In Brief
The son of a deceased man challenged the High Court's dismissal of his appeal against the acquittal of five men charged with murder and destruction of evidence. The Supreme Court held that the High Court had failed to properly exercise its appellate powers—it dismissed the appeal cursorily without thoroughly discussing or appreciating all 13 prosecution witnesses' evidence. The Court ruled that appellate courts must carefully examine acquittal orders but only interfere if findings are manifestly perverse. Since the High Court acted contrary to established legal principles, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court's order and remitted the case for fresh hearing on merits in accordance with law.
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