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Supreme Court of India 2022-05-20 dismissed

Sabitri Samantaray vs State of Odisha

Bench: 3 — Krishna Murari

In Brief

The appellants, wife and husband, were charged with murdering Sanjay Rana, the boyfriend of their daughter. The Sessions Court convicted them under Section 302 IPC, and the High Court upheld the conviction but modified it to Section 304(II) IPC, reducing the sentence to five years imprisonment. The appellants claimed an unknown person attacked them. The Supreme Court dismissed their appeal, holding that the prosecution established a clear chain of circumstances: the deceased was last seen with them, there was a motive (financial grievance and romantic rejection), the medical evidence showed death by strangulation by multiple persons, and only the appellants remained in the house. Under Section 106 of the Evidence Act, the appellants could not provide a credible explanation, so the Court found no error in the High Court's judgment.

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Criminal Procedure Evidence Law Murder and Homicide Circumstantial Evidence Burden of Proof Section 106 Evidence Act

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