LexSONELAL versus STATE OF M.P.
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[2008] 11 S.C.R. 75 SONELAL A V. STATE OF M.P. (Criminal Appeal No. 1133 of 2008) JULY 22, 2008 B Jr [OR. ARIJIT PASAYAT AND DR. MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA, JJ.] Criminal Trial: Penal Code, 1860: S. 302: c Murder - Trust worthiness of evidence of relatives of de- ceased, eye-witnesses -Accused gave knife blow to deceased thrice in his stomach and chest in the presence of his wife and son - Wife of the deceased took him to Police Station and D ) lodged an F l.R. - Deceased succumbed to the injuries in a Government hospital - Investigation - Charge Sheet - Rely- ing on evidence of wife and son of the deceased, trial Court found accused guilty of committing murder and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment - Affirmed by High Court - E Correctness of - Held: Correct -Merely because eyewitness are family members, their evidence cannot per se be discarded as relationship is not a factor to affect credibility of a witness - Foundation has to be laid if plea of false implication is made - When an incident happens in dwelling house, inmates would F be the most natural witness and should not be ignored - More- _.., over, insistence on witness having no relation with the victims often results in criminal justice going away - Merely on sur- mises the Court should not castigate a prosecution for not examining other persons of the locality as prosecution witness G - In the instant case Courts below analysed the evidence of wife and son of deceased which corroborate with the medical -( evidence, hence reliable - Natural witnesses. According to the prosecution, on the fateful day, 75 H 76 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2008] 11 S.C.R. A there arose dispute between the accused and the de- ceased. The accused, with an intention to kill the de- ceased, gave knife blow to deceased thrice in his stom- ach, as a result of which his intestine came out. Wife of the deceased and his son had taken him to the police sta- 8 tion. He was sent to a Government hospital by the police where he succumbed to .the injuries~ The dead. body of the deceased was sent for postmortem and accused was arrested by the Police. After completion of the investiga- tion, charge-sheet was filed by the Police. Trial Court found c the evidence of PW.6, son of the deceased and P.W.9, wife of the deceased trustworthy and convicted the accused for the offence of murder of the deceased and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment. Appeal filed there- against by the accused was· dismissed by the High Court. o Hence, the present appeal. E Accused-appellant contended that. when persons. who can be treated as independent witnesses have not· supported the prosecution version, the evidence of PWs 6 and 9 should not have been relied upon. Dismissing the appeal, the Court HELD: 1.1 Merely because the eye-witnesses are family members their evidence cannot per se be dis"' carded. When there is allegation of interestedness, t.he F same has to be established. (Para - 6) [81 ~F] · 1.2 Relationship is not a factor to affect credibility of a witness. It is more often than not that a relation would not conceal actual culprit and make allegations against an in- nocent person. Foundation has to be laid if plea of false im- G plication is made. In such cases, the court has to adopt a . careful approach and analyse evidence to find out whether it is cogent and credible. (Para - 6) [81-H; 82-A & B] Oalip Singh and Ors. vs. The State of Punjab AIR (1953) SC 364; Gu/i Chand and Ors. vs. State of Rajasthan (1974) 3 H .t >- . SONELAL v. STATE OF M.P. 77 SCC 698 and Vadive/u Thevar vs. State of Madras AIR (1957) A SC 614 - relied on. 1.3 The ground that the witness being a close rela- tive and consequently being a partisan witness, should not be relied upon, has no substance. (Para - 9) [82-G] Oalip Singh and Ors. vs. The State of Punjab AIR (1953) SC 364; Masalti and Ors. vs. State of UP. AIR (1965) SC 202; State of Punjab vs. Jagir Singh AIR (1973) SC 2407; Lehna B· vs. State of Haryana (2002) 3 SCC 76; Gangadhar Behera and Ors. vs. State of Orissa (2002) 8 SCC 381; Babula/ C Bhagwan Khandare and Anr. vs. State of Maharashtra (2005) 10 SCC 404 and Salim Saheb vs. State of MP (2007) 1 SCC 699 - relied on. 1.4 The over insistence on witnesses having no re- lation with the victims often results in criminal justice go- D ing away. When any incident happens in a dwelling house the most natural witnesses would be the inmate
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