New Delhi: The top court has acquitted a man, who was on death row, in the murder case of a software engineer from Andhra Pradesh. The Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted a man on death row in connection with the alleged murder of a 23-year-old software engineer, from Andhra Pradesh, saying it is "constrained to come to the sole irresistible conclusion", as there are gaping holes in the prosecution story. The judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and K V Viswanathan. Against the backdrop of facts in the case, the bench said it constrains the court to conclude that there are gaping holes in the prosecution story leading to the irresistible conclusion that there is something more than what meets the eye in this case. "While the old adage, witness may lie but not the circumstances, may be correct, however, the circumstances adduced, as held by this court, should be fully established. There is a legal distinction between 'may be proved' and 'must be or should be proved' as held by this court," said Justice Viswanathan, who authored the 113-page judgment for the bench. The bench said it would be extremely unsafe to sustain the conviction against Chandrabhan Sudam Sanap on the basis of the available evidence. Sanap moved the apex court against the Bombay High Court judgment which upheld his conviction. The apex court, setting aside the High Court judgment,; said the circumstances relied upon when stitched together do not lead to the sole hypothesis of the guilt of the accused. "We do not find that the chain is so complete as not to leave any reasonable ground for the conclusion consistent with the innocence of the accused," said the bench. Justice Vishwanathan said: "The prosecution has not established its case beyond reasonable doubt. Hence, we are constrained to come to the sole irresistible conclusion that the appellant is not guilty of the offences for which he has been charged". The 23-year-old software engineer from Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh returned to Mumbai on January 5, 2014, after a Christmas break and got off a train at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Mumbai where she was last seen alive. In 2015, a special court held Sanap guilty and sentenced him to death for the rape and murder of the woman employed with a leading IT firm in Mumbai. In 2018, the High Court upheld the death sentence and said it did not see any possibility of reform. On January 5, 2014, the victim reached the railway station in suburban Mumbai from her native in Andhra Pradesh after spending some time with her family. It was alleged by the prosecution that at around 5 am, she met Sanap outside the station and he offered to drop her to the YWCA hostel in suburban Andheri, where she stayed, on his motorbike in return for Rs 300. The prosecution alleged that she agreed, but on the way, Sanap took her to a secluded spot near suburban Kanjurmarg, raped and killed her. Sanap denied all these charges. The Mumbai Police crime branch arrested Sanap and charged him with the rape and murder of the techie.