In Brief
Kusal Toppo and another were convicted for murder (Section 302 IPC) and robbery (Section 392 IPC) based primarily on extrajudicial confessions of co-accused and recovery of a rope. The Supreme Court acquitted them, holding that convictions cannot rest on uncorroborated extrajudicial confessions. Rope, being a common household item without forensic evidence linking it to the crime, could not support conviction under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act. The Court emphasized that extrajudicial confessions are weak evidence requiring independent corroboration and that recovered articles must have investigative proof connecting them to the crime.
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