The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction and life sentence of four murder suspects based on the testimony of the case’s lone eyewitness.
A division bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vikram Nath while hearing a petition filed by murder accused Ajai Alias Ajju (and others) observed that it is not the quantity of witnesses to a criminal trial that matter but the quality of witnesses.
Therefore, the Court rejected the accused’s claim that the prosecution failed to examine two witnesses in the case.
“It is the discretion of the prosecution to lead as much evidence as is necessary for proving the charge. It is not the quantity of the witnesses but the quality of witnesses which matters,” the bench added.
The case involves the murder of Pinky Anand’s family members in 2007. The accused were close relatives and neighbours who were said to harbour animosity towards Anand’s father.
The convicts were accused of killing the family in order to obtain property and settle a score. However, Pinky and her sister Rashmi escaped the tragic occurrence, albeit with injuries.
A trial court convicted all four men charged in the case of murder and unlawful assembly, among other charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act of 1959.
They were given the death penalty.
The Allahabad High Court upheld the conviction but commuted the death sentence for all four accused to life imprisonment.
The four accused filed an appeal with the Supreme Court after being dissatisfied with the High Court’s decision.
The accused contended before the Supreme Court that the entire case was based on the testimony of a single witness (Pinky Anand), whose testimony was untrustworthy because she was related to the deceased and also had animosity towards the accused.
Furthermore, it was argued that there was no other evidence to back up her testimony.
The Court further noted that the police was informed of the actual events as soon as the statement of the sisters were later taken in the hospital.
The Court concluded that Pinky Anand “was a fully reliable witness and has said the events in natural course.”
As a result, it proceeded to uphold the four accused’s murder convictions.
