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Introduction In a significant judgment highlighting the importance of fair criminal adjudication and evidentiary scrutiny, the Allahabad High Court acquitted three men who had been serving life imprisonment for nearly four decades in a 1982 murder case. The Court held that the prosecution had failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt and that the trial court’s conviction rested on conjectures and misappreciation of evidence. The bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Sanjiv Kumar observed that the case was one of blind murder , and the crime was likely committed by someone else during the night, with the prosecution’s version contradicted by medical findings. Order Date: 18 December 2024 Background of the Case Alleged Incident (1982) According to the prosecution case: The deceased was allegedly assaulted by 11 accused persons on 8 July 1982 . It was claimed that one accused inserted a lathi into the deceased’s body. The informant (brother of the deceased) alleged that he was thr...

Supreme Court Decision: V. Senthil Balaji vs  The Directorate of Enforcement Background and Case Summary The case under discussion is Criminal Appeal No. 4011 of 2024 , which arose from Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 3986 of 2024 . V. Senthil Balaji, a former Transport Minister in Tamil Nadu (2011-2016), was accused of involvement in a significant job racketeering scheme. The charges against him primarily relate to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 . Allegations The allegations stem from several FIRs filed between 2015 and 2018, which accuse Balaji of promising jobs in the Transport Department in exchange for money. It was claimed that Balaji, along with his associates, collected large sums of money for posts like drivers, conductors, junior tradesmen, and engineers. Over 2,000 individuals were named as accused , and multiple chargesheets  were filed under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) , the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 , and the PMLA. The ...