In Brief
The State of Karnataka appealed against the acquittal of an accused convicted of murdering his wife by strangulation. The trial court had relied on medical and witness evidence to convict him under section 302 IPC. However, the High Court acquitted him, finding that the post-mortem evidence did not conclusively establish homicide—the doctor testified that suicide could not be ruled out, noting the absence of a neck ligature mark that would typically indicate strangulation. The Supreme Court upheld the acquittal, holding that when medical evidence is inconclusive and suicide cannot be excluded, the accused is entitled to the benefit of doubt. The appeal was dismissed.
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