Supreme Court : Can Eye Witness Testimony Be Ruled Out For Failing To Raise An Alarm Or Intervene During Attack?
Supreme Court : Can Eye Witness Testimony Be Ruled Out For Failing To Raise An Alarm Or Intervene During Attack?
The Supreme Court has ruled that evidence of an eyewitness cannot be thrown out solely because he allegedly did not raise an alarm or attempt to intervene when the deceased was being attacked.
The bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Vikram Nath made this observation while dismissing an appeal filed by an accused who was convicted in a murder case of Section 302 Indian Penal Code and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act.
The bench observed that the evidence of PW-1, the eyewitness to the incident, is unassailable and has been accepted by both Courts. His evidence cannot be thrown out solely because he allegedly did not raise an alarm or attempt to intervene when the deceased was being ferociously assaulted and stabbed.
Further, the Court added that excessive number of injuries does not imply the involvement of more than one person; rather, the nature of the injuries and similarity in size/dimension would only imply that she was mercilessly and repeatedly stabbed by the same weapon and by the same person.
According to the prosecution, the accused was having a love affair with the deceased but became enraged when he saw her talking to another boy and injured her multiple times with a pointed knife, resulting in her death.
The accused contended before the Supreme Court that the said witness could not be considered a reliable witness, especially since the incident allegedly occurred in front of his house, but he did not raise an alarm or attempt to save the deceased.
It was also argued that the deceased’s body had an unusually high number of injuries, implying the involvement of more than one person.
As a result, the court dismissed the appeal.
