SC slams ‘pedantic’ use of burden-of-proof rule

The Supreme Court has held that the traditional rule relating to the prosecution’s burden of proof in criminal cases cannot be applied in a “pedantic” manner, cautioning that such rigidity would allow offenders in serious offences to go unpunished while society becomes the casualty.

- Utkarsh Anand

A bench of justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe made the observation while restoring the conviction of a Madhya Pradesh man who murdered h