The need for trustworthy and reliable evidence, admissibility of confessional statements, and the requirement for corroboration of witness testimony.

JUDGMENT :

Shree Chandrashekhar, J.

In S.T. Case No. 143 of 2011, the appellants have been convicted and sentenced to RI for life and a fine of Rs.10,000/- each under section 302/34, IPC for committing murder of Zakarious Kullu and RI for seven years and a fine of Rs.5000/- each under section 201, IPC for causing disappearance of his dead body.

2. Bolba PS Case No. 05 of 2011 was registered on 19.04.2011 against Paulus Kullu and Pradeep Kullu far committing offences under section 302/201/34, IPC. The fardbeyan of Fulkuwari Kullu was recorded on 19.04.2011 at 07:00 a.m. at village Talmanga Gambhartoli by the officer-in-charge of Bolba police station. After the investigating a charge-sheet was submitted against both of them and they have faced the trial on the charges under Sections 302/34 IPC and 201/34, IPC. During the trial the prosecution has examined nine witnesses - all of them are co-villagers, out of whom Fulkuwari Kullu, the informant, is wife of Zakarious Kullu.

3. PW-9, Dr. Rajendra Narayan Yadav who has conducted the post-mortem examination has found the following injuries on Zakarious Kullu :

(i) Left ear, ear pinna was cut in the middle;

(ii) fracture of left radius and ulna;

(iii) cut injury of skin 1" x 1/4" beside right eye;

(iv) skin cut on lips and nose;

(v) fracture of right temporal bone with brain matter coming out of it.

4. The injuries were ante-mortem in nature; time elapsed since death 38-46 hours and; death was caused due to head injury. PW-9 has observed that decomposition of the dead body with few maggots had started and rigor mortis was absent in all limbs. These observations of PW-9 indicate that Zakarious Kullu was done to death sometime in the night of 17.04.2011. With the help of the evidence of PW-9 and other materials the prosecution has proved homicidal death of Zakarious Kullu.

5. During the trial the prosecution has projected PW-1, PW-2, PW-4 and PW-7 as eye-witnesses. PW-1, the wife of Zakarious Kullu has deposed in the Court that in the night about 20:00-21:00 hours she along with her husband left home after dinner. They were going to the house of their daughter who was also married in the same village. The appellants apprehended them and started assaulting her husband. She says that when she was assaulted by the appellants she ran away and thereafter what has happened to her husband she cannot say. After one day dead body of her husband was recovered from well of Munna Lohra. The testimony of PW-1 has been challenged on the ground of her intimate relationship with Zakarious Kullu. In scrutinizing evidence of a related and interested witness the Court cannot start with a suspicion. In "Sarwan Singh & others Vs. State of Punjab" reported in (1976) 4 SCC 369 the Hon'ble Supreme Court has observed that the evidence of an interested witness does not suffer from any infirmity as such but the Courts require as a rule of prudence, not as a rule of law, that the evidence of such witness should be scrutinized with a little care and once the Court is satisfied that the evidence of interested witness has a ring of truth such evidence can be relied upon even without corroboration. On a glance at the statement of PW-1 as recorded in her fardbeyan and her evidence in the Court would disclose serious discrepancies. In a criminal trial a previous statement of a witness can be used to corroborate or to contradict the witness. In her fardbeyan PW-1 has stated that in the night of 17.04.2011 when she was cooking food Pradeep Kullu came to her house and after some time his elder brother Paulus Kullu also joined him. After dinner she along with her husband started for the house of her daughter at about 09:00 p.m. and at that time her husband was carrying a tangi. She has stated that when they moved about 10 yards west to their house the appellants holding lathi came there and started assaulting her husband. She has further stated that Paulus Kullu snatched tangi from her husband and assaulted him and when he attempted t