Reiterating a key principle of criminal jurisprudence, the Supreme Court on Monday set aside the conviction of three individuals accused of murdering a 10-year-old boy in Uttarakhand in 2007, holding that suspicion cannot substitute proof.

A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma allowed the appeal filed by the accused against the Uttarakhand High Court’s November 2017 verdict that had upheld their conviction and life sentence.

The court observed that the prosecution case suffered from “substantial gaps” and that the evidence on record did not complete the chain of circumstances required to establish guilt.

“To convict on doubtful testimony while ignoring scientific tests is to substitute suspicion for proof. The Supreme Court has repeatedly cautioned that suspicion,

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