A man was acquitted in a double murder case by a Thane court which observed that the prosecution failed to meet the 'Panchsheel test' for convictions based on circumstantial evidence, news agency PTI reported.

“The test requires that each circumstance be fully established, facts be consistent only with the accused's guilt, circumstances of a conclusive nature, exclusion of all other hypotheses and a complete chain of evidence," the Thane court emphasised.

While granting bail to Kallu Raju, alias Mahabharat Yadav, Additional Sessions Judge VL Bhosale, in the order of August 19, gave the benefit of doubt to the accused, who was a waiter at a bar. According to PTI, the court said that the prosecution failed to establish a complete and conclusive chain of evidence.