AIROnline 2025 SC 394

(A) Penal Code (45 of 1860) , S.302, S.307, S.149— Evidence Act (1 of 1872) , S.3— Murder – Testimony of informant – Reliability – Informant deposed that he had seen alleged occurrence of murder while hiding behind bush – Incident took place after 09:30 pm – Informant had not stated distance between bush in which he was hiding and spot of incident – There was a serious doubt whether he could have seen incident in light of car – Though DSP and other Police Officers met informant at scene of offence, they did not record his statement – Informant along with an advocate and political party members had gone to police station and handed over a written complaint – There was a political rivalry between him and wife of accused – Names of 15 accused persons were dropped with consent of informant – Reason given in report for deletion was that informant was nervous and therefore exaggerated incident by naming said accused – It was obvious that informant was unsure about number of accused who were present at time of incident – Informant seemed to have exaggerated incident due to political rivalry – Possibility of filing complaint after deliberation with supporters of political party could not be ruled out – Evidence of informant was not credible.

(Para 29)

(B) ….