Shail Kumari vs State of Chhattisgarh
Penal Code (45 of 1860) , S.302— Evidence Act (1 of 1872) , S.3— Murder – Circumstantial evidence – Allegation that accused killed her two kids by drowning in water, after fighting with her husband – Conviction was based solely on testimony of a last seen witness – Said witness claimed to have seen accused walking toward a pond with two children and later saw her alone, leading to discovery of children floating in water – Witness also testified to rescuing accused from a railway track and hearing her confess to killing her children after a fight with her husband – Cross-examination of witness showed that his testimony was complete improvement and was entirely contradictory to his previous statement given to police, which lacked crucial details – Evidence of witness was totally contradictory and therefore could not be relied upon – Prosecution failed to examine rickshaw puller who was an alleged eyewitness to events – With no other evidence to connect the accused to crime, guilt of accused was not established – Conviction based on mere conjectures and surmises, was not sustainable
Cri. A. No. 713 of 2004 , D/- 08.09.2010 (Chh)-ReversedAIR 1984 SC 1622-FollowedAIR 1957 SC 614-Followed(Paras910121314)