In Brief
Mallikarjun and Ravi were convicted of murdering Bhimraya, allegedly over his illicit affair with the wife of accused Balappa. The appellants challenged the conviction, citing delay in FIR registration and discrepancies in the main eyewitness's (the deceased's mother) testimony. The Supreme Court held that the delay was satisfactorily explained and that minor discrepancies in an illiterate rural witness's account do not undermine credibility when the evidence rings true overall. However, the Court acquitted Balappa as no injury on the post-mortem corresponded to his alleged attack. Convictions of Mallikarjun and Ravi for murder under Sections 302 and 448 IPC were upheld.
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