High Court Sets Aside Murder Conviction
The AP High Court Acquittal came after the prosecution failed to establish a complete chain of circumstantial evidence. The Andhra Pradesh High Court at Amaravati acquitted four persons in a 2015 murder case. A Division Bench of Justice K. Suresh Reddy and Justice A. Hari Haranadha Sarma delivered the ruling.
The Bench allowed Criminal Appeal No. 2593 of 2018. It set aside the judgment dated July 10, 2018, of the VI Additional Sessions Judge, Anantapuramu at Gooty.
The trial court had convicted the four appellants in S.C. No. 492 of 2016. It also sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The charges included offences under Sections 302, 364, 201 and 379 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). These provisions deal with murder, kidnapping to murder, disappearance of evidence and theft.
Prosecution Alleges Motive Behind Murder
The deceased, B. Susheelamma, owned a residential hut. Appellant No. 1, Boya Hothuru Alliswamy, had taken the property on rent.
According to the prosecution, Alliswamy developed an illicit relationship with Susheelamma’s daughter, Kuruba Lakshmi Devi. She was Appellant No. 4 in the case.
Susheelamma allegedly objected to the relationship and admonished her daughter. The prosecution claimed that Lakshmi Devi then developed a grudge against her mother.
It alleged that she offered Alliswamy money to eliminate Susheelamma. Alliswamy allegedly sought help from Dayyala Thimmaiah and Yeruru Manjunath.
Prosecution Describes Alleged Killing
According to the prosecution, the incident occurred on May 15, 2015. Thimmaiah allegedly persuaded Susheelamma to travel with him on a motorcycle.
He allegedly promised to help her meet her missing second son. They travelled towards Gummanuru Vanka near Chippagiri Mandal.
The prosecution alleged that Alliswamy and Manjunath followed them on another vehicle.
After reaching the location, Thimmaiah allegedly struck Susheelamma on the head with a stick. Alliswamy and Manjunath allegedly attacked her with a stone.
The prosecution claimed that the assault caused her death. It further alleged that the accused removed her gold ornaments and buried her body in a pit.
Exhumation Establishes Homicidal Death
Investigators later exhumed Susheelamma’s body from the burial site. Forensic examination helped establish her identity.
The post-mortem findings also established that she had suffered a homicidal death. However, the High Court distinguished this finding from proof of the accused persons’ guilt.
The Bench observed that establishing the corpus delicti does not automatically establish criminal liability. The prosecution must separately connect each accused to the offence through reliable evidence.
High Court Examines Circumstantial Evidence
Advocate C. Vasundhara Reddy represented the four appellants. The Public Prosecutor appeared for the State of Andhra Pradesh.
The High Court examined the circumstances relied upon by the prosecution. These included extra-judicial confessions, the “last seen” theory and alleged recoveries.
The prosecution also relied on recoveries under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act. However, the Bench identified significant gaps in the evidence.
Several assertions lacked independent corroboration. The evidence also failed to form an uninterrupted sequence connecting the appellants to the killing.
Complete Chain Required for Conviction
The High Court reiterated the established principles governing cases based on circumstantial evidence. The prosecution must prove every important circumstance beyond reasonable doubt.
Those circumstances must form a complete and unbroken chain. The chain must point only towards the guilt of the accused.
It must also exclude every reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence. The Bench found that the prosecution had failed to satisfy this standard.
Four Appellants Get Benefit of Doubt
The AP High Court Acquittal resulted from the critical gaps in the prosecution’s circumstantial evidence. The Court held that proof of homicidal death could not, by itself, sustain the convictions.
The Bench therefore extended the benefit of doubt to all four appellants. It acquitted Boya Hothuru Alliswamy, Dayyala Thimmaiah, Yeruru Manjunath and Kuruba Lakshmi Devi.
The High Court consequently set aside their convictions and life imprisonment sentences.
