Published on: 10 July 2023 at 12:07 IST
Court: High Court of Delhi
Citation: Chhatar Pal v. State (2018)
Honourable High Court of Delhi has held that circumstantial evidence must be proved beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecution. It is held that the “Last Seen” suspicious may be the evidence of last seen, the same has not attained the status of Proof of Crime as it cannot be ruled out of anything happening involving a third person.
26. While motive is not necessarily of the essence in a case of direct evidence, it attains significance in a case of circumstantial evidence particularly when the other circumstances have not been proved beyond reasonable doubt. In the present case, the ‘last seen’ evidence cannot be vouched for particularly because the two accused were not last seen with the deceased at the place where the dead body was ultimately found
39. In a case of circumstantial evidence, not only are all links in the chain of circumstances required to be proved beyond reasonable doubt but they must be continuous and unerringly point to the guilt of the accused. In the present case, the said threshold has not been met. In the considered view of the Court, both the accused are therefore, entitled to the benefit of doubt.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra