SC: Accused can't be convicted merely on ground of suspicion

NEW DELHI: Observing that an

accused

cannot be held guilty merely on the ground of

suspicion

,

Supreme Court

acquitted a man in a 15-year-old

murder case

in which he was

convicted

and sentenced to life imprisonment.
A bench of Justices

B R Gavai

and

Sandeep Mehta

said that the prosecution failed to prove the charge against the accused and the trial court as well as Chhattisgarh high court erred in convicting the person when there was no direct evidence to prove his guilt.

"It is settled law that the suspicion, however strong it may be, cannot take the place of proof beyond reasonable doubt. An accused cannot be convicted on the ground of suspicion, no matter how strong it is. An accused is presumed to be innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," the bench said.
SC

noted that the trial court and HC wrongly relied on two aspects - recovery of blood-stained dagger and that the accused failed to give proper explanation on the man's involvement.

Referring to an earlier verdict, the bench said, "...this Court held that sole circumstance of recovery of blood-stained weapon cannot form the basis of conviction unless the same was connected with the murder of the deceased by the accused. Thus, we find that only on the basis of sole circumstance of recovery of blood-stained weapon, it cannot be said that the prosecution has discharged its burden of proving the case beyond reasonable doubt."