Murder - Trial and Legal Principles Explained by Supreme Court

Murder - Trial and Legal Principles Explained by Supreme Court

*Criminal Law - Section 302 of IPC, 1860 - Punishment for Murder*

*Circumstantial Evidence* - "When the conviction is solely based on circumstantial evidence, there should be no breakage in the chain of circumstances, leading to the culpability of the accused, within all human probability."

*Discovery of Fact* - "Discovery of a fact includes the object found, the place from which it is produced, and the knowledge of the accused as to its existence."

*DNA Testing - Value as Evidence - Role in Criminal Cases* - "The absence of DNA testing does not vitiate the identification when credible and consistent testimonies of witnesses who knew the deceased personally are available on record. It is pertinent to note that the rate of decomposition of body will change drastically in different environments."

*Indian Evidence Act, 1872 - Sections 25,26, 27* - "It is trite that Sections 25 and 26 of the Evidence Act stipulate that confession made to a Police Officer is not admissible. However, Section 27 is an exception to Sections 25 and 26 and serves as a proviso to both these sections."

*Section 26 and Section 27 - Interplay of both the Sections* - "Section 27 does not nullify the ban imposed by Section 26 in regard to confessions made by persons in police custody but because there is the added guarantee of truthfulness from the fact discovered the statement whether confessional or not is allowed to be given in evidence but only that portion which distinctly relates to the discovery of the fact."

*Section 27 of IEA, 1872 - Admissibility* - "For evidence under Section 27 to be admissible, the information must emanate from an accused who is in police custody. Basic idea embedded in Section 27 is the doctrine of confirmation by subsequent events - when a fact is discovered on the strength of information obtained from a prisoner, such discovery serves as a guarantee of the truthfulness of the information supplied. The Court further observed that whether the information is confessional or non-inculpatory in nature, if it results in the discovery of a fact, it becomes reliable information. Significantly, it was held that the mere recovery of an object does not constitute the discovery of fact envisaged in the S.27 of IEA, 1872".

*Role of Motive in Criminal Cases - Effect and Extent* - "In cases based on circumstantial evidence, motive is not an absolute necessity when the chain of circumstances is otherwise complete and points conclusively to the guilt of the accused."

Conviction upheld ; life imprisonment awarded.

Citation : *Neelu @ Nilesh Koshti v. State of MP [2026] GCtR 158 (SC)*

Copy of Judgment : https://api.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2024/60168/60168_2024_15_1501_68630_Judgement_20-Feb-2026.pdf