Important Legal Definitions

Direct Evidence: Testimony of a witness who perceived the fact in issue directly through their own senses (saw, heard, touched).

Circumstantial Evidence: Evidence of a collection of surrounding facts that, when linked together logically, point irresistibly to the sole hypothesis of the guilt of the accused or existence of the fact in issue.

In Sharad Birdhichand Sarda v. State of Maharashtra, the Supreme Court laid down the five golden principles ("Panchsheel") required to sustain a conviction based solely on circumstantial evidence, mandating that the chain of events must be complete and incapable of explanation on any other hypothesis than the guilt of the accused.