In Brief
The Supreme Court acquitted seven accused persons convicted of abduction (Section 364) and murder (Section 302) of a woman named Neelam in 1985. The Court found fatal defects in the prosecution's circumstantial evidence case: key eyewitnesses were family members whose presence at the crime scene was unexplained, natural witnesses were not examined, and witness testimonies contained discrepancies and unexplained improvements. The Court also doubted whether Neelam actually resided in the house from which she was supposedly abducted. Since circumstantial evidence requires a complete and consistent chain of proof, and the foundational facts were unreliable, no inference of guilt for murder could be drawn. The Court held the High Court erred in reversing the trial court's acquittal without establishing illegality or perversity, contrary to settled law on reversing acquittals.
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