“Supreme Court Overturns Conviction: Lack of Conclusive Evidence Leads to Acquittal in Landmark Criminal Appeal”

Case Title – Arun Shankar Vs. The State Of Madhya Pradesh (2024 INSC 298)

Case Number – Criminal Appeal No. 001186-001186/2022

Order Number – 5^th December, 2017

Quorum – Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka

 FACTS OF THE CASE

 In the case of Arun Shankar Vs. The State Of Madhya Pradesh (2024 INSC 298), the appellant and the deceased (Sushildhar Dubey) were related and were residents of a village named Amgaon. Both the appellant and the deceased were habituated to consume alcoholic beverages together. On September 29, 1993, the appellant visited the house of the deceased and implored him to partake in consuming alcohol. This scenario was spectated by a witness. However, nobody witnessed any further sightings of the deceased. Subsequently, the deceased’s body was retrieved on 30^th September,1993. The appellant was convicted by the Sessions Court under Section 201 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 which was duly confirmed by the High Court. Further, the appellant was sentenced to serve for life imprisonment. However, the appellant was acquitted by the High Court due to lack of Conclusive Evidence.

CONTENTIONS OF THE APPELLANT

1. The appellant, through their counsel, in the said case contented that the respondent’s argument on the “Last Seen Together” Evidence is deemed to be a weak piece of evidence taking into consideration the close relationship between the appellant and the deceased.
2. The appellant, through their counsel, in the said case contented that the knife retrieved at the appellant’s instance could not be concluded to be knife possibly used for the purpose of murder of the deceased since the knife could have been planted to deliberately implicate the appellant.
3. The appellant, through their counsel, in the said case contented that the respondent failed to prove the motive for the commission of the offense on the part of the appellant given the good relationship between the appellant and the deceased.

CONTENTIONS OF THE RESPONDENT

1. The respondent, through their counsel, in the said case contented that the case is based on circumstantial evidences and that the legal principles administering the case is well established.
2. The respondent, through their counsel, in the said case contented that the circumstantial evidences in this case are- (i) Recovery of the knife alleged to be used in the commission of the murder of the deceased, (ii) Medical report of the deceased’s bodily injuries and the cause of death, (iii) The last seen together, and (iv) The habit of consuming alcoholic beverages together.
3. The respondent, through their counsel, in the said case contented that the use of the knife was proven and that all required circumstance forming parts of the chain of events have been established.
4. The respondent, through their counsel, in the said case contented that taking into consideration the oral testimony of the PW-7 and PW-15 collectively, the theory of death of the deceased due a motorcycle accident cannot entirely be discounted. Hence, the benefit of doubt should be on the appellant.
5. The respondent, through their counsel, in the said case contented that the body was discovered in close proximity of the last known presence of the appellant and the deceased.

LEGAL PROVISIONS

1. Section 201 of IPC prescribes the Punishment for causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender
2. Section 302 of IPC prescribes the Punishment for Murder – Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death, or [imprisonment for life], and shall also be liable to fine.

ISSUES 

1. The main issue of the case revolved around whether for the purpose of conviction of the appellant for the offenses of murder and destruction of evidence, the furnished by the respondent was enough?
2. The issue of the case also involved whether the assertion of the defense concerning the weaknesses of the circumstantial evidence and the absence of motive held merit?

COURT ANALYSIS AND JUDGMENT

The court in the case of Arun Shankar Vs. The State Of Madhya Pradesh (2024 INSC 298) observed that there is a grammatical and legal differentiation between ‘May be proved’ or ‘Must be or should be proved’ and that the accused is needed to be strongly proven guilty, not assumed to be guilty before a court can convict the accused. The court analysed that there should be consistency of the circumstances only with the hypothesis of the accused’s guilt and that the nature of the circumstances should be conclusive and tendency. The court highlighted that it remained unproven the discovery of the murder weapon at the instance of the appellant and that it remained a mystery, the presence of a large number of glasses in and around the place of the discovery of the body of the deceased. The court stated that the chain of circumstances was unestablished and that the theory of last scene was not proved in the absence of any motive on the part of the appellant to cause the death of the deceased since the appellant being in the company of the deceased was habitual and usual.

Hence, the court in the case of Arun Shankar Vs. The State Of Madhya Pradesh (2024 INSC 298) stated that since the appellant is on bail, he is allowed and the impugned judgments are set aside. Moreover, the bail bonds of the appellant are cancelled. The court decided that the conviction of the appellant cannot be sustained and the appellant is thus acquitted of all charges imposed on him.

“PRIME LEGAL is a full-service law firm that has won a National Award and has more than 20 years of experience in an array of sectors and practice areas. Prime legal fall into a category of best law firm, best lawyer, best family lawyer, best divorce lawyer, best divorce law firm, best criminal lawyer, best criminal law firm, best consumer lawyer, best civil lawyer.”

Judgement Reviewed by – Sruti Sikha Maharana

Click here to View Judgment