In Brief
A man was shot and killed on 22 January 1993 at Mahuwar Chawk in Bokaro, Jharkhand. Two relatives who were present witnessed the shooting; one later became the deceased appellant (the father) and the surviving appellant was convicted of murder. The trial court and high court upheld the conviction based on eyewitness testimony and medical evidence. The appellant challenged the conviction, arguing the weapon was not recovered, there were no charring marks typical of close-range firing, and digested food in the stomach contradicted the time of death. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that credible eyewitness testimony—unshaken in cross-examination—corroborated by post-mortem findings suffices for conviction; absence of typical injury markers does not vitiate expert medical opinion linking death to a bullet wound. Visibility at night in a city near lit tea shops was sufficient for identification.
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