In Brief
The State of Uttar Pradesh appealed against a High Court judgment that had acquitted accused persons convicted of murder under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the acquittal. The Court found that the High Court correctly identified serious doubts in the prosecution case: the credibility of the main witness (a lawyer and public official unlikely to be at the scene during court hours), his unnatural conduct following the incident, and a critical evidentiary gap—the absence of bullet holes in the victim's clothing despite a deep chest wound. These doubts justified extending the benefit of doubt to the accused and reversing the conviction."
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