In this post we will discuss about a case where in a person was convicted for rape on the basis of uncorroborated testimony by the learned trial court. The High Court  later on suspended the sentence stating that the court can’t rely on testimony of hostile witness

Can’t rely on testimony of hostile witness, says HC

Hostile Witness Testimony High Court Chandigarh View
Hostile Witness Testimony High Court Chandigarh View

Introduction

The High Court of Punjab and Haryana said that not much confidence should be put in the uncorroborated testimony of a hostile witness.

Facts of the Case

The accused was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of rape by the additional judge, Panchkula, in April 2019. He approached the HC demanding suspension of his sentence on the basis that the prosecutor, her mother and her sister did not help the prosecutor and were declared hostile, and thus no weighting could be attributed to their evidence. Nor did she name the accused before the court of justice.

He also argued that the trial court had wrongly relied on the argument made under Section 164 of the CrPC, because the argument under this section was not a substantive piece of evidence and could only be used for corroboration purposes. It was also claimed that there had been no injury signs on the private parts of the prosecution and that the prosecution had wretchedly struggled to make its case against him.

ALSO READ- ACQUITTAL BASED ON HOSTILE WITNESS

Legal Standpoint

“It is a well-established rule that not much confidence can be put in the uncorroborated testimony of a hostile witness. In those cases, the court was not justified in relying on the evidence provided by the prosecution (victim) under Section 164 CrPc when the prosecution did not help the prosecution ‘s argument when acting as a prime witness, “the court noted. The Division of Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain and Justice Ashok Kumar Verma have ordered him to be released on bail before the pendency of his appeal against his conviction had passed an order suspending the sentence of a resident of Panchkula in relation to his conviction in a rape case.

ALSO READ- ACQUITTAL IN CRIMINAL CASES

Conclusion

The High Court made the observation while suspending the sentence of the accused rape, as the victim had in the case turned aggressive, withdrew the statement reported under Section 164 of the CrPc and also declined to name the accused during the corroboration.

This post was written by- Kasha Doshi

For case specific advice/details contact TOP/BEST/EXPERT Criminal/Civil Lawyers in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali Tri-City area.

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