The Supreme Court in a recent verdict acquitted a man who had already spent nine years in jail on charges of murdering his wife. The man was convicted by the trial court based on circumstantial evidence of "last seen with" theory. The top court while acquitting the man raised concerns over delay in the system which resulted into nine-years long incarceration of a man without evidence.
A bench of Justice Abhay Oka, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justise Augustine George-Masih overturned a Chhattisgarh High Court verdict that upheld the man's conviction in murder case by the trial court.
"This is the problem in our system. Eight years he has undergone, nine years, with no evidence...Delay is on the part of the system..." Justice Oka remarked after overturning the verdict.
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The top court observed that the prosecution failed to prove that he was the last person seen with his wife when she was alive.
The court noted that in the said case, going by evidence of PW 1, the deceased wife was already dead at 5 PM, whereas the witness said that the husband came home at 7 PM.
"Therefore, the prosecution did not discharge the burden on it to prove that the appellant was lastly seen together with the deceased wife," the court said.
It was contended that the man suspected his wife of infidelity and frequently quarreled with her. The man was accused of strangling the wife to death. It was further contended that there was no proof to establish the alleged motive of the infidelity and the deceased wife was not last seen with the husband as two witnesses who gave statements to the police against him regarding last seen theory turned hostile.
The top court overturned the high court order saying that the prosecution miserably failed to prove the only circumstantial evidence relied upon. The court further directed his release, unless his detention was required in another case.