NEW DELHI: In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a man who murdered his friend in 2006 following a financial dispute, after noting that the circumstances in the case proved the guilt of the accused.

"Each of the circumstances so proved must form a complete chain without any break and clearly point to the guilt of the accused," the bench noted in its order.

The bench further stated that, "Merely because there is no evidence of any witness seeing the gun being carried by the appellant (Chetan), it cannot be fatal to the prosecution's case," and dismissed the appeal of the convict, Chetan.

On July 10, 2006, Chetan took his friend Vikram Shinde on a hunting trip. Vikram's body was discovered in a field three days later and Chetan was arrested two weeks following that. Chetan had allegedly murdered Vikram after the latter refused to repay a loan of Rs 4,000. Since there were no eyewitnesses of the crime, the case was drawn out.

The top court bench, upheld the conviction of the Sessions Court and Karnataka High Court, stating that this case was based on circumstantial evidence.

The court added that it had relied on the last seen theory supported by the recovery of articles including the weapon of crime, forensic evidence, and the act of abscondence by the appellant.

"On consideration of the circumstantial evidences and other proven facts, in our considered opinion, a clear pattern emerges out of the circumstances so proved with inferential and logical links which unmistakably points to the guilt of the appellant (Chetan) for committing murder of the deceased Vikram Shinde, punishable under Section 302 (Murder) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code (IPC) and many other sections," said, a two-judge bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh.