The Chhattisgarh High Court has upheld the acquittal of 10 accused in the 2010 Tadmetla encounter, the deadliest Naxal attack in Indian history that resulted in the deaths of 76 security personnel, due to insufficient evidence and major investigative flaws. Delivering its verdict on May 5, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal dismissed the state's appeal against a 2013 trial court order, emphasizing that guilt could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

The attack occurred on April 6, 2010, when Maoists ambushed a CRPF contingent returning from an operation in Sukma district's Tadmetla region, using explosives and gunfire to kill 75 CRPF personnel and one state police officer. The accused were charged under multiple sections of the IPC, the Arms Act, and the Explosive Substances Act, but the trial court cleared them in 2013, a decision the state challenged the following year. Of the 10, two have since died.

The High Court highlighted critical lapses, including the absence of a test identification parade, failure to produce an FSL report on seized explosives, and lack of prosecution sanction under the Arms Act. None of the 43 witnesses identified the accused, and no direct or reliable circumstantial evidence linked them to the attack. The court stated it was 'distressed' that no perpetrators had been held accountable for such a grave assault on national security.

The court directed the Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to improve investigation standards in serious criminal cases, mandate training for police on evidence collection, and establish internal review mechanisms. The judgment underscores systemic gaps in prosecuting high-profile insurgency-related crimes.