In Brief
Ganpat Singh was convicted of murdering Shantabai under Section 302 IPC based on circumstantial evidence: he was last seen with her, gave a false alibi to her son, and she was later found dead. The Supreme Court set aside the conviction, finding critical errors in the High Court's reasoning. One key circumstance—that the body was recovered at the accused's instance—was factually wrong, as the body was recovered months before his arrest. The remaining circumstances (last seen together and false statement) were insufficient given the long time gap between their last sighting and death, unexplained contradictions in witness testimony, and lack of a complete chain of evidence. Strong suspicion alone cannot establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt; the Court held the prosecution failed to exclude all other hypotheses.
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