In Brief
Following a panchayat election in 1994 where Maha Singh lost to Dharampal son of Beg Raj, two supporters of the losing candidate (Sobhat Singh and Suresh) were convicted by the High Court of murdering election agent Chander Bhan, allegedly to falsely implicate the winning candidate. The Supreme Court, applying the 'Panchsheel' test for circumstantial evidence, found critical gaps: the key witness (widow) had made material improvements in her statement; the chance witness had implausible presence; the extra-judicial confession was surrounded by suspicion; and the FSL expert was not examined. The Court held the prosecution failed to prove a complete, unbroken chain of circumstantial evidence beyond reasonable doubt, with a crucial 'hiatus' between the accused leaving the village and appearing at the hospital. The convictions were set aside and appellants acquitted."
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.