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Supreme Court quashes rape conviction, finds chain of circumstances broken
The case concerns an appeal by Santosh Gurung against his conviction for rape, murder, and offenses under the POCSO Act, challenging whether the chain of circumstantial evidence was sufficient to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Who it concerns: Petitioner: Santosh Gurung; Respondent: State of Sikkim; Bench: Justice Atul S. Chandurkar.
What the court decided
- The Court held that the conviction based solely on circumstantial evidence deserves interference because the chain of circumstances is incomplete and broken at various places.
- The Court found a grave doubt regarding the circumstance that the appellant was 'last seen' with the victim, noting that witnesses were unsure if they left together and no one witnessed the appellant taking the victim from the house.
- The Court noted that the FIR was registered on 13.05.2014, significantly delayed from the incident date of 06.11.2013, and the victim's body was not traced until bones and teeth were discovered in May 2014.
Also in the document
- The judgment is marked as 'REPORTABLE'.
- The Court cited the decision in Hanumant Vs. The State of Madhya Pradesh to emphasize that circumstantial evidence must exclude every hypothesis but the one proposed to be proved.
- The Court specifically addressed the prosecution's reliance on the appellant's silence under Section 313 CrPC as part of the chain of circumstances.
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The original document
Supreme Court of India — orders & judgments
Court order · 1 Oct 2026
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