A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Sameer Jain said that though motive and abscondence may give rise to strong suspicion, merely on the basis of those two circumstances, an accused cannot be held guilty.
while allowing the appeal, and setting aside trial court judgment reasoned that the case was based on circumstantial evidence, and the chain of circumstances pointing to the guilt of appellant could not be completed.
“The reference to confirm the death penalty is answered in negative and reference to confirm the death penalty awarded to accused-appellant Ram Pratap @ Tillu is rejected. The judgment and order of the trial court is set aside. The appellant Ram Pratap @ Tillu is acquitted of all the charges for which he has been tried. The appellant shall be released forthwith, unless wanted in any other case,” the Court ordered.
Source: Barandbench
