PRAYAGRAJ, July 18 -- Acquitting a man convicted in the murders of his wife and two sons in Mathura in 2017, the Allahabad high court has ruled that in cases based solely on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must establish a reasonable and convincing motive, observing that it would be unsafe to convict an accused in the absence of a potent motive.

A division bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Sanjiv Kumar allowed the appeal filed by Babu and directed that he be released from jail forthwith. As per the facts of the case, on September 3, 2017, an FIR was lodged by the aunt of the appellant that in the morning hours when she went to appellant's house, she saw the bodies of appellant's wife and their two sons. All three were killed...