A Sydney man found not guilty of murdering his wife by setting her on fire has been further vindicated by a Supreme Court, which found he should never have been prosecuted.
Kulwinder Singh won a bid on Friday to force the NSW state government to pay his legal costs for the two murder trials he faced between 2019 and 2021, which could be up to $1 million.
Mr Singh was found not guilty in 2021 of murdering his wife Parwinder Kaur, who died after she was doused in petrol and set alight at their Rouse Hill home in 2013.
Neighbours witnessed Ms Kaur run from the home and down their driveway screaming, covered in flames.
She suffered burns to 90 per cent of her body and died in hospital the next day.
Mr Singh denied setting her on fire, telling police they had argued about money and he was packing to go and stay with his mother when he heard his wife run out of the house screaming.
A cigarette lighter and a can of petrol, which only had Ms Kaur's fingerprints and DNA on them, were found inside the house
Following a coronial inquest in 2015, a Sydney coroner recommended Mr Singh be prosecuted for her murder and he was charged in 2017.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict in Mr Singh's first trial in 2019 and after a second trial in 2021, another jury found him not guilty.
Supreme Court Judge Natalie Adams, who presided over both trials, has ordered the state to pay Mr Singh's hefty legal fees for both trials.
"I am satisfied that it was not reasonable for the prosecution to commence proceedings for murder against Mr Singh," Justice Adams wrote.
"The physical evidence overwhelmingly pointed to Ms Kaur being the one who poured the accelerant on herself and ignited it some time later."
The court is yet to determine how much the state will need to pay Mr Singh to cover his legal costs.
