'Substantial Gaps In Evidence': Supreme Court Sets Aside Life Term Of 4 In Murder Case

The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the conviction and life sentence handed down to four persons in a 25-year-old murder case, saying the evidence on record leaves "substantial gaps" which create a reasonable doubt regarding their involvement in the alleged crime.A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Prasanna B Varale delivered its judgment on the appeals challenging a May 2009 verdict of the Orissa High Court which affirmed the conviction of six persons in the case.The top court said the six convicted persons had filed appeals before it challenging the high court verdict.It noted that during the pendency of appeals, two of them passed away and consequently, the appeal stood abated regarding them."Though the medical evidence clearly established that the deceased died a homicidal death, the question before us is whether the prosecution was successful in establishing the appellants' authorship of the crime and we find that the…