Back
JOBIN SEBASTIAN, P. B. SURESH KUMAR
Santhosh S/o. Shanmughan Achari – Appellant
Versus
State of Kerala – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
P.B.Suresh Kumar, J.
The sole accused in S.C.No.769 of 2013 on the files of the Court of the Additional Sessions Judge – I, Kollam is the appellant in the appeal. He stands convicted and sentenced for the offences punishable under Sections 449, 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
2. The victim was a boy aged 9 years. He was the maternal nephew of the appellant. At the time of occurrence, the victim, his parents and his younger sibling were residing in a building adjacent to the family house of the appellant where the appellant was residing with his parents, namely the maternal grandparents of the victim. The mother of the victim used to work under the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme of the Government. On 23.06.2012, when the mother of the victim left for work, the victim was playing with the appellant in the courtyard of the house of the latter. At about noon on that day, the grandfather of the victim went to a nearby shop and when he returned after about 1½ hours, it was noticed that the victim who was playing with the appellant in their house, was not seen. The grandfather then informed the matter to the neighbours and one among the
The last seen together theory alone is insufficient for conviction; a complete chain of circumstantial evidence must exclude all reasonable hypotheses of innocence.
The judgment establishes the principles of circumstantial evidence, the last seen theory, and the burden of proof under Section 106 of the Indian Evidence Act in establishing guilt in criminal cases.
The sufficiency of circumstantial evidence and the last seen theory in establishing the guilt of the accused.
(1) Evidence is only to be weighed and not to be counted – It is essentially, for prosecution to decide as to how many witnesses are to be examined to establish its case on any particular point.(2) D....
Circumstantial evidence must form a conclusive chain linked to the accused, establishing guilt beyond reasonable doubt, with no viable alternative explanations for innocence.
In a murder conviction based on circumstantial evidence, multiple corroborative factors, including the last seen theory and absence of alternative explanations, can establish guilt beyond reasonable ....
In circumstantial murder cases, last seen theory alone cannot sustain conviction without complete evidentiary chain excluding innocence, especially with wide time gap allowing third-party interventio....
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
