ORDER :

1. Leave granted.

2. The appellant seeks to overturn the judgment of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in CRA-S-2446-SB-2012 (O&M) dated 03.07.2023 whereby the conviction rendered against him under Section 25 of the Arms Act was confirmed. Though the appellant was also charged under Section 307 of the IPC, he was acquitted by the Trial Court itself.

3. Learned counsel appearing for the appellant submits that there were two confessional statements which were recorded from the appellant. In pursuance to the first statement, he was taken to Meerut on 25.10.2010. Having not found the weapon, in pursuance to the second statement, a recovery was made at Hayatpur, Gurgaon-10 km away from the police station on 28.10.2010. The recovery witnesses in both the cases were the same. There is a clear discrepancy in the testimonies of the recovery witnesses namely PW-3 and PW-13.

4. Learned counsel for the State submits that the FSL report substantiates the case of the prosecution as there is a co-relation between the empty cartridge recovered from the place of occurrence and the weapon available as per the report. The weapon was also found to be in a working condition.

5. In the case on han