NEW DELHI: Thirty years after they killed a man, the Supreme Court on Thursday let off two accused holding that they were entitled to acquittal as the act was committed in exercise of self-defence which is permitted under the law.

A person can kill another when there exists a reasonable apprehension that his adversary is going to cause him/her grievous injury even though he might not have actually inflicted any, the Supreme Court ruled.

"In that event he can go the extent of causing the latter's death in the exercise of the right of private (self) defence even though the latter may not have inflicted any blow or injury on him," a Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and H S Bedi observed. The bench passed the ruling while dismissing an appeal filed by the UP government challenging the acquittal of Gajey Singh and Rajpal Singh in a murder case that occurred in 1979.