In Brief
Two children were kidnapped and murdered in Punjab in 2009. The trial court convicted three accused including Ravinder Singh. The High Court acquitted two and reduced Singh's sentence from death to 20 years imprisonment, finding motive (alleged intimate relationship with the children's mother) from call records. The Supreme Court allowed Singh's appeal, holding that circumstantial evidence—motive inferred from call records, last seen theory with conflicting witness accounts, and material recovery—was riddled with contradictions and failed to conclusively establish guilt. The Court also ruled that electronic evidence like call records require statutory certification under Section 65B(4) of the Evidence Act. Singh's conviction was set aside and he was ordered released.
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