In Brief
The Supreme Court acquitted three appellants convicted of murder based on circumstantial evidence. While the lower courts relied on the 'last seen' theory—that the deceased was last seen with the appellants before being found dead—the Supreme Court found the evidence unreliable. Testimonies of key witnesses were contradictory and failed to corroborate each other. The prosecution also failed to establish the alleged motive (prior assault on the first accused's brother). The Court held that in circumstantial evidence cases, the chain of circumstances must be complete and unbreakable; incomplete or doubtful links require acquittal. The appellants were given the benefit of doubt and their conviction was set aside.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.