If acused fails to offer reasonable explanation,adverse inference can be drawn against him u/s 106 of Evidence Act

Bombay High Court: Reiterating the principle laid down under section 106 of Indian Evidence Act, the Court upheld the conviction of a lady who strangled her husband to death. The Court, relying upon recent judgments of the Supreme court, observed that that if the accused fails to offer an explanation on the basis of facts within his special knowledge, he fails to discharge the burden cast upon him by Section 106 of the Evidence Act.
The Court was of the opinion that in a case resting on circumstantial evidence if the accused fails to offer a reasonable explanation in discharge of the burden placed on him, that itself provides an additional link in the chain of circumstances proved against him. [Sonali Santosh Giri Vs. State of Maharashtra,Criminal Appeal No.383 of 2011, decided on November 27, 2013]

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