In Brief
A man was murdered in a village field in 1982. Six accused were convicted of murder by the trial court based on eyewitness testimony, but the High Court acquitted them decades later, finding the witnesses unreliable. The deceased's son appealed to the Supreme Court, which reversed the acquittal and restored the conviction. The Court held that credible eyewitness testimony, though from interested/related persons and despite minor discrepancies, can support conviction. Medical evidence is merely corroborative; lapses in investigation, absence of independent witnesses, and minor improvements in witness accounts do not vitiate prosecution cases when direct oral evidence is reliable, consistent and mutually corroborated in material particulars.
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