In Brief
A path-dispute escalated into violence in which Devi Singh was killed. The Trial Court convicted four men under IPC Sections 302, 324, and 323. The High Court acquitted them, finding the prosecution case fatally flawed: the police suppressed Devi Singh's own earlier statement to them; eyewitnesses gave conflicting accounts of where the incident occurred; and the deceased had only four minor injuries despite testimony that 18 assailants attacked him with deadly weapons. The Supreme Court dismissed the State's appeal, upholding acquittal. The Court held that suppression of vital early evidence, inconsistent eyewitness accounts, and a glaring mismatch between testified assault and actual injuries destroyed the prosecution's credibility beyond reasonable doubt.
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