The Supreme Court recently acquitted a man who was convicted of murdering his wife 22 years back, after it was found that he was found to be guilty on mere suspicion.

The court was hearing an appeal challenging a 2004 Jharkhand High Court order affirming the conviction and life sentence of the accused-appellant by the trial court.

A Division Bench comprising of Justice B R Gavai and Sanjay Karol observed that the appellant was convicted only for the reason that he was last seen with his deceased wife. “The circumstances linking the appellant to the crime are not proven at all, much beyond reasonable doubt,” the Bench said.

“Suspicion howsoever grave it may be, remains only a doubtful pigment in the story canvassed by the prosecution for establishing its case beyond any reasonable doubt…Save and except for the above, there is no evidence: ocular, circumstantial or otherwise, which could establish the guilt of the accused. There is no discovery of any fact linking the accused to the crime sought to be proved, much less, established by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt,” the judgment said.

The Supreme Court said that the conviction was handed out based on incorrect and incomplete appreciation of evidence, the Bench said.

The wife of the appellant husband was found dead almost 35 years back in August 1988. Her body was found in the well of the village.

The prosecution alleged that the accused had committed the murder of his wife and then dumped her body in the well of the village with the intention of causing disappearance of evidence. The prosecution also said that the accused approached the police with unclean hands by fabricating a story that his wife was missing.

The Supreme Court took note of the fact that none of the witnesses had said anything against the appellant in relation to the crime. The court said that no case of ill-treatment of the deceased was ever registered against the appellant.

Hence the prosecution stands unproven as the circumstances linking the accused to the crime are not proven at all, the Supreme Court said.

“The Courts below presumptively, proceeded with the acquired assumption of the guilt of the accused for the reason that he was lastly seen with the deceased, and lodged a false report, forgetting that as per the version of the father of the deceased, father of the accused had himself apprised him of his missing daughter, at least two days prior to the incident. Doubt and suspicion cannot form the basis of guilt of the accused. The circumstances linking the accused to the crime are not proven at all, much less beyond reasonable doubt,” the Bench said.

In view of the above circumstances, the Supreme court acquitted the man after 22 years and dismissed the case