In Brief
A man was found dead in a field in Karnataka, allegedly killed due to illicit intimacy with the appellant's sister. Both the accused were acquitted at trial, but the High Court reversed the acquittal of the appellant and convicted him of murder. The Supreme Court set aside the conviction, finding major inconsistencies: the charge alleged one accused took the deceased away, but witness testimony named another. Without definitive proof of 'last seen', a long time-gap before body discovery, and no corroborative evidence, the circumstantial chain was incomplete. The Court held that burden-shifting under Section 106 Evidence Act applies only after 'last seen' is proven, and applied the double presumption in favour of acquitted persons.
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