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Supreme Court of India 2016-11-09 allowed

Mahavir Singh vs State of Madhya Pradesh

Bench: 2 — N.V. Ramana

In Brief

A man was killed by gunshot in 1987. The Trial Court acquitted the appellant, finding contradictions between medical and eyewitness evidence and poor investigation. The High Court reversed the acquittal and convicted the appellant for murder. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that the High Court failed to give compelling reasons to overturn the acquittal. Though ocular testimony is valued, material contradictions with medical evidence, interested witnesses, delayed statement recording, and lack of authenticated ballistic evidence linking the seized firearm to the fatal bullet created reasonable doubt. Guilt was not proved beyond reasonable doubt.

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Criminal Law Evidence Murder Appellate Procedure Credibility of Witnesses

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