Calcutta High Court Acquits Man in Murder Case Citing Gaps in Circumstantial Evidence

The Calcutta High Court has acquitted Rasin Hansda (aka Raisan Hansda) of murder charges under Sections 302 and 364 IPC, overturning a life sentence.

The bench emphasised that in circumstantial evidence cases, the failure to send the recovered weapon for forensic examination compromised the chain of conviction. Additionally, key witnesses turned hostile, and the autopsy surgeon’s statements were found to be speculative since no chemical analysis of the weapon was done.

The court determined that the absence of a "vital link" connecting the weapon to the crime meant that guilt was not established beyond a reasonable doubt.

Consequently, the conviction was overturned, and Hansda's appeal was granted.