In Brief
A man was convicted under Section 302 IPC (murder) based primarily on circumstantial evidence: he was last seen with the deceased, blood-stained clothes and a weapon were recovered from him. The two co-accused were acquitted. The Supreme Court set aside the conviction, holding that circumstantial evidence must form a complete, unbroken chain excluding reasonable doubt of innocence. Here, the 'last seen' circumstance was not fully proved—the witness's account was partly disbelieved, co-accused with alleged motive were acquitted, and the accused was a close relative with no established enmity. The incomplete chain allowed reasonable possibility of innocence.
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