Breaking Supreme Court Legal Update
New Delhi · Friday, 31 July 2026 9888666310 | [email protected]
Free Law — free judgments and free headnotes Free Lawby De Jure
Supreme Court of India 2023-10-30 allowed

BIRBAL NATH vs THE STATE OF RAJASTHAN & ORS

Bench: 2 — Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sudhanshu Dhulia

In Brief

An armed group attacked a farmer and his wife in a field, resulting in the farmer's death and grievous injuries to the wife. The trial court convicted all accused of murder, but the High Court acquitted them of murder charges, citing discrepancies in the wife's testimony. The Supreme Court held that minor discrepancies in an injured eyewitness's evidence do not warrant complete discard of testimony, especially when corroborated by other witnesses and medical evidence. The Court converted the murder convictions to culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 IPC, holding that the attack was in a sudden fight without premeditation, not a premeditated murder.

The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.

Criminal Law Evidence Eyewitness Testimony Credibility of Witnesses Murder vs. Culpable Homicide Premeditation Common Intention Recovery of Evidence Cross-examination Injured Witnesses

Read the full judgment & headnote. It's free.

Register to read the complete Supreme Court judgment text and the headnote, and to search 1 lakh+ Supreme Court judgments by meaning. It is a free service.

Register Free Login