The division judge bench of the Jharkhand High Court held that conviction can be based on the testimony of a sole eye-witness if his / her evidence is found to be trustworthy, of sterling quality, unblemished, and absolutely reliable.
Brief facts
The factual matrix of the case is that the FIR was lodged by the informant (son of the deceased) in which it was alleged that his wife and deceased had gone to their field to dispose of cow dung. After some time, he heard his wife screaming that his mother had been assaulted after that he rushed towards the place of occurrence. when he reached the place of occurrence, he saw that the accused persons were assaulting his mother and then, he raised the alarm and several villagers assembled and the accused persons fled away from the place of occurrence. Thereafter, the injured mother was brought out from the field, however, she died instantaneously. It was furthermore alleged that one month before the incident, the accused persons were calling his mother diaan’ and threatened to kill her. Due to this, the Panchayati was also convened in the village, and the matter was resolved, but the accused persons were not fully satisfied and threatened to kill the mother of the informant.
The FIR was registered for the offence under Section 302 read with 34 I.P.C. The trial court out of the four accused persons only convicted the appellant and acquitted the other three accused persons.
Contentions of the Appellant
The appellant contended that the single blow injury on the head of the deceased could also be caused by to fall on the ridge of the field and if the four accused persons surrounded and indiscriminately assaulted the deceased then, there would be multifarious injuries on several part of the body and not only on one side. It was also contended that on the basis of the same evidence the other three accused persons were acquitted and granted the benefit of the doubt.
Contentions of the State
The state contended that the trial court has wisely appreciated the oral and documentary evidence available on record and has rightly recorded the findings of guilt of the appellant and sentenced him, which suffers from no illegality or infirmity calling for any interference by way of this appeal.
Observations of the court
The Hon’ble court observed that Based on PW-5's testimony and her husband Prabit Marandi's (PW-6) testimony, the trial court found the accused convicted. This was supported by the deceased's post-mortem report and inquest results.
It was furthermore observed that the testimony of a single eyewitness may serve as the basis for conviction if it is determined that the witness's evidence is entirely credible, flawless, trustworthy, and of the highest quality.
The court relied upon the judgment titled Amar Singh Vs. State (NCT of Delhi)
The court noted that the manner of assault given does not correspond with the injury sustained by the deceased. Also, none of the witnesses corroborated the motive behind the incident and it is well-settled that enmity is a two-edged weapon that slashes at both ends. It provides a reason to commit a crime as well as a foundation for false implication.
It was furthermore noted that the close scrutiny of the sole eye-witness P.W.-5 clearly goes to show that her testimony suffers from material contradictions and infirmities, which cannot be relied upon.
Based on these considerations, the court was of the opinion that the learned trial court failed to appreciate the material infirmities in the testimony of the sole eye witness and set aside the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence passed by the learned 1st Additional Sessions Judge.
The decision of the court
With the above direction, the court allowed the appeal.
Case title: Bodar Marandi Vs The State of Bihar
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad, and Hon’ble Mr Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava
Case No.: Criminal Appeal (D.B.) No. 112 of 1995 (P)
Advocate for the Appellant: Mr. Aditya Raman, Amicus Curiae
Advocate for the Respondent: Mrs. Vandana Bharti, Spl. P.P.
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