The Myth of Joint Disclosures: Supreme Court Clarifies Section 27 of the Evidence Act: Beyond "Last Seen": Why Circumstantial Evidence Must Meet the "Must Be" Standard
May Be vs. Must Be: Closing the Distance in Criminal Trials : When "Last Seen Together" is Not Enough: Lessons from the Bench : Procedural Failures in Discovery Panchanamas: Insights from 2026 INSC 417:
This summary covers the Supreme Court of India's judgment in Anand Jakkappa Pujari @Gaddadar v. The State of Karnataka (2026 INSC 417), which clarifies the evidentiary standards for "last seen" theory and joint discoveries under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act
Case Overview
The appellants, Anand Jakkappa Pujari and Mahadev Sidram Hullolli, were convicted alongside two others (including the deceased's brother, Kalappa) for the abduction, murder, and burning of a woman named Bebakka
Key Circumstantial Evidence Analyzed
The prosecution's case rested on two primary pillars
Last Seen Together: A witness (PW-7) claimed to see the deceased in a car with Kalappa at 5:30 PM, where the other appellants subsequently boarded
. Section 27 Discoveries: Alleged "joint" disclosure statements by all four accused leading to the discovery of the murder site and the spot where the body was burned
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Law Discussed & Judicial Principles
1. Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act (Discovery of Fact)
The Court emphasized that Section 27 is an exception to the rule that confessions to police are inadmissible
Joint/Simultaneous Disclosures: The Court noted that while joint disclosures are not per se inadmissible, they are often a "myth" because multiple people rarely speak in a chorus
. Authorship of Concealment: For a discovery to be valid against an accused, the prosecution must prove the exact words used and that the specific accused had knowledge of the concealment
. No Re-discovery: Once a fact is discovered (e.g., the location of the body), a subsequent statement by another accused about the same fact is inadmissible as it does not "lead to" a discovery
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2. "Last Seen Together" Theory
The Court reiterated that this theory applies only when the time gap between the "last seen" event and the death is so small that it excludes any other person as the perpetrator
Judgments Referred
The Court relied on several landmark and recent precedents:
Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra: Established the five "golden principles" (panchsheel) for circumstantial evidence
. State (NCT of Delhi) v. Navjot Sandhu: Addressed the credibility of joint/simultaneous disclosures
. Ramanand @Nandlal Bharti v. State of U.P. (2023): Outlined the proper procedure for recording and proving discovery panchanamas
. Pulukuri Kotayya v. King Emperor (1946): The locus classicus defining "fact discovered" under Section 27
. Nagamma v. State of Karnataka (2025): Reiterated the difficulty of relying on "chorus" utterances in joint statements
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Final Judgment
The Supreme Court allowed the appeals and acquitted the appellants
The discovery evidence was flawed as it was a "joint discovery" where it was impossible to attribute specific knowledge to the appellants
. Most material objects (car, rope, gold) were discovered solely at the instance of Kalappa, not the appellants
. The "last seen" evidence alone, without the discarded discovery evidence, was insufficient to prove guilt "beyond reasonable doubt"
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