sentences imposed on the convicts were set aside, and both were acquitted of all charges.
Appearances:
For Appellant 1: Ms. Renu Gupta;
For Appellant 2: Shri Jayesh Singh Thakur;
For State: Shri Manas Mani Verma Manas Mani Verma, learned Government Advocate appearing on appearing on behalf of Advocate General.
