The Supreme Court dismissed Himachal Pradesh's appeal against the acquittal of a woman accused of strangling her step-mother and minor step-brother. The last-seen witness had improved on his police statement, the investigating officer never explained why or when he recorded the taxi driver and hotel worker, tower locations were never collected, and a DNA match on a trunk showed only that the accused, a regular visitor, had been there at some point.
The Supreme Court has upheld the acquittal of two men convicted of a double murder, dismissing the State's appeal against the High Court's benefit-of-doubt finding. It held the circumstantial evidence chain was incomplete: no eyewitness, a key witness's delayed disclosure, and recoveries made days after the arrest that appeared stage-managed and artificial.
The Supreme Court dismissed the State of Himachal Pradesh’s appeal against an NDPS acquittal after examining doubts concerning the seizure and handling of the case property. The High Court had questioned the absence of independent witnesses on a busy highway and missing records of the property’s movement to and from court. The Supreme Court agreed that the prosecution had not proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. (Paras 3–6)