In Brief
The Supreme Court heard a criminal appeal against the High Court's reversal of an acquittal. The trial court had acquitted four accused of murder under IPC Section 302 read with Section 34; the High Court reversed this, convicting them. The bench split 1-1: Justice Pant upheld the High Court's conviction, finding the eye-witness testimony credible despite minor discrepancies, while Justice Nariman dissented, finding the trial court's acquittal well-reasoned and the High Court's reversal erroneous due to contradictions by a key witness and material inconsistencies. The case was remitted to the Chief Justice for constitution of a larger bench to resolve the disagreement.
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