In Brief
A man was murdered in December 2000 and his decapitated head was disposed of in a canal 10 km away. The Sessions Court convicted two brothers of murder based on motive, last-seen evidence, and recovered remains. The High Court acquitted them, finding the circumstantial chain incomplete. On appeal, the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal, holding the motive unproven (the key witness turned hostile), last-seen evidence was hearsay, the extra-judicial confessions inadmissible, and critical evidence (the cycle used to carry the body) unrecovered. Absence of blood on recovered items further weakened the case. The Court held absconding and false statements alone cannot complete a broken chain of circumstances, and the High Court's judgment was not perverse.
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