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Khurshid Ahmed v. State of Jammu and Kashmir

Criminal Appeal · 2018 INSC 518Decided 15 May 2018
Criminal Appeal No. 872 of 2015
Justice N.V. Ramana · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer

Background

Following an earlier daytime scuffle over an unpaid financial transaction, the appellant allegedly intercepted the deceased and his father on their way home that evening and fatally struck the deceased on the head with an iron rod; the deceased died from the head injury while being shifted for treatment. The trial court acquitted the appellant, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove motive and that the sole eyewitness (the deceased's father) was uncorroborated. The State appealed, and the High Court reversed the acquittal, convicting the appellant under Sections 302/341 of the Ranbir Penal Code and sentencing him to life imprisonment. The appellant then appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court was justified in reversing the acquittal because the trial court had taken an unduly hyper-technical approach and wrongly discounted the eyewitness testimony of the deceased's father (PW9), which was corroborated by oral, documentary and expert evidence. The Court reiterated that a close relative's eyewitness account should not be discarded merely for being "interested" if it otherwise inspires confidence, and that minor contradictions not going to the root of the matter should not defeat an otherwise reliable prosecution case. It also clarified that an eyewitness need not himself be injured, or walk immediately alongside the victim, for his testimony to be credible. Finding the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and that the High Court's interference with the acquittal met the required threshold (manifest illegality in the trial court's appreciation of evidence), the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction.

Lesson Learnt

An eyewitness's testimony, even from a close relative of the victim, can be solid enough to sustain a murder conviction if it is internally consistent and corroborated by other evidence: courts are not required to discard such testimony merely because minor details are imperfectly remembered or because the witness is related to the victim.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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