A bench of justices Swatanter Kumar and Ibrahim Kalifulla upheld the life term given to Arvindkumar Anupalal Poddar, rejecting his plea that he was innocent and his first wife Sita Devi, in fact, had fled to her matrimonial home.
The bench said though there is no direct evidence, yet the courts can rely on circumstantial evidence to convict a person if the prosecution is able to establish the case through a complete chain of acts and circumstances consistent with the guilt of the accused.
"The motive for the alleged offence was stated to be that both the wives of the appellant were indulging in frequent fights which irked the appellant and this ultimately resulted in the killing of his first wife Sita Devi.
"The circumstances narrated above clearly establish the guilt of the appellant in the killing of the deceased who was his first wife and he had a clear motive to eliminate her since there were constant fights between the deceased on the one side and the appellant and his second wife on the other which he could not tolerate, "Justice Kalifulla writing the judgement said.
Poddar had moved the apex court challenging the life sentence awarded to him and his brother by a sessions court for killing Sita Devi on December 6, 2001, which ad been affirmed by the Bombay High Court. The high court, however, had acquitted his brother of the charges of murder. (More)
