Question:medium

The five Golden Principles with respect to Circumstantial Evidence were laid down in which Supreme Court Judgment?

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"Sharad Sarda" = "5 Golden Principles." Always remember that circumstantial evidence must form an unbreakable chain that excludes every other possibility except the accused's guilt.
Updated On: Jun 8, 2026
  • Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra, 1984 AIR 1622
  • Dudh Nath Pandey v. State of U.P., 1981 SCC (2) 166
  • Vasa Chandrasekhar Rao v. Ponna Satyanarayana & Anr., 2000 AIR SC 2138
  • Dr. Sunil Clifford Daniel v. State of Punjab (2012) 11 SCC 205
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understand the question.
We need the case that laid down the five golden principles, sometimes called the Panchsheel, for convicting someone on circumstantial evidence.

Step 2: Know what circumstantial evidence is.
Circumstantial evidence means there is no direct proof, like an eyewitness. Guilt is built from a chain of surrounding facts. Because this is indirect, the law sets strict conditions before a person can be convicted on it.

Step 3: Recall the five principles.
The facts must be fully established, must point only to the guilt of the accused, must be conclusive in nature, must rule out every other explanation, and must form a complete chain leaving no reasonable doubt of innocence.

Step 4: Find the case.
These five conditions were famously laid down in Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra (1984). This is the leading precedent on circumstantial evidence.

Step 5: Reject the other cases.
Dudh Nath Pandey, Vasa Chandrasekhar Rao, and Dr. Sunil Clifford Daniel deal with other points and are not the source of these five golden principles.

Step 6: State the answer.
The principles were laid down in Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra, 1984.
\[ \boxed{\text{Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra, 1984 AIR 1622}} \]
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