Punjab & Haryana HC Acquitted Convict In Murder Case After Determining Witness Testimony Was Not Reliable
Last Updated on November 20, 2024 by NewsDesk SLC
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted a convict in a murder case after determining that the prosecution’s case was not credible and the testimony of an eyewitness was not credible. Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma ruled that the statement of an unknown eyewitness, who is unknown to the accused, is not credible if he has been directly identified in court without prior examination. The court also stated that the witness had to describe the key characteristics of the accused before giving a statement to the police.
The court found the prosecution’s case doubtful, stating that the alleged eyewitness stated that the accused was clean shaven, but this was an inadequate account of the otherwise required key physical characteristics of the accused. The court also found the witness’s statement to be flimsy, as he stated that he was informed by an electrician named Darshan Singh that his deceased cousin was injured by the accused but did not produce the electrician as a witness. The court also noted that the recovered.315 bore pistol and live cartridges allegedly found with the accused in question were never sent to the ballistics expert for his opinion.
The court annulled the decision on conviction and granted the appeal.
The court ruled that the accused’s alleged eyewitness account was inadequate and that the police should have conducted a test drive to verify his identity. The prosecution witness’s identification was deemed flimsy and not credible, as he was informed by an electrician about the accused’s death but did not produce him as a witness. Justice Sureshwar Thakur also argued that the recovered. 315 bore pistol and live cartridges were never sent to a ballistics expert for his opinion. The court annulled the conviction and upheld the appeal.
