NEW DELHI: Observing that extra-judicial confession, which suffers from material discrepancies and does not appear to be cogent, cannot be the sole basis of conviction, Supreme Court has acquitted a man in the murder case of his live-in partner. The accused was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in the case pertaining to Maharashtra’s Thane in 2004, and Bombay HC upheld the order in 2010.The bench agreed that there is strong suspicion against the accused and the needle of suspicion points towards him, but said suspicion, however strong, cannot be the sole basis of conviction. It set aside the orders of the trial court and HC convicting him on the basis of his confession made to his family members and relatives of committing the crime. “No doubt there is a strong suspicion and the needle of suspicion qua the death points towards him, but as is the settled jurisprudence of this country, suspicion, howsoever strong, cannot take the place of hard evidence. The evidence on the basis of which the prosecution seeks conviction of the accused i.e. extra-judicial confession made before the above witnesses lack credibility, and hence, cannot be relied upon. Besides, the evidence suffers from material contradiction. Therefore, it would be wholly unsafe to sustain the conviction of the appellant based on such weak circumstantial evidence, which on the top of it lacks credibility,” the bench said.Check out the latest news about Delhi Elections 2025, including key constituencies such as Kalkaji, Karol Bagh, Tilak Nagar, New Delhi, Laxmi Nagar, Badarpur, Ghonda, Krishna Nagar, Model Town, Rithala, Trilokpuri, Najafgarh, and Matia Mahal.
20 years on, man given life sentence for killing live-in partner acquitted by SC | India News
