Telangana HC acquits man of murder: incomplete circumstantial chain; untested witnesses cannot prove 'last seen together'
The question: Can statements recorded under Section 164 CrPC be treated as substantive evidence when the witnesses did not testify at trial?
A Division Bench of the Telangana High Court set aside a Jagtial sessions court's life sentence for murder and destruction of evidence. The prosecution had proved a homicidal death but not who caused it. Its key 'last seen together' link rested on statements of two witnesses recorded before a magistrate who were never examined at trial, and the recovery of a towel did not connect the accused to the death.