ORDER

1. Learned counsel for the petitioner placed reliance on a judgment of a Bench consisting of three Hon'ble Judges of this Court in Mohan Lal v. State of Punjab [(2018) SCC Online SC 974) to submit that since the investigation in the present case was conducted by the Police Officer who himself was the complainant, the trial was vitiated and as such the petitioner-accused is entitled to acquittal.

2. Para 4 of said judgment in Mohan Lal (Supra) refers to earlier judgments of this Court in State of Punjab v. Baldev Singh [(1999) 6 SCC 172) - judgment by Constitution Bench of this Court, Bhaskar Ramappa Madar and Others v. State of Karnataka [(2009) 11 SCC 690] and Surender Alias Kala v. State of Haryana [(2016) 4 SCC 617] , which cases were relied upon to project the view that investigation would not get vitiated merely because it was conducted by the informant himself.

3. The judgment thereafter referred to cases; Bhagwan Singh v. The State of Rajasthan [(1976) 1 SCC 15] , Megha Singh v. State of Haryana [(1996) 11 SCC 709] , State by Inspector of Police, Narcotic Intelligence Bureau, Madurai, Tamil Nadu v. Rajangam [(2010) 15 SCC 369] wherein while appreciating evidence on rec