Upholds Acquittal Of Men Accused Of Murdering Sopore At Resident Residency Road In 2011
By M Ahmad
Srinagar- Observing that evidence has to be weighed and not counted, the High Court of J&K and Ladakh has dismissed a petition challenging acquittal of accused persons in connection with murder of a man from Sopore at Residency Road near Pratap Park Lal Chowk here in June 2011.
According to prosecution, one Mohammad Afzal Khan son of Samander Khan of Naharpur Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, was fired upon by a person(s) through illegal weapon and he sustained critical injury. Khan was referred to SMHS Hospital where he succumbed to injuries. Subsequently, it said, a case was registered and later a charge sheet filed under section Sections 302, 120-B, 109 RPC and 7/27 of the Arms Act.
Subsequently trial started and Principal District and Sessions Judge Srinagar acquitted on 14 May 2016. The prosecution had challenged the judgment on the grounds that it is against the facts, law and canons of justice. The prosecution stated that the trial court has not applied its mind to the facts and circumstances of the case and that the trial court while acquitting the accused has failed to appreciate the evidence in the proper perspective.
On the other hand, the counsel for the accused (acquitted persons) submits that the finding of trial court does not call for any interference as the Principal District and Sessions Judge has properly appreciated the evidence. He further submits that there was no sufficient evidence to which the trial court could have recorded the order of conviction against the accused.
“The trial court has recorded the entire evidence in its breadth and length in the judgment and the same does not require to be repeated and reiterated here again,” a bench of Division Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul and Mohan Lal.
“The trial court, as is clear from the judgment, has, after taking into consideration the entire evidence adduced by the prosecution, come to the conclusion that the accused have not committed the crime imputed to them.”
The Division Bench said that the well settled law is that the function of the Court in a criminal trial is to find out whether a person arraigned before it as accused is guilty of the offence with which he is charged.
“…as a general rule the court can and may act on the testimony of a single witness provided he is wholly reliable and there is no legal impediment in acquitting a person on the sole testimony of a single witness, but if there are doubts about the testimony, the court will insist on corroboration,” the division bench said, adding, “It is not number or quantity, but quality that is material and time-honoured principle is that evidence has to be weighed and not counted.”
So, the test is whether the evidence has a ring of truth, is cogent, credible and trustworthy or otherwise, the court said. “The legal system has laid emphasis on value, weight and quality of evidence, rather than on quantity, multiplicity or plurality of witnesses,” the court said, adding, “Thus it is open to a competent court to fully and completely rely on a solitary witness and record acquittal and conversely it may acquit the accused in spite of testimony of several witnesses if it is not satisfied about the quality of evidence.”
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