New Delhi, April 3 : The Supreme Court has recently acquitted a man who was convicted of murdering his wife almost 22 years ago, saying his conviction was "travesty of justice", and it is the court's duty "to rectify miscarriage of justice".

A bench comprising justices B.R. Gavai and Sanjay Karol said: “The courts below presumptively, proceeded with the acquired assumption of the guilt of the accused for the reason that he was lastly seen with the deceased, and lodged a false report, forgetting that as per the version of the father of the deceased, father of the accused had himself apprised him of his missing daughter, at least two days prior to the incident.”  Justice Karol, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said doubt and suspicion cannot form the basis of guilt of the accused and the circumstances linking the accused to the crime are not proven at all, much less beyond reasonable doubt.  The bench said: “We may reiterate that, suspicion howsoever grave it may be, remains only a doubtful pigment in the story canvassed by the prosecution for establishing its case beyond any reasonable doubt.”