As per the case facts, the appellants were convicted under various IPC sections and the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, receiving life imprisonment. The High Court ... of Madras at Madurai upheld these convictions. The prosecution's case was linked to local elections where the victim's wife won, ending a long-standing control of the Panchayat Board by the accused's family. The appeal challenges the High Court's judgment. The question arose whether the High Court and Trial Court misread the evidence of material prosecution witnesses and if the guilt of the accused was proven beyond reasonable doubt. Finally, the Supreme Court allowed the appeals, setting aside the impugned judgments of the High Court and Trial Court, and acquitted the appellants. The Court found that the analysis of evidence showed that the lower courts misread the evidence of material witnesses and ignored striking features of the prosecution's case, concluding that the guilt of the accused was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt.