If motive is a circumstance put forward in a criminal case, it must like any other incriminating circumstance be fully established. The prosecution has totally failed to prove the motive. Therefore, it failed to establish any additional support to the complicity of the appellants in the killing of the victim. The absence of motive is also a circumstance which is relevant for assessing the evidence. The motive has not been established. .....M.A.Kader =VS= The State, (Criminal), 2018 (1) [4 LM (AD) 408] ....View Full Judgment

Circumstantial evidence–
It is settled principles that where the inference of guilt of an accused is to be drawn from circumstantial evidence only, those circumstances must, in the first place, be cogently established. Further, those circumstances should be of a definite tendency pointing towards the guilt of the accused, and in their totality, must unerringly lead to the conclusion that within all human probability, the offence was committed by the accused excluding any other hypotheses. Such circumstances are totally absent in this case, particularly when the story of administering poisons is found to be doubtful. .....Haji Mahmud Ali Londoni =VS= The State, (Criminal), 2016-[1 LM (AD) 505] ....View Full Judgment

Circumstantial evidence–
No hard and fast rule can be laid to say that particular circumstances are conclusive to establish guilt– The rule of circumstantial evidence is that the chain of circumstances must be knitted together closely so as to lead to the irresistible conclusion that the accused committed the offence. The chain of circumstances must be such that it would exclude all possibilities of the innocence of the accused. The Court must examine whether inference from the totality of circumstances preclude the accused of being innocent. If there is any plausible story about the non-involvement of the accused, he cannot be convicted merely on the basis of circumstantial evidence. In order to sustain conviction, circumstantial evidence must be complete and incapable of explanation on any other hypothesis than that of the guilt of the accused. ...Sheikh Zahid =VS= The State, (Criminal), 2021(1) [10 LM (AD) 705] ....View Full Judgment