Talari Naresh vs State of Telangana

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2026 Supreme(SC) 534

PRASHANT KUMAR MISHRA, N. V. ANJARIA
Talari Naresh – Appellant
Versus
State of Telangana – Respondent

Advocates Appeared:
For the Appellants : Mr. D. Ramakrishna Reddy, Adv. Mrs. D. Bharathi Reddy, AOR Mr. Nishant Sharma, Adv. Mrs. D Tejaswi Reddy, Adv. Ms. Adviteeya, Adv.
For the Respondents: Mr. Kumar Vaibhaw, Adv. Mr. Devrishi Tyagi, Adv. Ms. Devina Sehgal, AOR Mr. Srikanth Varma Mudunuru, Adv. Mr. Yatharth Kansal, Adv.

Judgement Key Points

What is the status of postmortem evidence as substantive evidence in the SC/ST Act murder case? What is the role of hostile or partisan witnesses in convicting or acquitting an accused?

Key Points: - The postmortem report by itself cannot be treated as substantive evidence; requires corroboration or expert testimony (paras referencing postmortem evidentiary value and need for corroboration) (!) (!) - The court discusses how hostile/partisan witnesses can be weighed and used for conviction or acquittal when corroborated by other reliable evidence (paras 8, 8.4, 9; p_41–p_45) - The overall evidence in this case was deemed weak, with discrepancies in medical and ocular evidence, leading to acquittal and setting aside conviction and sentence (paras 2, 28–31, 46–50) (!) (!) (!) (!) (!)

What is the status of postmortem evidence as substantive evidence in the SC/ST Act murder case?

What is the role of hostile or partisan witnesses in convicting or acquitting an accused?

JUDGMENT :

N.V. ANJARIA, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The present appeal by the appellant-convict is directed against judgment and order dated 04.02.2025 of the High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad, in Criminal Appeal No. 1111 of 2017. Thereby, the High Court confirmed the conviction and sentence against the appellant recorded by learned Special Sessions Judge for Trial of Offences Under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act-cum-VII Additional District & Sessions Judge, Ranga Reddy District at L.B. Nagar in SC/ST S.C. No. 51 of 2014 and held the appellant guilty of commission of offences under Sections 302 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860¹ [Hereinafter “IPC”] and under Sections 3(2)(v) and 3(1)(x) of The Scheduled Castes and The Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.² [Hereinafter “SC/ST Act”]

2.1. The appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment and was further required to pay a fine of Rs. 5000/- in respect of his conviction for the offence under Section 302, IPC. For the offence under Section 323, IPC, the appellant was sentenced to six months’ simple imprisonment. For the offence under Section 3(2)(v) of SC/ST Act, the appellant came to be sentenced to

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2026 Supreme(SC) 534

PRASHANT KUMAR MISHRA, N. V. ANJARIATalari Naresh – AppellantVersusState of Telangana – Respondent

What is the status of postmortem evidence as substantive evidence in the SC/ST Act murder case?

What is the role of hostile or partisan witnesses in convicting or acquitting an accused?

Cases Referred (7)

PRASHANT KUMAR MISHRA, N. V. ANJARIA
Talari Naresh – Appellant
Versus
State of Telangana – Respondent