PARAM HANS YADAV & SADANAND TRIPATHI vs STATE OF BIHAR & ORS.

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of the first appellant under Section 302 read with Section 120B IPC for the murder of the Collector, as there was direct evidence of his involvement and a confession made during apprehension. However, the second appellant was acquitted due to insufficient circumstantial evidence linking him to the conspiracy, emphasizing that a clear chain of evidence is necessary to establish conspiracy. The Court reiterated that confessions of co-accused are not substantive evidence against others in the trial, as per Sections 24 and 30 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.