DEVA vs STATE OF RAJASTHAN — Crl.A. No. 1043/1998

Case Summary: Deva v. State of Rajasthan The Supreme Court acquitted Deva of murder charges (Section 302 IPC), overturning his life sentence imposed by the trial court and upheld by the High Court. The Court found the prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt because all three eyewitnesses categorically stated they did not see the accused use a knife, instead testifying the accused and deceased grappled with the deceased holding a stick. The Court rejected reliance on the accused's alleged knife recovery in custody and the deceased's hearsay statement to his wife, noting the absence of visible blood injuries observed by eyewitnesses contradicted the knife injury theory. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.