MURALI vs STATE OF TAMIL NADU

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of the accused under Section 304 Part-I IPC for the murder of Vinayagam, affirming the High Court's sentence of five years rigorous imprisonment. The Court noted that the prosecution's circumstantial evidence, including eyewitness accounts, established the accused's guilt despite the lack of direct eyewitness testimony to the fatal blow. The appeal was limited to the question of sentence, following the precedent set in Harbans Singh v. State of Punjab, which restricted the scope of the appeal to sentencing issues only.