The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday acquitted ten individuals convicted for a double murder that occurred during a land dispute in Bihar in 1988, citing a “tainted investigation” and “inextricably mixed up” evidence that failed to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. A bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan overturned the concurrent convictions by the Trial Court and the Patna High Court, emphasizing the need for caution when convicting individuals based on general allegations in cases involving large mobs.

The court held that the First Information Report (FIR) was recorded after undue deliberation and could not be considered the first information, rendering the subsequent investigation unreliable. Furthermore, the testimonies of injured eyewitnesses were fou

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