Evidence Act, 1872
Section 106—Burden of proving fact especially within knowledge—Section 106 of the Evidence Act shall apply and only to explain would shift on the accused only after the prosecution succeeds in establishing the basic fats from which a reasonable inference can be drawn regarding the existence of certain other facts which are within the special knowledge of the accused—When the accused fails to offer a proper explanation about the existence of the said other facts, the court can draw an appropriate inference against the accused—In the cases based on circumstantial evidence, the accused’s failure to provide a reasonable explanation as required under Section 106 of the Evidence Act can serve as an additional link in the chain of circumstantial evidence – but only if the prosecution has already established other essential ingredients sufficient to shift the onus on to the accused—If the prosecution fails to establish a complete chain of circumstances in the first place, then the accused’s failure to discharge the burden under Section 106 of the Evidence Act becomes irrelevant.
[Para 17]
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Section 302—Murder—Conviction—Appeal—Case of prosecution based on purely circumstantial evidence in the form of motive and the theory of last seen together—Proof of motive is not sine qua non in a case of murder—Evidence led by prosecution to prove theory of motive for commission of crime as attributed to accused-appellants is far from convincing and a vital link in the chain of incriminating circumstances is snapped—Theory of last seen together attributed by the prosecution could not be proved beyond all manner of doubt—Prosecution has failed to prove the chain of incriminating circumstances against the accused-appellants by convincing evidence and beyond the shadow of doubt, so as to affirm their guilt—Trial court as well as High Court clearly erred while appreciating evidence and in holding that the prosecution has proved the case against accused-appellants beyond all manner of doubt—Accused-appellants deserve to be acquitted of the charges by giving them benefit of doubt—Appeal allowed.
[Paras 22 to 33]
Section 302—Murder—Benefit of acquittal to non-appealing accused—Since case of acquitted accused is identical to that of non-appealing accused, the benefit of acquittal extended to the non-appealing accused.
[Para 33]