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Krishnan alias Ramasamy v. State of Tamil Nadu

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 512 of 2010)Decided 1 Jul 2014
Criminal Appeal No. 512 of 2010
Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya · Justice Dipak Misra

Background

Manikandan disappeared during a village festival after a dispute arising from his interest in one accused's daughter. His body was later recovered from a borewell following information attributed to another accused. Three men were convicted of abduction, murder and concealment of evidence, principally on accounts that he had last been seen with them.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, set aside the convictions and sentences and directed release unless required in another case. The witnesses gave conflicting accounts of where Manikandan was last seen, important details appeared only as later improvements, and a village headman said to be present was not examined. The six-day delay in reporting his disappearance was unexplained, and the body was recovered after more than seven days without evidence excluding other contacts during the interval. The recovery at one accused's instance did not establish the other accused's guilt, and the remaining circumstances did not complete a chain consistent only with guilt. The High Court had overlooked these weaknesses when affirming the convictions.

Lesson Learnt

Being the last person reportedly seen with someone who later dies does not automatically establish murder. Courts must examine the reliability of that account, the time gap and additional links connecting each accused to the death.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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