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Heading: Background of the Case The Supreme Court has clarified that the long-standing principle of presumption of innocence applies only until the conclusion of the criminal trial. Once a conviction is recorded, the presumption no longer survives, and appellate courts must exercise extreme caution while suspending sentences and granting bail pending appeal. The ruling came while setting aside orders of the Patna High Court that had suspended the life sentences of two convicts — a father-son duo — involved in the murder of a village priest inside a temple in Bihar’s Rohtas district. The Court directed both convicts to surrender within ten days. Heading: Facts of the Crime and Trial Court Findings The incident occurred on 11 December 2021 inside the Mahavir Temple. The prosecution case was that the deceased, Krishna Behari Upadhyay, a village priest, had gone to the temple with his son to perform evening rituals when a group of armed men entered the premises, accused him of political i...

The Bombay High Court has upheld the conviction and life sentence of Murgesh Pechi Muttu, a tailor, who murdered his mother-in-law Manju Swamy in 2012 using a scissor blade. The division bench of Justices Manish Pitale and Manjusha Deshpande dismissed the appeal challenging the conviction, holding that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt. Case Background and Incident Narrative The incident occurred on December 19, 2012 , at a transit camp residence in Borivali, Mumbai. The deceased, Manju Swamy , intervened when the accused began assaulting his wife Asha — her daughter — shortly before Asha was to leave for her nursing shift at Arihant Hospital. During the altercation: The accused removed a sharp blade from a pair of scissors Repeatedly assaulted Swamy on the head and back Continued the attack even after she fell unconscious The victim died before reaching the hospital. The Court observed that: “The ferocity of the assault and the fact that the victim died even ...