In Brief
In December 1980, a tragedy occurred in Village Kalanwali, Haryana, when spurious liquor laced with methanol poison was sold from a licensed vend. The incident killed 36 persons and permanently blinded 44 others. The trial court convicted the two vend licensees (Krishan and Som Nath) under Sections 302, 328, and 120B of the IPC. The High Court acquitted them, finding insufficient evidence of connection between the accused and the poisoning. The Supreme Court reversed the acquittal, holding that multiple eyewitnesses testified to purchasing the spurious liquor from the accused's vend, doctors uniformly confirmed methanol poisoning as the cause of death/blindness, and the accused's attempt to destroy remaining bottles demonstrated knowledge and guilt. The Court restored the trial court's conviction.",
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