In Brief
In this criminal appeal, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of two appellants for murder, kidnapping, extortion and conspiracy in the kidnap-murder of a young student. The deceased was abducted on 19 March 2012, and the appellants demanded ransom via phone calls. The father paid ransom by currency notes he had signed. The dead body was later recovered at the appellants' instance and identified by the father. Currency notes bearing the father's signature were recovered from the appellants. The Court held that related witnesses (the father and uncle) are reliable under a rule of caution, and the continuous chain of circumstantial evidence—abduction, ransom calls, payment, recovery of marked currency notes, discovery of the body and homicidal death—proves guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The conviction under the unlawful assembly provision was set aside as participation of co-offenders was not proved.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.