In Brief
Baiju Kumar Soni and another were convicted by the trial court under Sections 364-A (kidnapping for ransom), 201 (destruction of evidence), 302 (murder) read with Section 34 IPC. The High Court upheld their conviction, rejecting their criminal appeal. The Supreme Court reversed the conviction and acquitted both appellants. The Court held that in cases resting on circumstantial evidence, the circumstances must form an unbroken chain excluding every hypothesis other than guilt. Here, the prosecution failed to establish such a complete chain; the circumstances did not adequately prove the appellants' guilt beyond doubt, warranting acquittal.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.