In Brief
In this 2007 murder case from Pune, the trial court acquitted all 15 accused of killing Raghunath. The High Court partly reversed the acquittal, convicting four appellants under Section 302 IPC (murder) with common intention. The Supreme Court bench split 1-1. Judge Pant upheld the conviction, finding the High Court correctly reappreciated evidence (eye-witness testimony, forensic reports, and the prompt FIR supported guilt). Judge Nariman would have upheld the acquittal, holding the trial court's reasoned verdict was not perverse, and critical discrepancies (conflicting witness accounts, hospital register evidence, missing injuries) were not adequately addressed by the High Court. The matter was referred back to the Chief Justice to constitute a larger bench for rehearing due to judicial disagreement.
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