Conviction Can’t Be Based Merely On Ground Of Last Seen Theory Without Any Other Incriminating Circumstance: Supreme Court Acquits Murder Accused
The Supreme Court found that the testimony of the witnesses to prove the last seen theory did not inspire confidence.
Justice J. B. Pardiwala, Justice K. Vinod Chandran, Supreme Court
While acquitting an accused in a murder case after finding that the testimony of the witnesses to prove the last seen theory did not inspire confidence, the Supreme Court has held that there can be no conviction merely on the basis of the last seen theory without any other incriminating circumstance.
The Apex Court was considering a murder case registered against the appellant.
The Division Bench of Justice J. B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran held, “PW2 to 4 spoke of the deceased having been turned out of the house of PW1. They also spoke of the assault by PW1s husband and the appellant, but nobody seems to have intervened. The testimony of the witnesses to prove the last seen theory does not inspire confidence. We also notice that there can be no conviction merely on the basis of the last seen theory without any other incriminating circumstance”
AOR Shamshravish Rein represented the Appellant while Advocate Sugandha Jain represented the Respondent.
Factual Background
A passerby saw a dead body lying on the bank of a pond near the temple, which was informed to the police. The dead body was identified and on post-mortem, it was revealed that the person died of hemorrhagic shock and a number of wounds were seen all over the body, which were bleeding. It was established that the death was homicidal.
Reasoning
The Bench noted that the only evidence on which the appellant was convicted was of the last seen theory spoken of by the witnesses.
The Bench noticed that the deceased was said to have been thrown on by the other accused and his wife. The wife had deposed before the Court as PW1. “As coming out from their testimonies, PWs 1 and 2 were first declared hostile and then spoke of having seen the two accused assaulting the deceased. The two accused were, the husband of PW1, who went absconding, and the appellant herein, who is their son-in-law. The deceased is also said to have been brought up by PW1 and her husband”, it noted.
The Bench noted that the witnesses spoke of the deceased having been turned out of the house of PW1 and the assault by PW1’s husband and the appellant, but nobody intervened. As per the Bench, the testimony of the witnesses to prove the last seen theory did not inspire confidence.
The Bench thus disposed of the appeal by acquitting the appellant.
Cause Title: Munu Sen v. The State of Chhattisgarh (Neutral Citation: 2026 INSC 780)
Appearance
Appellant: AOR Shamshravish Rein
Respondent: Advocate Sugandha Jain, AOR Prabodh Kumar