Penal Code, 1860 – ss. 302/34 – Arms Act, 1959 – ss. 25(1) A,
27(2) – Acquittal of accused – Appellant was accused of having
committed the murder of the victim-deceased by shooting at him
while he was sitting on a Nala with PW-3 – FIR was lodged and
the charge-sheet was filed and the appellant was put on trial –
Trial Court convicted the appellant on the testimony of the sole
eye-witness (PW-3) and such conviction was upheld by the High
Court – On appeal, held: In the case of a sole eye witness, the
witness has to be reliable, trustworthy, his testimony worthy of
credence and the case proven beyond reasonable doubt and
unnatural conduct and unexplained circumstances can be a
ground for disbelieving the witness – It is not the quantity but the
quality of witnesses and evidence that can either make or break
the case of the prosecution – It is the duty of the prosecution to
prove that the testimonies of the witnesses that it seeks to rely
upon are of sterling quality, i.e. fully trustworthy and absolutely
free from any kind of blemish – Further, it is true that concurrent
findings of facts of the Courts below, are usually, not to be interfered
with – However, in the instant case, testimony of PW-3 was full
of blemishes, absolutely uninspiring in confidence – In absence
of any other evidence linking the accused to the murder of the
deceased, testimony of PW-3 discarded – Appellant acquitted.