In Brief
Two men were convicted of murder in the death of Balamurugan, who was attacked with a billhook allegedly by Accused No. 1, with Accused No. 2 holding the victim. The Supreme Court allowed their criminal appeal and acquitted both appellants. The critical flaw was that all five prosecution eyewitnesses—relatives of the deceased—were called to the police station one day before testifying in court and were taught how to give evidence by police officials. The Court found this constituted gross police misconduct and witness tutoring, requiring their evidence to be discarded. Additionally, available independent eyewitnesses were not examined, warranting an adverse inference against the prosecution. The substantial doubt thereby created entitled the appellants to acquittal."
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