Published on: 01 September 2023 at 16:00 IST
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: State of Gujarat V. Anirudhsing (1997)
Honorable Supreme Court of India has held that recorded testimony of the hostile witness can be used by the prosecution. It is held that it is the salutary duty of every witness who has the knowledge of the commission of crime, to assist the State in giving evidence.
29. In view of the above settled legal position, merely because some of the witnesses have turned hostile, their ocular evidence recorded by the court cannot be held to have been washed off or unavailable to the prosecution.
It is the duty of the court to carefully analyse the evidence and reach a conclusion whether that part of the evidence consistent with the prosecution case, is acceptable or not. It is the salutary duty of every witness who has the knowledge of the commission of crime, to assist the State in giving evidence; unfortunately for various reasons, in particular deterioration in law and order situation and the principle of self-preservation, many a witness turn hostile and in some instances even direct witnesses are being liquidated before they are examined by the Court.
In such circumstances, it is high time that the Law Commission looks into the matter. We are informed that the Law Commission has recommended to the Central Government to make necessary amendments to the CrPC and this aspect of the matter should also be looked into and proper principles evolved in this behalf. Suffice it to state that responsible persons like Sub-Divisional Magistrate turned hostile to the prosecution and most of the responsible persons who were present at the time of flag-hoisting ceremony on the Independence Day and in whose presence a ghastly crime of murdering a sitting MLA was committed, have derelicted their duty in assisting the prosecution and to speak the truth relating to the commission of the crime.
However, we cannot shut our eyes to the realities like the present ghastly crime and would endeavour to evaluate the evidence on record. Therefore, it is the duty of the trial Judge or the appellate Judge to scan the evidence, test it on the anvil of human conduct and reach a conclusion whether the evidence brought on record even of the witnesses turning hostile would be sufficient to bring home the commission of the crime. Accordingly, we undertake to examine the evidence in this case.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
