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Criminal law

GOVIND MANDAVI versus STATE OF CHATTISGARH

The omission of the accused's name from the FIR lodged on the basis of the eyewitness's account was a vital omission that undermined the prosecution case; the belated introduction of the accused's identity in the witness's Section 161 statement and the conduct of a TIP despite the witness's prior acquaintance with the accused indicate manipulation and render the identification unreliable; recoveries with detection of human blood but without determination of blood group do not connect the accused to the crime. On these grounds the convictions could not be sustained and the accused was acquitte…

Source excerpt

  • Murder
  • First information report (fir) omissions
  • Test identification parade
  • Recovery of articles
  • Material omission
  • Prior enmity
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Criminal law

DASHWANTH versus STATE OF TAMIL NADU

The prosecution failed to prove vital circumstances forming the circumstantial case—(i) the last seen together testimony was not credible and was belatedly created; (ii) the CCTV footage was not procured or exhibited and accounts were contradictory; (iii) the disclosure/confessional statements and recoveries were shown to be fabricated or planted and the Investigating Officer's conduct was doubtful; and (iv) forensic/DNA evidence lacked proved chain of custody and was tainted by unexplained delays—coupled with denial of effective representation and hasty sentencing, these infirmities prevente…

Source excerpt

  • Murder
  • Pocso
  • Death penalty
  • Circumstantial evidence
  • Dna profiling
  • Fair trial
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Criminal law

NAZIM & ORS. versus THE STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

The prosecution failed to establish a complete and unbroken chain of circumstances consistent only with the guilt of the appellants: (a) two appellants were omitted from the FIR despite complainant's familiarity with them, (b) PW-2's belated account of an overheard conspiracy was improbable and unexplained, (c) PW-3 and PW-4 made first-time dock identifications without TIP and their last-seen accounts were temporally separated and uncorroborated, and (d) forensic/DNA evidence was inconclusive and recovery procedures were procedurally suspect; cumulatively these defects leave reasonable doubt,…

Source excerpt

  • Circumstantial evidence
  • Last seen theory
  • Omission in fir
  • Dock identification without tip
  • Dna/forensic evidence
  • Motive
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Criminal law

AKHTAR ALI @ ALI AKHTAR @ SHAMIM @ RAJA USTAD versus STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

The prosecution failed to establish an unbroken and reliable chain of circumstances: motive was unproven, the last-seen theory collapsed due to belated and inconsistent eyewitness evidence and the non-examination of the crucial informant (Nikhil Chand), and the scientific/DNA evidence was rendered unreliable by investigative lapses, inconsistencies and strong inference of possible tampering; accordingly convictions (including the death sentence) could not be sustained and the appellants were acquitted.

Source excerpt

  • Circumstantial evidence
  • Last seen theory
  • Motive
  • Dna evidence
  • Death penalty standards
  • Investigative lapses
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Criminal law

JAI PRAKASH versus STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

The convictions under Sections 376, 377, 302 IPC and Sections 5/6 POCSO were upheld on the basis of last-seen evidence, recovery of the body from the appellant's hut and corroborative DNA evidence; however, because the trial and reference courts failed to sufficiently identify and weigh aggravating and mitigating circumstances required by the 'rarest of rare' doctrine, the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment without remission for the natural life of the appellant.

Source excerpt

  • Rape
  • Strangulation
  • Minor child
  • Recovery of body
  • Last seen theory
  • Dna evidence
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Criminal law

SUBHASH AGGARWAL versus THE STATE OF NCT OF DELHI

The appeal was dismissed and the conviction and sentence affirmed because the proved circumstantial and forensic evidence (ownership and custody of the gun, gunshot residue on the accused's right hand, GSR on the deceased's clothing, medical and ballistic evidence indicating a close-range firearm wound, and the accused's false explanations at the scene and under Section 313 CrPC) formed a complete chain of circumstances that led only to the hypothesis of the accused's guilt; absence of a proved motive was not decisive where the circumstantial chain was complete.

Source excerpt

  • Filicide
  • Suicide
  • Circumstantial evidence
  • Chain of circumstances
  • Motive
  • Gunshot residue
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Criminal law

KARANDEEP SHARMA @ RAZIA @ RAJU versus STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

The convictions could not be sustained because the prosecution's circumstantial case failed: the last-seen witnesses' conduct undermined their testimony, the confessional statement was improperly received and possibly coerced and was not relied upon, and the DNA/FSL reports were inadmissible due to non-examination of the reporting expert and failure to prove chain of custody/sealing of samples; additionally the trial was conducted with undue haste depriving the accused of a fair opportunity, therefore the impugned convictions and confirmations were set aside and the accused acquitted.

Source excerpt

  • Circumstantial evidence
  • Last seen theory
  • Dna/fsl report admissibility
  • Confession and sections 24-26 evidence act
  • Chain of custody
  • Fair trial
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Criminal law

ABDUL NASSAR versus STATE OF KERALA & ANR.

On a holistic appraisal of testimony, forensic reports and recoveries the Court found the chain of incriminating circumstantial evidence complete and consistent only with the guilt of the accused, and held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused committed forcible sexual assault and strangulation of the child; the appeals were dismissed, and execution of death sentence rendered otiose by the appellant's death.

Source excerpt

  • Murder
  • Rape
  • Circumstantial evidence
  • Dna evidence
  • Death penalty
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Criminal law

DINESH SAHU ALIAS DINNU versus THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

The conviction was upheld because a panch witness (PW-14) supported the recovery of the khukri from the appellant’s house, the post-mortem surgeon (PW-17) opined that the injuries were possible with the recovered khukri, and the FSL report found human blood Group B (the deceased’s blood group) on the khukri, and these findings were accepted by both Courts below; therefore the prosecution proved guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Source excerpt

  • Section 302 read with section 34
  • Concurrent findings
  • Hostile witnesses
  • Recovery of weapon
  • Post-mortem evidence
  • Fsl report
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Criminal law

NAVAS @ MULANAVAS versus STATE OF KERALA

The Supreme Court upheld the convictions under Sections 302, 449 and 309 IPC based on a complete chain of circumstantial evidence and the failure of the accused to give a plausible explanation; the High Court was justified in applying the Swamy Shraddananda principle to commute the death sentence and fix a non-remission period, but on proportionality grounds the Court reduced the non-remission period from 30 to 25 years including time already undergone.

Source excerpt

  • Murder
  • Remission
  • Commutation of death sentence
  • Circumstantial evidence
  • Section 106 indian evidence act
  • Section 293 cr.p.c.
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India decisions are organised by court, judge, legal area and indexed issue so a practitioner can move from a proposition to a citable authority with the surrounding context intact.

Source links and collection timestamps are retained alongside the indexed records.