Jagdish Gond vs State of Chhattisgarh 2025 INSC 460 - Appeal Against Acquittal - S. 106 Evidence Act - Last Seen Together
Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 378 - Unless it is demonstrated that there is some manifest illegality or perversity in the conclusions recorded by the Trial Court while arriving at the finding of guilt of the accused, an acquittal ordinarily should not be reversed. Where two views were possible, it is also trite, that the one taken by the Trial Court to acquit the accused, if found to be a plausible one, cannot be upset lightly by the Appellate Court. The presumption of innocence available to an accused gets further fortified by the acquittal entered by the Trial Court. (Para 6)
Indian Evidence Act 1872 - Section 106 - When an accused is alleged to have committed the murder of his wife; if the prosecution establishes that shortly before the crime, they were seen together or the offence takes place in the dwelling home where the husband also resides, then if the accused does not offer any explanation or offers an explanation which is palpably false; that would be a strong circumstance, establishing his culpability in the crime. However, it cannot be the sole circumstance leading to the conclusion of guilt on the part of the accused husband. (Para 9)
Circumstantial Evidence - A mere suspicion cannot lead to a finding of guilt, especially when there is not available a chain of circumstances, unequivocally pointing to the guilt of the accused in the alleged crime. (Para 9)
