'Suspicion howsoever strong cannot take place of proof,': Supreme Court upholds acquittal in kidnapping-murder case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said the presumption alone, taking recourse to Section 106 of the Evidence Act would not be sufficient to convict an accused in a case.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Prasanna B Varale said the prosecution has to discharge its burden to prove the other circumstances in the case based on circumstantial evidence, to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt by leading cogent and clinching evidence.

In a recent judgment, the court acquitted Ashok Bhoi in a case of kidnapping for ransom and murder in 2006 and upheld acquittal of another accused. It found no illegality or infirmity in the High Court's judgment and dismissed the appeal by the Chhattisgarh government.

The bench said, "It is true that justice cannot be made sterile on the plea that it is better to let a hundred guilty escape than punish an innocent, as letting guilty escape on fanciful doubts is not doing justice according to law. However, it is also well settled that suspicion howsoever strong cannot take place of proof."

As per the prosecution case, Uttamlal had two sons - Swapnil and Suhash. On the day of the incident, Swapnil had gone somewhere, Uttamlal sent his second son Suhash to find him out. After some time, Swapnil came back home, however, Suhash did not return.

At about 9.00 pm, a telephone call was received on the mobile phone of Swapnil, demanding a ransom of Rs 2 lakhs for getting Suhash back. Since Suhash did not return home, an FIR was lodged by the father with the police station Bhilai in Durg. Two days after the dead body of Subhash was found in a house.

The bench said that the entire case of the prosecution hinged on the circumstantial evidence, because there was no eye-witness to the alleged incident.

The prosecution produced one witness, who had seen the deceased, along with the accused – Ashok Bhoi, at about 6-7 pm on the date of the incident.

The bench, however, said that it is significant to note that, except the theory of “last seen together”, there was hardly any reliable evidence adduced by the prosecution, to prove the charges levelled against the accused.

The court opined, though, that it is true that the witness had stated that he had seen the accused Ashok Bhoi with the deceased in the evening on the day of the incident, the said evidence alone would not be sufficient to hold him guilty of the alleged offence.

It said the High Court has rightly pointed out even the concerned person from the STD-PCO was not examined to substantiate the allegation that the phone call was made by the respondent – accused – Ashok Bhoi. The recovery of the lade, nails and T-shirt with blood stains after two days of the incident also does not inspire any confidence, the court said.